DISCLAIMER: The Sentinel and its characters are the property of Paramount Television and Pet Fly Productions. No money has been or will be made from this work of fiction. This story belongs to the author. Permission is given to archive.

RATING: G

THANKS TO: The many friends, fans and writers in the Sentinel universe for friendship and inspiration. Special thanks to Barb, as always, for beta reading and all the rest.

This is a missing scene to the fourth season episode "Murder 101" and contains spoilers for that episode. Viewing the episode before reading is highly recommended.

Feedback is always welcome.

Blair looked eagerly at the approaching police launch. He was getting tired of treading water while trying to hold onto Brad Ventriss, and really tired of listening to him whine. Brad hadn’t stopped talking since Blair swam up and grabbed him, after jumping out of the helicopter, and Blair had heard more than he ever wanted to about his daddy’s money and his daddy’s attorney. The thought of holding the kid’s head under water was becoming more and more attractive with each passing moment. Only the arrival of the launch kept him from giving in to his impulses.

"Shut up already, will ya? Maybe you and daddy will get to share a cell. Get a chance to have one of those quaint little father-son chats, you know?"

The ladder was thrown over the side of the boat, and Brad grabbed it first. Two uniformed officers yanked him into the boat and read him his rights as they cuffed him and lead him to a seat in the stern. Blair climbed up the ladder next, and one of the officers helped him in and handed him a blanket. He slid gratefully into a seat as the launch turned and sped towards the city dock. The blanket was little protection against the rushing air, and he pulled it up over his head as he huddled down into the seat, trying to let the seat back shelter him somewhat from the wind. All he could think of was how cold he was, and how badly he wanted to get his feet back on solid ground as soon as possible.

---------------

Jim stood on the city dock and watched the police launch approach. He scanned the boat for a glimpse of his partner, and smiled when he spotted the huddled, blanket-covered form. That had to be Blair. Even though he couldn’t see his face, he couldn’t miss the strands of his long curly hair that had escaped the confines of the blanket and were streaming in the breeze. Although it wasn’t a particularly chilly day for the Pacific Northwest, he knew how Blair hated to be cold, and his sentinel vision showed him that he was vigorously shivering from being in the water. Assured that Blair was safely on his way in, he turned and watched an officer place the handcuffed Suzanne into the back of a squad car as Captain Banks pulled up to the scene. Simon got out and joined Jim on the dock.

"Well, Jim, I see you caught the girl. Where’s Brad?"

"He and Sandburg are on their way in on the police launch, sir. That’s them coming in now."

"The chopper pilot called in and told us what happened. Are you all right?"

"Yes, sir, just fine. The launch called in and told us that Sandburg and Brad are okay as well, although Sandburg isn't too happy about it."

The two men watched as the launch glided smoothly up to the dock. Even before the engine stopped they saw Blair scramble to his feet and reach for the dock ladder with one hand, tightly grasping the blanket around him with the other. Moments later he climbed up onto the dock, spotted them, and shuffled over shaking his head.

"Man, I am never doing that again! Jumping out of a helicopter isn’t all it’s cracked up to be in the movies. Are you all right, Jim?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. At least I was able to stay out of the drink. Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, but I'm turning into an icicle, man. I am so cold…." The shiver that followed demonstrated more than his words ever could.

Simon and Jim tried unsuccessfully to keep grins from appearing on their faces at the sight of the wet and shivering Blair. Several strands of his hair had escaped from his hair band and dangled all about his face. The small bandage on his brow had come off in the water, and the cut was open and bleeding slightly. His shirttail was half in and half out, and the weight of his water-soaked jeans pulled them low onto his hips. With the blanket pulled up over his head, and his eyes appearing even larger than usual in his damp and wind-chafed face, he looked a great deal like one of those big-eyed, mournful-faced doll figurines. With an extreme effort, Simon straightened his face and watched Brad being placed onto the back of a squad car, then turned back to the partners.

"Well, boys, I guess that wraps this one up. Good job, both of you. Why don’t I give you a ride back to the truck, then you can head home. You can get your reports in first thing in the morning."

"Thank you, sir. Let’s go, Chief."

"Works for me, man. I’m freezing to death here."

Jim and Blair followed Simon back to his car. Jim got into the front seat and Blair climbed in the back, pulling the blanket tightly about him again, and Simon grimaced at the thought of his car’s pristine back seat getting all wet. He turned the heat on its highest setting, for Blair’s sake, and hoped for the best. Dropping them off at Jim’s truck minutes later, he wished them a good night and headed back to the station.

---------------

"OK, Chief, we’re here. Let’s get you inside."

Jim watched as his partner lifted his head and finally noticed that the truck had stopped and they were parked outside the loft. Blair had been talking practically non-stop since leaving the dock, hands gesturing continuously, regaling him with his exploits after Jim had jumped from the helicopter onto the boat. Jim had just listened, knowing that Blair had to be coming off of an incredible adrenaline rush from the day’s events, and was finally beginning to ramble and run out of steam.

He was proud that Blair had gotten into and then jumped out of the helicopter, in order to capture Brad in the water, despite his fear of heights. Of course, he had heard Simon direct Blair to follow him into the helicopter, but he knew that he would have anyway. It was just not in the kid to give up.

He also noticed that Blair was shivering non-stop, his teeth were chattering, and he was having increasing difficulty focusing his thoughts. He was definitely going to have to get the heater in the truck fixed one of these days. Jim wasn’t sure if Blair was just tired, was getting hypothermic, or both, but he knew that he needed to get him warm and dry.

He tried again. "You coming?"

"Oh yeah, great, Jim. I could really use a cup of chamomile tea about now, man."

Despite his words, Blair made no move to get out of the truck, instead clutching the blanket more tightly about him. Seeing that his partner was getting nowhere by himself, Jim got out of the truck and walked around to the passenger side. Opening the door, he took Blair’s arm and pulled him out.

"Come on then, Sandburg. The tea isn't going to make itself."

"Oh, right. On my way."

On his way to the ground, Jim thought with a grin, as Blair tried to stand on wobbly legs as he slid off the bench seat of the truck. Jim pulled him upright, then steadied him and gave him a gentle push to get him moving towards the building. Blair pulled his arm away once he got moving in the right direction and kept on talking.

"…it was unbelievable, man. He was blaming it all on Suzanne, like he was soooo innocent…."

Jim quickly grabbed Blair's arm once again as he managed to trip over the threshold of the building's elevator, even though it couldn't have been more than a half-inch off the floor.

"All right, Baryshnikov, steady there."

He kept close to his partner as the elevator rumbled its way up, and Blair finally grew quiet and increasingly unsteady on his feet. By the time Jim unlocked the apartment door Blair was barely shuffling his feet and tended to tilt if left on his own. Deciding that Blair needed to get warm quickly, and that the prospect of trying to hold his partner up in the shower wasn’t appealing, he pulled a chair around in front of the fireplace and placed Blair in it. He lit the fireplace, went into the kitchen and set the kettle on the stove for tea, and then went on to get towels and dry clothes from Blair’s room before returning.

Blair was slowly pulling the band from his hair as he walked up, needing both hands to do so because they were trembling so much. Jim dropped a towel unceremoniously on his wet head, then pulled the damp blanket from around him and dropped it to the floor. He reached over and began unbuttoning his friend’s wet shirt, drawing an embarrassed and slightly slurred complaint from Blair.

"Come on, man. I’ve been able to undress myself for years now!"

Jim grinned but continued to undress his damp partner.

"Well, at the rate you’re moving, you’ll still be at it in the morning, Chief, and I for one plan to get to bed at a decent hour." Blair scowled at him but didn’t have the energy to interfere. "Besides, with your luck you’ll catch a cold or something, and you know I can’t sleep when you’re coughing and sneezing down here."

Jim helped Blair off with all of his wet clothes, handing him a couple of towels to dry and cover himself with in the process. He cringed when he noticed the bruising on his partner’s stomach, and realized that in the process of the chase he had forgotten that Blair had been beaten up just that morning. Jim had been able to interrupt the beating before Brad’s hired goons had gotten around to using their baseball bat on his partner, but he had heard them land several solid punches before he arrived. They had all been much larger than Blair. As usual, though, his roommate had kept going, not letting his injuries get in his way until the case was wrapped.

The sentinel focused his senses intently as he gave his friend the once-over, and he noticed the reddened scrapes on Blair’s elbows and knees, caused when he had been tossed down and rolled across the pavement. The cut on his eyebrow was open and gently oozing, but didn’t look too bad, although the bruising around his eye was looking even more spectacular. Even though Blair appeared to have no serious injuries, Jim realized that the cold water, exertion, and shivering that he had experienced must be making everything fairly painful. He felt guilty that he had not paid more attention.

"Chief, how’s your stomach? How’s your head feeling?"

Blair grimaced as he wrapped one arm across his aching midsection and gingerly touched his brow with the other. "I don’t know. I mean, everything hurts right now, man. I’m not sure if I’m more sore or more cold."

Jim handed him a t-shirt and boxers, and reached over to steady him as he stood to dress. A sweatshirt and sweatpants followed, then a pair of thick athletic socks completed his ensemble. Blair settled back into the chair with a sigh, seemingly exhausted by the effort, and letting his head fall against the back. The kettle began to hiss, and Jim walked over to the kitchen and made a cup of herbal tea. He handed it to his partner, who moved just enough to take the cup in both hands.

"Thanks, man, you have no idea how bad I need this."

Jim picked up the pile of wet clothes from the floor and went to the bathroom to hang them over the tub. While there, he also got some supplies from the medicine cabinet before returning.

"Come on over here, Blair, and let me take a look at that eye of yours." Jim spread his medical supplies on the dining table and waited for his roommate to join him. Blair sighed, rose to his feet and shuffled his slow way to the table, bringing his tea and dropping into the chair next to him. Jim reached over and turned the chair, and Blair, towards him.

"Be gentle, Jim."

"I will, Junior, I will. We just don’t want this to get infected."

A few minutes later Jim sat back and admired his handiwork. The cut had only opened a little, and some antiseptic and another butterfly bandage seemed to do the trick. While working on it, he covertly scanned his partner's physical condition again and was satisfied that he seemed to be recovering from his water adventure. His body temperature seemed to be rising towards normal, he was shivering a little less often, and his eyes looked a little more focused. He clapped Blair on the shoulder as he stood and went to return the first aid items to the bathroom cabinet.

"All done, Chief. You probably won’t even have a scar for your girlfriends to ooh and aah over."

Blair snorted in response. "That's funny, Jim." Just then the phone rang and Jim picked it up. He instantly recognized the deep voice of his captain, and he grimaced and ran his other hand over his face. He watched Blair slowly rouse himself and return to the chair in front of the fireplace.

---------------

The feeling of the warmth radiating from the roaring fireplace was practically intoxicating, and Blair gratefully realized that he was finally beginning to feel warmer. Setting his tea on the end table, he pulled the towel from the back of his chair and worked on getting more of the moisture out of his hair. He really should shower, he thought, but raising his arms up to his head really pulled at his sore stomach and caused him to rethink that idea. Maybe it could wait until morning.

He glanced over at Jim, who seemed to be taking forever on the phone. From the tone of his voice, Blair could tell that he was talking to Simon about the case. From his patient tone and the careful detail with which he was describing the events of the chase, Blair guessed that the Ventriss and Nadine family attorneys had already arrived at Simon's office. He grinned at the long-suffering expression on his partner's face, and was again very glad that Simon had let them postpone going into the station until the morning.

Jim turned and saw that Blair was watching, and rolled his eyes in mock frustration. Blair shook his head as Jim removed his shirt, leaving just his t-shirt. The blazing fireplace and nice hot tea were finally helping to banish the last of his shivers, but the room probably felt like a furnace to the sentinel. Jim eventually finished the phone call, promising for the third time that they would both be in first thing in the morning, and hung up. He walked over and stretched out on the sofa with a sigh.

Blair gave him a sideways look. "Everything all right at the station?"

Jim grinned. "Simon's doing his best tap dancing routine. Between the Ventriss and Nadine family attorneys, and phone calls from the Mayor and a couple of members of the city council, he has his hands full. He suggested that we leave the answering machine on for the evening to screen calls, unless we want to jump onto the merry-go-round with him tonight."

"No way, man. Tomorrow is soon enough for me. That's why he gets the big bucks, right?"

"You got it." Both men couldn't help but smile at their mental pictures of Simon at his most diplomatic.

Blair started a long, slow stretch, then stopped abruptly as his sore muscles complained painfully.

"Man, the next time a student threatens me, I’m gonna pay a lot more attention to watching my back. If you hadn’t come along when you did, I don’t even want to think about what was gonna happen with that baseball bat…." He shuddered at the thought. "Maybe I should think about taking some self-defense classes or something. Who knew that teaching could be so hazardous to my health?"

"Even if you had self-defense classes, Blair, there were three of them, with a baseball bat and a gun, and only one of you. You probably still would have gotten hurt. Brad used his daddy’s money to be sure that he brought enough to do the job."

Blair stared into the fire, deep in thought. Not for the first time, he was really glad to have a sentinel for a roommate. Another man, with ordinary senses, might not have heard the sounds of his struggles with his attackers until it was too late. He never had a chance, never saw them coming, and once they had split his brow with that punch to the face, he had been so stunned that he couldn't have defended himself against anything. How far would they have gone, at Brad's direction? Just more bruises? Some broken bones? All the way to murder? He shivered again, and not entirely from being cold.

"I still don't get it, man. Brad and Suzanne had it all! Everything they ever needed, courtesy of the old man. To get involved in rape, grand theft, murder…" He shook his head. "Rick sure was right about Brad. He really is whacked."

Jim nodded. "Yeah, he was, and I think you were right, too, Chief. Those fathers had no idea what was going on with their kids. And those kids, I guess they just wanted more and wanted it right now. Well, what they're getting right now is gonna be several years in prison."

"You think? I bet that with the family money and connections, they end up in the softest prison you've ever seen, man." Blair frowned at the thought.

"I don't know about that. If it was just the software piracy, that's one thing, but murder…I think they are going to get a whole different kind of education."

Blair still doubted that any of them would get what they truly deserved, but he brightened suddenly at a thought.

"Well, at least I can tell Rick and Jill that we caught Brad, and he's not gonna hurt anyone else for a long time. That's not gonna undo what he did, but at least there will be some kind of justice."

"That's a good idea, Chief. Why don't you give them a call in the morning. She may even want to reconsider filing rape charges on Brad. You let her know that if she does decide to, that you and I will take her statement and get her through it."

Blair looked up with a smile. "Thanks, Jim, I will. I'd like that."

"And I think that Simon or I might just give Chancellor Edwards a call once all the charges are filed, and encourage her to meet with you again. I think she might see things a little differently once all of the charges against Brad, and his father, are a matter of public record. What do you think?"

"Great, that would be great, man." Blair sank back into the chair contentedly, feeling warmer within and without.

---------------

Jim was beginning to feel his own tired and aching muscles from their day's activities. He would never admit it to Blair, but he was pretty sure that he never wanted to jump out of a helicopter again, either. His back was beginning to ache from the jolt he had taken when he landed hard on the boat. Both tiredly contemplated the events of the last couple of days. Jim finally decided that he had to say something to apologize to his roommate.

"Look, Chief, I’m sorry that I didn’t pay closer attention to you when you were telling me about Brad, especially when you told me he had threatened you. Maybe we could have talked about your being more careful, not going anywhere alone, something…I was just too focused on the case."

"You couldn’t have known, Jim! I knew that Brad was a schmuck, but I would never have guessed that he’d have a bunch of rent-a-thugs come after me. And neither of us had any way to know he was connected to your murder case then." Blair sipped some more of his tea, and shook his head in regret. "I’m sorry, too, that I lost my cool. You were right about that, you know…he just pushed all of my buttons, man."

"He pushed some of my buttons, too, Blair, but you have to be able to block it out when you’re working on a case. You can’t let them get the edge."

"Yeah, I hear you."

Even though Jim was really warm, he let the heat relax him, letting go of the day. He started when he heard a loud growling sound, then realized with a grin that it was just Blair's empty stomach. He saw Blair glance sheepishly over at him, then break into his own grin when Jim's stomach almost immediately followed suit. Both men started chuckling, and realized that it had been a long time since breakfast.

"OK, what do you say to delivery tonight, Chief? I don’t feel much like cooking. Chinese?"

"Perfect, Jim. Something nice and spicy will help me warm up. The usual?"

"I’ll call it in, Einstein, last time you forgot to tell them that I wanted one-star instead of four-star spicy, and I paid for it all night."

"Sorry about that, Jim, I just forgot that older people tend to have more sensitive stomachs." Blair grinned and turned his face towards the fire.

"Watch it, pal, or I’ll forget to tell them no MSG." Jim was glad that his friend was feeling better, good enough to tease him.

"Yeah, well, they say that memory is the second to go…"

Jim didn’t reply and got up and walked toward the phone. A moment later he got a satisfying "oomph" from Blair as he connected a pillow with that curly head. He ducked quickly as the pillow came flying back at him and sailed into the kitchen.

After phoning in their order and returning to the sofa, he picked up the remote and found a game on TV. Blair made himself another cup of tea and brought it over to the couch, settling in the opposite corner. Jim grabbed the afghan from the back of the couch and tossed it over to his partner, and they both sank down into the cushions to watch the game. A few minutes later he checked his watch, hoping that the food would arrive early, and he looked over out of the corner of his eye to check on Blair.

As he had expected, once he was thoroughly warmed and his adrenaline had run out, Blair had fallen asleep. His head hung over to the side, and his body was slowly sliding sideways toward the arm of the sofa. Jim stood and quickly rescued the half-empty cup of tea just as it began to tilt dangerously in Blair's lap, and stuffed a couple of pillows under his head as he eased him over the rest of the way onto his side. He pulled Blair's legs up onto the sofa and readjusted the afghan over him. Smiling, he turned the sound down on the TV and propped his feet up on the coffee table, settling in for a well-deserved relaxing evening at home.

THE END