by Carol Roi
Quickly realizing that there was not enough room in the cab to work on him, Megan kicked open the passenger side door of the truck. Unhooking his seatbelt, she dragged him out of the Bronco into the snow, praying she remembered her first aid.
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Laying Blair carefully down on the cold cement, Diandra tilted his head back, making sure his airway was open. Pinching his nose shut, she leaned over him breathing into his mouth, then waited for a count of five before breathing for him again. "Come on, Lobo, don't do this to me," she pleaded, feeling hot tears trickling down her cheeks. Another breath from her filled his lungs. "Damn it, Blair, Jim is going to kill me! Breath goddamn you!"
She was leaning over for the fourth time when he coughed, then inhaled deeply, his eyes flickering open, his expression frightened. Gathering him up in her arms, Dee rocked him, sheltering him, hearing his thundering heartbeat slowly calm. "It's okay, Lobo," she whispered, "it's going to be okay." She felt his tears wetting her neck, and she let him sob against her shoulder. Kneeling with him in the darkness, she held him close as the snow continued to fall down on them like soft white feathers from the black sky.
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Megan bent over Ellison, her warm breath filling his lungs a third time. She sat back on her calves, counting the beat of his pulse under her fingertips, then leaned forward again. One more breath, and this time he convulsed as his eyes snapped open and he sucked in a lungful of air on his own. He lay there in the snow bank, shaking, as she gripped his hand tightly. "Jim, can you hear me?" she asked.
He coughed again, then with her help slowly sat up. "Yeah, I can hear you," he said. "What happened?"
"I'm not sure. You kind of gasped, and I looked over at you, and it was like you were zoned, but you weren't. The car started to go off the road, so I managed to get it stopped, and then you went into some kind of seizure."
At her words, Jim began to remember bits and pieces. There was cold, darkness, and fear, and pain shooting through his leg. His guide's voice whispered he was sorry, and then there was agony, every nerve ending frying. Tortured screams were followed by the most incredible wave of pleasure, and then nothing. Nothing at all until he'd heard Megan calling to him. "Blair," he said softly, "something's happened to Blair."
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Blair continued to shiver against Dee, and she realized he was in shock. Adjusting her grip on him, she got to her feet, the guide cradled against her chest. She turned toward the stairs, intending to go back inside, when Joe's van slid to a halt behind her. The Watcher pushed open the side door for her, and said, "Get him in here, Dee." Sliding him into the seat, she wrapped the blanket tightly around him, and closed the door.
Methodically, she took care of business, tossing their belongings into the back of the van, up against the seat. She locked up the dojo, pocketed the keys, then turned to Hale's remains. Dragging his headless body around to the rear of the van, she hoisted it inside, and followed it with his head and his sword. Slamming the double doors shut, Dee walked around to the passenger side. She climbed in the back seat next to Blair, and almost had her door closed when he lunged across the seat, sprawling over her lap as he just managed to hang his head outside before he vomited.
When he finally sat back up, Joe handed him a bottle of water. Squirting some in his mouth, he swished it around, then leaned over Dee again to spit. "Ohhhh, god," he moaned as he sat up again. "I feel awful." Turning to face Dee, he caught sight of Hale's body, and his stomach lurched again, but he was able to keep from being sick. "I can't believe he was going to kill me," he whispered.
Dee shut the van door, and gestured for Joe to drive. "Take us down by the docks. I need to get rid of him."
Joe put the vehicle into gear as Blair leaned forward, putting his head between his knees. "I can't believe you killed him... "
Dee rested her hand on his back comfortingly, and felt him flinch away from her. Slowly she placed her hand back in her lap, her world turning upside down.
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"Are you sure you can stand?" Megan asked Jim as she helped him to his feet.
He was a little unsteady, but quickly regained his balance. He took a short walk around the Bronco, inspecting the damage. Most of it was superficial, but there was no way they were going to get it back on the road without a tow truck. Climbing in the still open passenger door, Jim shut the ignition off and took the keys. Tossing Megan's pack out to her, he shouldered his own, and shut the door.
As an afterthought, he pulled out his cell phone, and switched it on. Diandra had been right; there was no reception, at least under the trees. Punching it off, he put it away, forcing himself to concentrate on getting them the rest of the way to the cabin, and pushing his fears for Blair to the back of his mind. He had to depend on Dee's ability to keep him safe. "Come on," he said. "I think it's about a half mile to Simon's place."
Stepping out onto the faint outline of the road, he began to break a trail, Megan following silently behind.
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Joe had driven to the warehouse section of Seacouver's piers, and stopped outside an abandoned building. Dee hopped out to scout the area, her gaze lingering for a long moment on Blair before she shut the van door.
Once she was gone, Joe turned around in his seat, regarding the young Watcher thoughtfully. Blair was huddled under the blanket, his feet up on the seat, his arms curled around his legs, the expression on his face one of pure misery. "Blair," Joe said quietly, "if you won't talk to Dee about what happened, talk to me."
Blair shook his head. "I can't, Joe. I don't know how to describe what I'm feeling. I guess I'm just mostly numb." He glanced quickly at the body in the back. "I saw part of Dee's fight with Kendall, and that's what it was, a duel, a test between the two of them to see who was the best. At least Kendall had a chance, Hale never knew she was coming." He leaned his forehead against his knees, and when he spoke again, his voice was muffled. "She executed him because of me... "
The older man's hand tangled in the guide's hair, pulling his head up so he was looking at him. "Listen to me, Blair. Don't you dare, don't you dare put the blame for this on yourself, or on Dee. Hale's the one who went hunting tonight; all she did was protect you." Tears glistened in Blair's eyes, and Joe softened his tone. "You've been through a horrible experience tonight, one no other Watcher in the world has been through. For all the Immortal battles we've observed, no other mortal Watcher has ever experienced a Quickening. There's nothing I can say or do to help you deal with that, though god knows I wish I could. But don't turn your back on the one person who can help you, who went through the same thing you did tonight."
Blair shook his head, feeling the hold Joe had on him relax into a caress. "I don't know, Joe. I'm just so shook up, so scared... "
"Then let her help you, don't shut Dee out. She loves you for christ's sake. If she could take away everything you're feeling, if she could turn back the clock and make everything as it was, she would. Someone like her comes along once in a lifetime, Blair. You are incredibly lucky to have a second chance with her. Don't blow it." He turned to stare out the windshield at the still falling snow, letting the younger man consider his words.
Blair leaned his head on his knees again, feeling tears beginning to slide down his face, and this time he didn't try to stop them. "Jim," he thought, "I wish you were here to tell me what to do."
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An hour later the weary sentinel and fledgling guide trudged through the last of the underbrush into a small clearing. Looming in the center of the open space was the dark shadow of what Megan hoped was Simon's cabin.
Climbing the three stairs to the enclosed porch, Jim felt above the door jam and produced a key. Unlocking the door, he stepped inside, flipping the light switch. To his relief, the lights came on. A power failure was not something he wanted to deal with after what they had already been through.
Setting his pack down, Jim headed to the fireplace, using the well-stocked woodbin to get a fire going. As the room warmed up, both Jim and Megan shed their outer garments. While she checked out the cabin, Jim once again pulled out his phone, finding that they were now far enough above the treeline for him to get a signal, albeit a weak one. Punching in Sandburg's speed dial, Jim paced the small living room while the call went through. When the phone was finally answered, the voice on the other end was unfamiliar.
"Who is this?" Ellison asked, his internal alarm going off.
"Joe Dawson. Is this Detective Ellison?"
"Yes, where's Sandburg?"
"He's right here, Detective, just give him a second."
There was the sound of movement, and the phone changing hands. "Jim?" Blair's voice was strained.
"Chief? What is it? What happened? Don't tell me nothing, because I felt whatever it was."
"I'm okay, Jim, really I am," Blair replied, though Ellison clearly hear the tremor in his voice. "I just... I can't explain over the phone, not really. I got caught in a Quickening, but I'm fine, Dee's fine, we're all fine here, really. We're just going to be later getting to MacLeod's than we thought. We had to make an extra stop."
Caught in a Quickening? How was that possible... though it certainly explained what he'd gone through, if he was to believe Dee's description of one. Jim was puzzled by his last comment. "An extra stop? Chief, what could be more important than getting you to safety?"
He heard his guide's heartrate pick up. "We had to, um, dispose of some extra baggage. Look, Jim, Dee's coming back, and we need to get going. If I can, I'll call you in the morning, fill you in on everything, okay?"
"Okay, Chief." Jim cut the connection, wondering what in the hell had happened to them. No matter how hard Blair had been trying to hide it, he knew it had been something traumatic. For the millionth time that night, he wished they were together, and he sent a prayer to whatever deity watched over guides and sentinels, champions and companions, to keep all of them safe.
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Blair watched Dee approach the van, his mind turning over what Jim had said. He had felt the Quickening? Like he had felt Blair's emotional distress a week ago at the police station? Jim had never shown that kind of empathy before. Before what? What had changed? He looked up as Dee opened the back door of the van. Dee, that was the change, Dee was back in their lives.
With a minimum of effort, she grabbed Hale's body and slung it over her shoulders, heading off into the darkness. She returned a few moments later for his head and the can of paint thinner that had been sitting in a box in the back of the van along with some painting supplies. As she walked away again, Blair asked Joe, "I thought she was just going to dump him here. What is she doing?"
Joe turned round in his seat again. "Immortals decompose more rapidly than mortals. It has something to do with losing their Quickening. A couple of days out in the elements, and there's no trace left. The only thing that hampers that is cold. If she just left him in a dumpster, he might be found. She's going to burn him."
Closing his eyes, Blair ran both hands through his hair. "I'm really, really sorry I asked... " He felt Joe's firm grip on his shoulder.
"You haven't really talked about this have you?"
Blair shook his head. "No, not about the details. She told me what she was, and about the Game, and I... I accepted that and then she left. But that was all in the abstract, kind of like the Chronicles. When I start thinking of all those Immortals as living, breathing people, it's overwhelming."
"Blair, she's not any different than you are. She has the same thoughts, the same feelings, the same urges."
"She kills people... " he whispered.
"Not for sport, Blair, not for pleasure. She kills only to survive, and to protect her family. You realize that's what you and Jim, and Dana and Mulder, and your friend Megan are to her, don't you? You are her family... "
"Her tribe... " he said softly.
"Her tribe, if you will. That instinct to protect is deeply ingrained in her. You've read her Chronicle, you know her, you know she takes her responsibilities seriously."
"She has to," he murmured, "it's in her genetic code."
Dee returned before Joe could ask what he meant by that. She hesitated by the back door for a moment, then climbed into the front with Joe. Blair felt his stomach knot. He knew it was stupid, but for some reason it hurt that she had chosen not to join him in the back seat again. Maybe she just wanted to give him some extra room, since it would be a long, slow drive to the cabin in the still falling snow. Yeah, right. He knew a brush-off when he saw it. He laid down on the seat, and pulled the blanket up to his chin, trying not to think about how much his knee hurt, how much he missed Jim, and how much he wanted the comforting warmth of Dee's arms around him. Closing his eyes, he tried to sleep.
He must have dozed off, because when he awoke, he could hear Joe and Dee speaking in hushed tones. Joe was talking about what happened in the alley. "I turned the corner, and saw this guy with a sword confronting Blair. I had no idea what was going on, and then they were fighting." Blair could hear the awe in the Watcher's voice. "I can't believe Blair went after him like that. He had no weapon, nothing, and yet he stood his ground. Hell, from what I saw, he would have had him, except he slipped. I wanted to help then, but there was nothing I could do. I never would have reached them in time to stop him from being killed. And then you came out of nowhere, like some kind of avatar... How did you know he was in trouble?"
Dee sighed. "I felt Hale's buzz, and then Lo... Blair's fear, and I went running." She shook her head. "There was nothing else I could have done. I didn't want to kill him, but there was no other way to stop Hale from completing that blow. I shouldn't have sent Blair downstairs alone. I'm supposed to be protecting him, not sending him out to be slaughtered!"
"Dee, you couldn't have known an Immortal would go after him." Joe glanced at her quickly, his gaze curious. "Unless, of course, he's one of you. You haven't been holding out on me, have you? Blair's not Immortal, is he?"
She rubbed her temples with her fingertips before answering him. "No, no, of course not, Joe. But he does have a buzz. It's faint, but there. I can sense it, and other Immortals can too, or at least Methos can." Blair stifled a surprised gasp. This was news to him!
"He's not a pre-immortal?" Joe asked
"No. I think it has to do with his being a Guide. I've felt it in others who weren't immortal; they have a stronger life force than normal, and to me, at least, it is similar to a buzz. Most of the people I've sensed with it were more closely in touch with the spirit world than others. People like shamans, and spiritualists, and sentinels and guides." Since when did Joe know about him being a Guide? What had she been telling him?
Joe seemed satisfied with that answer, and changed the subject slightly. "So did he actually share the Quickening with you?"
"I'm not sure," she replied. "I haven't really had a chance to ask him." She shifted in her seat to gaze at Blair. "I shouldn't have grabbed him. Maybe then he wouldn't have felt what I felt. Hell, I don't know, maybe he would have been hurt worse if I hadn't been filtering the Quickening energy. Or maybe he wouldn't have felt anything at all if we weren't bound."
Joe looked at her again. "What do you mean by 'bound'?"
Diandra sighed. "It's difficult to explain, Joe. I bound our life forces, our Quickenings if you will, together when we were searching for Ellison, when Kendall had him. It's what lets me know when he's in trouble, or upset. There are times I regret that decision. I did it because it was necessary at the time, and because I thought we would be together. Now I
don't know if that will ever happen." The pain in her voice cut deep into Blair, and he clasped his hand over his mouth to keep from making a noise that would give him away.
Joe was quiet for a long time, then he said, "So what are you going to do when this is all over, when Blair has testified, and is no longer in danger?"
When she answered, Dee's voice was weary. "I don't know, Joe, I don't know. I was supposed to die in that car bomb explosion, and right now, being dead sounds pretty good. I can just pack up and leave and start over somewhere else. Preferably somewhere secluded, where nothing ever happens, and there are no Blairs to turn my life upside down. Maybe I'll move back to Australia, back to the Outback. Or find a deserted island and spend my time lying on the beach."
"I'll miss you," Joe said simply.
"I'll miss you too, Joe. You've been a good friend." She reached across the small space between them, and gave his arm a squeeze.
