Sentinel Rules
March 1996:
Blair Jacob Sandburg, teaching assistant and PhD candidate moves in with
Detective James Joseph Ellison, ex-Army Ranger after Blair's apartment blows up.
“Chief, I have a few simple rules around here. Keep them and we'll get along
just fine,” Jim explains to his temporary roommate.
“Sure, Jim,” Blair says with a wide grin. “I'm a guest in your home. I wouldn't
want to piss off my host. Um, so what are the rules?”
“First, everything has a place; I don't like clutter. Keys in the basket, coats
on the coat rack.”
“Gotcha! Keys in basket, coat on rack,” Blair repeated as he quickly put his
keys that he tossed onto the coffee table into the basket. He grabbed his coat
off the couch and hung it up. Jim started to relax. “Any other rules I should be
aware of?”
“No eating in the living room and no feet on the coffee table,” Jim said as he
spied an empty dish on the sofa.
“Right,” Blair said as he jumped to put the dish in the sink. After a look from
Jim, Blair washed the plate then put it in the dish rack to dry. “Anything
else?”
“That's it for now, Chief. I'll let you know if there's more,” Jim said as he
walked up the stairs to his loft bedroom.
“Yeah, sure, Jim,” Blair said as he looked around the spartan room then went to
his little room under the stairs.
***
Early May 1996:
“Sandburg!” Jim bellowed from the bathroom.
“Yeah, Jim?” Blair sprinted to the bathroom then stood at the doorway.
“What is this?” Jim asked as he held up a wad of slimy, soapy, long curly brown
hair in his gloved hand. Jim had wedged his tall frame under the sink and was
surrounded by plumbing tools. Several wet towels were on the floor attempting to
contain the flood.
“Uh, a rat's nest?” Blair replied, trying for levity.
“Hair. Specifically, your hair.” Blair refrained from mentioning Jim's thinning
hair and that it was obvious the hair could have only come from Blair.
“Yes, Jim,” was all that Blair could say.
“New rule, Sandburg, no brushing your hair near the sink and use the Drano every
once in a while.”
“Right, Jim!” Blair gave Jim a snappy salute then relieved his friend of the
wad.
***
June 1998
Blair finally recovered from the attack by Alex Barnes although some side
effects still lingered. Jim and Blair had a rare day off and were relaxing,
watching TV.
“Blair,” Jim said softly.
“Yeah, Jim,” Blair replied quickly. It momentarily shocked Blair to hear Jim
call him by his first name and not one of the myriad of nicknames Jim had the
habit of using.
Jim's eyes never wavered from the TV screen as he reached out his hand to clasp
Blair's wrist.
“New rule,” Jim said almost hesitantly as his hand edged its way to clutch
Blair's. Blair waited. “Don't ever die on me again,” Jim commanded as he
tightened his grip on Blair's hand.
Blair said nothing as he squeezed back. Neither man took their eyes off the TV
screen nor did they let go.
***
September 2000:
Detectives Ellison and Sandburg and the rest of the Major Crimes team had just
solved a series of push in assaults and robberies that targeted the elderly. One
couple had been brutalized before their attackers trashed the house.
The Sentinel had been on a long and difficult hunt with his Guide at his side
until the perpetrators were caught in the act. It took all the Sentinel's will
power and the support from his Guide not to allow the primitive Sentinel to seek
immediate revenge on those who would hurt his tribe.
“Protect the tribe,” Jim muttered as he completed his report for the Captain.
“Protect the tribe,” Blair repeated their rule as he hit the print icon on his
computer.
***
Thanksgiving Day
2003:
Jim and Blair were supposed to have the day off. William Ellison, Jim's father
had invited Jim and Blair to Thanksgiving dinner. Steven, Jim's younger brother
and his latest girlfriend was planning to attend. Instead, Blair was pacing the
waiting room at Cascade General while his best friend and Sentinel was in the OR
fighting for his life.
They had stopped by the local convenience store to pick up a couple six-packs of
beer to bring to dinner. The duo had interrupted a robbery in progress. When the
startled robber turned his gun toward Blair, Jim pushed Blair down as Jim
reached for his off duty weapon.
“Cascade PD, drop your weapon!” Jim announced. Blair heard two blasts then two
bodies dropped.
“Protect the Guide,” Jim mumbled his foremost rule as he lost consciousness in
Blair's arms.
Blair was screaming,
“Officer down! Officer down!” into his cell phone while applying pressure to the
wound in Jim's chest.
Blair waited impatiently as the nurses got Jim situated in the ICU. After a few
minutes they allowed Blair in to see his best friend. Most of the hospital knew
not to get in between the partners when one or both were injured. It was an
unwritten rule that the partners seemed to heal better when they were close. Jim
was certainly less agitated when Blair was at his side. And then there were all
of Jim's allergies. Blair was the only one who appeared to keep them all
straight in his head.
“Dial it down, Jim,” Blair whispered as he held a limp hand in his own. “Dial it
down and rest. You're all right. Your tribe is all right.” Jim was unconscious
but Blair knew that the Sentinel heard his words. Jim seemed to relax, his vital
signs returned to normal.
“Damn stubborn Sentinel,” Blair muttered as he smoothed the sheet that covered
his friend.
“My Blessed Protector,” Blair stated as he made himself as comfortable as he
could on the cold little chair next to Jim's bed in the ICU. There would be hell
to pay if anyone tried to make Blair move before his Sentinel awoke.
***
March 2009:
It was just after the new year when the members of the elite Major Crimes
division threw Jim and Blair a retirement party. The partners had had enough, it
was time to leave the police work to the younger generation. Blair planned on
finishing his thesis on the Thin Blue Line, while all Jim wanted to do was go
camping and fish for his supper.
In a cabin, deep in the Cascade forest, the Sentinel rested and recharged his
overloaded weary senses while Blair worked on his laptop.
“I thought our new rule was no work while on vacation,” Jim said as he brought a
couple of trout into the kitchen to prepare for their supper.
“No, that's your rule. My rule is to finally get my PhD and say 'up yours' to
those old biddies at Rainier. I don't know why I didn't think to do this a long
time ago,” Blair grumbled as his fingers flew across the keyboard.
Before Eli Stoddard, Blair's old mentor at Rainier had retired and then passed
away, he made sure the truth came out about the scandal surrounding Blair's
diss. The resulting upheaval and subsequent removal of a couple of chancellors
allowed Blair to pursue his dream. The once bitten Blair had more important
things on his mind though, namely watching his Sentinel's back and keeping the
criminals of Cascade at bay.
Once retired, it only took a few months for Blair to dust off his “back up”
dissertation, spruce and tweak it for modern times then submit it to a new
committee. The college had hoped now that Blair had retired from the police
force, he would teach at Rainier.
Jim and Blair had other plans.
***
April 2010:
“I'm sorry Jim,” Blair said gently as he stood with Jim and Steven at their
father's gravesite, his hand on the small of Jim's back.
William had passed peacefully one night in his sleep, his sons grateful that
they had finally reconciled old differences. Sally, their old nanny and
housekeeper, retired and went to live with her family but was sad to leave the
boys she raised as her own. William's death left the brothers more than
financially comfortable although each had done well for themselves throughout
life.
“Take the house, Stevie,” Jim said as the last of the mourners left. “I don't
need it and you have a family to raise. I don't think I'd like it if some other
family moved in.” Steven nodded. He had taken over the Ellison business, his
childhood home would befit his stature and he too didn't want the house to go to
someone else.
“I'll buy you out, Jimmy,” Steven said to Jim.
“Not necessary,” Jim said.
“I know but it's the right thing to do. Are you guys going to stay in Cascade?”
“Blair wants to travel,” Jim answered with a soft smile. Dr. Sandburg had a
series of lectures scheduled around the world. “But Cascade is our home, we'll
be back.” Blair nodded in agreement.
“Home is where the heart is, and my heart is in Cascade,” Blair stated his
mantra, cognizant of his double entendre.
The brothers hugged before leaving their father's grave to go home.
***
August 2011:
New York City in a small hotel in the Chelsea area, Jim and Blair stood in front
a minister repeating their new rules with Stevie and his wife as witnesses.
“...and forsaking all others as long as we both shall live.”
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