A MID-SUMMER'S NIGHTMARE

'How did I get here?  Why is there so much fog?  There's never this much fog this time of year!  And where's…'

"SANDBURG!"

Jim Ellison's voice mockingly echoed around him.  He desperately tried peering through the fog for his missing Guide, but the thickness of the moist gray atmosphere surrounding him defied even his most focused Sentinel sight.

"SANDBURG!"

Jim determinedly closed his eyes and sought out Sandburg's familiar heartbeat.  Forcing his muscles to relax, he cocked his head first in one direction then another.  Suddenly his ice blue eyes flew open, and he cautiously walked to his left.  By his reckoning, he'd gone less than 100 yards when he heard his Guide's heavy panting.

"Sandburg!" Jim snapped.

"Jim?!  JIM!"

The Sentinel barely had time to brace himself before Blair Sandburg ran through the thick fog and into his arms.

"Oh, God, Jim!  I couldn’t find you!  I couldn’t find anything!"  Blair groaned as he tried to bury his face deep in Jim's hard chest.  He openly sobbed as Jim's arms protectively curled around him…arms that were as sturdy and protective as the walls of any medieval castle.

Jim narrowed his eyes and started into the fog even as he soothingly cradled his shivering partner.  "I'm here, Blair.  I'll always be here for you.  You know that, don't you?"  Rewarded by his partner's head nodding in agreement, Jim relaxed enough to plant a gentle yet firm kiss within Blair's curls.  "Any idea how we got here, Chief?  Last I remember, we were heading to bed."  He was suddenly aware both of them were fully dressed rather than in their usual nighttime attire of boxers and t-shirts.

"I don't even know where here is."  Blair didn't seem included to remove his face from Jim's chest.

Concerned with Blair's actions, the Sentinel suddenly forced his partner's head upward.  "Did someone hurt you, Blair?  Are you okay?"  Suddenly frantic, he ran his eyes over his companion's body.  "I swear…I'll kill anybody who hurts you."

"No.  Nothing happened."  Blair took a deep breath and tried to compose himself.  He stared into his partner's eyes, trying to control his panic.  "But there's someone…no…there's something out there, Jim.  Something evil and cruel."  Suddenly shaking, he once again buried his head against Jim's chest. "Something that will separate us forever!"

"Never, my love!" Jim angrily swore.  "There's no power in the universe that can separate us.  Not as Sentinel and Guide.  Not as partners.  Not as friends.  And certainly not as lovers.  We're part of one another, my heart.  You have to remember that!"  Desperately, he wrapped one hand into the mass of Blair's curls.

"Don't let it take me…please!" Blair cried.

Jim felt the air currents around them begin to swirl even though the fog wasn't moving any more than before.  He instinctively stiffened, wrapping his arms tighter around his lover and partner.  He heard Blair moan as some evil force tried to pull the younger man from his grasp.

"NO!  You won't take him!  You can't have him!" Jim shouted, fighting to hold Blair close to him.

"JJJiiiimmmmmmm…." Blair moaned.

"SHOW YOURSELF!" Jim demanded as he struggled to hold onto Blair.

"JIM!  I CAN'T BREATHE!" Blair cried out.

"YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM!  YOU'LL HAVE TO TAKE US BOTH!  I'LL NEVER LET HIM GO!  HE BELONGS TO ME!  NOW AND FOREVER!"

"JIM!  DAMMIT!  WAKE UP!"

Jim jerked as he felt something sharp and bony hit his ribs.  Instinctively, he shoved against the offending sharp and bony object…

…and sat up in bed, eyes wide open and gasping for air.

Hearing an ominous 'thud' and a muttered "owww…dammit", Jim quickly looked around.  "Sandburg?"  He wiped sweat from his face and took a relieved deep breath when he saw Blair's tousled head appear next to the bed.

The younger man glared at his partner.  "I'm glad the wall and floor broke my fall.  If you'd shoved any harder, I'd probably be…AACCCCKKKKK!"  Blair's squeal echoed in the loft as the Sentinel grabbed him by both arms and pulled him into the bed.

"Did I hurt you?  Are you okay?" Jim quickly demanded.

Blair irritably brushed his friend's searching hands away.  "I'm fine.  You just shoved me out of bed, that's all."  He shrugged.  "I should be glad a couple of bruises is all I got for waking you like that."  He sat cross-legged on the bed and frowned at his partner.

Jim frowned and rubbed the ribs on the right side of his body.  "You punched me?"

"Jeez, Jim, it's not like I had a lot of choices!" Blair snapped as he ran a hand through his hair.  "You were having some sort of weird nightmare.  You grabbed me and started squeezing me…really hard.  Then you were shouting something about somebody not getting me.  Oh yeah…and that I 'belonged' to you."  He shot his lover a pointed look and was only marginally mollified to see Jim wince.  "Like I'm some sort of pet."  He waved a hand to dismiss whatever protest the Sentinel was planning to make.  "Then you really began squeezing me hard.  I couldn't breathe and couldn't seem to get through to you."  That thought brought a frown to the younger man's face.  "So I punched you."  He sat quietly while his partner frowned and thought.  "Want to tell me about it?"

"There was this…fog.  I couldn't see through it.  And something…something we both felt was evil was chasing you.  We found each other, and I was holding onto you to keep you with me."  Jim ran a hand across his face.

"Just fog?" Blair frowned.

"Really thick fog," Jim nodded.  "I couldn't see through it no matter how hard I tried."

"Okay, it's gotta mean something."  Blair bit his lower lip.  He was started when Jim suddenly left the bed.  "Jim!  Where are you going, man?"

"To take care of the problem," Jim replied.

Blair scrambled out of the bed and followed the older man down to the kitchen.  He watched in confusion as Jim retrieved a large red tupperware container from one of the cabinets then opened the refrigerator door.

Seconds later, Jim's Guide had his arms folded across his chest and was irritably tapping one sock-clad foot on the floor.  "I thought we'd gotten away from the color-coded leftovers."

Jim snapped the cover onto the tupperware and put it in the refrigerator.  He ran hot water into the bowl sitting in the sink before drying his hands.  Walking to his aggravated partner, Jim put his hands on Blair's shoulders.

"I love you, Blair Sandburg.  More than I've ever loved anyone else.  And I will never ever love anyone else as much as I love you."

Blair's blue eyes softened.  It wasn't often that Jim spoke so openly about his feelings.

"But not even for you will I ever eat eel casserole again," Jim solemnly swore.

November 2001

Return to Rebel's Sentinel Fanfiction