Sentinel Squared Chapter 3b

betaed

"Hey Blair, since these people are going to be running around here for the next month getting all of these pipes changed over, why don't we first see if we can get the time off and then move everything into he basement so that they will have the freedom to move about unhindered."

        "While they are redoing the pipes, we can get with the twins and get your diss finished. You already have the Closed Societies one finished and you pretty much have the Sentinel one done, all you really have to do is go through and add what else they can do as well as teaching them anything that we know that they do not know, as well as putting in their names. You should be able to do that in the next month, shouldn't you?"

        Blair sat there thinking for a moment before looking at his partner, then at his Chief before answering, "That sounds like a good idea to me. As both Jamie and Incacha said, get it done and over with."

        "Good, that's settled then, I'll go in first thing and talk to the Commissioner and get it okayed. But you might have to be 'on call' if we really get busy." Simon said as he accepted the cup of coffee that Jim handed to him.

        "That'll be fine with me. I'm sure that Blair has a few 'Guide' tricks up his sleeve that the twins don't know about, and visa versa," Jim answered.

        "What about you Blair?" Simon asked the Young Shaman who was getting his own cup of coffee.

        "Sounds like a plan to me," he answered.

        "OK then," Jim said, "after breakfast, Simon can head to the PD and get with the Commissioner while we can head to the grocery stores and Walmart for boxes to start to get this stuff packed and in the basement before the contractors get here and want to get to work."

~ ~~ ~ ~ ~ ~

        By 7 A.M., Jim and Blair were coming in with the last load of boxes from the truck. There was a message on the answering machine and Jim hit the button as he went by.

        "Jim, Blair, it's Simon, I just got off of the phone with the Commissioner and he said that it would be OK as long as you could be reached in case that we needed you. Just let me know when you are leaving and I'll keep an eye on the place while you are gone. I gotta get back to work, so take care and please be careful."

        Jim and Blair both laughed at that last part before heading in to their respective rooms to start packing before the contractors got there.

        Blair's room was easy; he had never really had the chance to get things unpacked after getting back from Mexico. True, the room had been put back together, but most of his personal things were still in boxes and it was no time at all before his room was done.

        At 8 A.M. there was a knock on the door, and Blair went to get it. Opening the door, he was greeted with a "Good morning, the Cascade PD moving company is at your service."

        Rafe, Henry, Megan and Joel were there, ready to lend a hand so their best team's Shaman could get things out of the way and return to the job where everyone, with a few exceptions loved him and the contributions that he offered.

        "Simon asked us to give you a hand so that you could get this done before the contractors showed up," Henry said as Jim came down the stairs to see what was going on.

        Letting everyone in, Jim gave them the rundown of where he wanted things put so that he could easily get to them if he needed them later.

        Blair already had everything that he would need for the next month in the truck and just needed help with the bed, dresser and desk in his room.

        Megan headed into the kitchen and started with the dishes and what not. Ten minutes later Rhonda showed up smiling, and said that Simon had given her strict orders to keep the guys in line, and get this thing done so they can get back to the boring paperwork that they had waiting.

        Blair walked into the empty loft as everyone else was putting the last of the things in the basement. Walking into the empty loft, he realized the deja-vu feeling that was growing in the pit of his stomach as the last time he had seen the loft this empty was when Jim had kicked him out of his life. Even though he knew that it was different, he started to shake in a full fledged panic attack. A moment later, a large pair of arms encircled him.

        Jim was just leaving the basement when, for some reason, his hearing focused in on his partner up in the loft getting together the last of the things that needed to be taken to the basement, when he heard Blair's heart beat accelerate and he was hyperventilating. Jim took the stairs three at a time. Rounding the corner into the loft, he saw Blair standing in the middle of the empty loft, and knew the reason for the panic attack. The last time the kid had seen the loft like this was when he had kicked him out on his own when the whole Alex Barnes thing was going on. Advancing, he wrapped his arms around his partner and said, "Blair, buddy, everything is OK, it's not like last time. In a month, everything will be back the way that it was before. I promise."

        Finally, after ten minutes, he was calmed down enough that he could breath again and stand on his own. Even though the others had come back upstairs, they stayed out in the hall until Jim had Blair calmed down enough so that they could do one last check of the place before turning it over to the contractors.

        The contractors got there as they were going over the loft one last time.

        As they were heading out the door, Jim leaned over to the head contractor and asked, "Did you get pictures of the entire loft?"

        "Yes Sir," the contractor whispered back. "Why, would you like a copy?"

        "Please," Jim answered.

        "OK, I'll leave them on the kitchen counter when we finish."

        "Good, I'll check back with you in about a week to see how things are coming," Jim told the man as he was heading out the door.

        "Sounds good to me," the contractor replied as Jim headed out the door.

        After saying thank you and good-bye to everyone, Jim and Blair climbed into the truck for the long drive back to Dan's cabin.

        "What did the twins say when you told them we would be back up there today?" Jim asked his partner.

        "You know, they weren't even surprised. They just said that they would let us get settled in and that they would see us first thing in the morning," Blair answered.

        Jim just laughed and returned his attention to the road.