Kiss Me Cruel

Fandom: the sentinel
Pairing: Jim/Blair, Jim/Blair/Rafe, Blair/other (meet JT, everyone)
Rating: NC-17 for abuse
Archive: the WWOMB
Other websites: http://www.squidge.org/~peja/
Disclaimers: Jim and Blair belong to Petfly, but their personas are my own, as is the delightfully protective JT who belongs to me and Blair body and soul.
Notes: This is an AU. Any resemblance to the well known characters is quite deliberate, but the character abnormalities make them mine
AUTHOR'S WARNING: These two are not the J&B you know well, so if a hard Au doesn't appeal, you know what to do
Summary: Blair's condition becomes apparent
Warnings: Jim is a man with a temper: Blair is a man with a secret to protect

Day eight and counting.

Jim glared over the body of his cast-off lover, spearing the man he considered his advisary with cobra venom eyes. JT returned the glare with a stubborn tenacity born of absolute conviction that he had his place in the room.

"You ever going home?" Jim asked softly, a shark's grin whispering over his tight lips.

"And leave you here alone with Blair? With all these pillows and plugs that can be pulled. Yeah...right?"

"I'm not going to kill my Blair for Christ's sake."

JT hurled a disbelieving glare at him. "You have been trying to kill him since I've known him. How many beatings do you think..."

"That's none of your business."

"Is when I love the man you're beating to slow death."

"You bastard...."

"Can you two fog horns blow somewhere else," a small voice interrupted, rocketing two men from their seats to latch possessively onto his hands.

"Hey, let go, already." Blair tried to retrieve his hands, but neither man was letting go.

"Blair, how are you feeling?" Jim demanded, pressing the call button for a nurse. "Does it hurt anywhere?"

"You'd do better asking where it doesn't hurt," Blair murmured, looking into the worried face hovering over him.

Jim brushed at the curls threatening to block Blair's face completely. "Well that's to be expected, isn't it? Walking in front of a truck has that effect?"

Blair sighed. "Was that what I did? Pretty stupid thing to do."

Jim had to grin. "Very." He cupped Blair's battered face. "We'll make it better, Little One."

Blair frowned. "We?"

"What else? When they let you come home..."

The scowl darkened. "Home?"

"Maybe he doesn't want to go back there with you," JT thrust.

"Maybe doesn't enter into it. Blair is my lifemate."

"I'm....gay...?"

Confusion darkened Jim's eyes. "Blair...?"

Whatever he was going to say was halted when the nurse pushed into the room and sent both Jim and JT scurrying from the room.

"What the hell?" Jim snarled, facing the closed door with fisted hands. "What the hell?"

"He's confused," JT whispered, his own fears tightening his throat. "He's just confused, right?"

Jim turned on the other man. "Is that what he is? Confused? I'm gay, he said. Like he didn't know...." Jim slumped against the wall, his head dropping back to slam into the wall. "Like he didn't know. Oh, God...."

"Hey, don't do that." JT took the other man in his arms, hesitantly at first, then when Jim responded to the comfort, tighter, patting his back gently. "Blair's going to be all right, Ellison."

Jim clutched at the other man like he was a life line. "I...need him," His words were a soft plea. "I need him."

"I....know..." JT rocked the detective in his arms. "He'll be fine. He's concussed. Confused. In a couple hours...."

A doctor strode past them into Blair's room.

Jim stared at the closed door for several minutes, silent and unmoving. "What if...."

"Don't," JT pressed Jim back enough to meet his eyes. "Don't say it. Don't even think it. Blair will be just fine. Do you understand? He's just got to have a little time to catch up."

*************

A few minutes turned into thirty before the doctor emerged from Blair's room. Jim didn't need to hear the words to know that his fears were a reality

"Are either of you Jim Ellison?" he asked formally.

Jim nodded. "That's me. What is it? What's wrong with Blair?"

"Mr Ellison, Mr Sandburg is experiencing some... difficulty remembering."

"Brain damage?"

The doctor shook his head. "It's too early to tell. I've scheduled some tests. But these things. They happen. We don't know why. Not really. Trauma like Mr Sandburg experienced...." He shrugged. "We'll do everything we can."

"How long will he have to stay here?" Jim grinned ruefully. "He hates hospitals."

"Let's get those tests done and then we'll see." The doctor said. "Mr Ellison, there is something else. Mr. Sandburg has some injuries that do not fit the pattern of this sort of trauma. Do you know anything about that?"

A dangerous glitter reflected in Jim's blue eyes. "I don't like what you're implying, Doctor. Perhaps you should contact my superior, Captain Simon Banks of Major Crimes if you suspect...."

The doctor seemed to shrink under Jim's glare. "Banks? Major Crimes? You're a..."

"Yes. I'm a detective." The shark grin flashed as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Detective James Ellison, Doctor...." His sharp glance touched the name badge. "Foley."

Foley blanched. "Yes, well, eh.....I see. Detective Ellison, Mr Sandburg must have....uhmmm...must have fallen harder than we first... surmised." He made a quick note on the charts in his hand. "I'm making a note of that. We'll...not bother you or your captain with...this."

Jim nodded, once. "That's right. Now, I'd like to see Blair." He eyed the doctor sternly. "And I want to take him home...Soon. Make those tests. Make them good. And make then fast. If I even suspect Blair hasn't got the best handling...."

"No." Foley stammered. "No, your lifemate will be given the best possible care. I'll bring in our specialists on this case immediately." He glanced at the chart again. "Eh, there isn't a insurance supplier mentioned here. Do you know...."

"Blair hasn't got any."

"Oh....."

"That won't be a problem, will it. I'm sure you've got a way around that in special cases. Am I right?"

"Oh....Of course. No problem there. Mr Sandburg falls under a priority clause. Best possible care. The hospital will see to the bills."

Jim nodded. "The Major Crimes department will be happy to hear that, Dr. Foley. Most happy indeed. Blair is one of ours."

"Of course. Of course." The doctor looked around frantically. "If you'll excuse me, Detective. I want to get these tests arranged and..." The man dashed off leaving his words hanging on the air.

JT looked Jim over. "Why did you do that?"

"What?" Jim asked, turning away from the sight of the fleeing doctor.

"Scare the doctor that way. He was just doing his job. Why terrorize him?"

"Why not?"

"That's not an answer. What is it with you anyway? Why do you have to use force on everyone?"

Jim shrugged. "Because I can."

"But..."

Jim lifted a hand, silencing the other man. "Look, that doctor was side-tracking. He was too concerned with crap. Not giving Blair the proper care. The big problem here is Blair's memory. His body will heal."

"You think so?"

"Blair is strong. He will heal. Its his loss of memory that disturbs me."

"And that's all that matters to you, isn't it? You aren't at all concerned about his battered body. Just his battered mind."

"Like I said, his body will heal. It always does. His mind, that I have no experience with. That worries me."

JT glared, tight-fisted at the big cop. "I'm not going to be shut out of this, you know?"

"Oh?" Jim tilted his head, looking the man up and down. "You want to stay, huh? Be with Blair?" The shark smile flickered. "Are you willing to....be my fuck buddy to stay with him, slut?" His glance wandered toward Blair's room. "In every way. Just like my Blair?"

"You want me to let you....screw me? Beat me?"

The smile widened and he nodded. "Just like Blair."


Continues in Part 5