This pic also courtesy of Sharon @ Whispers of the Heart.

SHAMAN SCHOOL by Tegan Ridgway Chapter 1 After being led to the drivers side of his old beat up Ford, Jim watched in shock and horror as they put his friend, his partner, his *Guide* and *Shaman* into a body bag and into the back of the waiting ambulance. All the while listening, straining to hear that familiar heart beat. He was listening so intensely, that when the thought of a zoneout might occur, he just listened that much harder. The thought being, that if he zoned, he could zone to the point of no return, and thus be with his guide. But for some reason, he couldn't even zone. Maybe because he had never actually tried before. Then the thought occurred to him that maybe Blair wanted nothing more to do with him. After all, he was the reason Blair had died. He had thrown him out of his life, out of the loft, and told him to finish his dissertation on something else. Suddenly startled out of his thoughts by a low growl, he looked up to see everyone worriedly looking at him. Simon started to say something about driving him home when out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the black panther that was his animal spirit. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Turning to look at the animal, he suddenly found himself in the jungle. The panther looked at him, then suddenly took off through the jungle. Jim followed the large cat, knowing where it was heading. Once they both reached the temple, the panther morphed into Incacha. "Why did you disregard your guide?" Incacha asked "I don't know," Jim stated flatly "Why did you disregard your guide, Enquire?" Incacha asked again. Thinking about what had gone down in the last week, the dream of him shooting the wolf, the jaguar in the store the growl when Blair had come home that day and in his Blair's office where Alex was. He came to the only logical conclusion that there was. "I was trying to protect him." "A Guide's place is at his Sentinel's side where he belongs. Where you can watch each other's backs and help one another. Nothing should come between Sentinel an Guide." There were several very quiet moments between the two of them, and Jim was the first to speak. "I am guilty, and accept the consequences of my actions." "Very well," the Shaman said, "you must now go to the one who can help you find what you have lost." Looking very puzzled, Jim asked "Where do I find this `oneī?" "Follow your heart Enquire, it does not lie," answered Incacha. With that, he turned back into the panther, and within a blink of an eye, Jim found himself back in his world and his body. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Looking up after recovering from the shock of having is consciousness slammed back into his body, Jim saw four pairs of concerned eyes staring at him. "Jim, are you ok?" Simon said in a caring quiet voice. "I think that you better let me drive you home, you are in no shape to drive" "No thanks Simon, I'll be ok...I just...I gotta get out of here for awhile. I'll call you later". Jim said looking very haggard. With that, he closed the door on his truck and started it up. As he started to drive off, he felt a hand on his arm. Looking up into Simon's worried face, he said "I'll be ok... there's something that I have to do. I'll be in touch, I promise." Simon just nodded as Jim drove away. Simon looked over at Henry and said "You and Rafe follow him, and make sure that he doesn't do something stupid." Henry and Rafe said "Yes sir", the headed for Henry's car. Jim had heard the orders Simon gave to his fellow detectives as he made his way through the parking lot, and knew that he couldn't be followed. So, before they could get anywhere near him, he turned onto a side street after leaving the university's parking lot, then went down several more. He stopped his truck to listen at the next stop sign. "Where'd he go Rafe" Henry said several minutes later. "I don't know H" Rafe replied "It's like he knew we were after him. Like he heard what Simon had said." "Well, we better let Simon know, or he'll have our heads as well as our badges." Jim reached over and turned off his police radio after he heard Rafe tell Simon that they'd lost him. Then he reached in his pocket and pulled out his cell phone and turned it off as well. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Blair was suddenly conscious of voices around him. When he opened his eyes, Jim was doing CPR on him. But for some reason, it didn't hurt. Simon and Henry reached over and pulled Jim off of him saying "He's gone Jim. Let him go". "Noooooooooooo" Jim wailed as the two men pulled him off of his best friend. "Let him go baby," Henry said trying to get Jim to realize that it was no use to continue. Blair, not understanding any of this, got up and walked over to them saying "Let what go Simon, I'm fine." But no one would answer him. They just kept staring at something behind him like he wasn't even there. Confused, he turned around to see what was holding their attention so completely, and found his heart in his throat when he saw his own lifeless body on the ground. "This can't be real," he said out loud, but knowing now no one would hear him. "But it is real," said a voice from behind him. Startled, Blair swung around to suddenly find himself in the jungle facing a temple and Incacha. "Why did you disregard your Sentinel for another?" Incacha asked. Blair just stood there with his mouth open and nothing coming out. Incacha repeated the question. "Why did you disregard your Sentinel for another?" "But I didn't!" Blair hotly denied. "You are Shaman and Guide to Enquire, and no one else. Yet you walked away from him for another. Why?" Incacha asked. Looking straight into the eyes of Incacha, he replied "Because she needed help, and I was able to provide the help she needed." Looking sternly, yet compassionately into the young Guides eyes, Incacha said. "Your purpose is to be Guide and Shaman to your Sentinel. This you must know in your heart as well as your soul if you are to remain as his guide." Blair was getting more confused by the minute. Looking back into Incacha's eyes, he said "Excuse me, I mean no disrespect, but , what do you mean 'If I am to remain as his Guide?' I'm *dead*, I drowned in that fountain, and I was standing beside my own dead body." Then thinking to himself *I wonder if I can go back?* But the real question was *Would Jim want me back in his life after this screw up?* Incacha merely looked down at the young Guide and said,"The choice is yours Shaman, and you must make it now." "I choose Jim," he said with conviction. Then added "If he'll have me". Incacha simply nodded, then everything in Blair's world went black. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Simon was not a happy camper when he got the call from Henry and Rafe, saying that Ellison had managed to get away from them. But he realized Jim's need to come to terms with what had happened. Hell, he himself needed to come to terms with what had happened. Someone had already called in the forensics team to go over the area, as well as Blair's office. Realizing that he needed to amend the APB that was out on Alex to murder of a police officer he reached for his radio thinking to himself. *Blair may have been just an observer, but to everyone in Major Crimes, he was a bona fide Detective.* But just as he was ready to hit the button the radio to speak, it came to life. "Dispatch to Captain Banks!!!" the excited dispatcher said. "This is Banks, go ahead" he spoke into the radio "Captain we got a call from the Coroner's Office at Cascade General, and they said that Blair Sandburg is ^not^ and I repeat <^NOT^> dead. They asked for you to meet them in the ER, and that they will fill you in there.", said the very excited dispatcher. "I'm on my way" Banks said then added "Get Ellison on the line and have him meet us there as well." "I've already tried sir," the dispatcher replied "Either he's away from his radio, or he has it turned off. The same goes for his cell and home phone too. But I'll keep trying." "Thank-you dispatch, Banks out." Simon turned to an equally shocked Megan Connor. "Stay here with forensics. I want every inch of this place covered. I want enough to nail that Bitch to the wall for life, and maybe beyond." "Yes sir." Megan said returning to her work and a bounce in her step. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Shaman School Chapter 1b After turning off his radio and phone, Jim returned his attention to the road. The stop sign that was in front of him when he pulled over to listen to Henry and Rafe, was no longer there. Instead, there was a sign that said `Welcome to Cascade, Colorado. Population 3,402', and the black panther, his animal spirit was lying at itīs base staring at him. Blinking, the sign and his panther was gone was gone and the stop sign had returned. *Well, that's a start" Jim said to himself as he headed to a gas station for fuel and a map of the Northwest. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Dan Wolf, the head coroner for the City of Cascade, Washington, sat at his desk. He had just received the call several minutes before that Blair Sandburg had been found dead. Drowned in the fountain outside of his office at the university. All resuscitation attempts had failed. Captain Banks had called in personally to make this a top priority. This was the part of the job that he hated the most. Working on people that he knew personally. And he especially hated to work on people like Sandburg or Ellison. They were dedicated to their jobs, and probably the best team in the state, if not the whole country. And now, one half of this great team was dead, and God only knew what will happen to the other half. At that moment, the doors to the lab opened to admit two paramedics and the stretcher that carried the body bag that held one half of that wonderful team. And right now, Dan wished he could be anywhere else but here. He rose from the desk and met the paramedics at the wall of drawers where they kept the corpses waiting to be autopsied. "Here, let me give you a hand with that" Dan said as he reached over with shaking hands to unzip the body bag that held one of the nicest people that he had ever met. *Blair was so animated and full of life. And now this.* He folded the flap down as he unzipped it, but instead of seeing the cold dead and lifeless body of Jim Ellison's partner, he found himself staring into two very blue, very frightened and very much alive eyes of one very much alive Blair Sandburg. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Blair found himself floating in a black void. He had no idea as to where he was or what was happening to him. *Maybe*, Blair thought to himself, *Incacha decided that he wasn't good enough for Jim after all. Or maybe, Incacha had spoken to Jim, and Jim wanted nothing more to do with him. He could understand that. He had screwed up big time. And if the latter was the case, then this must be his own personal hell. Alone and drifting, just like he had always been. That is, until he had met one Detective James Ellison. That meeting had changed his life completely. But now, even that was over, as Jim had thrown him out of the loft and his life.* Suddenly he realized he was hearing things. As they got louder, he thought that it sounded like a hospital. But when he opened his eyes, everything was still black. He was becoming frightened as he couldn't move. All he could do was listen to what was going on around him. Then the thought struck him, Was it something to do with the curare, or had Alex done something else to him after they dropped him into the fountain? The next sound that he heard sounded like a stretcher going through a set of doors. He'd been on enough of them since meeting Jim, so he definitely knew that sound. Then he heard a voice that sounded rather familiar, and it was saying "Here, let me help you with that" He could feel his eyes blinking in the darkness, but he still couldn't see anything. And why couldn't he move. He was becoming frightened that if he were blind or if he were somehow disabled and needed care, how was he supposed to guide his Sentinel? Jim sure as hell didn't need to be taking care of an invalid. Some cripple who couldn't take care of himself. It was then that he noticed the smell. That smell that came only with the dead. At that moment, he heard what sounded like a zipper above his head. As the zipper moved over and down his right side, he realized that he was in a body bag. That explained not being able to see, but he still couldn't move. As the zipper made it's way down his side, the flap was folded down *and light was coming in Thank God*, and he found himself staring into the face of Dan Wolf, Cascade's head coroner. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Dan just stood there for a moment, not quite sure what to do. He had heard of bodies being brought to the morgue before, only to be sent straight up to the ER because they had somehow come back to life, but it had never happened to him. That is until now, that is. "Jim", Blair manage to choke out before a coughing fit took hold of him. Dan, over his shock now, reached over to turn Blair to the side, so if he coughed up any water, it wouldn't be aspirated back into the lungs. While at the same time, and with help from one of the paramedics, they maneuvered him out of the body bag. Being mindful of any injuries that he may have sustained before or after the drowning. Looking up at the other paramedic, who was still standing there in shock, Dan said "Call the ER, tell them that we got a live one. Then call Captain Banks and Det. Ellison and tell them to get down here right <^now^>! After Blair's coughing fit subsided, and he was able to catch his breath, Dan lowered him back down to the stretcher and they headed for the ER. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ While enroute to the ER, Blair's mind went back to what had happened roughly an hour ago. Alex had shown up at his office that morning with a gun, and was going to kill him. He just closed his eyes and waited for the end, because there would be no Jim to come to his rescue this time. And after what had gone down between them this past week, he didn't care. "What are you doing?" He heard a someone else say. Opening his eyes, he saw a man standing next to Alex telling her that if she fired that thing in here, that it would bring any and all within ear shot "Well, what do you suggest we do, Carl", Alex said, "just leave a witness?" "There as to be another way." Carl said as he began to look around Blair's office. His eyes stopped on a shelf containing a set of four darts. Each one was in a plastic sleeve with a label that read ^ DO NOT TOUCH 'Tipped with curare'^. "Now this is what we need", Carl said walking over to the shelf. "Hey man, those can kill you if you even handle them wrong" Blair said, following the man's thoughts. "That's what I'm counting on", Carl said, as he picked up one of the darts. Blair's mind was racing. When he and Jim had returned from Peru, they had brough back a set of four darts given to them by the tribesmen for his office. And even though they had very little curare on them, they still had to be labelled as dangerous. Now, if Carl believed them to be that dangerous, maybe he would use that instead of the gun. Thinking that once they left and he came to, he could call Simon, and let him know what was going on. But instead of hitting him with the dart, as he'd hoped. Carl walked over to his desk, and ordered Blair to get up. He did as he was told, and was pushed out the door. Alex still had the gun trained on him as he was escorted out to the fountain in front of the building. Realizing what they were going to do, he tried to stall. The hope being that someone would come to his rescue. Both Alex and Carl were looking around to see of there were going to be any witnesses to the murder that was about to take place. Blair, hoping to stall, was just opening his mouth to ask where they were going to take the nerve gas, when Carl turned around to Blair, pulled down the front of Blair's shirt, and stabbed him four times with the dart. Blair had involuntarily held his breath when Carl struck, and therefore, had both lungs full of air as the curare froze them in place almost instantly. Because he was hit four times with the dart, there was now enough curare in his system to stop his heart as well as his lungs. As his knees gave way, Carl grabbed hold of him and lowered him face first into the fountain. *It's funny,* Blair thought,* his whole body was numb. And he was peaceful. Maybe it was something to do with the curare*, he thought as everything went black. Turning a corner, they came into the ER. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ As the nurses worked to get his wet clothes off of him, he was beginning to feel and move again. *Apparently the curare wears off as fast as it takes effect,* he thought to himself. By the time the nurses finished, he was shivering. He was so cold, his teeth were chattering. They piled him up with three blankets that must have just come from the drier. Snuggling under them, he closed his eyes to wait for the doctor. *God, I'm so tired,* was the last thing he remembered before drifting off to a slowly warming up sleep. A short while later, he was awakened by a pretty young nurse who said that the doctor needed to look him over. "Where is Jim?" Blair asked her "We've called Captain Banks, and he should be here shortly" the nurse answered him, Then added "Just try to relax, ok?" The doctor breezed in, listened to his lungs, ordered some blood tests, then left. He drifted off again as the nurse was preparing to take blood. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Shaman School Chapter 1c Simon was almost running through the door to Cascade General Hospital's Emergency Room *It's a busy morning,* he thought to himself as he made his way through the crowd. He finally reached the nurses station and the young black woman sitting behind the desk. "Excuse me maam, I'm Captain Simon Banks of the Cascade Police Department. Could you please direct me to Blair Sandburg's room?" "Are you a relative?" she asked as if she hadn't even heard him. "I am Cap..." Simon began again very annoyed, yet starting to get worried. "Captain Banks," a voice said coming up behind the young woman at the desk. "I was told to expect you", she said looking sternly at the young woman. "If you'll come with me, I'll take you to Mr. Sandburg" the nurse said very pleasantly. "Thank you" Simon said, relief in his voice. As they walked down the hall, the nurse said "We were very surprised to hear what had happened to Mr. Sandburg, and very relieved to have him alive and well. He is a very very lucky man." the nurse said, then added "Is Detective Ellison going to be here soon" she asked stopping by a slightly open door. "We are attempting to contact Detective Ellison as we speak." Simon replied, not even noticing that they had stopped."Can you tell me how Blair is doing?" he added worriedly. "Why don't you see for yourself?" she said as she motioned towards the slightly open door. "Thank-you..." looking down at her name tag "Ms. Brooks." "Take care of him Captain," she said, patting him on the arm as she turned to return to her duties. Simon turned and entered the small room. Blair lay on a hospital gurney, in a hospital gown. He had to have at least three blankets covering him. His eyes were closed, and Simon didn't want to scare him, so as he approached, he said in as soothing and quiet a voice as possible, yet loud enough to be heard. "Blair?" There was no answer. So Simon sat in the chair by the bed, thinking, *Blair needs to have someone here that he knows when he wakes up*. As he sat in the chair, it squeaked a little, but it was enough that it woke up Blair. "Wha...?" Blair said sleepily as he jumped just a little. "Shhh, it's me Blair, Simon. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." Simon said softly as he rose from the chair, so Blair could see him better. "How are you feeling?" "Like I got hit by a truck." Blair then asked "Where's Jim?" still a little asleep. "I wish that I knew" Simon replied. "He left several minutes after the ambulance, said that he had something to do, and basically disappeared. I sent Henry and Rafe to follow him just to make sure that he didn't do something stupid, but he must have heard me, because he lost them within several blocks of the university. He must have his radio and phone turned off, because we can't raise him on either one of them. The only thing that I can figure is that he is really blaming himself for this and just really wanted to be alone. He did say that he would be in touch soon. But, once I heard you were alive, I put an APB out on him, just so we could let him know that you were alive. We'll find him, Blair." Simon reassured him, then asked "Has the doctor been in yet?" trying to change the subject for a few minutes. "Yeah, Some young hot shot breezed in here, looked me over, ordered some tests, then ran out the door. All in about 30 seconds time." Blair got out sleepily. "Where's Dr. Richardson?" asked Simon as he acknowledged the two uniform officers that appeared at either side of Blair's door. With Alex still on the loose, he had to protect his witness. "One of the nurses said that she was at some convention." Blair answered, also noticing the two officers at the door, and noticeably relaxing. Simon relaxed a little bit, seeing Blair relax. "Do you know when she will be back?" Simon asked. "Fraid not," Blair replied "Blair...I hate to ask you this, but can you tell me what happened?" Simon asked, knowing that he had to get some sort of statement from the kid in order to get this case back on track. Blair told Simon everything, including the part about standing beside his own body. As he finished, the doctor came back in. "Mr. Sandburg," the doctor started, "we need to send you to X-ray to make sure that there were no broken ribs due to the CPR. And then we need to send you down for an MRI." "Excuse me Doctor," Simon started" but what do you need an MRI for. He's obviously alive and well." Looking like he was at the tail end of a 36 hour shift, the doctor looked at Simon at replied "We need to assess his brain function. He was clinically dead for more than 20 minutes without any oxygen going to his brain. Normally, brain function is altered after only 4 - 6 minutes without oxygen." Simon merely nodded, then asked "How long will you be keeping him here?" "Well, if the MRI, X-rays and blood tests come back negative, then we'll probably just keep him over night just to make sure that his lungs stay clear, drowning is not something to play around with" he stated matter of factly. "OK Doctor, will you keep me informed?" Simon asked, as he was giving the doctor one of his business cards, "I need to go find his partner and give him the good news. "Sure thing Captain Banks" the doctor said looking at the card, and then adding it to Blair's file. Looking back at Blair, Simon said "Blair, I need to go find Jim, and you need to stay here and do what they tell you. And before you say anything, you are now a material witness in an attempted murder investigation that almost got you killed . Actually, it did get you killed. And I don't ^^ want to go through that again. You are now under protective custody, and to have someone from the PD with you at all times. Do I make myself clear?!?" Simon said in his sternest yet gentlest voice that he could muster. "Sure Simon," Blair replied with a yawn, not intimidated in the slightest, "I could sleep for a week, and not even know it." "Alright then, you just take it easy, and I'll check in on you later. OK?" Blair just nodded, then said, "please find Jim?" "I will, Oh, by the way, is all of your stuff in your office at the University?" Simon asked before leaving. "There or in my car. Why?" Blair asked. "I just didn't want you to leave anything anywhere where it might get tossed or stolen." Simon answered. "Thanks Simon," Blair said as he closed his eyes. Simon took one last look at his charge, then turned to leave. Stopping only to talk to the two officers that stood outside Blair's door. "What ever you do, DO NOT let anything happen to him, or you won't have to worry about what Ellison will do to you. Do I make myself perfectly clear?!?!?!" A pair of startled "Yes sirs" was the only reply. Simon left and headed for his office. He had to find Ellison before he did something really stupid. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Shaman School Chapter 1d Jim had been driving forever. After picking up Interstate 90, he headed East to Billings, Montana where it turned southward. Passing through Buffalo, Wyoming, he transferred to Interstate 25. Taking that South to Colorado Springs, Colorado, he again transferred to Interstate 24 heading West. Heading up Ute Pass on Pikes Peak, he saw the sign that read 'Welcome to Cascade'. *Now what?* he thought to himself. Then in his headlights, he saw the panther facing a road that turned off to the right. Turning off, he followed the twisting winding roads. Seeing the panther at various intersections, he followed him, not knowing what else to do. After turning down Pyramid Mountain Road, he spotted the panther lying in the middle of the road ext to a beautiful mountain lion. He pulled off the road into a vacant lot across the street from a nice looking log cabin. Once he was stopped, the panther and the moutain lion got up and walked over to him. When the mountain lion and panther got within five feet of the truck, the moutain lion morphed into a woman, and the panther vanished. The woman was around five feet tall and had long brown hair that went down to her knees. And she was wearing a Cascade PD sweatshirt and a pair of blue jeans. "Good evening Detective, I've been expecting you." she said to a very exhausted Jim Ellison. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ On To Part 2