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Shaman School Chapter 6d

Everyone turned their attention back to Incacha, wondering what was going to happen next.

Looking at Jim and Blair he said, "They will not give you any trouble getting them back to the Great City. Once there, their senses will return to normal so that they can be put before your court of law."

Then Looking directly at Blair , he said, "Young Shaman, continue your studies, and always remember that there is always someone who can help you. Remember to relax and meditate, it will help you find most of the answers that you need. Communicate with your Sentinel, listen to each other, share ideas and don't be afraid to voice your opinion."

Blair nodded, and said, "I will."

Then, turning back to Jim, he said, "Enquire, listen to your Guide, don't discount what he has to offer. Sometimes, his ideas may seem a little strange, but hear him out. You may be very surprised at what you find."

"I will try my best" Jim stated.

Looking to Simon, he said "Take care of them Chief." And with that he faded into nothingness along with the rest of the warriors in the room.

As they were fading away, Jamie heard him say "Thank you Chineapa, you have done well."

After all of the natives faded from the room, everyone just kinda stood there in shock. Looking from one another to the two unconscious figures on the floor, Jim finally broke the silence.

"Ok…now, how do we go about getting out of here?"

"Go back the way that we came in, I guess?" Blair answered, as he began a visual search of the room to see if there was another way out.

Suddenly, they heard a groan from across the room and a portion of the wall began to move backwards, revealing an opening to the outside.

"Well, that answers that question, doesn't it?" Simon said as he walked over with Mike right beside him to retrieve Carl from the floor where he had passed out. As they were getting him to his feet, he started to come around. He quietly and calmly followed their guiding instructions as he was led out the door.

Jamie and Carol helped Alex to her feet and led her towards the door as well.

Jim and Blair who had proceeded both of the groups out the door were found standing statue still just outside the exit of the temple.

"Jim, Blair, what is it?" Simon asked with concern as he and Mike came out with Carl.

"It's the temple from my dream," Blair said as he was standing there in shock.

"Mine too," Jim added, as he started to make his way down the stone steps.

Blair was slowly following suit when Simon spoke up from behind them, "I'm sorry to interrupt you two, but how are we going to get out of here, cause I have no idea where we are?"

Just then, a large black panther stepped out into the clearing and stood there looking at the group.

"What do we have here?" Mike said as everyone else noticed the panther.

Blair, looking ay the panther closed his eyes and concentrated on the large cat before them.

Opening his eyes he looked at Jamie who had come up beside him with Carol and had Alex in tow. "He wants us to follow him. He showed me that he will lead us back to the clearing by the hotel."

Jamie nodded as she said, "That's what I saw as well. What should we do Blair?"

"Follow him I guess. I don't see any other way to get out of here other than tuning into eagles and flying out of here, but then we would have no way of getting these guys out of here." Blair said as he waved his hand towards their two prisoners. "And I don't think that turning into dragons and landing on the hotels front lawn would help matters any."

"I hear that," Jim said, then added "Ok, let's just keep our eyes open for any kind of trouble.

With everyone in agreement, they followed the large cat through the dense jungle.

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About an hour and a half later, the large cat stopped and turned to them. Everyone stopped and seeing the cat look at them, closed their eyes and concentrated on what the cat was telling/showing them.

The cat showed them that on the other side of this group of trees, that there was the clearing behind their hotel.

Thanking the animal, they all headed in the direction that the cat had showed them to go as he turned back into the jungle and disappeared.

Finally reaching their hotel room, they called the Police and had them hold their prisoners as they set up the sting in which to nab the buyers of the nerve gas that they found in Carl and Alex's room.

Within three hours, they had all of their loose ends tied up, and were on the Governor's plane bound for Cascade, Washington, with Alex and Carl in tow.

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Once on the plane, everyone got comfortable.

Two Feds had shown up in Mayaland to help escort the prisoners home. Like it was a real problem to keep an eye on two catatonic people.

While the Feds took care of the prisoners, Simon excused himself to go into the next cabin to call his son to let him know that everything was ok. By now, the kid would have been given the news of Blair's drowning, and probably be worried sick that he hadn't heard from his Father in the week that he was gone.

After making the call to his son, he put in a call to Major Crimes to update them that were in route. He also got Henry, Rafe, Joel and Megan to put the loft back together along with all of Blair's things that were either in his car or at the University. Once all that was taken care of, he went back to the other cabin to rejoin his companions.

The flight was uneventful, and the galley had been stocked to the gills. Just about anything and everything that any of them could want, they got.

Looking down at his watch, Blair realized that from the time that they had entered the Temple, to the time they got back to the hotel, it had been a little over 30 hours.

Because the Feds were in the very back of the plane and could not hear what was going on, plus the fact that they were mind talking, Blair felt safe that they could all talk without being overheard.

//"Hey Jim,"// he thought to his companions, //"Do you realize how much time has past since we originally entered the Temple?"// //"Something like 6 hours, I guess,"// Jim answered as he looked at his watch, //"Why?"//

Blair kinda giggled and said, //"Try again man. More like thirty hours."// Looking at his watch again, Jim got this really confused look on his face and turned to Jamie //"Jamie, is this possible? I mean sure it took us a little while to figure out the plaque, but thirty hours? That's just not possible. Is it?"//

//"Ok Jim, number one, what did I tell you all the other day about discounting what is going on? And number two, in the spirit world, time is anything but relevant. You can go into the spirit world for what seams like days or even weeks and when you come out, it would have only been minutes or even hours. Then there is what we went through. It seamed like only a few minutes, but it was actually many hours. …Am I helping you here any?"//

//"Yeah, I can understand what you are saying, but trying to comprehend it is another thing entirely."// Jim answered her.

//"Ok, let me give you another example,"/ When Jim nodded his head, she went on, //"There was this one lady, about something like a hundred years ago or so. She was very ill, and confined to bed, if I remember correctly. It's been a long time since I read that story. Anyhoo, there was a nurse there to take care of her. Then one night, she died and went to live in heaven. She spent four years in heaven. She was happy, healthy, and had everything that she wanted. Then one day, the angels came to her and told her that she needed to return to earth, that her time was not finished there. Reluctantly, she went, and when she awoke, back in her body, the nurse was still sitting in the assigned corner. She had been in heaven for four years, but in earth time, she had only been gone for four days."//

Jim, Blair and Simon had this shocked look on their faces. Jim was the first to break the "silence" //"This really happened?"//

//"Yes, and if you would like to read the book when we get back to my place, I'll dig it out. It's only like 40 or 50 pages, so it won't take you long."//

//"Yeah, that sounds really interesting. Sure, I'd love to read it, if it doesn't put you to any trouble."//

//" No trouble, just remind me when we get back home and I'll get it for you.."//

//"Ok, I will."// Jim replied.

//"That, or let Sandburg read it and then give us a dissertation that is three times longer than the book itself,"// Simon threw in.

Looking at Simon , Blair said, but with a large smile that he just could not contain //"Simon, you wound me, and here I thought that you were my friend? Are you saying that I talk too much??"//

//"If the shoe fits junior."// Simon said with an equally uncontainable smile.

//"Well, you know what Simon?"// Blair began, //"Your animal spirit, the bear? He fits you to the tee. It's the perfect spirit for a Captain of Major Crimes, plus the fact that it tends to mirror your personality perfectly. Especially if you are in a bad mood."//

And then added silently to what he thought was himself, *Which is usually all the time at work.*

He realized that it wasn't as silent as he thought when he had a pair of dark hands come around his neck and try to squeeze the life out of him.

Looking over to his partner with pleading eyes, he said //"HELP!"//

Jim just leaned back in his own seat, crossed his arms and shook his head `no´, then said, //"You got yourself into this, you can get yourself out. Your Blessed Protector is taking the day off."//

Jamie jumped in at this point, //"Ok, guys, no rough housing, and no shapeshifting into anything larger than yourself. I don´t think that you want to have to explain to the Governor why his plane suddenly fell out of the sky, do you?"//

Realizing what Jamie just said, Simon let go and both he and Blair settled back into their seats like good little boys that just got caught with their hands in the cookie jar.

Jim started to laugh , then he started to laugh harder. Before you know it, he had tears running down his face.

At this point, everyone else had tears in their eyes as well.

When everyone got their laughter contained, Blair was the first to speak. //"That is not a good thought."// Everyone was finally able to calm down and relax, and the rest of the trip was pleasently quiet.
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Shaman School Chapter 7b

It wasn't until 1:30 AM before their plane landed at Cascade International Airport. Joel, Henry and Rafe met them with one of the PDs large vans to escort everyone to the PD so that they could finally lock up their two prisoners. The nerve gas having already been turned over to the proper authorities, was no longer a problem.

Once their prisoners had been turned over to the Federal authorities and all of the `necessary´ paperwork had been completed, Simon gave Blair the keys to the van (since Jim´s truck was still in Colorado and Simon had his car brought over from the airport), and told them to go home and get some rest.

Blair didn't waste any time getting everyone into the van and getting them on the road.

As they pulled up out in front of the loft, Jim noticed that Blair's heartbeat and respiration were much higher than they should be. Looking at his partner who had tears in his eyes, and hadn't moved since turning off the van, he asked with concern in his voice, "Blair, are you ok?"

Blair looked up at Jim and simply said, "I never thought that I would ever be here again."

Jim just reached over and gathered Blair into his arms and held on tight as he gently rocked him, but his eyes too had tears as the realization of what Blair had said sank in.

Jamie, Mike and Carol slowly and quietly gathered their things together as Sentinel and Guide comforted each other.

Several minutes later, Blair calmed down enough that her could once again function on his own. Looking at

Jim, he said, "I'm sorry man, I just don't know where that came from."

"Don't worry about it Chief, this is, and always will be your home as long as you want it to be."

"Thanks man, that really means a lot to me, now what's say we go and get some very much needed rest?"

"I'm all for that, except that there is one teeny tiny little problem," Jim said to an overly exhausted Guide.

"What's that Jim," Blair said with enough insecurity in his voice to alert everyone else.

"I never got the loft put back together before I left." Jim said as he watched his partner closely for any kind of reaction.

"Man, I don't care if I have to turn into a squirrel and sleep in the corner or turn into my eagle and perch on the rail to the loft. I just want to go to sleep." Blair said, exhaustion clouding his eyes.

"Ok partner, let's go. We'll figure something out." Jim said as he started to get out of the van.

Everyone grabbed their stuff and pilled into the elevator and waited while it slowly climbed to the third floor.

Stepping out of the elevator, Jim pulled out his keys and unlocked the door, holding it open so that the others could enter. Upon entering himself he was pleasantly surprised to find the whole loft restored to it's earlier appearance.

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Blair took two steps into the loft and froze. Everything was back in place as it should be, even his room was complete. When he got bumped from behind, he remembered where he was and that he should get his butt out of the way.

*So that's why Simon was on the phone so long on the plane. He was the only one who could have pulled this off. That explains why he wanted to know if all of my stuff was in my office.*

With a huge smile on his face, he turned to his partner and said, "You were saying Jim?"

Jim, with a huge smile of his own, just looked at his partner, shrugged and said, "Simon?"

Then turning to their guests, Jim said, "Mike, you and carol take the loft, and Jamie, why don't you take Blair's room, while we just camp out on the couches out here."

"We can just stay down here Jim. We don't want to put you guys out." Jamie said.

"No, now you'll'll take the bedrooms. Besides, I think that Blair really wants to try this `Camping, Shaman style´ in a more controlled situation before we head out into the cold crewel world." Looking at his partner, he could see the *Yes, I really want to try this* in his eyes. The others saw it also, and decided that maybe it would be better if they let them try it out here first.

At 4:30 AM, everyone finally got settled in for the night. Mike and Carol were in Jim's bed, while Jamie had Blair's room, Jim and Blair were two very adorable squirrels curled around each other on one corner of the couch sound asleep on a blanket that had been wadded up on the couch.

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It was 11:30 the next morning before there were any signs of life in the loft. Jamie was the first one up, and Blair came to as she was heading back into his room to get dressed after her shower.

Untangling himself from his squirrel partner, he hit the floor about the same time that Jamie came out of his room in jeans and a tee shirt. Looking down at Blair, she tried to not in a giggle, but just couldn't do it.

"Well Blair, did you sleep well?" Jamie asked just before he returned to his human form.

"Oh, man, that was really great. I think that I'm going to enjoy being a Shaman after all," Blair said after morphing to his human form.

"I'm glad," she said, as Blair headed into the kitchen to put the coffee on, then added, "I knew that you would once you got the hang of it eventually. And yes, it does have it's advantages"

Blair had this huge grin on his face as he turned to face Jamie. "I'm just thinking about how much easier that it will be chasing the bad guys." then asked,
"Would you rather have some tea, Jamie, I have a couple of different ones here?"

"That sounds good Blair," she said nodding and giggling at the picture in her mind of Blair going after the bad guys in animal form. "Why don't you get the tea started, and I'll make the coffee, cause the others will be in here any minute."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Blair said as he headed for the cabinet that had the tea in it.

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Two hours later, after everyone had gotten their showers and breakfast, they all piled back into the van for the trip back to the PD to finish the paperwork from the night before.

Stepping off of the elevator, Blair was a little anxious about going back to work there. Sure, there had been those that were nice to him, but were they really his friends, or did they just `tolerate´ him because he was an observer? He was about to find out. He stepped through the door, and into chaos.

"SURPRISE!!!" Everyone yelled as he went in the door.
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On To Part 11