Blair Sandburg chewed on the end of his red felt tip pen absently
while he studied the papers before him. His eyes moved back and forth
as he read the words typed neatly on the pages.

In frustration, Blair slammed the pen on his desk and watched it
bounce across the desk. "Why did it have to be this week." Blair
mumbled angrily to himself.

Finals week. Blair's job at the University required him to be there
for finals week. He couldn't just leave it to a substitute since he'd
already missed too many days that year. I'm already on their hit
list, Blair thought.

But it was also the week that a conference was being held in Lima. An
international Law Enforcement conference that only the elite of law
enforcement personnel had been invited. Jim Ellison had been near the
top of the list.

The conference was being aired on CNN. In fact, the first airing was
in four hours. Blair had hoped to be done with at least some of his
grading so that he could watch it.

"Doesn't look like that is going to happen." Blair picked up the red
pen and tried to get back to the papers before him.

Three hours later, Blair put down the pen, and hit the snooze button
on the alarm clock. He neatly stacked the papers, and placed them in
his backpack, then turning off the alarm, Blair left his office
locking the door behind him.

On the drive back to the Loft, Blair stopped at the Red Dragon and
got some Chinese take-out. Once at the Loft he checked the time and
cursed to see that the Conference was going to start in about two
minutes.

Breaking House rule Number 23, Leaving Your Jacket in the wrong
place, and House rule Number 7, No eating in the livingroom, Blair
settled himself in front of the TV and switched it to CNN.

The sound of automatic gunfire made Blair drop the take-out box
spilling noodles and rice onto the clean Loft floor. He ignored that
as Blair's eyes glued themselves to the TV, his heart beating in his
ears as he watched the cameraman on CNN capture the horrifying
minutes as a group of terrorists took over the conference.

The terrorists spoke in Spanish ordering the cameraman to keep
filming, to not stop. The cameraman apparently obeyed as the scenes
continued to unfold.

When the phone rang, Blair's eyes never left the screen as his hand
reached out to grab the receiver.

"Blair!" it was Simon. "Are you watching CNN?"

"Simon, Simon we have to do something. We have to help Jim." Blair
blurted out.

"Rhonda's trying to contact someone at the State Department. Blair,
I'm sorry. He's in another country, I wish I could do
something....anything." Simon's voice sounded so forlorn that at any
other time Blair would be trying to comfort the captain. But first
someone needed to comfort him.

"Hold on Sandburg, I'm on my way over." Simon hung up the phone, and
Blair absently set it ont he coffee table as he picked up the remote
and pushed the record button on the VCR. The blank tape inside had
been set to record a documentary on the Discovery Channel while Blair
had been at the office. Now it recorded the chilling moments on the
screen that could very well be the last hours Blair's friend and
sentinel, Jim Ellison, lived.

At one point Blair thought he saw Jim, but the image was swallowed up
when terrorist took control of the video camera.

The next scene was the masked face of a terrorist who spoke in Spanish
to the camera. The automatic weapons fire had died down, and the only
background sounds that could be heard were the groans of the dying,
and silent sobbing of the living.

Blair's Spanish wasn't good enough to translate the terrorists words,
but luckily the men and women at CNN headquarters had started a
translation rolling across the bottom of the screen.

Something about the corrupt government, the police, drugs. Blair
didn't really understand it. Instead, Blair listened hoping to hear a
familiar voice, watched hoping to see a familiar face.

The knock on the door was followed by the rattling of the lock as
Simon used his key to get inside the Loft.

The big Captain said nothing as he cleaned up the mess on the floor,
and threw away the remains of Blair's interrupted dinner. Then he
seated himself beside Blair and watched from the safety of the Loft
the terror that was about to be displayed before them.

When the terrorist decided to repeat his words in halting English, he
used very colorful phrases that were bleeped out. However, the
terrorist must have been watching from another television because he
ordered the people not to edit or change the broadcast in anyway, and
as a gesture to enforce his orders, the terrorist turned his gun on a
hostage. The woman who was on her knees crying, her dress torn in
places revealing a white lacy bra, bare breast, and blood never had a
chance to scream as the bullet pierced her brain and killed her
instantly.

Blair felt the bile rising up in his throat, but he forced himself
not to vomit as the camera showed a close up of the woman's body, the
brains splattered across the floor.

Then the camera did a slow sweep of the hostages, and the dead. The
hostages were being searched thoroughly by the terrorists while other
terrorists kept guns trained on them. Blair's heart stopped as he saw
the strong bloodied face of Jim Ellison, his eyes as cold and hard as
diamonds as he handed over his shirt for one of the terrorists to
search through. Then the camera moved on until once again the masked
leader was all that filled the screen. Again he warned CNN not to
edit what the cameraman's camera sent them or he would kill another
hostage. Then he left the view of the camera and then the cameraman,
clad only in his boxers, was seen for a brief moment as he was handed
back the camera.

The anchorman, also clad in his underwear, returned to the camera's
view and the terrorist allowed him to give everyone at home an
overview of the situation.

The camera man did another slow arch over the hostages, and
shuddered when he saw one of the hostages being body cavity searched
by one of the terrorist. The cameraman immediately swung back to the
anchorman, whose face was pale, and sweaty as if he too had seen that
scene or perhaps experienced it himself.

The hostage had not been Jim, but another man who had looked like a
cop, and perhaps even ex-military, and Blair's stomach rebelled at
the thought that Jim was undergoing something similar. He made into
the bathroom just in time.

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

When the terrorists had entered the building, Jim's first instinct
had been to reach for his gun. If Jim had been wearing his gun, he
would have been dead.

The guards were gunned down quickly before they had a chance to draw
their own weapons. The terrorists ordered everyone to get down in
both English and Spanish. People screamed when the guns went off, and
Jim saw the camera crew for CNN trying to get shots of the
terrorists. Rather stupidly, Jim tried to take out some of the
terrorists bare handed, but though he managed to knock out a few of
the terrorists, Jim received a blow from a rifle butt to his head
that caused him to momentarily black out.

When he came to, he saw everyone was on their knees their hands
clasped together behind their heads. He saw that a terrorist had the
CNN camera, and could see four of the masked gunmen forcing the
cameraman and the newcaster to submit to an invasive strip search.

Groaning Jim got to his knees under the watchful eye of a masked
gunman. Jim looked to his left to see four other gunmen going down
the line of hostages forcing them to strip out of their clothes, and
hand them over. He shuddered when one of the men turned the hostage
around, and with a latex glove on his hand began a body cavity
search.

Ahead of the hostage being searched were hostages who had already
been searched. They wore only their underwear. Even the women only
wore their panties, unable to use their arms to cover their breasts.
The hostages looked shaken, no doubt, Jim knew from the body cavity
search.

When two of the gunmen grabbed one of the women and forced her down
onto the ground, Jim wanted to protest. But knowing that he would
only be killed or seriously injured, and the woman would be raped
anyway kept him from action, but did not stop him from grinding his
jaws.

Periphally, Jim listened and watched the leader of the terrorists
talking to the cameras. Unlike those around him, Jim did not jump
when the gun went off killing the woman.

Eventually, the four gunmen reached him. Jim, having been through a
few strips searches in his life, including body cavity searches that
had been even more thorough than what the gunmen had been doing,
followed their instructions by stripping of his shirt and handing it
over. The men went through the shirt, looking for weapons, drugs, it
didn't matter. They knew everyone there was in Law Enforcement, and
could possibly be carrying any number of weapons. But Jim had a
strange feeling that they were looking for something else.

On command, Jim removed his boots, and socks, then his black denim
jeans. The gunmen searched the clothing thoroughly, ripping the jeans
and tearing the boots up to do so. Finally, the command came to
remove his boxers. Jim did so without even flinching, or even turning
red with embarrassment. Out of the corner of his eye, Jim saw the
camera make a sweep over the hostages, and Jim knew they were still
broadcasting.

While one held a gun on Jim, two others searched the boxers, and the
last ordered Jim to stand up. Using a flashlight, the man searched
Jim’s mouth when the sentinel opened it after being told to do so.
Following instructions, Jim lifted his tongue, and didn't flinch when
the gunman used a finger to swipe the inside of Jim's mouth.

With Jim's hands still clasped behind his head, the gunman lifted
Jim's penis and testicles checking beneath them for anything that
might have been taped there. Prison guards called that type of search nuts and butts because a prisoner lifted his nuts, then turned to spread his
own cheeks as part of a strip search. In this case however, the
gunman did the touching and the lifting. Satisfied, that their was
nothing beneath Jim's manhood, he ordered the sentinel to turn around
and bend over to clasp his ankles.

Without flinching, Jim did as was ordered. Dialing down his sense of
touch to almost nil helped a bit, but Jim still felt the gloved
finger that entered his ass and searched his rectum.

Jim didn't like the way the man's finger lingered, but he could
neither protest nor fight. When the gunman finally withdrew his
finger from Jim's ass, he told the detective to replace his underwear
and get back on his knees.

Jim put his boxers back on, and sank to his knees, hands still
clasped behind his head.

He looked at the cameras wondering if Blair was at home watching.
Silently, Jim thanked god that Blair was not with him. He didn't
think he could have remained as cool and calm as he was if Blair had
been in danger. Thankfully, Blair was safe at home, with Simon and
maybe even Joel there to give him a shoulder to cry on, or an ear to
listen.

When the terrorist leader was done with his diatribe, he gave the
camera back to the cameraman, and the microphone back to the
newscaster and told him in English not to turn the cameras off and to
make a sweep of the hostages every so often. The newscast and
cameraman nodded, their faces full of fear. The terrorist leader then
went to one of the offices to build his command center, and to no
doubt decide what would happen next.

Jim had not heard any demands, but knew that eventually they would be
forthcoming. And when the demands were not met, Jim knew that the
terrorist would kill hostages. He had already shown himself to be the
kind of man who could do so with hesitation and perhaps without
remorse. Jim wasn't too sure of their chances.

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

"That was Rhonda," Simon said as he closed his cell phone and placed
it n his inner jacket pocket. "The State Department is not releasing
any information."

"Which means they probably don't know anymore than we do." Blair said
waving his hand to the television that was permantly, at least for
now, on CNN.

CNN for the most part had been unable to do anything else but show
the hostage crisis recorded live in Lima. When they had attempted to
have an at home newscaster come onscreen to update people, another
hostage had been killed. Fortunatly to Blair, Jim had not been that
hostage.

Now, at the bottom of the screen CNN ran warnings that the hostage
takers had allowed them to do. The warnings said that the video may
contain graphic real life violence, nudity, and rape. All of it was
real. No fake Hollywood blood, but the real thing.

And the rape was real, already the camera had made several sweeps
over the hostages only to get glimpses of people, men, women, it
didn't seem to matter to the terrorist, screaming, sobbing, or in
some cases no sound at all, as they were brutally raped, sometimes by
more than one. So far Jim had not been one of the victims. So far.

The horror of what was on that screen made Blair want to puke, to
curl up into a tiny ball and cry, but he couldn't do that. He had to
watch, if only to make sure Jim was safe.

Inside his head, a childish thought had secured itself firmly, as long
as he watched, then Jim would be alright. He knew it was childish. At
any second one of the terrorist could pick him for their amusement,
or he could be the next victim in the terrorist's show of power.
gunned down like a helpless animal, unable to even fight back.

Blair had changed the tapes twice in the VCR. The tapes would be erased
before Jim came home. Blair would make sure of that. The tapes were a
backup, just in case the occasional sweep picked up Jim, who might
use it to his advantage. To try and get some type of message to the
outside world, and to his guide in particular. Blair just hoped that
he wasn't recording Jim's last few hours on Earth.

"Anything?" Simon asked as he sat down on the couch beside Blair and
handed the guide a bowl of hot soup. Blair took it and ate
methodically. At first, Blair had refused food, but Simon had
threatened Blair with the hospital if he didn't eat. Blair ate, but
did not leave the couch.

"The camera swept by him a few times. I think that head wound has
stopped bleeding, but so far they haven't..." He could finish that
sentence.

Simon understood. He too had seen the rapes occurring with each sweep
the camera made of the hostages.

"He'll survive this Blair. If...if something does happen, you'll need
to be here, strong and healthy to help him through it." It was the
same argument Simon had used when Blair had not eaten.

Blair looked at his soup, then sighed, and spooned it up to eat, his
eyes never leaving the television set.

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

Jim's eyes roamed around the room looking for any weakness among the
terrorist. As he did his sweep, he noticed peripherally the camera
making its own sweep. He also noticed the brutal rapes that were
occurring around them.

Some of the terrorists were not involved in the rapes, and a few Jim
noticed sneered at those who were. A few seem disgusted that the
rapists had chosen some men as their victims rather than all women.

"I feel like I should do something." A whispered voice said close to
him. Jim turned his head slightly to look at the man beside him who
had spoken.

"If you tried they'd just shoot you dead." Jim whispered back.

"I know, I just hate feeling so....helpless." The man returned still
in a quiet volume.

The man's words were exactly how Jim, himself, felt.

"Name's Peters, John Peters. I'm a Narcotics Detective from Chicago."
The man said.

"Jim Ellison, Detective for Major Crimes in Cascade, Washington."

"Did you understand any of that wacko's speech?" John asked.

Jim shook his head minutely.

"Neither did I. What do you think he's really after?"

Jim looked at Peters, "I don't know. That wasn't just a search for
weapons."

Their conversation was cut short when the terrorist leader walked out
of the office with another of his comrades beside him. He began to
issue orders in Spanish.

Several of the terrorist stopped what they were doing and begin to
pick up the bodies of the dead and drag them into a another office.
The camera pointed at the terrorists as they dragged the bodies away.

What Jim found interesting was how long the terrorists stayed in the
office after they had dragged all the bodies in there.

They're searching them, Jim thought. Which means they haven't found
what they are looking for. But what are they looking for?

The terrorist leader looked over the assembled hostages, and said
something in Spanish before dissapearing back into his command
center. The other terrorist went with him. Jim extended his hearing
hoping the two men would speak in English.

"What now, Esteban?" One of the voices in the office said.

"We wait. It is here, we will find it." The other voice, the leader,
said.

"And then?"

"We will take twenty of the hostages with us when we leave this place,
Enrique. Have your men set the bombs in place?" Esteban asked.

"Yes. I have the detonator here." Enrique said.

"Good."

Jim winced when the sound of a slamming door reverberated through his
head, and Jim opened his eyes in time to see one of the terrorist
exit the office where the dead bodies where. By his body language,
Jim could tell the man was excited.

They've found whatever it is they are looking for, Jim thought to
himself. Still the question remained. What was it.

Jim was brought out of his reverie when a hand touched his shoulder,
and Jim looked up at the terrorist whose eyes shown with lust.

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

A knock on the door brought Simon to his feet to answer it. Blair
remained where he was at, on the couch, eyes glued to the television
set.

On the other side of the door was Joel, with a take-out food from the
Mexican restaurant.

"Hey, Joel." Simon said in a low voice.

"Simon. I thought I would come over and see how Blair was doing."
Joel said.

Simon invited the ex-bomb squad captain inside and shut the door
behind him.

Joel walked over to the couch and set the boxes of delicious smelling
enchiladas on the coffee table.

"Blair." Joel said in a questioning tone.

Blair looked up and smiled a bit at the sight of the older man, "Hey
Joel."

The smile didn't last long however.

Joel sat down next to Blair on the couch. He looked at the TV screen
in time to see the terrorist leader enter the office, then turned his
attention back to Blair.

"I brought some dinner. Thought you and Simon might be hungry." Joel
told Blair.

"Oh, thanks, Joel. I'm sure Simon is hungry." Blair said his eyes
never leaving the TV screen.

Joel looked at Simon, then turned back to Blair. "Blair, you need to
eat to. You've got to keep up your strength, for Jim. For yourself."
Joel said.

"I'm just not hungry right now, Joel. But thanks for bringing it."

"Blair," Joel hesitated for a moment. "Jim's going to be alright,
you'll see."

As if those last words had been the bomb that finally devastated the
damn of emotions Blair had held within himself, the anthropologist
suddenly found himself in Joel's arms, weeping. While the older man
held Blair and patted the young man's back gently rocking slightly
back and forth, Blair cried out his fears. Simon wisely stepped into
the kitchen to give the two their privacy, all the while smiling just
a bit. Simon had known that the ex-Captain would bring Blair out of
his shell, and he congratulated himself for calling Joel over.

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

Jim's heart began to pound in his chest as he realized what the
terrorist wanted. It occurred to him to fight back, but the only
thing that would happen was that he would be killed. Though some
would feel that death was preferable to rape, Jim had a strong sense
of self preservation ingrained into him from his military days.
Survive at all cost. So he made only a token struggle when the man
hauled him to his feet, which earned him a blow to his already wounded
head. The blow knocked him to the ground onto his knees and the
terrorist pushed at his shoulder blades shoving Jim onto his
elbows into a very undignified position. He felt hands at his boxers,
and mentally prepared himself to what was about to happen. He had
been taught years ago how to deal with torture and rape, and that
training had come in handy many times in his past, and he brought it
forth into his mind to use it today.

A shout in Spanish fromt he terrorist leader, and the other terrorist
began to round up some of the hostages. The hand that had pulled his
boxers down to his knees and had been kneading his butt left his
body, and a ragged voice said, "Some other time, gringo."

Jim's relief lasted only second before he was hauled to his feet by
the man who had been about to rape him. He gave Jim enough time to
pull up his boxers before the man hauled him out of the room.

Fifteen men and five women were escorted at gunpoint out of the
lecture hall of the building and down through the corridors. The
terrorist leader was at the head of the group with two men walking
beside them.

They walked down several flights of stairs in a long line. Jim looked
around and saw that the camera crew was with them but that their
camera equipment had been confiscated.

They exited the stairwell into the parking garage. Jim wondered how
they planned to escape. He could hear the military forces that had
surrounded the building.

When they entered the parking garage, they did not head toward one of
the vehicles. Instead they were marched towards the back of the
garage.

In the corner of the garage was a sewer manhole, opened and ready for
use. Two guards waited there. The leader walked up to one of them.
Jim tuned his ears on their conversation, which was in English.

"As you said they would, sir, the military has surrounded the
building, but they do not know about the old sewer lines. The way is
clear for us." The man said.

"Good," The leader said then motioned to his men. The leader was the
first to climb down into the sewer.

Eventually each hostage climbed down the ladder into the sewer, guns
trained on them at all times. Jim was one of the last to enter the
sewer tunnel. He had his sense of smell dialed down as far as it
could go.

The sewer tunnel was full of nasty water. Barefoot, the hostages
sloshed along trying not to grimace or moan from the smell or the
feel of the water.

They marched for at least two miles through the muggy water. Jim was
worried about trench foot for the hostages who wore no shoes or boots
to protect their feet from the water.

At the end of the march, some of the terrorist opened up a grate into
the upperworld. The leader climbed up the ladder followed by two
armed men. The hostages went up the ladder one by one, with a
terrorist behind each.

When it was Jim's turn, the sentinel slowly climbed up the ladder
careful not to slip on the wet iron steps.

When he reached the surface, armed men waited for him, and Jim got a
good look around. Three large transport trucks with canvas coverings
awaited them along with other armed men. The hostages had been placed
in one of the covered vehicles with armed guards. Jim was led over to
the vehicle and told to climb inside which he did. He seated himself
between two of the hostages, and waited. Covertly his sentinel vision
scanned the area hoping that an ambush awaited the terrorist. Sadly,
the abandoned warehouse district they had found themselves in was
deserted. No armed military forces waited to capture the terrorist.

His eyes refocused on the prisoners. A sense of being watched had Jim
turning his head and seeing the guard that had singled him out for
rape. The man's eyes were filled with lust and the smile he had on
his face said that he would finish what he had started when the time
came.

Jim shivered in the moist heat, and tried not to think about what was
going to happen when they reached their destination as the trucks
began their journey.

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

"What the hell!" Blair yelled as the TV screen suddenly went dark. He
looked around to see that the lights were still working, so it wasn't
the power. The screen showed a CNN newscaster from CNN
headquarters.

"We apologize for those at home, but it appears that we have lost
contact with our camera. We can do nothing now but wait for word from
the Lima military."

The screen changed again to camera that had been located outside the
building with the Lima police and military who have apparently
surrounded the building where the hostages where being held.

Suddenly the doors burst open and people fled. The people were
hostages and several orders where given to hold their fire. The
hostages ran in their underwear, and the cameras gave them their
dignity and blurred their faces and bodies.

Which to Blair' mind sucked big time since he couldn't tell if anyone
of those hostages was Jim.

"Simon, can we get a flight to Lima?" Blair asked.

Simon already had a phone in hand, "You better believe it."

Simon had Rhonda book flights for Blair and himself. The plane wasn't
leaving for three hours, so they had time to pack.

Blair made it a point to go up the stairs into Jim's room and pack
some clothes for Jim, and thought to bring Jim's shaving kit, and
bathroom essentials. Jim would definitely want to shower after this
whole mess, and hotel soap and shampoo was too harsh for Jim's
sentinel skin.

Joel drove them in his car to the airport. The flight was delayed
only fifteen minutes, but they were still sitting on the runway for
over half an hour before they could take off. By this time Blair was
fuming.

"Calm down Sandburg. It won't get us to Lima any faster if you get
pissed." Simon said.

Blair tried to meditate, but all it brought were visions of a wounded
black panther mewling in pain. Blair hoped that it wasn't a
premonition, just his over active imagination combined with his worry
over his sentinel.

The flight went to Los Angeles and from there they took a direct
flight to Lima on a very large jet.

Simon slept most of the way, and Blair tried to read a book.

Eventually, the plane descended down toward Lima, and to only God
knew what.

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

The sound of ragged vomiting reached Jim's ears, and brought the
sentinel to wakefulness. Not that he wanted to be awake. The
merciful darkness was better than reality at least at the moment.

Jim looked around getting an idea of his predicament. He was in a
small cage made of wood, his wrists tied to the top of the cage which
was submerged in brackish water. Around him the other nineteen
hostages where also in the same boat, each inside an individual cage,
the water up to their chests.

Jim could feel the leeches that had atttached themselves to his body,
and the mosiquito bites on his neck, arms and face. His boxers were
gone which allowed leeches to attach themselves to certain vulnerable
places. Dialing down his sense of touch, Jim tried to ignore the fact
that three leeches were sucking blood from his dick and genitals.

The vomiting came from a nearby neighbor. A man who looked pale and
sweaty. Jim recognized him as the camera operator from CNN.

Not far from them on dry land was a camp made of tents. Jim could see
the terrorist walking among the tents smoking cigarettes, or
marijuana from the scent. They were armed, and still masked. Jim
followed them with his hearing bouncing from one to the next in hopes
of finding the leader.

His luck paid off when Jim heard the leaders voice talking to two
others.

"Senor Phillips, welcome to my camp." The leader Esteban said.

The other voice Jim didn't recognize.

"Senor Esteban we meet again. I was informed that you have what I
seek?" The man sounded American to Jim's ears.

"Si, Senor Phillips. The merchandise has been returned to us. The
traitor was dealt with." Esteban said.

"And the cop?" Phillips asked.

"Dead." Was Esteban's answer.

"I must admit I became a bit worried when I heard that your traitor
had handed over the merchandise to a cop. Not even a local cop."

"The rat took advantage of the law enforcement convention. I spent
too much money and manpower to take over that building just to get
the merchandise. But hopefully, Senor Phillips, I will get my money
back and then some."

"And the hostages?"

"Will be sold on the slave markets if they survive what pleasures my
men wish to use them for." Esteban answered with a laugh.

The American Phillips laughed right along with him. The noise grated
on Jim's hearing, but he managed to hold contact with the
conversation.

"Then everything is set." A dull thud and then popping of latches
followed. "Twenty Million dollars." Phillips said.

The tapping of keys followed and Jim realized that they were
transacting everything online.

"As soon as my bank confirms the transaction, Senor Phillips, the
vial is yours."

Vial, Jim thought.

Phillips chuckled, "And to think that the Americans signed the
agreement not to make bio-weapons, and guess whose little experiment
this was." Phillips then laughed, and Jim's heart fell into his
stomach. Bio-weapons, Jim thought. My God, they are selling a
bio-chemical weapon. But who are they selling it to?

Jim's thoughts were interrupted when Jim felt the cage around him
begin to move. He refocused himself on his surroundings to see that
the rope attached to his cage was being used to haul his cage to the
shore. Jim noticed that his wasn't the only one being taken to shore.
The others looked frightened at the prospect and Jim looked toward
the shore again in time to see that one of the men holding the rope
to his cage was the one who had attempted to rape him at the building
in Lima.

Jim brought his training forward in his mind. It looked like the
terrorist was about to get another chance, and from the look on his
face, nothing was going to interrupt them this time.

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

"Dammit!" Blair screamed silently to himself as they exited the
building that had been set up for the former hostages to receive
medical care, and for families to find their loved ones. The list of
names while not accessible to the press, was there at the building,
but the name James Ellison was not on that list. According to the
civilian liaison with the Lima military, Jim's and nineteen other
names were missing.

The military had searched the building for all of two minutes before
one of the dogs alerted to a bomb. The rescue operations were stopped
to find and disarm several bombs that had been panted inside the
building. The time and effort given to find those bombs had given the
terrorist enough time to disappear with twenty hostages.

So far the military was reticent about the amount of information it
was willing to give to either civilians or the press.

"At least his name isn't on the other list." Simon said quietly to
the fuming Sandburg.

Blair knew Simon was talking about the list of the dead hostages.
Blair had been relieved that Jim's name hadn't been on that list, but
still it was frustrating to have made it all the way to Lima, and to
find nothing. Blair's fear for his sentinel was nearly overwhelming,
and there was nothing he could do. The Lima military didn't have a
clue as to where the terrorist had gone, much less how.

"Come on, let's get over to the hotel and check in. Then I'll call
some people and see if I can't pull some more strings." Simon said.

Blair smiled at Simon gratefully and said, "Lead on Geppetto."

The small joke made Simon chuckle, but mirth quickly died as they
walked to their hotel.

A few hours later, Simon had more information. The military had done
a thorough search and had determined that the terrorist had left with
their hostages through a sewer line. The managed to find the place
where the terrorist had exited the sewer, and determined that trucks
had been waiting for them. The military was in the process of
interrogating the people who worked at the warehouses.

An old friend of Simon's, Eric Thornton met them. Thornton was
working side by side with the Lima Police for the American Embassy.

"I could get in a lot of trouble for talking with you Simon, but I
still owe you one." Thorton said.

It was Thornton who told them about the sewer, and what the military
suspected. He also told them what they planned to do.

"Nothing?" Blair said incredously.

"That's the official plan..." Thornton said.

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

Jim groaned as he regained consciousness, his eyes opening to a bare
squint. With sentinel sight he looked around the tent, and his
sentinel hearing told him that the tent was empty but for himself.

Groaning again, Jim try to reposition himself on the cot where he had
been left, his hands tied behind his back and his feet secured to the
cot itself. Not that he could really escape right now. His head was
spinning, and a major migraine was in the work at the moment. His
back felt like it was on fire, and he quickly tried to dial down his
sense of touch to calm the blaze. But worst of all his pains, was the
lingering burning in his ass. Having a dick shoved up there without
benefit of any lube was sure to do that to the sensitive tissues, and
Jim was just lucky he had not torn badly and bled out. Luckily his
training had told him to not fight the entry, and by relaxing those
muscles to the best of his ability he had prevented serious injury.

Knowing he would suffer later, Jim shoved the rape into the back of
his mind refusing to deal with or dwell on the fact. He didn't have
time to deal with his emotions, the vial that the leader was selling
could not fall into anyone's hands. A bio weapon in the hands of
terrorist was enough to make anyone quake in fear.

Still, looking around, Jim couldn't fathom what he could do about it.
At that moment he was lying on the cot that his rapist slept on,
nude, and tied. His sentinel sight spotted a knife in a sheath
beneath one of the other cots in the tent.

*Now to get to it,* Jim thought to himself. He tested the bonds on
his wrists, and found them unyielding.

Before he could do anything else, the tent flap opened and two
terrorist came into the tent ducking beneath the entrance. One of
them was Jim's rapist. The other was the man's tent mate who had
watched the whole show while jacking off to the sight. They spoke to
each other in Spanish. Jim caught a few words here and there. Enough
to know that they were talking about him, calling him a sweet bitch
with a tight man cunt.

The rapist, Eduardo, walked over to the cot, and gripped Jim's thigh
in a squeeze, then slapped Jim's already reddened ass with the flat
of his hand. In Spanish he told Jim that he would sell for high
dollars. Remembering the leader's statement of what he planned to do
to the hostages IF they survived his men's tender mercies, Jim tried
not to shudder at the thought of being sold to some foreign slave
market. He knew what his fate would be should that happen.

Eduardo laughed, then turned to his buddy and took a marijuana
cigarette from him. They lit up and the smell was nauseating to Jim,
and he tuned his sense of smell down knowing that the smoke would get
him at least a little high if not alot thanks in part to his sentinel
abilities.

The two men smoked and talked, then another man entered the tent and
told Eduardo that the leader wanted to see him. Eduardo snuffed out
the cigarette on Jim's left buttock, and the sentinel gritted his
teeth at the pain of the burn on already bruised flesh. Eduardo had
enjoyed using his thick leather belt on Jim's thighs, butt, and back.

Eduardo then followed the other terrorist out of the tent leaving him
to his tentmate who leered at him. Jim prepared himself for what was
to come.

Two hours later, Eduardo's tentmate left the tent. When he was again
alone in the tent, Jim worked on his bonds. He could feel the flesh
of his wrists tearing but he ignored that. Instead he concentrated on
freeing himself.

Finally, the combination of blood and brute strength allowed Jim to
slip out of the bonds on his wrist. He twisted on the cot ignoring
the flaring of pain inside his ass and untied the ropes holding his
feet to the cot. He stood up carefully when he was free, and slowly
moved to the other cot where the knife waited him.

The knife was a large well sharpened combat knife, and it fit easily
in Jim's grip. He looked around hoping to find some extra clothes
when the tent flap opened.

Jim spun, saw Eduardo, and threw the knife.

Eduardo never made a sound as he fell into the tent, the knife
embedded in his throat.

Jim listened, but heard no sound of any alarm, and went over to
Eduardo's body. He dragged the man inside the tent and stripped him
of his clothes. He laid Eduardo on the cot, then covered the body
with a blanket.

He dressed in Eduardo's camoflauge clothes, and found the boots to be
just a few inches to big but he tugged them on anyway.

Taking Eduardo's gun, Jim checked it removing the clip to see that it
was full, then replacing it and racking the slide chambering a
bullet. He placed the pistol in its holster, then using sentinel
senses he checked out the area around the tent. Pushing the cap low
of his head, Jim strolled out of the tent. Using his senses, Jim
avoided the other terrorist and found his way to the leaders tent.

His hearing told him it was empty, and he went inside after taking a
quick search around the area with sentinel sight.

His senses allowed him to find what he was looking for. The vial had
been placed in a container with liquid nitrogen. He grabbed a pack
off of the cot, and stuffed the container into the bag, then placed
it over his shoulder.

His senses told him that Eduardo's body had been found and a cry of
alarm had been raised. Jim slipped out of the tent, and tried to make
his way through the bustling camp without being seen and hoped he
could make it into the surrounding jungle.

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

Blair listened as Thornton laid out the unofficial plan. Very
unofficial. Thornton had gotten together some old 'friends'. Friends
who had at one time been a part of the United States military and
where now using those skills for money.

"In other words they're mercenaries." Blair said.

"Do you have a problem with that?" Thorton askedd

"Hell if I thought they'd do any good I'd call the Hell's Angels.
Anything to help Jim." Blair answered.

Thornton had nodded.

The mercenary group was led by a big man taller than Jim but not
nearly as tall as Simon, who had an eye patch over his left eye, and
a deep scar below it. On his left arm was the tattoo of the SEALS.
Thorton introduced him as Dietz. No first name was given. The other
men ranged from Army Rangers like Jim, to Navy Seals, and Marine
Corps.

Dietz opened up a map of the surrounding jungle and pointed out a
spot. "This is where they are camped." Dietz said.

"How do you know this?" Simon asked.

"A few of the men from this particular group where caught several
months ago. It took some...persuassion, but they finally talked.
Worse was what they said. Aparently this little hostage takeover was
nothing more than a ruse. One of their men got scared and ran off
with a vial of a new Bio-weapon. He gave it to one of the cops at the
conference. They took over the building jus tto find their traitor,
and the cop so that they could get the vial back."

"Did they get it?" Simon asked.

"They wouldn't have left otherwise." Dietz answered.

"Then why take hostages when they left?" Blair asked.

"Insurance." Dietz replied.

"So we are going to go to their camp and rescue the hostages."

"If we can." Dietz said. "However, I have to say our priority is the
vial. The Bio weapon is extremely lethal and can't be allowed to fall
into the wrong hands. As for the hostages, Thorton tells me that's
where you and your big friend there come in. Thornton is coming along
to help you. While we try and get the vial, you three will be trying
to rescue the hostages. We've seen the list, except for those CNN
guys, the rest of the hostages are all cops some like your partner,
military trained. We're hoping that they'll still be in some kind of
shape to fight. It hasn't been long enough for them to have suffered
to much to not be effective in a fight."

"How can you know that, they could be badly wounded, or something."
Blair said.

"My team used to go into Cambodia and Vietnam to rescue POW's that
the American government said no longer existed, and that the Vietnam
government said they didn't have. Those men had been starved and
beaten for years. Tortured hidiously and left to rot in bamboo cages
for ten or even twenty years. When we rescued them they had to be
carried out and some had even forgotten that they were humans much
less soldiers." Dietz explained, the look in his eyes reflecting the
horrors he had seen.

Blair said nothing, merely nodded in acknowledgement. One day surely
was nothing compared to ten or even twenty years. Niether Jim nor any
of the others were liable to forget that they were cops and had once
been soldiers. And if they weren't dead or unconscious they would
still try and pick up a weapon and fight.

Dietz explained the plan to everyone, and they loaded themselves into
a jeep. Dietz had handed Simon a M-16, and offered Blair one. The
guide refused and instead took a .45 that Thornton had being more
knowledgeable with that weapon. He also took a Sig P227 from Dietz,
and tucked that into a holster at the small of his back. He intended
that weapon for Jim when he found his sentinel.

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

Jim passed by the swamp he had been held prisoner in as he tried to
make his way to the jungle. He noticed one of the men looking at him
in hope, and Jim looked around then threw the knife he carried
embedding it in the wood of the man's cage. However much he wanted to
free those men, he could not allow the biochemical to fall back into
the terrorist’s hands. He hoped that that small token would be enough
to allow the man to free himself especially since most of the
terrorist attentions would be on finding Jim.

When he made it into the jungle, Jim knew that while he had a certain
advantage, he was not yet home free. He wasn't sure he could stay
uncaught, and knew his first priority was to make damn sure they
never found the vial.

Using all his skills learned as a Ranger, Jim made several false
trails, and hidden trails until at one point he hid the container in
a place he wasn't sure he could find again if it wasn't for his
senses. He hid only the vial, hiding the backpack somehwere else and
the container the vial had been in somewhere else as well. The vial
was in a safe spot, and was in no danger of leaking or breaking. And
Jim was sure they wouldn't be able to find it since it wasn't metal
and therefore couldn't be found using a metal detector. Once
everything was hidden Jim went back onto one of his false trails
hiding his real trails, then doubling back on two more of his false
trails all the while his senses alert for the terrorist.

Since the vial was safe from being found by anyone but him, Jim
doubled back taking different trails to the camp hoping to rescue the
other hostages. He couldn't leave them to their fate in good
conscience. Even if he was captured, Jim knew that they couldn't get
the information from him for two reasons: 1) Jim himself couldn't
find the place without the use of his senses and 2) he was trained to
resist torture and interrogation techniques.

When he reached the camp, Jim stayed hidden at the perimeter hoping
to wait until dark before attempting a rescue. His senses told him
that most of the terrorist where out looking for him, and those who
remained behind where on full alert.

Jim found the hostages, and noticed that the one he had thrown the
knife to had managed to cut partially through his ropes, and had
apparently somehow passed the knife to one of the others who had done
the same. Jim looked around and from body posture he could tell which
hostage had the knife and was waiting for when the guard's back was
turned to cut his ropes. Jim smiled at that. When night fell, he
hoped that several of them would have their ropes cut enough that
they could easily break them when Jim created a diversion.

However, Jim was not expecting the terrorist to have night vision
goggles and infrared and motion sensor alarms. So when he
inadvertently tripped the motion sensor alarm several guards
converged on his area and Jim was taken captive once again.

Night had yet to fall.

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

It was two hours before the sun was expected to go down, and Dietz
had told them that they weren't far from the camp. And in fact, they
were forced to abandon their vehicle and proceed on foot so as not to
alert the bad guys to their arrival. Blair followed Simon who
followed Dietz through the jungle. Blair was impressed by Dietz’s
ability to move through the jungle quietly, as well as the rest of
the men. They moved at a quick pace, but nothing that would tire them
quickly. Every so often Dietz would signal a stop, and then pull out
a device which he used to scan for motion sensors, then they would
continue when none were found.

Half an hour before night fell they made it to the edges of the camp,
and Dietz and his men located and disabled the sensors around the
enemy camp. Using hand signals, he deployed his men around the camp
to wait for full dark.

From where Blair waited beside Simon hidden in the brush, Blair could
see the captives in the swamp. Using binoculars, Blair searched
through each captive, but his heart fell when he did not recognize
Jim among them.

Simon, too, had looked, and the two of them exchanged worried
glances.

It didn't take long for night to fall, and Dietz and his men donned
night vision goggles. Blair put his on, as did Simon, and they
waited. Their job was to free the prisoners, while Dietz and his men
took out the enemy soldiers.

Inside the leader's tent, Jim sat slumped in a chair. His hands were
tied behind him to its wooden back, and his ankles were secured to
the chair's legs. Blood poured from his broken nose, and a gash above
his swollen left eye.

Esteban paced back and forth in front of Jim who was barely
conscious.

"Where is that vial?!" Esteban asked again.

Jim lifted his head, spit blood onto the floor, then spoke his name,
rank and serial number. Esteban's anger flared, and the leader hit
Jim across the face again.

At that moment an explosion on the edge of the camp had everyone
raising their head.

"What the fuck...Enrigue, Carlos, go find out what is going on!"
Esteban ordered, and the two men at the entrance left to obey.
Another explosion rocked the camp, and Esteban in fury exited the
tent to see his men running around as several more explosions
occurred. Esteban was able to see that two of his trucks had exploded
as well as three of the tents that held ammunition and weapons.

Esteban grabbed one of his men, and yelled, "We are under attack, you
fool. Round up the men and arm them."

The man nodded, and Esteban released him only to curse to see the man
run away into the jungle.

So angry and intent was he that Esteban did not see the man in
camoflauge slip up behind him. He never saw the face of the man who
slit his throat.

When the explosion began, Blair and Simon made their way to the swamp,
only to see that the prisoners were freeing themselves, and making
their way to shore.

At the sight of armed men, the prisoners froze and slowly raised
their hands.

"Its alright, we're not with these guys." Blair said.

Relief washed over the prisoner’s faces as they lowered their hands.

"How did you free yourselves?" Simon asked as he and Blair helped the
naked men out of the swamp.

"Ellison managed to escape, and threw one of us a knife. We passed it
around until each of us could cut through our ropes enough that we could free ourselves at the first opportunity." One of the men
said.

"Where is Ellison now, do you know?" Simon asked.

"He was recaptured when he attempted to come back and rescue us. They
took him to the tents." The man, John Peters, answered.

More explosions rocked around them, and two soldiers tried to stop
Simon and the others from leaving, and where shot by Simon.

Simon looked at the naked prisoners, and motioned for them to follow
him. He wished he had clothes to offer the men, but at least he could
offer them a chance at freedom.

"What about Jim, Simon?" Blair asked as they led the men out of the
camp taking out any soldiers who attempted to stop them.

"If he's in the tents, Dietz will find him." Simon said.

"I hope so." Blair said as they reached the jungle and met up with
two of Dietz men who would lead them back to the trucks.


Dietz walked into the tent that the man he had killed had walked out
of to find someone strapped to a chair. He walked closer.

"Ellison, wake up, Captain." Dietz said to the man as he knelt beside
the chair.

Ellison opened his eyes, and blinked then looked at the man knelt
beside him, "Dietz?" He said confused.

Dietz smiled, "Hello Captain."

"What are you doing here?"

"Thorton sent us in." Dietz said.

"Why would he do that." Was all Jim said.

"He owed your Captain a favor. And I still owe you." Dietz said.

"Looks like you paid me back in full." Jim said as Dietz used a knife
to free him.

"If I can get you out of here, then I believe it is."

Years ago Jim had saved Dietz and his men when the man's SEAL team
had been captured after a botched operation.

Dietz helped Jim to his feet and the two of them exited the tent. Jim
saw men fighting and dying as Dietz team took over the camp. Another
one of Dietz men came over and helped them to leave the camp and go
into the jungle. A few more explosions finished the job and the
survivors were forced to flee or burn to death.

Dietz lost none of his men, but they did not come away unscathed.
They took the time to patch up some of their wounds, and Jim's, then
began their march away from the camp toward the truck.

"Your captain, and your friend managed to free the other hostages,
and are making their way back to where we left the trucks." Dietz
explained to Jim.

"They weren't hurt?" Jim asked.

Dietz shook his head, and Jim sighed in relief.

When they reached the trucks, Blair ran to them, and replaced one of
the men who was helping Jim.

"Its good to see you, Chief." Jim said with a smile.

"I thought we had lost you, man." Blair said back. "I don't think I
could have handled that."

Together, they walked over to the truck where Simon waited, a cigar
clenched between his teeth.

Four months later....

Jim's fingers felt numb as he carefully opened the letter that had
been sent. When the letter was open, Jim read the words on the page,
then sighed with relief.

Negative.

He knew he had to continue to be tested, and it probably would be for
a few years before he could safely say that it really was negative,
but he felt that at least one hurdle had been jumped.

Folding the letter and placing it in the locked box and hiding it
beneath his socks in his dresser, Jim stood up and walked downstairs.

Ever since he had gotten back, Jim had been distant from Blair.
Afraid that he was HIV positive, and not wanting to give it to Blair
even though common sense told him that HIV wasn't passed through
casual contact, but still the Blessed Protector in Jim wanted to be
sure of that.

*Get over it Jim,* the sentinel thought to himself, *You're just
feeling guilty and you know it.*

Guilt. Jim felt guilty. He had never told any of them. Not Simon, not
Blair, no one. Oh the doctor who had treated him knew, and Jim had
told the man not to tell anyone, but still Jim felt guilty for having
not told his best friends that he had been raped.

At first he had been too ashamed. Later he didn't see the point in
sharing with them. So he had kept quiet, and as a result of his
guilt, he had also kept away from Blair.

Jim was brought out of his thoughts when the door opened to admit the
curly haired anthropologist.

"Hey Jim." Blair said with a smile. Despite Jim's distance from his
guide, Blair had taken it all in stride feeling that if Jim needed
the space after everything, then he would give Jim his space.

"Chief." Jim said as he walked over to the fridge to pour himself a
glass of juice.

"Are you on your lunch break?" Blair asked.

"Sort of." Jim said. In truth he had gone to the clinic to get the
results lying to Simon to do so.

Blair looked at Jim. *Enough is enough* Blair thought. "When are you
going to tell me?" Blair asked.

Jim looked at him in shock, "Tell you what?"

"Whatever it is that's bothering you. Whatever it is that's keeping
you away from me. Jim two months ago I told you to your face that I
was in love with you. And I have to say I thought that I would be
thrown out on my keister, but I felt I had to say it. Instead of
being kicked out or kissed, I get this strange look, a nod, and you
leave the loft. What is going on. Should I pack my bags, am I no
longer wanted here. Does the fact that I love you, that I want to be
with you make you sick. Please tell me Jim, so I'll know."

"Its not like that. I don't want you to leave. I…I love you too, I
just...just couldn't take the chance..." Jim tried to get words out
but the tears where freezing his throat. Tears and shame.

Blair was shocked by the tears, but still instinct guided him to his
sentinel's side and made him wrap his arms around the bigger man
holding him tight. Together, they moved slowly to the floor as if
they could not bear the weight of their own bodies.

"Jim, please, what is wrong, please tell me." Blair whispered as he
held Jim close, his own eyes filling with tears at the sight of
Jim's.

"I…I was...rrraped." Jim whispered barely able to make the words
come.

Blair held Jim tighter, shock filling his entire body, burning away
at his heart. "Oh god, Jim...why didn't you tell me?" He asked in a
low voice almost a whisper.

"I was afraid." Jim said simply, and Blair held his sentinel as he
cried.

Together sentinel and guide weathered the storm of emotions as they
sat on the hardwood floor of their shared home.

Two months later....

Blair opened his eyes and smiled at the sight of Jim's broad back.
The sentinel slept peacefully facing the stairs to the upper part of
the loft. Always the Blessed Protector, Jim's side was near the
entrance to the area, between Blair and any danger that should try
and enter.

Blair watched the up and down motion of Jim's shoulders as he
breathed slowly, deep in sleep.

Since the revelation of Jim's assault, Blair had helped Jim to find a
suitable therapist, and was going to couples therapy even as Jim went
to individual and group therapy. Within a few weeks, Jim and Blair
were sharing a bed, but sex was not in the agenda just yet. They had
kissed and cuddled holding each other through the night, but sex was
too soon, too raw for the wounded Ellison, and Blair loved Jim too
much to rush it.

The day would come, he knew. When Jim no longer saw his attackers
when Blair touched him in certain places, and when the nightmares no
longer plagued him every night, when Jim Ellison released his shame,
and his demons, Blair knew Jim would seek the comfort and loving
embrace of Blair arms and together sex would be a wondrous
experience, and not something to fear. And that day Blair knew Jim
would be home again.