The lone figure walked along the near deserted
mountain highway. The
man wore torn and faded jeans, a flannel shirt that
fit his frame
loosely, and boots that had seen better days. Dirt
smeared across the
clothes, and mud caked to the boots. But the man
continued to walk
down the highway, not bothering to stick out his thumb
in the
universal gesture when a car drove by.
 
Jim watched the red Ford Taurus drive by as he
continued to walk. It
had been a month since he had snuck out of the house
he had called
home where he lived with Simon and Blair. During that
time he had
lived in the mountains as a jaguar, rarely taking
human form.
Eventually, he had realized that he couldn't live like
that forever,
and decided to go back to Cascade secretly to just
find out what was
occurring, and then to quietly slip out again if the
news wasn't so
good.
 
He missed Simon and Blair so much. At night, even in
jaguar form, he
dreamed of them. Their faces, their hands on his body,
the feeling of
their minds brushing against his. He missed his
sister, Gaby, he
missed Daryl, he missed everyone, and wished many
times that he could
go back to before. Before he had become even more of a
freak than he
thought he was.
 
The sound of a vehicle moving towards him brought Jim
out of his
thoughts in time to see the Sheriff’s Deputy jeep
drive around the
bend into his sight. The jeep slowed upon sighting
him, and
eventually drove beside Jim as he walked. The Deputy
inside rolled
down his window and looked at Jim. Jim continued to
walk forward, not
looking at the Deputy.
 
"Are you alright, son?" The Deputy asked taking in the
torn and muddy
clothes, and Jim's faraway look.
 
Jim said nothing.
 
"Are you deaf, son?" The deputy asked kindly thinking
Jim might be
injured or actually be deaf. "Are you hurt?"
 
Jim shook his head, hoping the deputy would leave him
be. He
continued to walk.
 
The deputy pulled the jeep in front of Jim blocking is
path. Jim
stopped before he walked into the jeep. The deputy
stepped out of the
jeep and walked over to Jim, who walked backwards to
get away.
 
The deputy took Jim's appearance, and fear into
believing Jim was
either a wanted criminal, hurt too bad to understand
what was going
on, or a mentally handicapped person, and reached out
grabbing Jim's
wrist.
 
Jim fought then, trying to get away. But the Deputy
was well trained
and used pressure points to manuever Jim onto the
jeep's hood
bringing the sentinel's hands behind his back where he
handcuffed
them together. The deputy spoke to Jim like one would
a child, trying
to calm the sentinel. Jim fought back as best he
could, but pressure
points manipulated on a sentinel HURT, especially a
sentinel who was
having trouble dialing down the pain.
 
Eventually, the deputy placed Jim in the back seat of
the jeep,
placed the seat belt over Jim's chest and lap buckling
him into
place. He then got back into the driver's seat and
drove off.
 
When the reached the Sheriff's station, the deputy
explained to the
Sheriff what had happened. Jim said nothing when the
Sheriff asked
him questions, staring straight ahead, practically
lost in a zone.
The Sheriff agreed with the deputy in thinking Jim
might be injured
or mentally handicapped and had the deputy drive Jim
to the local
hospital to be checked out by a physician.
 
The doctor said Jim wasn't injured and was suffering
from
malnutrition, and was perhaps suffering from mental
trauma. The
doctor gave the deputy instructions on Jim's care but
felt he would
be alright to be released tot he deputy's custody. The
deputy then
took Jim back to the station where he was
fingerprinted for
identification purposes then placed in a single cell.
His rights were
read to him but they did expect he would understand.
They were
waiting for his fingerprints to come back before
deciding what to do.
 
A meal was brought. A homecooked meal made by the
Sheriff's wife, but
was left untouched by the sentinel. When the Sheriff
saw Jim curl
into a ball on the cot and begin to shiver he covered
the sentinel
himself with two heavy blankets brought over by his
wife.
 
Finally, the prints yielded information. The fax said
that Jim was a
missing person and gave a contact number to a Captain
Simon Banks of
the Cascade police.

When Simon Banks took the call that Rhonda forwarded
to him from a
Sheriff Tate in the next county over, he didn't expect
what it was
about.
 
He listened intently when Sheriff Tate told him that
they had Jim
Ellison at their jail. He made appropriate noises when
the Sheriff
told him that Jim was not under arrest but had been
read his rights.
When the Sheriff told him about Jim's condition, Simon
assurred the
man that he would be there as quickly as possible to
take custody of
Ellison.
 
When he hung up the phone, Simon quickly picked it
back up and called
Blair at the house.
 
Blair was estatic that Jim had been found because it
meant the
sentinel was alive. But he sobered quickly as he
realised what else
it meant. He told Simon he would be ready when Banks
got there.
 
Daryl watched Gaby while Simon and Blair drove to the
next county to
the Sheriff's station.
 
Sheriff Tate greeted them.
 
"Welcome, Captain Banks. I've heard good things about
Cascade Police,
Major crimes in particular."
 
"Thank you, Sheriff. I guess, though, its time to get
down to
unpleasant business. Here." Simon handed over a stack
of papers.
 
The Sheriff looked at them, "What is this?" He asked.
 
"Those are court orders giving me custody of James
Joseph Ellison."
Simon said with a touch of sadness in his voice.
 
"Why would you need these?" Tate asked curious.
 
"James Ellison was declared mentally incompetent by
the state two
weeks ago."
 
Though James Farrel had hired the best attorney money
could buy, the
high priced lawyer had been unable to stop the courts
from declaring
Jim mentally incompetent mostly because of the fact
that Jim had run
away. However, the man had managed to award Simon
custody of Jim
instead of the state. However, because of mental
incompetency
declaration, Blair and Simon could be charged with
rape and numerous
other charges should their sexual relationship with
Jim continue. The
judge had made that absolutely clear.
 
Now that Jim was back, the lawyer could petition the
court for
another hearing to allow Jim to fight for his rights.
 
The Sheriff nodded, "Alright. Come on back, then."
 
Blair and Simon followed the Sheriff through the back
and to the
singel cell where Jim lay huddled on a cot swathed in
heavy blankets.
The doctor had had Jim cleaned up at the hospital and
given clean
clothes for the sentinel to wear. The Sheriff opened
the cell and
Blair immediatley went to Jim practically falling to
his knees beside
the cot.
 
Though Jim wasn't zoned, the sentinel was staring
straight ahead, his
eyes unfocused. He had no doubt heard what Simon had
said to the
Sheriff.
 
Though Jim was glad to see them, he did not show it.
Instead, he
built his shields up around his mind even more, and
kept a blank
stare in his eyes, and a stony expression on his face.
 
 
"He's lost so much weight, Simon."
 
Indeed, Jim was pale and his cheeks were hollowed out.
Though Jim was
still well muscled, all the fat had been burned from
his body, and he
had dropped at least twenty pounds.
 
"Doc said he was malnourished, but he wouldn’t eat his
meal that my
Maggie brung him. He fought with my deputy when he was
taken into
custody, but afterwards he settled down. He remained like
this, just
looking kinda lost."
 
Simon nodded, "Thank you, Sheriff. We'll be taking
him, and he'll get
the help he needs."
 
The Sheriff nodded.
 
Simon and Blair hauled Jim to his feet. The sentinel
remained on his
feet, but had to be led from the cell out of the
building to Blair's
vehicle.
 
Once Jim was seated in the passenger seat in the back,
buckled in for
safety, and covered with a warm blanket, Simon and
Blair got in and
drove away from the Sheriff's station back to Cascade
and everything
that awaited them there.
 
When they reached the house that they had shared for so long, Simon noticed his parents van waiting in the driveway. 
 
“Looks like Darryl called your parents.” Blair said. 
 
Simon nodded, who else would. Simon parked the SUV beside his parents van and turned off the ignition. Sighing, he leaned back in his seat and turned to look at his lover, who looked back at him with blue eyes behind glasses. Then both turned their attention to the passenger behind them who had yet to have spoken one word. Simon climbed out of the SUV, and shut the door hearing Blair exiting the vehicle on the other side. Simon opened the passenger door behind the driver’s side door, and looked at the sentinel that refused to look at him. He reached in and undid the seat belt and allowed it to slide back into its case. He gently grasped Jim’s upper arm, and said, “Come on, Jim. Let’s go inside.” 
 
Jim climbed out of the vehicle meekly, and walked beside Simon who continued to guide the sentinel with a hand on Jim’s arm. Blair moved in on Jim’s other side as if to trap the sentinel between them. 
 
They walked to the front door that was already opened by Helen Banks who stood waiting for the three of them. Her face showed her concern, but she said nothing as they walked past her into the house. She quietly shut the door behind them and followed them into the livingroom. 
 
They had hoped to steer Jim to the couch, but at the last moment Jim seemed to find himself, and shake free of their grip. He looked around as if seeing the house and the people inside for the first time. His eyes moved over Simon and Blair to Helen and Marvin, then to his sister who looked as if she was about to cry. Strangely to Simon’s mind when Jim’s eyes rested on Darryl, the head dropped, and the sentinel’s feet carried him to the bedroom that had been a front, and was now his true bedroom. He shut the door behind him as he disappeared into the room. 
 
Simon looked at Blair a question in his eyes. Blair shrugged, unknowing of what it was he should do. 
 
“Does he know?” Marvin asked. 
 
Simon wasn’t sure, but Blair answered, “Yes.” 
 
“Give him some time, then. Have you notified Mark McGuire?” Marvin asked. Mark McGuire was the lawyer that had represented the absent Jim at the hearing. 
 
Blair nodded. He had called Mark the minute he had hung up the phone when Simon had called him. Mark had said that he would notify the people that needed to know, and begin the process of appealing the decision. 
 
While they talked, Darryl took Gaby out of the room. The youngest Ellison appeared on the verge of tears not understanding what was happening to her oldest brother. 
 
After having closed the door behind him, Jim had reached up to lock it only to find the lock that he knew had been there suspiciously absent. Glaring at the offending spot where the lock had been, Jim growled to himself then turned and stalked to the bed. 
 
Your just a kid now, Jimmy. Jim thought to himself. Of course they are not going to let you be able to lock yourself in anymore.  It hurt to know that he had very few rights now. He wondered when the day would come that all his rights would be stripped from him. On that day he would be nothing more than a beast to society, and would no doubt be locked away in a cage for society’s safety. 
 
Flopping down on to his bed, Jim noticed immediately that all his stuff had been moved down to this room. The sheets and blankets that had been just for show had been replaced with silk sheets, and a dark blue duvet. 
 
Grasping the pillow he hugged it beneath his head turning on his left side and tried to fight the tears that wanted to fall. 
 
That which he had dreamed of for the past weeks, the longing he felt would forever be out of reach for him now. He was no longer allowed by the laws he had sworn himself to enforce to be with his lovers again. To know their caress and feel them inside his body. With everything taken from him, Jim wondered for the first time since the beginning of the nightmare why he still lived. His next thought frightened him even as he embraced it. Where is my gun? 
 
End of Alternate Track II