NOTES: I DID IT!!! I figured out a way to get Blair to CHICAGO! And of course, wherever Blair goes, there goes trouble. I was just kinda atching my show on Saturday night and it hit me. I was SUPPOSED to be working on the thesis and the final paper, but I just couldn't do it until I cleared my head! No kidding. So here it is. I think this is my first finished X-over! Yikes! (Oh, and Bek! Gemini project is still going!) Any comments: wnnepooh
Disclaimer: The characters of Jim and Blair aren't mine. Neither are Gary, Chuck, Marissa, or King. I'm just borrowing them and I'll return them to their rightful owners after I'm done. I take full responsibility for Dr.Pulaski, though. Guess what the name of my prof is for tomorrow night's Final?
"Yeah, Jim." He said into the cell phone as quietly as possible. "I promise I'll keep out of trouble. Right. Okay, I'll see you at the airport Sunday afternoon... Later, buddy."
Blair Sandburg closed the little cell phone and shook his head. *Walking trouble magnet...* he thought and laughed to himself. He stared at the pile of books in front of him, ran a free hand through his hair and went back to his reading.
"...recent transcription of ancient glyphs and scrolls has brought new life to the Sentinel legends of..." He read on, thoughts of his friend dissolving into thoughts of his Sentinel. Academia took over as the words filled his mind, eliminating his awareness of everything else.
"Charlie," the worker started. "I got in early and started right away. Figured we could use the..."
"Whoah! Let me have a look at the work order again." Charlie said and fiddled with a thick set of papers. "BERNIE! We're supposed to dismantle that big one over THERE..."
~~~~~
It was WAY late. Packing up his laptop and the random papers full of scribble only he could understand, Blair threw everything into his backpack and hoped that security could let him out of the building. And if they could, would they do so without a lot of hassle? He really didn't want to have them call the university , or worse, JIM. It would only go to prove that everywhere he went, even ALL the way here in Chicago, Blair Sandburg was STILL a trouble magnet.
It was completely innocent. He'd been working away on his notes and the texts and, as usual, had lost track of the time. Situated in the furthest reaches of the resource room, the anthropologist hadn't heard the librarian or any of the assistants calling out the closing time. To his credit, he'd actually set the alarm on the laptop's planner, not realizing that he'd set it for normal time - Cascade time. So here it was, two hours after closing and Blair was hastening towards the front of the museum, oblivious to the nightly maintenance tasks and their respective workers.
~~~~~
"NO, Bernie." Charlie said, waving a large wrench at his partner. "RIGHTY
tighty, lefty LOOSEY! NOOOOO!!!!!"
~~~~~
One minute he was standing there staring down at the papers that had been released by the broken zipper on his backpack, and the next minute he was staring up at the ceiling. He tried to sit up, finding several bones of literally mammoth proportion resting across his chest. A quick mental check revealed that everything was functioning and nothing seemed to be punctured or ruptured.
"Hallelujah for that. Something right for once!"
"GAR!' Came the call and was answered with a movement under the debree. "GAR! Gees. What are you trying to do, give me a heart attack?"
The voice stopped abruptly as Blair looked up into a friendly, albeit unrecognizable, face.
"Hey, buddy. You okay?" The man asked. "Can I give you a hand? Or maybe a femur?" They stared at the large bone the man removed from the younger man's chest. He extended a hand out to help Blair up. "You seen a guy in a leather jacket under there?"
"Leather jacket?" Sandburg repeated as he nodded. That struck something. Someone had called his name - a guy in a leather jacket - then had knocked him, correction barrelled INTO him, knocking him down and away from a large, pointed tusk. "Yeah, yeah. He's over there somewhere." He sat up, careful of some preliminary aches, and pointed to where a bunch more bones were moving. A soft moan was heard from the pile and it moved some more, the bones falling away to reveal a man in a leather jacket.
"GAR! Thank God!"
Suddenly there were half a dozen people standing around them. Blair looked around at the astonished faces, finally standing up to survey the damage. Bones and twisted wire, a ladder protruding from one side of the pile, and a scattering of tools covered a large section of the marble floor. His gaze locked with the dark-haired man in the leather jacket as they simultaneously extended their hands.
"Blair Sandburg - but, uhhh, I think you already know that. At least that's what my ribs are telling me."
They shook hands and smiled.
"Sorry about that. Gary Hobson...I uh...the thing was...uh..and oh, never mind." He cast his eyes up at where the display HAD been, then quickly searched his pockets for his paper. It wasn't on him. He'd had it when he'd tackled....
Blair had begun searching for his pack and papers, hoping beyond hope that none of the heavy bones had damaged the laptop. *How do I explain THAT to the university insurance rep?* Kicking aside a couple of the smaller ribs, he found his pack intact, then went about picking up the loose papers. Just his luck that the zipper would break... Spots of light burst over his eyes and he dropped to one knee just to avoid falling down completely.
"WOAH!"
Hands caught him under the arms, and helped him back down to the floor as the paramedics took over. Blair looked up as Chuck came to kneel next to him, Gary not far behind.
"Chuck! Is he okay?"
Before either paramedic could answer, Blair smiled and blurted out his ailment. "Fractured ribs..." If there was any injury he was used to, it was that one. Bruise, busted, or fractured, Blair knew the symptoms of all three common rib problems. Hell, he'd experienced all of them, a couple times.
From somewhere in his mind, he heard Jim's voice. "Okay, Chief. Just relax and let them do their job. Do some of that breathing stuff..."
"Breathing...right." Came the soft whisper, and four faces brightened with smiles.
~~~~~
"What were you doing in the museum that late?" Marissa asked.
Blair smiled and sipped his coffee before answering. "I was using the special materials in the university resource room. I just lost track of time."
"You do that a lot?" came Chuck's voice.
Again with the smile. "Yeah." the anthropologist laughed. "I sometimes have to set an alarm to remind myself to go to bed!"
"That's dedication." Marissa said, moving closer to their guest.
Blair watched the woman sipping her coffee, once again amazed at the kindness and hospitality of his rescuers. When he'd opened his eyes this morning, he'd found the guy in the leather jacket - Gary - standing next to the hospital bed. In the course of their conversation, Gary had revealed that Blair had indeed suffered fractured ribs, but also a slight concussion from being tackled. They'd insisted on keeping him overnight, so Gary had taken charge of the backpack and made a few phone calls. Blair could now sit and wait for Jim's inevitable call. He silently thanked the time-difference for not embarassing him just yet.
At least he'd be able to tell Jim he'd been well taken care of. Gary had picked him up that morning and taken him to his place, a bar and eatery called McGinty's. There the young man had met Marissa, a psych student at the local college and assistant manager of the place. The first thing he'd noticed was the braille text she'd been reading and he asked her about it. That was how he'd found out her major. Over breakfast, breakfast he'd insisted on cooking himself, the two had talked shop while Gary had disappeared for a while.
The other guy, Chuck, had shown up about an hour after Gary had left and had set to work. Blair and Marissa had been engaged in a meaningful discussion on theorists when Gary had returned. And by the looks of him, his morning disappearance had been just as eventful as his museum rescue mission. He'd let it go, and gently included the man in their conversation, which had eventually included Chuck as well.
"Blair?" Marissa said and reached out a concerned hand for her companion, drawing him back to the conversation. "Are you okay?"
"Sorry," he said quickly. "I zoned..."
"Zoned?" Chuck asked.
"Long story. You were saying, Marissa?"
"Dedication." came the delicate voice. "Studying so hard you have to remind yourself to go to bed. You must want that degree pretty badly."
Blair smiled. He hadn't told her he already had a degree - well, a few degrees. Actually a few is three and he had four he thought... some degrees.
"Yeah. I want this one pretty badly. I've put most of my life into it so far.."
The phone rang at that moment and Blair knew, beyond anything, that it just HAD to be Jim. As Gary extended the reciever to him, Blair gulped some coffee for courage. "Yeah, Jim? Uh huh. I know...I know...It wasn't my fault, man! Totally someone else's fault. That is like SO not true in this case. You gotta believe me."
They saw their guest hide his face in his hand and laugh, trying to hide his conversation.
"That's not fair! NO! You don't have to tell Simon...What? You put a bet on ME? Oh, Great! I can see the guys at the precinct now...Sandburg's Mammoth accident...ha ha ha. What? No, don't do that... huh? Oh, Simon! How's my favorite Captain doing?"
"Captain?" Chuck mouthed to Gary. "Precinct?"
Gary just shrugged and sipped his coffee, waiting for his guest to finish his conversation. He wouldn't ask questions, it wasn't really his business. He'd known something was up when he'd seen the Cascade PD identification and the emergency contact was a Detective James Ellison. Still, the kid didn't look like a cop to him. Oh, well. It didn't matter. He just wanted to keep an eye on Blair, after all, the concussion was his fault. Besides, things were slow that day in the paper...
"Okay, Jim. I'll see you tomorrow at the airport. Huh? Okay. Okay!" Blair said much like a child being given strict instructions he doesn't want to follow. With as much dignity as possible, he held the phone out to Gary. "Jim, uh, wants to talk to you."
Gary took the phone with a smile, watching Blair wrap an arm around his ribs and return to sipping his coffee. "Hello? Huh? No, no problem. I'm really certain it wasn't his fault. Yeah. Really. Wrong place at the wrong time."
"Story of my life..." Gary heard Sandburg say at the same time as Jim.
"Right. Well. If I ever get to Cascade I'll be sure and look you up...Uh huh. You're welcome. Right, Detective....Jim, then. Sure. Bye." And with a touch of the off button, Blair stopped fidgeting and turned to look Gary in the eyes. "He said you owe him a Bulls cap, and Captain Banks a Cubs shirt." There was a smile to Blair's eyes, Gary noted, and a slight bounce now. "He also said that Dr. Pulaski called and that you need to go see her at the university."
"Cool!"
"Cool?" Marissa laughed, hearing the exuberance in his voice.
"Yeah, I've been bugging Rainier, that's my University at home, to gather materials for a display of early Prusso-Siberian tribes. Receeding glacier maps, flint and stone tools, texts on how the hierarchy was set up, rituals and the artifacts alike. Well, Dr.Pulaski is the authoritarian in the field. I've charmed her into letting me borrow some things..."
"Charmed?" Chuck asked with sincere interest. He'd seen the kid in action already. Lying there, on the marble floor, Blair had innocently flirted with the two female EMT's. There was something about his smile, or those stuggling-student looks - maybe it was the hair- that made women swoon over him. At the hospital, every nurse had stopped to see how he was feeling, making themselves available" should young Mr.Sandburg need help. "How charmed?"
Blair smiled, recognizing the classic profile of a womanizer in Chuck Fishman. "Charmed enough to let me borrow about $1.2 million dollars worth of artifacts and literature. Is that charmed enough for you?"
"THAT's charmed. Hell that's bewitched!" Chuck said and poured himself another cup of coffee.
"So what's a psychology major doing with archeological artifacts?" Marissa asked.
Blair took the seat next to her. *Truth time.* "I'm not in Psych. That was my minor. I'm in..."
"Anthropology..." Gary said looking up from his paper, his eyes meeting a pair of startled blue orbs. He stuttered, reaching for anything. "Your stuff... in your backpack...I saw it when I called Detec-uh-Jim..." He watched the young man shrug, tuck a stray curl behind his ear then turn back to Marissa, giving her his full attention.
"I'm a graduate student, but I'm also a Teaching Fellow at Rainier, in the Anthropology department." He said as Marissa smiled and moved closer. "I'm working on my Ph.D."
"Chuck," Gary started, drawing his friend's attention away from the scene. "Could you join me in the other room. I wanta check on the bar stock..."
Chuck didn't want to, as he was firmly engaged in watching the Sandburg Magnetism, as he'd named it, in action.
*Gees, the smile even works on her...* he thought as he felt himself being tugged along by the sleeve. "Gar, calm down. What is it?" Chuck's voice stopped as he read the paper's headline. "Visiting Anthropology Student Slain." The picture of their new friend was displayed there on the front page, next to the story.
The two men took seats at the end of the bar as Gary read the beginnings of the story. "Visiting Anthropologist, Blair Sandburg was fatally injured last night during a daring late night robbery at the university museum. The young man, a Teaching Fellow and Doctoral candidate from Rainier University, was shot in the chest at close range while trying to protect his companion. The robbery, sources say, netted some very rare and priceless artifacts being loaned out to Rainier from the museum. Mr.Sandburg was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,' commented Dr. Eileen Pulaski, noted university professor. Mr. Sandburg, a consultant with the Cascade Police Department, succumbed to his injury several hours later. His body will be flown back to Washington state where he will be burried with full Police Honors."
"So, what are you gonna do about it?" Chuck asked.
"I don't know, but I'll try to think of something." Gary said as he lead the way back to the kitchen.
"You sure I can't write you a note or something?" Blair asked eagerly. "I mean, I AM published in the field. It's not like you're blowing off the class - just doing a little independent study."
Marissa just laughed and shook her head. "Sorry, Blair, but I never miss my classes. Being there is so much more helpful than a recording. I don't know how to explain it, it just...sounds different."
*No need to explain that one.* he thought. "I understand, believe me. Sensory development is well understood on my part. They say that when you lose one sense, the others enhance to compensate. How's your tactile responses?" At that, Blair placed Marissa's one hand between his two.
"Tactile responses? I'm loving it!" Chuck whispered to Gary. "He's a pro! I should be taking notes." And with that, he started looking for some paper and a pen.
Marissa turned herself around to face Chuck. "Set your butt down and get a glass of water. Better yet, a bucket - and stick your head in it."
"I HATE it when she does that."
Blair looked up at Gary who was just staring pitifully at the other man. "I told you. The others enhance to keep you balanced, protected. The ancient Amazons believed that blindness was caused by gods and goddesses taking human eyes to spy on mortals. In exchange, the blind were given other gifts - heightened senses, legendary beauty, immense widom." His thumb caressed her hand, he smiled with his voice and finished his thought. "You must have been especially favored..."
Chuck and Marissa BOTH sighed and Gary didn't know which one was more impressed with their guest.
"It's a shame you've got class tonight, Marissa." Gary said, suddenly smiling. "How about dinner here, Blair? On the house."
Pulling his hair back to a small ponytail, the anthropologist smiled up at his new friends. "Uhhh. I'd love to, but I don't know. I've got quite a bit of studying left to do in those old books. I'll probably be late. And I don't want to put you out. You've done enough already. I don't know how I'm gonna repay you as it is..."
"Not a problem." Gary started. "Just doing my..er..uh....what I had to... do..." He'd almost slipped up. Almost said something about the paper.
If Sandburg had caught it, he hadn't said anything. In fact, for a guy who worked with the Police, he didn't ask about the encounter at all.
"Man! I've gotta go! I'm supposed to be at the museum in like half an hour. I think I can just make it if I run for the El..." Grabbing his pack and jacket, Blair was already counting his change for the train as he stood up.
"I'll drive you." Chuck volunteered to everyone's surprise. "It'll give us a chance to talk..."
Gary and Blair exchanged knowing glances, but Blair knew better than to turn down the hospitality. Receiving a familiar cuff on the shoulder, Blair was out the back door with a single glance and wary smile to Gary.
~~~~~