The Kiss

by Remma (morennab@yahoo.co.uk)

"Jim, how could it be my fault? Come on, man, talk to me."

"Jim, how long do you intend to keep up the silent treatment, 'cause I gotta tell ya', it's starting to get a little old."

"Okay, fine, if you're just going to ignore me, there's no point my being here. I'm going out. If you decide you want to talk you can call me on my cell phone."

"You're not going anywhere, Chief. You're staying right here."

"Great, he talks, he orders. What are you going to do, send me to my room?"

"That's probably the best place for you...at least you can't get into any trouble there."

"I did not get into trouble."

"If you'd just do as you're told..."

"When did I not do as I was told? You told me to stay in the truck...I stayed in the truck. I stayed in the truck right up to the time the perp showed up and tried to steal the truck. How did he get past you anyway, I thought you said he was cornered?"

"He was. I may have had a mini zone, but..."

"What, you zoned? Jim, this is just the kind of information I need to know. Can you remember what you were doing right before..."

"Just leave it alone, Chief, and stop changing the subject."

"I'm not changing the subject, the sentinel stuff is the subject, and if your zoning again, then I need to know about it."

"Fine, now you know. That doesn't alter the fact that you acted like an idiot when Cotton got to you. Don't you know you can't take on an armed man with a car door?"

"Cotton might disagree with that. Besides, what else was I supposed to do?"

"You were supposed to get out of the truck and get the hell out of there."

"And gone where? If I'd gotten out of the truck, Cotton would still have had his gun, and I'd be out one car door, which, let me tell you, makes a pretty damn good weapon."

"He could have shot you."

"He could have shot me if I'd tried to run away. I did the best with what I had, Jim. And you have to admit, it did work."

"Sure it did, and you can be the one to explain to Simon why the department is about to be sued for police brutality."

"What? How can he get away with that, besides, as you keep telling me, 'I'm not a cop', so how can he sue the department? I was just an innocent civilian defending myself against a dangerous, armed criminal. He doesn't have a chance."

"You weren't even supposed to be there, and I really don't need IA snooping around me just now."

"So, what? I should have let him shoot me to save you trouble?"

"I didn't say that."

"Should I have known instinctively that his gun would go off and he'd shoot himself in the nose?"

"You could have stopped to think about your actions."

"I don't believe I'm having this conversation. Why are you being so unreasonable? You know perfectly well I did the best thing under the circumstances. I kept myself from getting shot, and caught your perp for you, all with a car door. A thank you would be nice, but no, you have to act like I've poisoned your puppy. Are you doing this to avoid dealing with the zoning issue?"

"Doing what? I'm not doing anything, and there is no zoning issue...the zoning is irrelevant."

"How can the zoning be irrelevant? If you hadn't zoned, which, by the way, you wouldn't have done if you had let me back you up properly, then Cotton wouldn't have escaped, he wouldn't have threatened me, and I wouldn't have been forced to defend myself. As far as I can see, the zoning is the only issue. Jim, we need to work out what's going on with you, this is starting to happen way to often. I thought we had the senses under control, but lately, you're all over the place."

"That's crazy, I'm totally in control."

"Sure you are, that's why you're standing, like, one inch away from me and yelling in my face. Very controlled, Jim."

"Dammit, Sandburg..."

"Oh, perfect, now we get the throwing against the wall part. That's just great, Man. You know what, you want to repress, you go right ahead. I've had it with your anally retentive hissy fits, why don't you...mmmmnn...Jim...uh...what just happened here."

"I...uh...I was fighting with you, and you were there, and then I wasn't, and you were...you...did you...I have no idea."

"Jim, you kissed me. You did kiss me, right? You didn't just trip on the carpet and fall against my lips?"

"No, no, I'm pretty sure that was a kiss."

"And you meant to do it?"

"No, well, maybe, I'm not sure. It wasn't exactly planned, I mean, I didn't think, 'oh look, there's Sandburg I think I'll go against the habits of a lifetime and plant one on him'."

"So what were you thinking?"

"I don't know, nothing, I wasn't thinking anything. What were you thinking?"

"Me? Why does it matter what I was thinking, I wasn't the one doing the kissing."

"Are you saying I forced you?"

"Of course I'm not, calm down, Jim."

"Calm down, how the hell can I calm down? I kissed you, for god's sake. I've never done anything like that in my life. Geez, feel my heart, I think I'm having a heart attack."

"You're not having a heart attack, man, your having a fear based response."

"A what? You're calling me a coward now? God, I need to sit down."

"I'm not calling you anything. This is probably a sentinel thing."

"Well of course it's a sentinel thing, I'm a sentinel, everything I do is a sentinel thing."

"No, what I mean is, you kissed me because you're a sentinel and I'm your guide, not because you're Jim and I'm Blair. It's probably territorial."

"What?"

"You know, territorial. You felt threatened because I was in danger, so you..."

"How do you come up with this stuff? Do you actually know this or are you guessing?"

"Well, there isn't really that much information on this, so of course I have to make hypotheses based on the information I do have."

"You're guessing then."

"Pretty much."

"So maybe I kissed you because you're cute, not because I was territorially threatened."

"Well, sure, maybe...you think I'm cute?"

"What? Oh...uh...a little, in a geeky, short kind of way."

"Oh, so now you're making fun of my height."

"What height, you have no height to make fun of. Half your body weight is hair."

"That sounds like the jealousy of the follically challenged."

"Now who's making fun?"

"You started it, all I'm doing...oh my god...Jim, are we flirting?"

"I don't know. I think we might be."

"God."

"I know. Blair, when you said you weren't the one doing the kissing, did you mean...uh, was it...uh...Blair?"

"I didn't hate it, no."

"Oh. Do you think you might like to try it again?"

"I might. Is it likely to happen again?"

"Possibly. Uh...when I said it wasn't planned, that was true, but I think it may have been on my mind...a little...maybe."

"You think?"

"You know me and repression."

"Do I ever. Jim, what were you doing when you zoned?"

"Listening to your heartbeat. Damn, that's relevant, isn't it?"

"I would think so, yes. What about the zone you had last Tuesday?"

"You'd used a new soap, your scent was different."

"And the one on Friday?"

"The light in your hair. This is not good, is it?"

"That depends. If you were hoping the kiss was an isolated incident, then no, it's amazingly bad. On the other hand, if you were wanting it to mean something more than a momentary aberration, then the fact that you've been zoning on me for the last few weeks is pretty damn good."

"Oh."

"What do you want, Jim?"

"I don't know, what do you want?"

"I asked first."

"Yeah, but I'm the one that's repressed."

"True. Jim, if I go first I need you to promise you'll be honest with me man, is that going to be a problem?"

"No, I can do that."

"Okay then...yes, I am attracted to you, I've always thought of it like a crush, so I've never acted on it. You're the best friend I've ever had, Jim; I love you in so many ways. I could be happy just being with you as a friend, but if there's a chance we could have something more, then yeah, I'd want to try for it."

"Oh."

"That's it, oh?"

"I'm thinking."

"And?"

"Yes."

"Yes what?"

"Yes I'd want to try for it too."

"Because?"

"What?"

"Why do you want a relationship with me?"

"Oh god, you're going to make me say it, aren't you?"

"Not all the time, but I need to hear it, just this once."

"Blair, you are the most important person in my life, I love you, I want you, I want to share my life with you...okay."

"Okay, good, that's good I guess, us both wanting to try for a relationship."

"Yeah. How do we...?"

"I have no idea."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Should I kiss you again maybe?"

"That could work."

"Okay...ready?"

"Yup, any time, Big Guy. Jim? God, I don't believe this...Jim, come on man, come back to me, follow my voice, that's it."

"What happened?"

"You zoned, man. Are you sure you can handle this?"

"It might take a little work, but it'll be worth it, at least for me."

"Oh, for me too. Definitely worth a little work. Maybe I could work out some tests."

"God, I hate tests."

"Well, if you'd rather forget about it..."

"No, no, I'll do the tests, after all, it's a damn fine payoff. How come this has never happened before, it's not like I've never made out before?"

"I don't know, it must be a..."

"Sentinel thing. Yeah. I kissed you before without zoning."

"You were mad then so you weren't thinking about the kiss."

"So...what? I have to get mad every time I want to kiss you?"

"No, no, we just need to work out the reason you zoned. What sense were you focused on?"

"Taste."

"Oh, okay then, this time, engage your other senses too, like maybe..."

"How soft your hair is?"

"Uh, yeah, like that."

"And how the blue of your eyes deepens when you're aroused?"

"Uhm..."

"And the subtle alterations in your scent every time you...mnnnn...god, Blair, that was, that's, god. You kissed me."

"It was my turn."

"So now it's my turn again?"

"No, I'm not done yet."

"Chief, what are you...fuck...yeah...that's...oh god, don't stop, don't ever stop."

"I won't Jim, I swear, I'm yours for as long as you want me."

"That long? Thank god, because I am never going to let you go."

"That's how it should be, Jim...we belong together."

"Yeah. Chief?"

"What?"

"It's not just a sentinel thing."

"No, it's everything."

"Yeah, everything. Always.

***The End***

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