Title: Holding Out For A Hero

Author/pseudonym: Kel (Rae Sandburg)

Fandom: The Sentinel

Paring: Jim Ellison/Blair Sandburg

Rating: R for adult situations

Status: new/complete

Archive: Sure please take it.

E-mail address for feedback: I live for it; dragonbane4@aol.com

Series/Sequel: Is this story part of a series?--Thankfully not this time!

Other websites: mine; http://www.geocities.com/tyshka/sentinelindex.html

Disclaimers: The characters do not belong to me. They belong to Pet Fly Studios. I am making no money from this; I am doing it for sheer love of the characters and my own personal fulfillment.

Notes: //.....// denotes song lyrics

Summary: Kidnapped and held underground, Blair prays for a timely rescue by his Sentinel

Warnings: pre-slash, m/m kiss, songfic

Holding Out For A Hero

By
Kelly

***********
Song: Holding Out For A Hero
By Bonnie Tyler
************

Blair hated the familiar sensation of a pellet-filled sap falling on the back of his head. He'd been held here for three days, which is two days longer than he'd thought he'd be. He was surprised Jim had not found him before now, and he was also beginning to worry that something had happened to his Sentinel. Those were the only thoughts that had time for before blackness descended on his world again.

// Where have all the good men gone and where are all the gods?
Where's the street smart Hercules to fight the rising odds?
Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed?
Late at night I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need//

Blair didn't know how long he'd been unconscious. The back of his head throbbed from the repeated bludgeoning. He felt a crusty warmth at his temple and realized he was bleeding--or had been. It had all but stopped, and was barely oozing now.

He twisted uncomfortably in the cot he was bound to. The sunlight that slanted across the floor was dark amber, and the Guide figured that meant it was close to sunset. *That would make four days… or is it five?*

// I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero till the end of the night
he's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast
and gotta be fresh from the fight//

*Where are you, Jim? I need you now; I can't get out of this alone. I don't want to die, Jim. I don't want to die without touching you again and kissing you and telling you how I feel. I don't want to die before loving you. I am sorry, Jim, I shouldn't have kept it secret so long.*

-----

Jim tossed in his bed but he couldn't sleep. Four days had passed since Blair had been kidnapped from Rainier and nothing that the Sentinel could do could find his Guide. Simon had basically ordered him to go home and sleep, but he couldn't. Not with Blair in danger. He had not slept in days, and his body was feeling it, but adrenaline pumped through his veins and kept him on the edge. *You have got to sleep, Jim,* he chided himself. *Sleep and refresh. You'll find Blair tomorrow or you'll go insane trying.*

-----

//I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero till the morning light
He's gotta be sure and he's gotta be soon
And he's gotta be larger than life
Larger than life//

Blair woke up to sun in his face, just as he had the past four mornings.

*Morning again. If I spend one more night here, I'll lose my mind. Where are you, Jim? Why haven't you found me?* He had dreamed of Jim last night, and his stomach lurched as he realized his rescue at the hands of his Sentinel had been a dream. *Please, Jim… I need my hero.* He realized at some point during the night he'd been untied.

-----

Jim woke up the next morning. He had slept, only after taking some of the herbal pills that Blair had shoved at him several weeks ago. He got up and showered, the hot steam rising around his face. *I will find you today, Blair, I promise you. Soon, Chief. Hang on.*

// Somewhere after midnight
In my wildest fantasies
Somewhere just beyond my reach
There's someone reaching back for me
Racing on the thunder and rising with the heat
It's gonna take a Superman to sweep me off my feet//

Blair knew an entire day hadn't passed but the sky outside was pitch black. Thunder rumbled in the sky and he shivered as his basement cell was lit by bright streaks of lightning. He was sweating, partly from fear and partly from the stifling heat of the musty basement, and though he was drenched, the hair on his arms was standing up. He could smell the sweat on his body as he looked out the broken window at the rain starting to pour down. He curled up against the far corner, wrapping a blanket around him as he sweated more.

*Jim… I need you.*

-----

Jim hadn't bothered to go into work; if Simon didn't like it, Simon could fire him. He just stood outside, on the sidewalk in front of the loft, and took long, deep breaths, sorting through millions of city scents for one he knew as well as his own. As tuned on his smell as he was, the jagged lightning and the sudden thunderclap jarred him out of his search. *Blair hates thunderstorms,* Jim thought to himself. *They terrify him. Fear… I know what his fear smells like.* Jim began breathing deeply again of the air being scrubbed clean by the rain, not noticing that he was getting drenched.

Finally, after half an hour of downpouring rain, Jim caught the scent he was searching for. Faint, carried on a gust of wind. Running like mad, Jim followed the direction the wind had come from, stopping every few yards until he caught a stronger, but still faint, whiff of Blair-fear-scent.

Fixing a direction in his mind, Jim wove through traffic lights, parking lots, and downtown buildings until he was on the outskirts of the city. The scent of Blair's fear had gotten stronger as the storm had, and Jim was able to follow it easily now.

// I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero till the end of the night
he's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast
and gotta be fresh from the fight
I need a hero
I'm holding out for a hero till the morning light
He's gotta be sure and he's gotta be soon
And he's gotta be larger than life
Larger than life//

Blair was rocking himself as the storm worsened. He screwed his eyes shut and rested his forehead on his knees as he drew up in a tight ball. He did not even realize that his daily clubbing had not come, nor had the terrified Guide realized that his small cell was starting to flood near the window. His only thoughts were almost a literal prayer to his Sentinel. *Please, Jim, please. Find me before it's too late. I don't want to die this way, I want to love you.*

-----

Jim was coughing, choking on the thickness of the fear that covered Blair's scent. He was close, so damn close but where! Then, Jim saw it. The house was in complete ruin; God only knew how long it had been abandoned. Behind it was a steel cubicle; the entrance to a fallout shelter, some kind of underground shelter. Jim sprinted up the small hill, his body silhouetted by the streaks of lightning. "Blair!" he shouted, but his voice was carried away by the howling wind.

//See the mountains neath the heavens above
Out where the lightning strikes the sea
I can swear that there's someone somewhere watching me
Through the wind and the chill and the rain
and the storm and the flood
I can feel his approach like a fire in my blood//

Blair's head snapped up as he heard the wind howling. He knew there was no way he could have heard Jim's voice; the Sentinel could never find him in this storm, in this place--his tomb. But a faint electricity coursed through his brain and throughout the rest of his body, galvanizing him to move from his corner to look at the window. All he saw was formless black shapes but at the next jagged lighting bolt, he saw Jim--his wonderful, beloved Sentinel--beating at the window. "JIM LOOK OUT!" Blair shouted, as another bolt of lightning seared a nearby tree and set it afire.

By the illumination of the fire, Blair could now see Jim clearly. He looked like hell; unshaven, his face sunken and dull, and his clothing soaked almost transparently against his skin. "Stand back!" Jim ordered.

Blair stepped back as Jim's booted foot broke through the window, and then a flannel-clad arm stuck through and started chipping away the other pieces of glass. "Jim, don't cut yourself!"

"Just stay back," Jim countered. He was determined to break all the glass out of the frame, and one more kick loosened the entire frame. It fell inward, shattering on the small cot. "Climb up--watch the glass--and give me your hands."

"Jim, I'm not tall enough!"

Jim angled his shoulders in until his entire torso hung into the room. "Get up on the bed and reach for me Chief. I won't let you down."

Blair lunged for the bed and jumped, bouncing as he felt Jim's hands lock around his wrists. "You got me!"

"Hold my wrists," Jim said shortly, inching his way backward, pulling Blair with him. It was slow going but finally Jim had Blair out of the cell and standing on the hilltop. "Blair…"

Blair cut off whatever Jim was going to say by jumping up slightly and placing his mouth over Jim's.

Without thinking Jim reached around, gripping Blair's cheeks tightly and lifting him, rubbing their bodies together. The Sentinel's blood sang as Blair's tongue slid into his mouth and Jim nibbled lightly on it. "Jim," Blair whispered against his Sentinel's lips as he broke the kiss. "How long?"

"Too long," Jim answered softly, not releasing Blair. The storm was clearing for a beautiful sunset. "I couldn't hide it any longer. The thought of something happening to you was more than I could stand and I promised myself that when I found you I would tell you because I didn't want to waste another minute."

"My hero," Blair said, running his hands through Jim's wet hair. "I made the same promise down there." He looked at the charred grass and hill, where the steady rain had put out the fire. He looked back up at Jim. I love you, Jim Ellison."

"I love you, Blair Sandburg." He leaned down to kiss Blair again, and barely turned his head in time to avoid sneezing on his Guide.

Blair's face furrowed with worry. "Let's get you home, Jim. I can take care of you. No more heroics during a thunderstorm though."

"If it wasn't for that storm I don't know how I would have found you; your scent was strong because you were so terrified."

"I was terrified all along--terrified that something had happened to you and you wouldn't find me."

"I wouldn't rest until you were with me. I couldn't." He wrapped his arm around Sandburg's waist as they started walking.

Blair sneezed in the middle of Jim's statement. "Looks like we're taking care of each other, Chief."

Blair's sneezy face turned into a grin. "If you call me Chief, does this mean I get to call you hero?"

Jim contemplated that. "We'll see."

End