Disclaimer: Um, PetFly, SciFi, and a bunch of other people own these guys. There's no money or profit involved in this fic.

Rated: PG-13 Angst

Warnings: Mild swearing

Feedback: Yes-on or off list. Lay it on me. =)

Archive: You want it, you got it. Just tell me where.

Author's Notes: This fic is followed by `Epiphany'.

"Simon!"

Simon caught sight of Blair across the room and raised his hand in silent greeting. He shook his head lightly as he watched the younger man bounce across the festive banquet room towards him.

"Sandburg," he drawled as Blair drew near. "Almost didn't recognize you all dressed up."

Blair smiled and craned his head around Simon, trying to see behind the larger man. "Where are the guys? I thought you'd all be here by now."

Simon frowned and glanced around the room. "I came by myself Blair. The mayor snapped his fingers and like a good police captain, I rushed right over. Been trapped in meetings since lunch." Brown eyes scanned the room again. "Did you call the station?"

Blair sighed. "Yeah. Rhonda said there was a major bust going down, but that was three hours ago."

"Don't worry, I'm sure they'll be here. So, where are we sitting?" Simon followed Blair to a large table in the middle of the room and eyed it wearily. Eight place settings circled the table; each marked by small, elegant nametags. As the pair surveyed the empty table, the lights around them began to dim.

"Maybe we could join another table?" Simon suggested to the disappointed student.

Blair glanced around and began to walk towards a table of young, attractive coeds, which just happened to have two empty seats.

Putting on his best smile, Blair approached the women. "Hi there. I'm Blair Sandburg and this is my friend Simon Banks. We were wondering if you lovely ladies would allow us the pleasure of your company this evening."

A well manicured hand gestured towards the empty seats. "Be our guests," a warm voice purred. "Blair Sandburg. That sound familiar. Have we met?" the voice continued. "You're anthropology, aren't you?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry, but I don't recognize you," Blair answered. Settling into his chair, he turned his full attention to the attractive Asian student beside him.

"That's all right. I only know of you because my roommate is in love with you. She's in one of your discussion groups. Every Tuesday, all I hear is, 'Blair is so wonderful. Blair is so smart. Blair is so gorgeous.' And now, here you are." Holding out her hand, she introduced herself. "Amy Kao. Biology."

Simon resisted the urge to roll his eyes as Blair moved closer to Amy. Turning to the other students at the table, he smiled weakly. "So . . .," he started, just as a large crackle from the microphone drew everyone's attention to the front of the room.

An older man, with white hair, stood at the podium and waited for the voices to quiet. "Welcome to Rainier's twenty-seventh annual graduate awards banquet . . .."

Simon sat back and prepared for a long, tedious evening. He clapped when others clapped, laughed when they laughed, and wondered silently where the hell the rest of major crimes was, as they sure as hell weren't there suffering with him. And Sandburg hadn't given him the time of day since they sat down. 'Someone is going to pay for this,' Simon thought miserably as the night wore on.

" . . . Sandburg, for his article, "Interdepartmental Dynamics" featured in the August issue of 'Police Science'." Simon's head snapped up as his brain registered Blair's name. Hell, he hadn't even known the kid was publishing, let alone in 'Police Science'. He glanced over at his young companion and smiled at the excited glimmer in the kid's eyes. He wanted this, and he wanted it bad. Simon turned to face forward again and silently crossed his fingers.

"I am pleased to present this award to Mark Foreman for his outstanding article "Cultural Inadequacies of Urban Socialization" debuting in this month's 'Annals of Social Anthropology'."

As applause spread throughout the room, Simon glanced at Blair in time to see the shaggy head dip in disappointment, then bounce back up with a tense smile. Simon sighed and clamped a hand down on Blair's shoulder reassuringly. Blair turned to him and shrugged, still smiling, as if to say 'No big deal, I'm fine'. As the applause dwindled, Blair turned his attention back to Amy. The anthropologist was practically bubbling with energy and the attention he was showering on the girl was almost embarrassing.

As the night drew to a close, Blair stood and faced Simon. The kid was twitchy-nervous. "Simon, thanks for coming. I'm sorry to put you through this for nothing, but at least the food was good, right?" He forced his grin a little wider and laughed. "Well, I don't want to keep you, so I'll see you at the station bright and early in the morning." Before Simon could reply, Blair had turned away and slipped his arm around Amy's waist. Simon watched as Blair pulled Amy closer and nuzzled her neck. He watched until the pair disappeared into the crowd. Pulling out a cigar, Simon bit down and shook his head. 'Only Sandburg,' he thought.

*****

Simon pushed his chair away from his desk as the voices in the bullpen grew louder. 'Time for heads to roll,' he thought grimly. Steeling his face into as fierce a look as he could muster, he flung open the door and stalked out of his office.

"Simon!"

"Captain!"

"You should have been there Sir!"

The flurry of activity and the excitement tingeing the air, softened his resolve. He's heard about last night's bust. Who hadn't? While he wanted to tear someone's throat out for making him sit through last night's hell, he couldn't bring himself to reprimand his men for wanting to celebrate their success. The grin that was trying to take over his face fell as quickly as it had invaded as another figure quietly entered the bullpen.

"Sandburg!"

"Blair!"

"You should have been there Sandburg! It was beautiful. A work of art."

Blair stood in the doorway before cautiously approaching Jim's desk. As he slipped out of his jacket, he asked, "What's going on?"

"Oh my god! You don't know?" Henri Brown turned to Jim who was leaning casually back in his chair, a grin plastered to his face.

"Hey, don't look at me! I didn't have a chance to tell him. He didn't come home last night. Hot date chief?" he teased his silent guide.

"Uh, yeah. What's going on?" Blair asked, looking around the room and taking in the excitement.

Joel stepped forward and swung his arm around Blair's shoulders. "Blair my boy. You are standing in the middle of history. Last night, Major Crimes took a giant bite of out crime. In one fell swoop, we took down Ramon Dominguez and his entire entourage."

Blair's eyes grew round as he looked at the detectives in awe. "Wow! That's incredible!" Blair congratulated. He continued to ooh and ah as the story was unfolded for him. "That is so great. I wish I'd been there!"

"Hey, yeah Sandburg, where were you? We missed you when we went out after. You know the new club, Glacier?"

"No! You guys went to Glacier? Without me? Oh man, this really sucks," Blair pouted.

Henri beamed, "Yep. We christianed it for you. It's got the official, Major Crime's seal of approval."

Jim stood up and walked over to his roommate. "So Chief, you gonna tell us where you were all night?"

Blair blushed and shrugged. "I had something to do at the university."

This time Rafe chimed in, "Sandburg! You missed the bust of the century for school? What were you doing, grading papers?"

Simon finally emerged from his perch on Rhonda's desk. "As a matter of fact, 'we' were at Rainier's Graduate Awards Banquet," he growled.

The ensuing silence was unnerving, and Blair shuffled awkwardly as all eyes turned to him. "What?"

"You should have said something Chief," Jim said quietly, as he walked over to his friend.

"Yeah Blair. Jeez, now I feel like crap. Here we are bragging about the bust and rubbing it in your face that we hit the town, when all along we were standing you up. I'm really sorry Blair," Henri apologized.

Murmurs of agreement spread throughout the room.

Blair bounced nervously on his toes. "Hey, guys. Lighten up. It wasn't that big a deal. I didn't win any awards or anything. And besides, you guys have every right to brag. Taking down Dominguez is huge. I meant it when I said I wished I'd been there. So, come on! I want to hear more about the bust! I gotta live vicariously, you know? You guys owe me, so I want details. Lots of details."

Simon withdrew to his office as his detectives gathered around the observer, regaling him with stories from their adventure. He wanted to be mad, he really did. But damn! Dominguez. Hell, he wished he'd been there too. Pulling a cigar out and lighting it, he listened to the stories floating through his open door. Oh yeah, victory was sweet.