Title: SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES 2: ROGUE AGENT

Author/pseudonym: PEJA

Fandom: THE SENTINEL/MAN FROM UNCLE/EMERGENCY/THE OTHERS

Pairing: JIM/BLAIR NAPOLEON/ILLYA

Rating: NC-17

Status: NEW/WIP

Archive: the WWOMB. It is availible upon request elsewhere, but only with the author's permission. If you've already got permission to use my stories, just let me know if you take it. and where it's going.

E-mail: daltonavon@yahoo.com

Series/Sequel: Part 2 of the Something Wicked Series

Other websites:

Disclaimers: Jim Ellison and Blair Sandburg, as well as the members of Cascade Major Crimes belonged to Petfly. Petfly sold them to the Scifi channel. The Scifi channel dissed them.....I can treat them well...have a nice little cage for two set up and ready....And hey, I might even feed them.

Dr. Neil Colby, and Dr Dick De Roy as well as Johnny Gage and the gang at 51/Rampart belong to the creators of Emergency

Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin are agents from The Man From UNCLE fame and belong to their creators.

Elmer Greentree and Mark belong to the Other's Group and their creator's.

Notes: Once more we are delving into my dark side. The boys had better hang on to each other or they are lost souls on the highway of my imagination.

Summary: Jim and Blair run for their lives from the agency.

Warnings: AU, this is part of the Something Wicked universe. If you haven't read the first part, I can't promise you'll understand what's happening.

WARNING 2: RAPE.....DEATH OF MINOR CHARACTER...CHILD ABUSE...SLAVERY.....MASS VIOLENCE UPON THE BODY OF THE ADORABLE ONE

SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES 2

"What are you doing here?"

Johnny Gage offered his patented 'gotta-love-me' grin. "Wanted to check on Blair."

Jim Ellison's drop dead glare hit him like a boulder. "You're at the wrong address. He's in the Cascade Cemetary under his master's headstone. Not even the dignity of a secondary mention for him. Here and gone like dust in the wind."

"Yeah, right. You're waxing rather poetic, aren't you?"

"Go to hell," Jim said, swinging the door shut in the med tech's face. Johnny caught it mid-swing and blocked it with a hand. "Jim, I'm here to help." He sent a strong look Jim's way. "Off the clock."

Jim grimaced. "They buried him alive, Johnny. He wasn't medicated. he knew every moment of what was happening, do you understand? He was in the dark. The dark, Johnny. He is absolutely terrified of the dark. Jesus, Johnny, he heard them burying him alive."

Johnny blanched. "God, you were there."

"Damn right I was. He was my guide. My lover. I watched them put him in that damned casket. I heard his screams as they dumped the dirt in on him.

"Jim, I..."

"Don't," Jim snarled, stepping backwards. "I don't want to hear it." The rage went out of him suddenly. "Look, just....go."

"Jim, listen to me. I know he's alive. I think he's near by. You'd be close to catatonic, if not dead yourself, if Blair had died like that and you'd witnessed it. Don't shut me out."

"Enough of this." Illya Kuryakin dropped a hand on Jim's shoulder. "Go lie down, Caveman. You need to get some rest. Now."

"But..."

Illya stopped him with a glare. "I'll handle this, Ellison."

A look of utter helplessness crossed Jim's palid features and he slumped in on himself, suddenly looking a man twice his age. "I... Okay, yeah....For awhile." He stabbed a finger in Johnny's direction. "Keep him out."

"You don't want to do that, Jim," Johnny said softly, drawing the sentinel's attention. "I know you're going rogue."

"Now why would I do a thing like that?"

"Cut the bull, Ellison," Johnny sneered, glancing around the hall nervously. "I don't have time for games about this. Its to damn dangerous. He grinned suddenly. "I'm your contact to the underground, asshole. Are you really going to make me say that stupid code? I know you can hear I'm telling the truth."

Jim didn't look convinced. "Why would I go rogue?"

"Ah, Jez, I don't believe this." Johny pinched his nose, sighing. "Okay, Jim. the reason you quoted the underground was Blair can't survive in the corp. What you didn't say is that you can't survive without him. That means you have to go into deep cover."

Grim-faced, Jim crossed his arms over his chest. "Blair is dead."

"Yeah, tell me another one. I'm not stupid, Ellison. I'm not going to Patrick Henry you, either." Johnny captured Jim's tired gaze. "You have to trust someone."

"Really?" An elegant brow arched. "And you think I should trust you? You held the needle that would have killed him. You stood by and let him be taken by that she-bitch. You let him go knowing they intended to bury him alive."

"If I'd done anything else I wouldn't be here to help you now, would I? I'd have disappeared into the nether regions of Command Central and where would you be now?" Johnny sighed. "Tell you what. You go it alone. See what happens. You get to the point where you need help, you know where I am."

"Caveman, now might be the time." Napoleon Solo said, leaning against the guestroom door."

Jim whirled around, losing what little color there was in his face. "Is...."

Napoleon shook his head. "Let the doc-boy in. We need him."

Illya invited the man in with the tilt of his head. "You heard the man."

Johnny's dark gaze darted toward Ellison, waiting until the big man nodded, once. He took one step backward and whistled softly.

Jim bristled as two men carrying medical bags stepped around the corner.

"Jim, I want you to meet the underground's triage docs, Neil Colby, and Dr Dick De Roy, based out of San Francisco. I thought you might be needing some quality medics so I called them in."

Narrow blue eyes swept over the two men. "You're taking a chance coming here."

Dick grinned, brushing past the wary sentinel without batting an eyelash. "We're taking a chance every time we take a new rogue into the net."

Neil tilted his head, slanting an equally wary glance toward Elilison. "You gonna be the one to take our operation down?"

Jim smiled the first honest smile he'd given since Blair was rescued. "Not if you are the real article."

Neil shrugged. "Where is our patient?"

Napoleon straightened and swung open the door to the guestroom without a word. The Rogue agents didn't hesitate, dashing through to the bed where Blair lie, unmoving, barely breathing, one step above death.

"How long has he been like this?" Neil demanded, diving into his bag and beginning a quick exam.

Jim spoke from the door. "Since we got him out of the ground."

"I don't like this," Jim grumbled, padding around the room like a caged animal. "First he brings in those two jokers claiming to be doctors and now he's got a couple of Hocus Pocus types. What's next, I gotta wonder."

"Relax, Caveman," Solo stretched out his long legs in front of him on the sofa and draped an armani clad arm over his eyes. "Johnny hasn't betrayed us to your Sentinel Corp yet, has he? He's played us fair, hasn't he? So he's got some damn weird friends, well near as I can tell you are just as weird as those two guys from The Others group."

"But his wanky friends haven't done Blair a damn bit of good either, have they? He's still in there like one of the dead."

"Get a grip, Caveman." Illya halted the pacing sentinel by stepping in front of him and thrust a steaming mug of fresh ground coffee under Jim's nose. "Drink that."

Jim glared at the cup. "I don't want anything."

A dark scowl pulled Illya's brows down over flashing eyes. "How would you like a needle full of sedative instead?"

"Oh, oh...." Napoleon slumped lower on the sofa.

Jim threw a glance toward Napoleon. "He wouldn't..."

"Master doesn't threaten," Napoleon said, finding a sudden intense interest in his manicured nails.

Jim made to grab the mug, but Illya pulled it back out of his reach. "Gently. You're not to spill a drop, understand?"

Jim nodded and took the cup gingerly from the small blonde man. "Bloody Russian blue blood....."

Illya's brow rose again.

Jim ducked his head, sipping the strong brew, grimacing when the European strength coffee crashed over his tongue. "Good...." He forced a smile, then moved past his host to add under his breath, "....God that is vile."

"Sit down, Caveman," Illya commanded. "I just bought this rug and already your stomping around all day and night is starting to crush the nap."

Grumbling under his breath, Jim sat. He leaned over to set the cup in a nearby coaster.

Illya intercepted him, pushing the coffee back towards his lips. "I don't usually speak twice, Caveman."

Napoleon edged deeper into the corner of the couch. "Stubborn brat. Keep it up and you'll piss off Illya. You really don't want to piss off Illya."

Jim hurled a scowl at the dapper man before he took a deep breath and swallowed half the mug's vile brew. Grimacing, he glared at the small blonde. "I'm not your sub. You know that, right?"

Chuckling, Illya hooked a finger under Jim's chin and forcing his head up, stared deeply into blue eyes. "Don't try my patience, Caveman. I'm allowing you some leeway because I know how worried you are about our Blair, but even that has limits."

"But you do know that, right?" Jim pressed.

Napoleon cringed. "Always he challenges."

"That's enough, Naps," Illya commanded. "Caveman, you are our Blair's lover. As I said that gives you some leeway in our home. Your handling of him does mark against you, I must say, but in time, with guidance, I believe your devotion to each other just might be enough to discipline you both. For that reason and that reason alone I will not punish your willfullness."

Jim's jaw dropped. "But...."

"Drink that coffee," Illya admonished, with a playful grin. "Every drop."

To stunned to do anything else, Jim obeyed.

"Well, I never thought I'd see the day Ellison was dumbfounded." Johnny stood with his shoulder braced against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest and his right ankle over the left grinning his wickedest.

Illya glared over his shoulder. "You, medical, do not have any of Jim's balancing points. Don't press it. Napoleon and I did not ask for this trouble to be brought to our home. I will only stand for so much discord."

Johnny held his hand before him protectively "I'm on my best, little Russian buddy."

Illya advanced on the wise-cracking man. "Do you want something, Gage?"

Johnny sobered instantly, tipping a nod at Jim. "Mark says get him in there."

"And you stand there making trouble?" Jim rocketed off the sofa and sprinted across the room, skidding to a halt when Johnny blocked the entrance with his body. "Get out of my way, you jerk."

Johnny shook his head, his dark hair brushing broad shoulders. "Pull it in, Ellison," he said, planting a hand against Jim's chest. "Elmer has managed to channel into Blair. You know he's a perfect mate for you, don't you?"

"Get out of my way." Jim gave Johnny a hard shove

The smaller man held his ground tight, shaking his head. "You damn well better hear me out, Sentinel."

"Don't call me that. I'm not part of that any longer. I'm not a sentinel."

"You're fooling yourself, Jim. No matter what else you do, you will always be a sentinel. You can't walk away from that part of you any more than you could walk away from Blair. Now you are going to slow down and hear me out...For Blair. Do you understand? For Blair."

"I....." Jim's glance darted around the room, searching for an answer that was not there. "I...am listening."

Johnny grinned. "Good boy, Ellison. Now, Mark wants you to come in quiet. They had the devil's own time breaking through Blair's panic. We can't risk startling him and having him retreat farther away from us than he already is. And he won't listen to anyone but you."

"This is insane," Jim said, raking a shaking hand through thinning brown hair. "How do you know this...this medium has any clue about....."

"Jim...?" Blair called, soft and far away, from the other room. "Jim?" he called again, then in a lost and frightened voice, "You said Jim was here. Why did you lie? Why...."

Jim caught Johnny by surprise, hurling him out of the way and shoved his way into the room. He stopped dead cold inside the door, his jaw resting on his chest.

"....did you lie to me?" Elmer Greentree's lips hung slack, the words pouring from his mouth.

Mark Gabriel turned a dark scowl Jim's way, then gestured him close, directing him with hand signals to sit on the bed where Blair lie, pale and unresponsive.

"Call him." Mark mouthed, sentinel soft.

Jim tucked one chilled hand in his. "Blair...?"

Vacant brown eyes turned toward him. "Jim? Jim, is that you? Ahhhh, no, man. Please. You can't be here, too. You can't."

"Its all right, Blair," Mark said softly, stroking the distraught man's arm. "Jim's safe, Blair."

"How?" Blair said, his voice raising several notes. "How can he be safe? Here? This is dead land, man. No safe. No happy. Just dead dead. Oh, god, Jim can't be....."

"Hush," Mark said, continuing to smooth soothing caresses over the thrashing man. "Jim is alive. You are alive. Do you hear me? You are alive. Jim got you out in time."

A slow tear tracked down Elmer's bristled, weathered cheek. "I want to go now. What's holding me here?"

"Go?" Jim choked on the word. "Where...Where do you want to go."

"I'm so tired. Release me."

"Oh, Blair." Jim pressed tiny kisses into the chiled palm he held. "If that's what you want, that's what we'll do."

"We?"

"Jesus, Jim," Johnny said. "What are you saying?"

"Whatever Blair wants," Jim murmured. "I lost Tony. I won't be left behind again."

"No," Blair protested. "Jim, please...."

"This is stupid," Johnny threw his hands up in the air. "I put four damn good men in jeopardy and for what? A couple of suicides waiting to happen."

"No..."

"I won't change my mind, Blair babe. You are my guide. My last guide, do you hear me? I can't bear the thought of being without you, so you lead, I'll follow."

Blair fell silent, the only sign he hadn't departed life, the slow rise and fall of his chest. "Okay, you win," he said at length. "But I don't know how to come back. It's dark here. I'm scared. I need someone to show me the way."

"Blair, listen to me," Mark said, pressing his advantage. "Elmer is near you. Can you see him?"

"See him?" Blair scoffed. "I'm blind, damn you. I can't see anything."

"Calm down, Blair. I want you to reach out your hand. High. Above your head. Can you do that?"

"Yes."

Mark chuckled at the young man's sardonic tone. "That's right, Blair. Get mad. Elmer, you're going to have to guide him home. Take his wrist and send him back."

"I....Something is touching me," Panic flowed through Blair's words. "Something is..."

"Its all right, Blair. Don't pull away. That's Elmer. He's come in to get you. Do you understand? If you fight him, we could lose you both."

"Jim....?"

"Trust them, Blair. God, I need you so bad."

"I'm scared, Jim."

"I know, but I'm here watching over you. Trust me, Blair."

"So hard...."

"I.....love you, Blair. Give Elmer your hand."

"....Love me?"

"God, yes. I love you."

"Like....Tony?"

Blinking back his tears, Jim fell into Johnny's skeptical gaze. "Better than Tony, Blair. Do you hear me? What I feel for you in no way compares to what Tony and I had. Give Elmer your hand, Blair. Reach up to him."

"I've got him," Elmer cried out.

Blair arched violently on the bed, the breath screaming out of his lungs. His eyes snapped open, empty and blind. "Jim..." He reached out desperately.

Jim gathered him in his strong arms, smothering his hair and face with tiny wet kisses and tears.

Blair's hands fluttered against Jim's chest, pushing against the contact. "Ooooowww. Hurts. Oh, man. I hurt."

"Out of the way, Ellison." Dick snapped shoving Jim toward the door. Neil joined him at Blair's side, running a quick examine. Johnny and Mark converged on Elmer, matching the other med team move for move.

Illya touched Jim's arm. "Blair's alive, Caveman. You can relax now."

"Can I?"

Napoleon grinned. "That's the million dollar question with our little firebrand, isn't it? Just how much can you relax with Blair Sandburg as your lover."

"Naps, go to our room and wait for me."

Jim arched a teasing brow. "Now who is gonna get it?"

Napoleon grinned wider than ever. "Master's pet, that's who? And I can hardly wait," he said over his shoulder as he left the room.

"Tickles..."

Blair's throaty laugh drew Jim's attention. And he smiled. "No, neither can I."

Johnny slapped Jim on the back, grabbing the door knob with a, "Have at him, Jim," and exited, shutting Jim in alone with his guide.

Silence fell over the room as both men waited for the other to speak, to move, something.

At length Blair's hands began plucking at his blankets and he squirmed restlessly on the huge bed. "Jim...."

"I...I'm here," Jim whispered.

Blair's sightless gaze swung in his direction and he tilted his head, listening to the silence. A tense moment more passed.

"Oh....Okay...ahmmmm....I guess I'll....sleep then." Blair squirmed around on the bed, sliding deeper into the warm blanket's embrace. "Would you...turn off the light, Jim. It's really not... necessary."

"Sure. I thought...Well, never mind...." Jim clicked off the light and moved through the darkness to Blair's side. "Would you let me...." Jim sighed. "Never mind."

"What?" Blair whispered. "What were you going to ask, Jim?"

"I'd like to lay down with you, Blair...If...."

"Lay with me?"

"Don't worry about it. I can take the couch." Jim begain to turn away. "You need to rest."

"I rest better in your arms." Blair rolled toward Jim. "Come to bed. Please."

Jim didn't need a second invitation. Flinging off his pants and shirt he crawled into bed and gathered the young guide into his arms.

Blair snuggled into his arms, burrowing down on Jim's tight muscled shoulder. "Mmmmm, nice..." His contented sigh dwindled into a soft snore as sleep claimed him.

Jim touched his lips to Blair's brow, relishing the warm feel of this living body in his arms.

*************

Illya paused just inside the bedroom door. Napoleon made a picture of complete submission kneeling, naked beside their bed. The larger man did not move, not even flicker an eyelash as Illya approached.

"You know why you are on your knees?"

Napoleon opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again, nodding

Illya picked up the riding crop Napoleon had laid out on the bedside table. He cracked the whip once in the air, before tapping it against his hand. "Serious infringement, you think, shalava?" he asked, caressing Napoleon's cheek with the whip.

Napoloeon shuddered but remained silent, his head bowed.

The whip cracked agaist Illya's hand. "You may speak."

"Yes, Master. Thank you, Sir."

"Name your crime, Shavlava."

"I was rude to the man our Blair loves."

"And?"

Napoleon grinned impudently. "I teased his straight laced ass to distraction."

"And enjoyed it to no end, it would seem." Illya said, stepping behind his lover to hide his own smile.

"Yes, sir."

"Why was this wrong?"

Napoleon's grin faded. "You require I treat our guests with respect. I didn't do that with Ellison."

"Because...."

Napoloen shrugged, biting his lower lip.

"Shavlava...?"

"I...I don't like him," Napoleon stammered. "He's not right for our Blair. Ellison treats him badly."

The whip cracked the air.

"That is not for you to decide. Blair chooses his own path. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Five, I think, this time." Illya declared. "Assume the position."

Napoleon scrambled across the room to brace his arms against the wall, his legs spread shoulder wide to support his weight through what was to come.

The first searing contact pulled a soft whimper from Napoleon before he said, "One, sir. Thank you, sir."

Another screaming blow was met with silence except for the required count and thanks. The punishment continued quickly, the blows falling harder with each swing. The final blow landed. Napoleon dropped his head aganst the wall, tears coursing down his pain-lined features.

Illya laid the crop aside and stepped into the bathroom without a word.

***************

Blair's screams rent the midnight still, wrenching Jim awake. His blue eyes scoured the room for signs of danger and found none. The man beside him, however, writhed frantically, caught in a night terror that dragged pitiful pleas for help from him.

"Blair," Jim crooned, gathering the struggling young man into his arms. "Hush, my sweet. Hush, you are safe now. I'm here. I'll protect you."

Blair's eyes snapped open suddenly. "Jim?" he cried, clutching at his lover's arms with fingers that dug like talons. "Jim, forgive me. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I can't be what you need....You should have left me in the ground. You should have moved on."

"Blair," Jim pressed him down into the soft pillows, holding him with the weight of his own body. "Blair, stop." Jim snatched Blair's flailing arms out of the air and pinned them above his head. "Stop."

His mouth swooped, silencing Blair's babbling words in a slow seductive kiss. Blair resisted for a moment, then melted under the bigger man.

"I need you, Blair," Jim whispered into his hungry mouth. "I need you. No one else. God save us both, I love you."

His free hand crept between shucking his briefs.

"No...." Blair rasped, frantic to escape. "I don't want to. Denna, please, don't let them...." His screams returned in force.

"Sweetcheeks," Jim suddenly found himself locked in a battle of cyclonic force as Blair sought release.

Somewhere his mind caught the words...."...anyone do a rape exam on him, Neil?"

"Anytime you're ready, Blair," Neil said softly, pressing down on the record button.

Blair startled like a doe in hunting season. "What....was that?"

"Nothing to be concerned about. Remember, I asked if you would allow me to record our sessions? I just turned on the recorder."

Blair closed his eyes, sighing. "Oh....yeah, okay."

"Would you like to begin?" Neil coaxed.

"No, dammit, I wouldn't like to begin. I'd like to go back to my room. I'd like to go to sleep. I'd like to forget this whole damn thing ever happened. That's what I'd like to do." Blair scrubbed at his face with trembling hands. "I don't know why we have to do this. What difference does any of this make anyway?"

"We discussed that already, Blair. What was done to you was wrong. You didn't deserve to be put through that."

"You're a fool," Blair's words were dead-panned, without any emotion. "I am a slave. I have no right to deny the master's what they want."

"No, Blair," Neil said. "You are a free man. Your papers say...."

Blair laughed without humor. "There are no papers. Denna burned them. She burned them.... on my back. The flames...." Blair shrugged. "Hurt. The hard cover sort of melted to my back. Here...." He reached behind to finger his lower back. "Still sort of...itches."

Neil glanced at Dick. "That explains the burns we observed."

"And the lash marks, Blair?" Dick prodded.

Another shrug. "Due for the course. A runaway is usually cancelled. Since I was supposed to die in the coffin, they decided I should suffer a caning for my actions." Blair tilted his head toward the door. "Jim can hear all this, can't he?"

Neil glared a warning at the big man sitting on the edge of a soft chair.

"Even when I asked him not to listen in I knew he would. Just like I know he'll hate...." Blair choked on the thought. "I did like the idea of being loved....for awhile."

Jim shifted restlessly in his chair.

Dick pointed another warning. "You think he'll stop loving you because of this?"

"When I came around...After the caning...." Blair folded his arms around his waist, rocking back and forth. "They....I could feel the cold knives cutting away my clothes. There were hands all over me. Holding me down. Hitting me. And blood. I could feel it running down my face. Taste it in my mouth." A slow smile curved his lips. "And the cum they shot in my mouth. It didn't taste like when I was servicing the johnny's, ya know? It tasted....dirty. Like poison." A soft, short laugh parted his lips. "I can still taste it, ya know? Like something sour. Dead."

"Is that how you feel, Blair? Dead inside?"

Blair thought about that for a moment than rolled down on the sofa, hugging a pillow to his stomach. "I feel....numb." He smiled. "That's a good thing, though. Nothing can hurt me if it can't reach me, right?"

What about Jim?" Dick asked.

"Jim?" Blair sighed. "What about him? He'll try to pretend this never happened. He won't be able to. But he'll try. And then he'll walk away."

"He's able to accept your past," Neil said softly.

Blair' lips formed a pouty mou. "You think so?"

"Don't you?"

"I am what I am. Jim will never understand. He was born free. I was born a slave. Raised a hooker. When they used my ass that night, I'd forgotten what I was. I actually bought into all the crap Jim and the rest of them had been filling my head with. I thought I had the right to say no. I know better now."

"Jim says he loves you, Blair. How do you feel about that?"

Blair snorted. "Five dollars....love ya long time. I'm a fucking whore, for Christ's sake. What kind of man can love a whore?"

"So you don't think you deserve real love?"

"Why are you going on about that?" Blair demanded, rocketing to his feet. "Why does any of this matter? I got what I got. So it hurt a bit. So I'm a little fucked up because of it. What of it? What's it going to matter anyway? I'm just a fucking whore."

"Sit down, Blair," Neil said softly.

"I want to go to my room," Blair screamed. "I want to be left alone. Do you hear me? I just want to be left the hell alone."

"Would a slave....A whore be allowed that priviledge?"

The anger went out of him and Blair slumped down on the sofa. "It didn't have to be this way."

"No? How's that?"

"When Denna buried me." Blair said softly. "When I realized I was going to die and there wasn't anything I could do to stop it happening, I was glad. I thought I would finally be free. Finally no one could make me do anything I didn't want too ever again. I'd never have to take another fucking cock up my ass again. Never have to suck another stinking hunk of limp meat. Free."

"Is that what you think death is. Freedom?"

Blair tilted his head, staring sightlessly at Neil. "You are really starting to get on my nerves. You know that, don't you? I mean you are really getting on my nerves."

Neil laughed. "All part of the job, Blair."

"You really think talking about all this is going to do a damn bit of good?"

"What," Neil asked, a chuckle in his voice. "Do you think?"

"What do you think?" Blair mimicked. "I think your a bull-shitting crackhead quack, that's what I think?"

"You're angry, Blair."

"Am I? Well, imagine that. I get my ass reamed on a nightly basis by any horny bastard with enough blow to afford to pay and what do I get for it? Nothing but horse-whipped if they complain. Worse if they like it."

"Worse?"

"You try sleeping with the owner. The other sluts don't like you cuz you have a certain imagined priviledge. The freemen think they should get a freebie cuz they're friends with the boss. Yeah. Worse."

"You've been a pleasure slave since you were...." Dick consulted his records. "Nine, is that right?"

Blair frowned. "Who told you that?"

"Doesn't matter. True or false?"

"What of it?"

"Nine is young."

"Not for a slave. And Benny serviced an elite clientile." Blair sneered. "Jim's got a big mouth, huh? He was the one that spilled, right?"

"Don't blame Jim for telling us the facts, Blair. He's worried about you. Wants to help us help you."

"Help me? By blabbing what I tell him in confidence? Yeah, that's really helping me, isn't it?"

"Do you know what a guide is to a sentinel?" Neil asked softly.

Blair's sightless eyes zeroed in on him. "Some luckless bastard who has no life of his own."

"In other words?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"Try?"

Blair hunched over the pillow in his lap. "A slave. That what you want me to say?"

"Is that what you want to say?"

Blair hesitated. "Yeah, okay. A guide is a slave to the sentinel."

Dick stilled Jim with a quick glare. "And a sentinel to the guide?"

Blair rocked back against the sofa, curling around the pillow. "Lord and master."

Neil watched the young man thoughtfully for a moment. "Jim went rogue when he saved your life. Did you know that?"

Blair stilled, paling. "Rogue?"

"He's a traitor to the agency and his government. He will be shot on sight if he's found."

"Why would he go rogue?" Blair raked his hair back with jerky hands. "He loves being a sentinel. It's all he lives for."

"All he lives for? Then why do you think he'd be willing to risk summary execution, Blair?" Neil asked.

"You know, you are really starting to bug me," Blair snapped.

Chuckling, Neil said, "You already said that. Answer the question, Blair."

Blair began to rock back and forth. "He's a fool. I'm not worth the risk."

"You think that's how he feels?"

"You think I care how he feels?"

"Yes, I do. Answer the question, Blair."

Blair shrugged. "He wants to fuck me."

"Fuck you or make love to you?"

The rocking stopped briefly then resumed. "Everybody loves a whore...until the dollar's spent."

"Blair..."

"Drop it, will ya? I'm a screw for a buck whore. Trash for the bash. Damaged goods before they...before they..." His voice cracked. Rocking faster, he shook his head. "What else would a righteous goodie goodie want? A quick one before he goes home to the little darling." Blair punched at the pillow in his lap. "He played me. Played me like a violin. Don't leave me, Blair. If you die, I'll die with you, Blair." Pure disgust curled his lip. "Roll over and tip your ass in the air so I can fuck you, Blair."

"You love him an awful lot, don't you, Blair?"

Dick's words slapped Blair into silence. He rocked harder. "No, Lou, I don't. I don't love him. I swear. I....It's just sex. I swear. Don't...." Blair stuffed his fist in his mouth stemming off the torent of words.

"Blair?" Neil said.

Whimpering, Blair continued to rock, faster and faster.

"Blair?" Neil snapped. "Where are you now?"

"They never stopped," Blair murmured, hugging the pillow to his chest, rocking at a slow steady pace. "Never let up. So much death." He gave a short snorting laugh. "I was always one of the favorites on the floor. First to be snatched up by the johnny boys. Got so bad, Lou had to limit my trips upstairs. Said he didn't want me fucked into the grave too early. Said my ass was his ticket to easy street." Blair paused for a long moment. "I don't like sex, you know? Don't like strange hands all over me. Hurting me." A tear escaped blue eyes.

"Does Jim hurt you?"

Blair shook his head. "Only at first. He scared me then, but God, he was hot. I wanted him, you know? Really wanted him. I would have..."

"Would have?"

Another quick shake. "I learned early on that if I picked out a boy toy from the stables, he'd be beaten...sometimes killed, depending on how important Lou or Benny thought he was to me." Blair's voice shook with his tears. "Living in the slave quarter's is dangerous. Rumors can lead to instant death. I...I used that knowledge to get rid of my enemies."

"What about the paying clients? Where they killed too?"

Blair tilted his head toward the voice. "I want...." His eyes closed as a strong shudder shook him.

"Blair?"

Tears seeped from between lush lashes. "He...Tell him he has to let go. Tell him...I can't do this. I can't hang onto him knowing..."

"Knowing.....?"

"Scum, they called me. Worthless trash. Use and dispose. Hour after hour. Man after man. I fought at first. I did. And I begged. I mean I really begged. Asked them to kill me. Just kill me and end it all. I screamed my throat raw until I choked on the blood. I think they were getting off on my screams. When I couldn't make a sound anymore, that's when they mouth fucked me. When I couldn't scream anymore. Then after awhile it all lost importance. Nothing seemed to matter anymore."

"Come back, Blair. They can't hurt you anymore."

"They laughed at me." Tears washed his draw features. "When I couldn't fight them they laughed at me. I'm garbage. Tell him that. Not even a good lay."

"You believed what they said."

"No, of course not," he said, his head nodding a denial to his words. "Jim....he deserves something better than what they left. He deserves someone who hasn't been...used up."

Neil handed Jim a tissue. "Don't you think Ellison has the right to decide who he wants."

"You know how come I'm his partner?" Blair snarled. "It's because I was the only one around willing to roll over and put my ass in the air when he finally broke. The whole time he was fucking me I could feel his disgust."

"Because of your past?"

"Because he wanted Tony. Tony was the guide he chose. Tony is the guide he loves. He had to settle for a worthless whore. He'd be better off with someone who won't get him killed."

"You're afraid if you stay with him he'll die."

Blair laid down, curling around the pillow. "Benny had a pit in the basements. He dumped bodies there. In a lime pit."

"Jesus...."

"He caught me with a kid named Davy. Had been having us watched and had decided we were to close. Davy was older. Wasn't pulling in his quota, but I....was close with him." Blair shuddered. "Lou did terrible things to him. And made me watch. And then he said he was done. Davy was still alive. He'd made it through it all alive and I thought everything would be all right. He would be all right. Until they took us downstairs. Until he...made me....drop Davy in the pit. Made me watch as his unconscious body sank into the sands. I...." A harsh, ragged sob cut off his words.

"Do you want to stop, Blair?" Dick asked.

"And Tony. Jim's Tony. I'm the reason he's dead too. I knew what would happen if we were caught together too many time. I knew. If I'd been strong enough to push him away....If I'd told him I wasn't interested....He'd still be alive today. Because I wanted to have something for myself, I got the man Jim loves killed. And now Jim's saddled with me. God, he must get sick every time he touches me." His voice rose to a soft keening groan and he curled more tightly around the pillow.

Jim stood jerkily, knocking a book off the end table.

"Oh, God...." The low cry died instantly and Blair rolled back up. "Oh, God, no..."

"Blair," Neil began.

"Jim's here, isn't he?" Blair accused dully. "He's been here all along. Heard....everything...."

"Blair, listen...."

"Oh, God, let me die now." The young man rocketed to his feet, bolting for the the door. The fallen book tripped him up and he crashed into the carpeted floor, sprawling in a limp heap.

Jim knelt at his side, his tears flowing freely. "Blair...Blair, are you hurt?" He reached to gather the listless man against him.

Blair came violently alive, lashing out at the first touch. His harsh screams echoed against the walls and Jim's ears.

"Let him go, Jim," Dick said firmly.

Jim met his eyes, then nodded.

Blair skittered across the room the instant he was released. Cowering in the corner, he buried his head in his arms.

"Blair..." Jim whispered.

Blair whimpered, cringing away.

Jim's out-stretched hand dropped.

Dick reached for the folded towel at his side.

Jim's breathing slowed.

Blair's increased to panicked pants.

Dick unfolded the towel, revealing two color-coded sryinges.

Jim's shoulders slumped. His eyes closed and he curled down into a fetal position on the thick carpet.

Blair hunched deeper into the corner, trying to make himself smaller yet.

Dick handed one syringe to Neil and, armed with the second, headed for Blair.

"Gentlemen," Dick addressed the five worried men with a dead-pan expression. "We have a problem."

"Obviously," Illya returned just as dryly. "Why don't you explain what just happened in here. Why do I have two bed-ridden men in my home now instead of one? And why is Blair in worse condition now than before we left him alone with you? Just what are your credentials?"

Dick settled on the chair Jim had occupied so recently. "Rest assured Neil and I are more than qualified to handle Blair and Jim's conditions. Or as well as anyone in this case."

Illya raised one sardonic brow. "That's very reassuring."

Dick grinned. "Yes, isn't it. Anyway, I can tell you that the bond between sentinel and guide is unique in each case. In the case of these two, more unique than usual."

"We've gathered that."

"Silence, Napoleon," Illya admonished.

"Yes, sir." Napoleon slouched gingerly on the sofa, pushing his long legs out before him.

"As I was saying, the bond between Jim and Blair is different. And, in their case, stronger than most sentinel/guide bonds. From what we can ascertain, they have actually formed a mental link as well as the usual physical one."

Johnny leaned forward. "You mean like when Jim located Blair through the screams he claimed he heard in his head?"

"That is exactly what I mean."

"But then," Johnny leaned forward over his knees, staring intently at the older man. "Why wasn't he connected to Blair's experiences this last time? Why didn't Jim know what was happening to his guide?"

"Pain." Mark murmured. "Rejection."

"Say again?"

"There is so much hurt in them both The fear clings to them, ripping their souls to shreds." Mark turned anguished eyes to the rest. "I can barely contain it."

"We're working on virgin territory here," Dick said. "I'm beginning to think nothing is easy with these two."

"Not to our experience." Illya confirmed. "They've been alternating between absolute love and hate since they got here."

"Sort of reminds me of us when we were first learning to love each other," Napoleon grinned. "Lucky bastards."

Illya laced his fingers with the other man, kissing the back of his hand. His blue eyes glowed with unspoken desire as he turned back to the others. "I...I assume you have some ideas about what's happening with them, though?"

Dick nodded. "From what you have all told me, Blair was shutting Jim out more and more as time went by. Is it possible he felt Jim had abandoned him when his first owner took him back?"

"Knowing Blair, I would say he probably didn't want Jim to come after him," Illya said. "He would be more afraid of what would happen to Ellison than what was happening to him."

"Would it be stretching too far to assume Blair trusted Jim to come for him the first time?"

"Jim told him he would protect him," Johnny provided. "From what Simon told me when they called in my team, Blair was scared to death of what being a guide meant. Scared of being used as the bait in a trap, but he was a team player. Simon said he didn't even balk when Jim ordered him into that pit of an alley. Even though he was terrified of the dark."

"He still is," Napoleon snapped. "Guess he's locked in that nightmare now, isn't he? Being blind." He scrubbed his face with trembling hands. "God, I don't know how he's held it together this long."

"Napoleon, for what its worth, we're almost certain there is no damage to his optic nerves. His pupils are responsive to stimuli. The facts point to his blindness being emotional rather than physical."

"That's supposed to reasssure me?"

"Well, I expect, once he gets past whats got him scared blind, his sight will return." His dark gaze tracked the men sitting around him. "And after our session, Neil and I have a pretty good idea what that is."

"It pretty much ties in with what's been said here already."

"Which is?" Illay demanded, scowling.

"Rejection."

"What a load of..."

"Hear me out, Napoleon." Dick said softly. "Blair loves Jim, even if he's terrified to admit it. And Jim loves Blair. The bond between them is complete. And it is damn strong."

"But Blair is afraid of what he's feeling," Neil added. "Its understandable considering what's gone on before. But its also what will destroy those two if he can't control it. Not something that's going to be easy for him, given this last episode."

"When you say...destroy....?"

"Jim Ellison has entered a deep zone directed at his guide. If Blair does not assume control of the situation, Jim will continue to spiral away. He will die, Napoleon."

"Can't say I'd consider that a large loss."

"To Blair it would be devestating," Illya snapped. "What needs to be done.?"

Dick glanced toward Neil who fielded the question. "Jim needs Blair's...." His hands waved before him. "Closeness."

"Whoa up there," Napoleon snapped out of his sprawl. "You're talking sex, aren't you?"

"The bond is of an intimate nature, yes."

"So what you're saying is that Ellison needs to fuck our Blair? No matter what Blair wants? Ah, no, that is just so not right."

"Jim would never do anything like that," Johnny snarled. "If he was of a mind to rape his guide, he wouldn't be lying there close to death now, would he?"

"You have a real hero-worship thing going on over that man, kid."

"Jim earned my respect, Sappy." Johnny waved a finger under Napoleon's nose. "You haven't got a good word for him since I met up with you.

"Both of you shut up." Illya snapped, his sharp gaze settling on his lover. "One more word out of you and you'll be looking at extreme discipline. Do you understand me?"

Napoleon sunk deeper into the sofa and fixed an adorable pout on his lean face. "Yes, sir."

Illya turned back to Neil. "Explain this bond thing to me."

Neil drew a deep breath. "As we said, the bond requires a certain depth of intimacy. Pheromones, causual contact to a small degree factor into it, but sexual contact is a major part of keeping the bond strong and healthy. Rejection like we are seeing in their case will terminate the bond."

"You said it would end in Jim's death. What about Blair.?"

"His sanity is in immediate jeopardy. As for his life, well there is a strong probability that he will die as well."

"What do we need to do to halt this prognosis?"

Neil shook his head. "There is nothing we can do. Jim is locked into his guide. The zone will only degrade as time goes by unless Blair brings him out. As far as its gone, though, there will need to be a very real expression of...concern."

"Your tact in this subject is distateful to me." Illya snapped. "You are talking sex again. Correct? Then say it. I want the facts laid out in stark cold light. I won't lose Blair becuause you wanted to sugar coat the situation."

Neil glanced at Dick, then smiled. "Very well. No more tact. Yes. Jim must have sex with Blair. Blair must initiate the relationship and carry it through to completion. If he does not, Jim will be dead within....24 hours."

"And it must be consensual?"

"Without a doubt." Dick said. "Aside from the fact that Blair's fragile mental state would not survive a forced episode, that type of act would destroy the trust they might still have in each other."

Illya nodded slowly, his quick mind sifting through the unwelcome facts. "Is Ellison capable of consenting in his current state?"

Dick nodded. "He is sedated, but not heavily. Same with Blair. both men can speak and react. And consent. You have somthing in mind?

Illya sighed. "Blair is important to us." He caught Napoleon's dark gaze. "If his happiness....his life depends on Ellison...." Sharp blue eyes stabbed into Neil's gaze. "Would a second partner..or couple disrupt the bond between them?"

Neil glanced at Dick, who shrugged. "Mark?"

"As long as both the guide and the sentinel consent and Jim has a complete understanding that Blair is his primary, I would say...yeah, give it a shot. Anything to get them to act on the bond."

"It's not unheard of." Johnny added. "But Illya, you must realize the complexities of what you are proposing."

"Why don't you explain them to me."

Johnny scrubbed his face with his hands. "It's not just sex between them. And it's not just love either. They are connected more completely than ordinary men, because they are not ordinary men."

"Blair was before..."

"No, he wasn't, Napoleon." Mark said softly. "The guide and the sentinel are not created, they are born. Its a genetic condition.

"So what do we need to understand?"

Johnny threw a desperate glance toward the others. "If you have a genetic predesposition towards being a guide or sentinel you could very well be absorbed into the bonded circle. That's why I could not do what you are suggesting. You must be prepared to become part of the link."

Illya leaned back, considering what he'd heard. "Permanently?"

"That's how its generally done." Dick said. "Jim will lock down on anyone with guide tendencies. Not as securely as he has with Blair, but he will become bonded."

Illya stood. "Its a chance I will have to take."

Napoleon stumbled up after him. "But...."

Illya cupped his lover's cheek. "Napoleon, I'm not asking you to do this. I know your feelings, but I have to do what I can. For Blair."

Napoleon's glance darted back and forth between Illya and the bedroom door where Jim and Blair waited. "But...." His desperate glance rolled over the room. "Okay. Let's do it."

Illya leaned up and kissed Napoleon softly. "You are sure?"

Napoleon's arms crept up Illya's back, holding him close. "I would follow you into the bowels of hell, my dear master. What's one more couple in the mix." He smiled. "I love Blair, too, Illya. He's been ours since the beginning."

Illya nodded and stepped out of the loving embrace, pausing only long enough to link his fingers in Napoleon's and together they headed for the guest room.

Blair's wary gaze seemed to track Illya and Napoleon as they crossed the room to his side.

"How does he do that?"

"I can still hear, Napoleon," he sighed, his voice detached. "Being blind doesn't effect my ears." Delicate fingers picked at the light spread. "What did they give me?"

"Just something to calm you." Illya sat on the edge of the bed. "How are you feeling?"

Blair's eyes rolled and he gave a short laugh. "Does it matter?"

"Apparently not to you," Illya said, brushing the curls out of Blair's face.

Flinching away from the casual touch, Blair said, "Ah...Jim's sleeping. You should maybe...."

"He's awake, Blair."

Blair was silent a long moment. "Oh..." He edged a bit farther away from the sentinel's unmoving body. "He's so quiet. Still. I thought..."

"He's awake, Blair, but he won't be for long."

A tiny smile ghosted Blair's lips. "He's looking tired, huh? I imagine he's pretty stressed...."

"He's dying, Blair," Illya told him. "It won't be long before he slips away."

Blair started violently. "Dy....Dying?"

"According to Neil."

"No." His curls rustled on the pillow as he shook his head. "No, he's just tired. He needs to get some sleep and then...."

"They called it a zone."

"A....zone..."

"Of sorts. You know what that is?"

"Yes," Blair said softly. "I know...."

"And you know how to bring him out?" Napoleon pressed.

Blair shuddered violently. "I....can't. I...."

"He's like this because of you, Blair. More fool that he is, he loves you."

"He can't, Illya," Blair protested. "Don't you understand? Everyone who loves me...."

"Dies? Is that what you think?" Illya stole a kiss from pale trembling lips. "I love you, shavalava. I'm not dead." His hands cupped Blair's cheeks and he deepened the second kiss. "Napoleon loves you. He's not dead." Strong hands plunged into russet curls, shifting through the silky locks with gentle force. "How do you explain that?"

Blair's eyes widened in panic. "Wha---What are you doing, Illya?"

"I think you are man enough to figure it out," Illya whispered, kissing down the shadowed jawline.

"No," Blair whimpered, shifting away from the intimate caresses. "No, please...."

"Who is master in this house."

Blair stilled. "Ma...Master?"

"Napoleon, Jim looks warm." Illya said. "Why don't you take off his shirt?"

"Yes, Master." Napoleon moved onto the bed, rolled Jim over and straddled his hips. His fingers made quick work of the buttons. "Oh...." Delicate fingers smoothed down Jim's laddered chest. "Mmmm. Nice. Master, may I kiss him?"

"No," Blair cried.

"What do you care, Blair?" Illya said. "Jim, you can hear me? Blink if you understand."

Jim blinked.

"We know what we are doing, Jim. Do you understand?"

Another blink.

Good," Illya purred. "You know what we're about to do? You consent?"

Yet another blink, this one slow and thoughtful.

"No...." Blair rasped, twisting his hands in the spread. "Jim tell them no."

"Napleon wants to kiss you. You have the right to refuse him."

A soft groan parted Jim's lips slightly and his breathing sped.

Napoleon delivered a testing kiss. Jim's tongue darted and retreated, inviting the other man in.

"Master?"

Illya's blue gaze remained on Blair's twisted features. "Give him what he wants, Napoleon."

Napoleon's tongue delved deep between Jim's parted lips, testing, savoring the unique flavor of the man.

Jim's low growl was drowned out by Blair's moaned, "No....."

"You refused him, Blair. Rejected him,"

"No," Blair whimpered. "No, I didn't...."

"What happens to a sentinel when his guide rejects him? Do you know?"

Blair shuddered. "He's mine."

"Napoleon wants him," Illya murmured. "You don't. Jim is a guest in my home. I won't have him die when I can offer him a way to live."

Anguish twisted Blair's features into a mask of horror. "He's mine."

"They are beautiful together, Blair," Illya whispered. "Jim really seems to be liking Napoleon's kisses."

A ragged sob erupted from Blair's chest. "No....Please...Jim....."

"Stop that, Blair," Illya said, pinning the wildly thrashing man to the bed with his own body. "Napoleon, Jim's pants. They're too tight. Make him more...comfortable."

"Yes, Master."

Blair fought for freedom. "No. Don't. He's mine. Don't touch him. He's mine."

"Jim is consenting, Blair," Illya taunted him. "Take his cock out, Naps. Oh my, he is well-endowed."

"I want to taste," Napoleon rumbled, his brown eyes almost black with desire.

"Not yet."

Jim groaned, his hips thrusting. "I....need...."

"Me...." Blair gasped, writhing against Illya's confining grasp. "You want me, Jim, Not him. Not him."

Illya tugged Blair's arms above his head. "Jim wants a man who wants him," Illya said. "You rejected him."

"He's mine." Blair's scream rent the room.

"Touch me. God, I'm dying...." Jim rasped. "Touch me."

"Take him now, Napoleon."

Napoleon took Jim's cockhead in his mouth, swirling his tongue over the velvet crown.

"Ah, yes, Oh god, yes," Jim's hands lifted, tangling in Napoleon's black hair. "All of it. Take it all."

Napoleon swallowed Jim's cock in a slow downward motion, drawing a trill of pure pleasure from him.

"It's done, Blair," Illya said.

"No." Blair whispered, hot tears washing his features. "No. No. No...."

"Napoleon don't let him come. That is for Blair." Illya warned. "Blair, are you listening to me?

He nodded, once.

"Jim loves you, Blair."

Blair turned his face away, crying softly.

"Do you hear me, Blair?" Illya grasped Blair's chin and dragged his face back around. "Jim loves you."

A ragged sob parted Blair's lips.

"What do you want, Blair?"

Blair's sobs formed a tragic backdrop to Jim's passionate gasps.

"Answer me, Blair. I know you're afraid, but Jim loves you. What do you want?"

Blair's fingers brushed Jim's corded arm. Jim's hand searched for Blair's and their fingers laced.

"What do you want, Blair?"

"Jim," Blair whispered. "I want....Jim."

"About time you realized it." Illya chuckled, wiping the tears from Blair's wane features before he rolled off the younger man. "Kiss him, Blair."

Moving jerkily, Blair leaned over to Jim. "Okay?"

"I love you, Blair." Jim leaned up, capturing his lips in a hungry kiss.

"Touch him, Blair," Illya murmured.

Blair's hand shook as he rolled one peaked nipple between his thumb and forefinger. Jim sucked in a hissing breath, arching up into the touch. Blair pinched the sensitive flesh. Jim cried out. Blair's mouth captured the nib, suckling strongly.

Jim thrashed and arched up into the moist heat. "Oh, god, yes...."

Illya pulled Napoleon from Jim and captured his mouth, stripping off his dress shirt and discarding his own crewneck.

Blair ran worshiping hands over Jim's chest, swirling down his hard stomach and lower to trace paths through wirey curls.

Napoleon and Illya took charge, undressing first themselves, then stripping Blair out of his clothes and Jim from his until all four men were gloriously nude and accessible.

Blair nibbled and kissed his way down Jim's body, making the big man writhe in passionate arousal.

His long fingers tickled up the hard flesh before they curled and stroked down. Jim bucked up to meet the stroke, crying out Blair's name in breathless wonder.

"You are mine." Blair squeezed the upstroke. "Say it." A down stroke and his hand stilled. "Say you are mine, Jim."

Jim rolled his hips, his head thrashing on the pillow.

Blair pressed him into the mattress, stilling him. "Say it."

"Blair.....I need....."

His fingers squeezed the base of aching flesh rhymatically. "Say you belong to me."

Jim bit down hard on his lip, drawing blood. Blair leaned to capture a kiss and tasted the coppery liquid on his tongue. He delved in for a deep kiss, sharing the blood-taste in his mouth.

"Say it," he demanded, his words a whispered breath on Jim's face.

Jim's head rolled on the pillow.

"He's shaking his head no, Blair," Illya said softly. "Mount him, shalava. Bring him to heel."

Blair eased Jim's legs apart and crawled between them. His hands cupped firm cheeks, lifting Jim's backside onto his muscular thighes. "You belong to me, Jim." he repeated, his fingers finding the warm entrance to his sentinel's body. "No one else." His finger tickled around the small pucker, teasing but not broaching.

"Blair, please...." Jim bucked against the teasing finger.

"You'll need this," Napoleon said, dribbling a blob of gel on Blair's busy fingers.

Rubbing the warming gel between his fingers, Blair grinned then returned the hungry kiss Napoleon pressed on him with relish.

His head swung around toward Jim, still grinning. "You're mine, Jim." His fingers sought Jim's vulnerability. One slippery finger slid past the tight muscle, preparing Jim for larger things to come. Two fingers passed the test of resistance, sissoring. A third joined, pumping inside the larger man.

He withdrew his fingers. Jim groaned a low protest. Blair moaned softly as Illya gelled his aching flesh. He lined up and thrust, possessing the bigger man in one hard thrust.

"Tell me." He said, resting against the sweet cheeks.

"Jim's shaking his head again," Illya said, ducking his head to suckle at Blair's nipple.

Blair pulled back, almost out, and stopped again. "Who do you belong to?"

"Not gonna say what you want." Jim grunted out.

Blair slid his hand down Jim's thigh seeking out and finding the hard flesh jutting up from his groin. His fingers imprisoned the silken shaft, squeezing but not pumping. "I....love you, Jim.

"Please..."

"I am you're guide," Blair ground out, his hips moving in slow tormenting thrusts. "Say it. Say it, Jim."

"You'll leave me again," Jim hissed. "You always leave me."

"I love you, Jim." Blair said, moving inside his lover faster, harder. "Accept me." His hand caressed Jim's weeping cock. "Say it, Jim. Say you belong to me."

Jim's face twisted in a mask of passion. Blair could feel the balls in his hand tighten. He felt his own body reacting to the quickening in Jim's.

"Yes," Jim barked. "Yes, my Blair. I submit." His climax hit, dragging Blair over the edge with him to the almost religious chant of "I submit. I submit."

Slumping down over the bigger man, Blair snaked up his chest and swallowed the words in a passion drugged kiss. Tears bathed both men as the kiss broke. "I love you, my Jim. I do."

Strong arms wrapped him in a cocoon of hope and both men curled close to touch and be touched.

Illya motioned Napoleon from the bed. Grabbing up both sets of clothes, the pair tip-toed from the room and dashed down the hall to their own room.

Illya tossed his lover down on their bed and took him in mindless passion. Napoleon met each thrust with equal desire, both men blinded by the love they had participated in.

Jim woke slowly, his arm swinging to enfold his lover. And found only cold dead space. "Damn," he snarled, his eyes snapping open and his senses widening ever expanding circles, searching for the man who had finally forged the next link in the bond. "Dammit, Blair, I'm really getting tired of waking up to an empty bed."

He shrugged out of bed, pausing long enough to enjoy the mild protest in his well used body that bespoke Blair's love. He smiled at the thought that his body ached in the most delightful way.

He could only hope the love would continue. That Blair's rape wouldn't bring their budding relationship crashing back down to bury them.

Shaking that thought away, Jim snatched his robe from the chair and stuffed his muscled arms into it. Foregoing his slippers, he padded out of the bedroom in search of his errant guide and lover.

Blue eyes scanned the front room, seeing even in the darkness that Blair was not there. "I swear to god, that man gets around more than a man with 20/20 vision."

His high brow scrunched into a pained frown and he focused his hearing, listening for any sound from the wayward guide.

The haunting strains of some unfamiliar music, soft and strangely seductive, drifted down the hallway and he knew, Blair, as exhausted as he had to be, was dancing himself into a frenzy again.

A black rage descended on Jim and he strode to the studio, shoving the door open before him and came to a dead stop.

The two men didn't notice his interruption. Jim slid deep into the shadows, listening.

"....can I make him understand, Mark?" Blair was saying "I...I know what he needs from me. Hell, I want to be the one to give him what he needs, but..." Blair rose jerkily to his feet. "How....How can I be sure its not going to come apart?"

"No one knows what's going to happen, Blair. Part of life is taking chances. Hope keeps us fighting and trust keeps the hope alive."

"That's all fine for regular people. Free men. I never had that." Blair's body began to sway with the music. "How do I trust someone who doesn't even trust himself?" His head tipped back, loose curls spilling low over his back. "This," his hands caressed up and down his body suggestively. "This is all I know. All I am."

"That's not true," Mark argued, "You are much more than..."

Blair smiled. "A whore? You really think so?" He swirled, each move a step farther down the dark road of seduction. "He watches me, you know? All the time. Its like he wants to know everything I am. Like i can't have any secrets."

"And that bothers you?" Mark asked, his eyes following Blair's dance.

Blair performed an almost impossibly slow spin. "Bothers me?" He laughed softly, coming out of the spin into a backwards dip and sway that had his curls dusting the floor. "No." He came forward. "No, I like it."

"Blair," Mark said. "What do you want? I mean you got duped into being Ellison's guide, from what I understand. What do you think of how you got here?"

"What do I want?" Snorting, Blair drifted to the floor again, wiping his glistening brow on his forearm. "You know something? Every time someone asks me that I get the shakes."

Mark chuckled. "I'd think finally being able to make a decision just for you would be exciting."

"Exciting? Yeah, sure." His blind gaze traced the shape of the room. "I've never been so scared in my entire life."

"Scared?" Mark nodded. "Yeah, I've felt that from you. But I thought it was because of everything that had happened over the last few days. Not this.".

"Is that what you thought? Don't ya get it? This is so not the way I've lived my life." He gave a bitter laugh.

"Want to tell me about it?"

"Do I want...?" Blair laughed softly, nodding. "Yeah sure, what the hell." He pulled a hissing breath through his teeth. "I never had to decide anything before. Did you know that? Never had to think about what I'm gonna do. What I'm supposed to think. Hell, Benny even decided what I liked to eat. When I needed to sleep. Now everybody's going around asking me what I want. Well, dammit, I don't know. I don't even know how to know what I want."

"So how can we help you, do you think?" Mark asked. "You can't want to go back to being a slave."

Blair leaned back on his elbows, his dark head tipping back. "Can't I?"

"Blair...?"

"You know, everybody thinks what Denna did to me as the worst thing that could happen to me."

"Wasn't it?"

Blair shrugged. "I've been raped on a constant basis for most of my life, doc. Maybe being a slave made it look different to all you good folks on the outside, but do you really think I wanted all that strange cock pounding up my ass?" He shook his head. "I...My first training session they had to hold me down and slip me a Mickey before I let anyone lay a finger on me. After that, they beat me until I blacked out. Then fucked me again." He laughed pleasantly. "I fought like hell, They had another guy beating the stuffing out of me while the first guy pounded my fucking ass into hamburger. It wasn't playtime. I was being trained hard." Another laugh and a shake of his head. "That guy was covered in my blood before he was done. Looked like a wild animal had attacked him. After that they just kept me doped up until it didn't seem to matter anymore."

"My God...."

Blair laid flat, his arms pillowing his head. "You sound shocked."

"I am."

"Why? That's the way it's done. You've gone to the dance clubs, haven't you?"

Mark nodded. "From time to time."

"Had one of the pretties?"

Mark nodded, then remembered Blair's blindness. "Yes, I'm ashamed to admit."

Blair shook his head. "Why? The clubs have been around forever. You freemen never think about the dirty shit that comes into making it happen. Just come, fuck the pretties and walk away. Good time for all."

"Accept the....pretties."

Blair's blind gaze found Mark's. "The pretties got lucky from time to time, too."

"You, Blair? Were you ever lucky?"

A crooked smile ghosted over his lips. "Once or twice."

"Jim?

Blair nodded. "And Tony."

"That's Jim's first guide?"

Another tiny nod.

"You loved him?"

Blair went motionless for a moment. "I....respected him. He treated me...nice. Taught me that sex could be....pleasant."

"So...?"

Blair shrugged. "No, I didn't love him Our sex was good, but I didn't love him. Why? Is it important?"

"Apparently not for you." Mark sighed. "I think Jim..."

"What's Jim got to do with it. I didn't even know he existed when I was Tony's slut. Why the hell should whether I loved Tony or not matter to him? The guy was only using me in the end anyway. Opening the way for Jim."

"Why do you say that?"

Blair chewed a bloody path in his lip.

"Blair?"

A slow tear traced down Blair's face. "Before he hid me. When they came for him, he touched me," Blair rubbed his temple. "Here, and said something about passing the powers of the shaman. I thought he was babbling some nonsense or other, but now..."

"Now you have a connection." Mark said, laying a hand on Blair's shoulder.

Blair jerked away

"Blair?"

"Ah, sorry. I ..."

"My fault." Mark assured him quickly. "I shouldn't have touched you without warning you like that."

A grimace twisted Blair's thin pressed lips. "Don't like being touched."

"Does Jim's touch...disturb you?"

Blair thought that one over, then grinned. "Nah, he's different. He..." He shrugged,. "I don't know. Can't explain it."

"You will someday." Mark said. "Blair, you said the rape wasn't the worst thing that could happen to you. I think I understand where you're coming from. Would..would you tell me what you think would be worse?"

Blair battled to his feet, his anxiety broadcast in every movement.

"Blair...?"

"Jim...I think he really cares what happens to me, you know?

"Of course he does. What does that have to...?"

"I'm a disappointment to him."

"Blair, you know that's not..."

"I know how special his Tony was. Hell, he was special to me. How could I not know how special he was to Jim."

"What does..."

"Tony was so strong. He knew exactly what he wanted. Knew how to get it. Damn the danger. He was everything I am not. How Jim can even stand to touch me..." He shook his head.

"Blair, Jim loves you."

"Does he?" Blair sighed. "I don't even come close to being the man who can hold him."

"You don't trust him to stay with you?"

"Oh, sure, he'll stay with me. He needs to stay with me to survive, doesn't he?" Blair gave a bitter laugh. "I figured out something tonight."

Mark waited.

"I really am a selfish bastard, you know?" Blair said at length. "Illya would make the perfect guide for Jim."

"Illya?"

"Sure. He's strong. He knows how to get what he wants." Blair shrugged. "He's like Tony."

"Blair, I'm afraid I'm not following your reasoning."

"Jim..." An anguished growl parted his lips and he raked his hair back harshly. "He's a sentinel, for god's sake."

Confusion wrinkled Mark's handsome features. "Well, yeah. So...?"

"I figured it out." Blair rasped. "Jim needs a guide to be his control when he can't control himself. He needs someone like Illya. Someone who can size up a dangerous situation and command the sentinel. Don't you get it, a guide is the dominate one. I can't even decide the simplest things in my own life. The worst thing I can imagine is not being raped. Its knowing I'm gonna be the reason Jim dies. Just like I was the reason Tony died. I can't bear that. I can't live with that."

"I can't stand by and watch you die, Jim. I'd sooner die myself."

"Blair..." Jim stepped out of his shadowy concealment. "I won't die. I won't leave you with that."

Blair smiled sadly. "No promises, my heart. Especially ones you can't possibly keep."

"Trust me, Blair."

Blair smiled wryly, pushing back his hair. "That's not a problem, Jim. I do trust you. Its me I don't trust."

Jim snatched the smaller man up in a tender embrace, tilting his head back. Blair's gasp opened his lips and Jim's mouth descended, claiming him in a possessive but gentle kiss. "I trust you," he breathed the words past passion bruise lips. "I trust you with my life and my heart, Sweetcheeks."

Blair's fingers featherd over his face in wonder. "I don't know how I got this lucky." he whispered, swallowing past his tears. "I don't know how we're gonna survive this, my blessed Jim. But if its what you're sure you want...."

Jim chuckled, hugging him tightly. "How many ways do I have to show you how important you are to me, Blair?"

Blue eyes lifed, flickering over Jim's haggared features. "You need some rest, Jim Ellison. You look so very tired."

"We've been down a long, hard roa..." Jim's words hit s stone barracade. "Blair....?" He stared into Blair's beautiful eyes and grinned. "You...You can see me?"

Blair's gaze fell and he shrugged.

"Blair, can you see me?"

"Its...fuzzy...grey."

Jim's fingers tightened on Blair's forearms. "How long? How long have you been able to see?"

"Not long," Blair shrugged. "Seconds, really. Its llke someone just turned up the dimmer switch a notch."

"Jesus." Jim hugged the smaller man to him, his tearsstreaming down hi cheeks. "Oh, Jesus...."

Mark laid a hand on Jim's arm. "Jim, let him go. We've got to get Dick and Neil to look him over. Now."

CHAPTER 9

Several hours later, the doctors assembled the group of men back in the living room. Always the perfect host, Illya came bearing a tray of appetizers with Napoleon trailing, bearing a second tray of mugs and two carafes.

"Blair," Napoleon said, setting a steaming mug of hot cocoa on the coffee table before the young man. "I'm putting a mug directly in front of you."

Blair smiled, touching a finger to his friend's lean cheek. "I see that, Naps." He picked up the mug carefully, drawing a deep breath over the cup's rim. A wide grin split his features. "You added mint."

"Just a splash."

Eyes sparkling, Blair savored a long swallow, then leaned back into Jim's embrace. "Ah, God, death by chocolate. Can there be a better way to go?"

Napoleon smiled smugly. "Just know the way to your heart, darlin'."

"Napoleon, stop hovering over our Blair," Illya said, pointedly patting the sofa next to him.

Napoleon scampered over, slouching down next to his lover. "I wasn't hovering. I was....celebrating."

Illya laughed. "Right. I swear if you don't stop spoiling the boy we're going to have to roll him around the apartment."

"He needs a little weight," Napoleon argued. "All that dancing he does is stripping him down to nothing."

"The johnnies like to see me stripped down to nothing."

Jim's arms tightened around him sharply. "Not anymore."

Blair's head dropped back on Jim's shoulder and he nuzzled the older man's neck. "You like me stripped down to nothing."

Jim captured the roving lips. "Behave and drink your chocolate, Sweetcheeks." Jim turned his attention to the patiently waiting doctors. "So, you have something to tell us?"

Neil nodded, sighing. "After examining Blair, we have mixed news."

"Mixed?" Illya leaned forward, his blue gaze stabbing into the other man. "Mixed how? Blair's vision has improved, yes?"

"Improved? Yes, there has been a minimal improvement. I need to stress miniml, though."

"But he can see?" Jim pressed.

"Jim, I realize how desperately you want..."

"He does see."

"Yes." Neil said "Yes, a little. What Blair reports as fuzzed is a grey shadowy world. He can tell some color by the shadings of grey...."

"Its a start. He's not trapped in the black anymore." Jim's arms tightened around Blair, making the younger man squirm and mutter a soft protest. "Jesus, Neil. With his fear of the dark, just knowing he's out of that black nightmare is enough of a start."

"I agree, it is a beginning." Neil's tone was far from reassuring. "Unfortunately, given the situation, there is no way to ascertain just how much more his vision will improve, if it will at all."

"So you're saying don't expect things to fix overnight." Illya said.

"Exactly so. It would be tragic if Blair had a set back because of pressure. Or disappointment."

"Could that happen?"

"I suspect it could, Blair. If you try to hard. Want more than you have and get impatient. The blindness appears to be psychosematic Your emotions could well influence the direction your prognosis goes."

Blair nodded slowly. "Okay, no pressure. No impatience. I can do that."

Neil grinned. "Glad to hear it. Now, this change in your condition does give us several options I was leery to mention while you were sightless."

"Options?" Blair asked, his interest perking up.

Dick nodded. "Its clear to us, and I'm sure to the rest of you that staying here is not our safest option. Both the agency and Blair's ex-owner knows Illya and Napoleon took Jim and Blair into the place. One or both of these enemies is almost certain to show up at the door sooner or later."

"Looking for me," Jim confirmd with a slow nod. "I'm surprised the agency has left it this long."

"I'm assuming they are working under the impression that Blair is really dead. In that case, they would expect you to be catatonic at the very least for several days. That's given us the time we needed to get this far."

Jim's head moved in agreement. "And disposing of a bad agent always takes some sleight of hand."

Blair shifted restlessly in Jim's embrace. "You are not a bad agent. You're a wonderful sentinel. The things I've seen you do...."

"Are normal for my kind of freak, Blair," Jim interrupted, tucking Blair's unruly hair back and licking his ear lobe.

"Jim..." Blair squeeked when Jim's tongue darted into his ear.

Moaning softly, Jim nipped Blair's lobe.

"You're not a freak, Jim Ellison," Blair snapped, squirming away from the stimulating tongue making love to his ear. "And quit trying to distract me. I'm not going to be forgetting that you wouldn't be on the run if you'd followed orders."

Jim growled. "You would be dead if I followed orders."

"I suspect you would have followed this guide, Jim," Johnnie pointed out. "So that line of reasoning is mote."

Jim smiled, hugging Blair against him. "I have no doubt." A curious frown puckered his brow suddenly. "So, was that the plan, do you think? Was I on borrowed time with the agency? Is that why they ordered Blair's removal?"

Johnnie shook his head. "No, according to the pre-mission briefing, the agency estimated your chance of survival fairly high given the fact that you lived through Tony's death. The fools chose to ignore the reports documenting your bonding with Blair. If they'd even once observed the advancement in this bonding....Such jumps in a short time. Christ."

"I agree," Mark said. "You two are so connected its blinding."

"So now, we've got to discuss the options," Illya redirected.

"Yes, eh..." Neil cast an apprehensive glance toward Dick, then included mark. Both men nodded.. Neil sighed. "There is a place. A considerably safer place where we could take you."

"But?" Jim asked.

"But there are certain...expectatons," Mark said.

Illya's lips curled into a sneer."Expectations. That sounds unpleasent."

"Undoubtedly," Napoleon agreed.

"Ah hell," Jim said, nostriles flaring. "You're talking about Sanctuary. That's right, isn't it?"

Blair shifted around. "What's Sanctuary?"

"The headquarters of the Sentinel Rescue operation. Where the underground is based. Its the safest place for rogue agents. Its the only place we can protect you."

"And in return?" Illya asked

Dick cleared his throat. "There is a rub. In return for the underground's protection, the residents agree to go out on inductee missions. Like this rescue we're doing here with you."

"No." Blair blurted out.

"All right," Jim agreed at the same time.

"Jim, no," Blair turned straddling Jim and squinted up into his face. "N, they want you to betray everything you believe in. They want you to be a traitor to..."

Jim silenced his tirade with a kiss. "They betrayed me, Blair," he said simply when the kiss ended.

Blair shook his head, confusion tracing his features.

"Blair listen to me." Jim captued his face between his hands. "You are all I beleive in. You are my life. You, not the Sentinel Corp. When they ordered your termination, they betrayed me."

Panic flickered in Blair's eyes. "Illya. Napoleon. Tell him. Make him understand."

"Understand what, Blair?" Napoleon asked.

"If....If he does this. If he turns his back on his life...god, hell hate me in time for forcing him to do this."

Illya chuckled. "I don't think you know the man well enough if you believe that."

"Not by half," Napoleon said. "Blair, your man knows what he wants. Listen to him."

"But....."

"Listen to him, Blair baby," Napoleon repeated softly, his gaze on the sentinel somehow warmer than ever before.

Jim caught the warm acceptance in eyes that had always been watchful before and smiled.

"He may bluster and rant, but you can show him how to treat you rght. After all, he's only doing it because he's red-eyed jealous."

Wonder chased doubt across the dancer's face. "Jealous?" He squinted at Jim. "You are jealous?"

Chuckling, Jim ruffled Blairs curls. "Like nobody's business."

"Then.....Last night....With.."

Jim silenced him with a open eyed kiss."I love you, Sweetcheeks. Everything. everyobody is a pale shadow when you're near me. what happened last night between the four of us? I pray you won't hate me for it, but I needed the intimate connection. The love, though, that was all for you. Only you.:

Blair traced the worry lines coring Jim's face, smiling. "I love you to, you know." he murmured so softly even sentinel hearing had to strain to pick it up.

Jim rewarded him with a quick hug. "Someday you'll say that loud eough so o one will ever have any doubts."

"You doubt me?"

"Never." Jim tapped blair's nose tenderly. "But you doubt yourself. When you learn to trust yourself, things will be beautiful."

Blair frowned slightly. "You really want to go to this Sanctuary place?"

Jim nodded. "Only the right thing to do. We owe these people. I would like to make some kind of payback, but I'll only go if you agree."

Blair thought that over. "Illya and Napoleon aren't going to be safe here, either."

Jim smiled "They knew that they would have to come with us when they came to our bed last night."

"Aw crap," Napoleon drawled. "The blasted sentinel bonded on one or both of us, Illya."

Jim laughed outright. "You give one damn good blowjob, Naps."

Napoleon's mouth gaped open, sputtering incoherently.

"And Illya's wonderful at directing a scene, doncha think?" blair added, beaming a ten watt smile at the blonde.

"I do think, for sure."

Blair nodded. "Okay, so when do we go?"

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Blair has his sight, so to speak. His relationship has taken a sudden turn with the addition of Illya and Naps. And now he's going to a safe place where he and Jim can live and love in safety.

I'm considering a new story in the series, possibly called Sanctuary. If you want to go there, let me know what you'd like to see happen. Brainstorm me