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Together
by Kata Avalon

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Blair checked his watch. They would start landing soon. He looked at the sleeping sentinel beside him. Jim looked younger when he was asleep.

Blair stroked Jim's cheek. The sentinel should be asleep for a couple hours more, though with Jim you could never be sure.

It had been quite easy to spike Jim's drink. The sentinel trusted his guide. The look of hurt as he had realised what Blair had done, had cut through to the young guide's heart. But Blair was sure Jim would understand. There had been no time to explain things to him, and some of the things Blair had to do to cover their tracks.

He had done it before, but now he had something he could not leave behind. His sentinel. So he took Jim with him. It had been an easy decision to make.

The co-pilot came into the passenger area.

"We're preparing to land, señor. The transportation's ready and waiting for you."

"Gracias." Blair petted Jim's head. "Our new life begins. You'll like it. I promise." Blair smiled. He was no longer alone.

***

Jim woke up slowly. He felt awful.

Hearing told him he was alone in the room, but not in the house. Someone was outside the door. Three others were downstairs. Blair was coming up the stairs.

Blair. Jim's eyes flew open. He was lying on a bed in a simple bedroom. It was warm and they were definitely not in Cascade.

Smell detected a strong odour of guin oil and dust, cactuses and eucalyptus trees. *How long have I been out of it?*

Door opened. Blair walked over to the windows to open the curtains. His guide looked .. older. He was still himself, but there was an air of ruthlessness about him.

Blair sat on a chair by the bed.

"How you feeling?"

"Groggy, a bit dizzy. Why?"

"I've been keeping low for awhile. It was time to get out of the burrow. When it was time to leave, I realised that I couldn't leave you behind."

"So you just kidnapped me."

Blair shook his head. "You're my sentinel, I'm your guide. We're one."

"You drugged me and dragged me to god-knows-where without even trying to explain or ask. I'd call that kidnapping!" Jim could not believe his ears. *Did I ever really know him?*

Blair came to sit beside him on the bed. "I couldn't take the risk. You'd have started to investigate and ask questions, triggering a few alarms I'd rather you didn't."

"Simon will start asking questions." Jim said, worried about his friend and hoping Simon would get him out of this mess.

"He thinks we're both dead. The serial murderer we were investigating broke into the loft. You killed him, but not before he killed me and fatally wounded you. And don't worry, he *was* the killer." Blair patted his sentinel soothingly.

Jim just stared at his guide.

***

Jim concentrated on his lunch. Blair was talking with Naomi about how to get back to the family ranch. Turned out Naomi was Blair's contact with his father - a business tycoon/crime boss - and a hired killer. She was wearing khaki coveralls and a couple of Glocks. The others were no simple thugs either, but sharp professionals. The sinking feeling in Jim's stomach was getting deeper.

"Jim." Sharp command.

Jim snapped his attention back to Blair.

"We'll leave in a couple hours. Finish your lunch, then take a shower and change clothes. We'll be on the road for a couple of days."

"I'm not your dog for you to order around." Jim had not yet found anything to like in the whole situation.

Blair narrowed his eyes. After a moment he stood up. "Okay. Follow me."

Jim stayed on his chair. Blair grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the kitchen. The others took no notice of the situation.

Blair pushed his sentinel into a small study beside the kitchen area and locked the door.

"I. Am. Your. Guide." Jim had never seen Blair so angry. "You do NOT talk back to me. You will do as your told. If you have some questions or reservations, you'll talk to me when we are alone. NOT in front of others."

"I'm not your pet." Jim growled.

"But you *are* my sentinel." Blair stated. "I was willing to let you run wild while we were in Cascade, but we are in my world now. We are going to go by the old traditions. Is. That. Clear?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I've studied the old tales and writings. I'm the expert, remember? It comes through quite clearly that the guide is the responsible one, the one who makes the decisions. That's how it's going to be."

Blair was backing him into a corner.

"No." He would not give up that easy. "In Cascade we were friends, partners. What you're suggesting, it's -"

"The way it's supposed to be. You'll find it's better that way. After all, it's how it's supposed to be."

"Are you sure you read it right? Besides the old way isn't always -"

Blair backhanded him. Hard.

Jim stared at him in shock. His guide had hurt him.

***

Blair looked at his sentinel sitting beside him on the jeep. Jim had been quiet since that morning, but Blair could practically hear the wheels turning in his head. Blair would have to claim him as soon as possible, otherwise he would continue to cause trouble. Besides it would be better for Jim to be a fully bonded sentinel. It would calm him.

Jim tried to run away that same night. Luckily Naomi caught him with a tranq dart.

***

Jim woke up. He was lying on a large sleeping bag, naked. Blair was sitting on a floor by a door way. It looked like one of the monk's cells in that monastery so long ago. Only this one was at least a hundred times older.

"Where are we?"

"An old monastery. I thought this would be a good place to claim you. I'd have preferred something older, more along the lines of native culture, but this will do."

Jim could hear the others near by. As Blair started taking off his clothes, Jim started to panic.

"No." Surely his guide wouldn't.

Jim got up too fast and almost fainted. He was still groggy from the tranquilliser, and he could not hurt his guide. The sentinel still recognised Blair as the guide. Blair wrestled him back down.

"No. Please, don't. You don't have to -"

"Sshh.. Just relax. It won't hurt so much then."

Jim shook his head. Blair forced his legs open.

It *hurt*. Jim was pretty sure he screamed. He must have.

***

Blair withdrew from his sentinel. He wiped the semen and blood from his cock. He checked Jim. The tears did not seem too deep, but he would have a doctor check them as soon as possible.

Jim was sobbing. And shivering.

Blair wiped the tears from his cheeks.

"Ssshh. It's over now. Everything's all right." Blair took his sentinel into his arms and pulled a quilt over them. He stroked his sentinel's head and back. "Just let it all go. I'll take care of you now. I swear."

***

End