Time: The morning after Jim and Blair meet Professor Anthony Carr.
Detective Jim Ellison strolls out of the conference room in the San Francisco Police Department's main headquarters, and he is bored. He and Blair have just sat through two hours of really boring orientation stuff. Well, Jim was bored.
"At least they could have had a video or something, Chief." Jim comments to his partner, watching as the other exchange program members disperse with their mentors. They haven't been claimed yet.
Stifling a yawn, Blair reaches for another bran-muffin, offering the bag to Jim. "A video? Yeah, and some cappuccino would've been nice too." Aside, he mutters to himself, "Gods, that was dull."
Jim waves off the muffins, sighs, hands in his pocket, looking around. He hates wearing a suit, even if he looks damn good in one.
Blair shrugs, stuffs the muffins in his coat pocket.
Frank Kouhanek, his hair as usual awry, worms his way through the thinning throng, checking name tags.
Blair reaches up to loosen his tie, shrugging his arms in his usual light-brown corduroy jacket, patches on the elbows. "Are we done here, Jim?"
The detective scans around. "No, we have to meet the detectives who will be our mentors". He checks the letter again. "Some Frank... Kookanik?"
Another officer tags Sonny Touissant for a chat as he leaves the conference room, causing him to be a few steps behind his partner, Frank.
Frank just happens to be passing. "Kouhanek. Someone looking for me?" Checking Jim's name tag. "Oh, you're Ellison!" Frank looks up at a tall man so handsome he could be a model.
Blair jumps at the stranger's voice behind them.
Jim turns around to see a wiry, dark-haired man. "I'm Ellison." Blair turns quickly, tries not to gawk. The detective sticks out his hand, smiles politely. "Just call me Jim."
Frank sticks out his hand, shakes it. "Ah, hi, I'm Frank." He notices Blair watching, frowns. "Ah, Jim, you're here alone, right?"
Blair sticks his hand out at the newcomer, giving his friendliest grin. "Hi, I'm Blair Sandburg. Jim's partner."
"Did you find our guys?" Sonny walks briskly up behind Frank, a frown of concern on his face. "Uh, I see you did."
Frank, frowning, looks at a piece of paper. "This just says Detective Ellison..."
Sonny puts a hand on Frank's shoulder. "Is there a problem, Frank?"
Jim shuffles, glancing at Blair reassuringly, then looking back at Kouhanek. "Sandburg is a consultant to the Cascade PD, working as my partner. He's with me for this, too."
Blair unconsciously sidles closer to Jim's side. He drops his proffered hand, but keeps the 100-watt smile on his face.
Frank glances back at his partner. "Oh, no, the letter... eh, never mind." He stuffs the paper inside his jacket. "Well, we don't normally use consultants..." He rubs at his chin, looking at the grinning dude with the elbow patches and long hair.
"Is this going to be a problem, Frank?" Jim steps closer, frowns.
Frank recovers, sees Sonny. "Oh, Sonny...ah, this is my partner, Detective Toussaint, Jim... Sonny."
Jim shakes Sonny's hand, nodding.
Sonny takes the hand, nods. "Hello."
Frank, pointing to Blair, regarding him curiously, still frowning. "So, ah, what kind of a consultant are you?"
Sonny eyes both men warily, recalling Julian's call earlier in the day.
Jim glances at Sonny again, then back to Frank. He's got his senses pretty dialed down in the crowded department... too much sensory information. So he's not checking for heartbeats.
"I'm an anthropologist, actually. But I've helped Jim for years now with this and that." Blair shrugs, trying not to go into too many details for now.
Frank is trying to wrap his brain around this. "You're what...a... anthropologist? Ah, sorry, I don't get the connection with police work."
Jim rolls his eyes, thinking his partner could have used one of his famous lies this time.
"You'd be surprised." Blair tones his usual enthusiasm down, taken a bit aback by this guys' attitude.
There is still a lot of bustling going on in the hallway. "This isn't a great place to talk. Is there someplace else we can discuss this, Frank, Sonny?"
Sonny is silent for the most part, trying to size up Ellison and Sandburg. on the surface, they appear all right...but, as he knows better than most, appearances can be deceiving.
Frank waves them down the hall toward an interrogation room that is free. "Yeah, this place is Grand Central Station... in here... we can sort out how this is going to work..." he indicates the door as they approach.
Jim enters, taking a seat at the table.
"After you, gentlemen." Sonny waves the others ahead of him and brings up the rear.
Blair enters, hands in his pockets, keeping close to his partner.
Sonny looks nervously up and down the hallway as he enters, shutting the door behind him and leaning against it.
"You guys need coffee or something?" Frank offers.
Jim replies, "No coffee, I'm fine."
Shaking his head, Blair answers, "No thanks."
Frank isn't used to playing host, as he's kind of a "do-yer-job" cop with a dash of too much curiosity. He's noting how very, very different these two are. Strange mix. "So... you guys set up in a place okay and everything?"
Jim nods, loosening his tie. "Yeah, we're over in Berkeley." Blair leans back in his chair next to Jim.
Sonny stands at the door with crossed arms. He's curious about this duo, wanting to sniff out their weaknesses. "You're always together? Act as a team?"
Jim shifts in his chair so that he's facing both detectives. "That's right. Blair is an expert on urban subcultures. His input has been very valuable."
Blair mutters, "Thanks, Jim." He looks at the two cops. "Yeah, it comes in handy to know what motivates the disenfranchised members of our society, so that Jim and the others in the department can more successfully determine what course of action they need to follow, given the particular circumstances."
Frank sits up, taking interest. Hmmm... "Yeah? Well, we do have a multitude of subcultures here, all right!" He can't help but glance quickly toward his partner. Since Archon's funeral a few weeks ago, Frank has had his suspicions about Sonny, but hasn't talked to him about it yet. Frank smiles briefly. "Then I'm sure you'll be a big help here, too."
Blair nods.
Frank's glance meets a glaring stare from Sonny. Sonny knows that Frank suspects he's Kindred, if in fact his partner hasn't already put two-and-two together.
Blair, catching the odd looks exchanged between the other two cops, begins to be very curious about what's going on under the surface here.
Jim catches the odd looks between the two SF detectives. Jim is uncomfortable with small talk, so he decides to throw things wide open for the hell of it. He's bored, hates wearing a tie, wants to get on with things. "So, let me ask something completely off the subject..."
Frank glares back at Sonny, then changes expression to look interested when he looks back at Jim. "Okay..."
Jim leans forward, elbows on the table "Um... are there wolves in the San Francisco area?"
Frank's eyes widen. It's the only reaction he allows himself. "Ah... what kind of wolves?"
Moving away from the door toward the detective, Sonny's senses go on the alert. he knows of Jim and Blair's encounter with the Kindred professor. He tries to deflect the conversation. "Occasionally, we might see one that's wandered down from the hills."
Jim nods at Sonny, then looks back at Frank. "Wolves with silver eyes, perhaps?"
Frank shrugs flippantly, a little too flippantly. "Who knows? I've never seen their eyes."
Taking a deep breath, Sonny composes himself. He's content with Frank's response. he stands easy. "I don't want to get that close, thank you," he chuckles.
Blair, repressing a shudder at the memory, unconsciously hunches his shoulders... then looking up at the other two, studying their reactions. "I don't blame you. But it wouldn't be unusual. There've been more and more reports of wild animals infringing on urban and suburban locations... understandable, really, since we've pretty much encroached on their ancestral territories."
Frank's glance slides over to Sonny again. He knows full well what 'wolves with silver eyes' mean. Could they have encountered the Kindred already? "What's so important about wolves anyway?"
Sonny's mind flashes on Julian ... his sire, his prince ... the wolf with silver eyes. A knowing smile sneaks across his lips.
Noting the smile, Blair comments, "They're pack animals, for one... not very usual to see them lone in the city, is it?" [I'm not saying that they DID, mind you]
Jim glances at Blair. He's never going to get any answers unless he talks about the damn dream and spirit walk. And there is still the connection between Frank's letter arriving at the loft two days ago and the Raven.
The smile snakes into a smirk as Sonny catches Frank's glance. [You don't know the half of it], he thinks to himself.
The Washington detective shifts in his chair. "It's probably nothing..." He's still deciding.
Blair is curious about Sonny's smile.
Something is going on here, and Frank hates a mystery. "No, I think this is something... you haven't SEEN any wolves like that, have you, Jim?"
Jim smiles, shrugs. "Oh, no, not for real... "
[Real enough] Blair thinks to himself.
His lover sighs, folding his hands on the table. "Okay, here it is... the letter you sent me, Frank... when I held it, I had a sudden flash, like an image."
Inching forward toward the table, Sonny tempers his reactions to the conversation. above all, he reminds himself, he must protect the Masquerade ... and Julian. "You're psychic? Oh, great, Frank, someone for you to play with," he says sarcastically.
Jim doesn't react to that. "Blair, you flashed on it first, remember? The wolves? Then when I opened Frank's letter, I got the whole picture... A Raven, a great wolf with silver eyes, a ring of wolves around, and the two stranger wolves... really weird stuff..."
Frank nods, intrigued now. "When you held my letter...."
Nodding, the anthropologist replies, "Yes. Your letter prompted the vision." Blair's eyeing Frank, while trying to gauge Sonny's reactions too.
"Yeah... I think the Raven was you, Frank... or a spirit animal version of you, rather. You were keeping the big wolf from chasing us off, actually." Jim shrugs, smiles. "I know it all sounds pretty crazy..."
"No, no, go on..." Frank says, getting into this.
Processing Jim's comments with what he had gleaned from Julian, Sonny silently mouths an "oh, boy." On the surface, he keeps up the devil's advocate partner routine. "Frank, you buying into this mumbo-jumbo?"
Frank ignores his partner as usual.
"So, Frank," Blair grins, trying to lighten the mood a little, only half-kidding, "You haven't had any complaints about werewolves lately, have you?"
Sonny cuts a "c'mon, stop this" glance at his partner. It is apparent to the Ventrue that Jim Ellison unknowingly has a better handle on reality than he knows. Sonny clamps his hand over his mouth, stifling a guffaw.
Privately, Blair thinks that Sonny's skeptical scoffing is a bit... forced.
Frank suddenly has to put his foot deep into things as usual. "Well, Blair, exchange 'werewolves' with 'vampires', and... yeah, as a matter of fact. Well, not complaints but... they're here."
"V..vampires?" Jim is stunned that Frank is even listening to any of this, much less buying it.. "You have vampires in San Francisco?"
"Vampires!?" Blair exclaims, trying not to let his voice break. Blair starts muttering, worriedly, "Oh man... oh man..." as he thinks that this answer is even more out-there than his werewolf theory.
"Yeah, only I haven't been able to get anyone to buy that... " He will NOT look at Sonny this time. Frank slouches in his chair, sullen.
Jim wonders what nutcase they've been partnered with... and they were worried what Frank would think of them...!
Blair edges closer to Jim. "Yeah... well... we've seen some things that most folks would find it hard to believe too, man."
"Oh, he believes in ... vampires." The word leaves a bad taste in Sonny's mouth, since the Kindred consider the term an insult. he plays along with what most consider Frank's delusions, his tone intentionally irreverent. "Go ahead, tell 'em how they're taking over the city."
Jim thinks of the man with no heartbeat. "Yeah... tell us..."
Blair is intent on Frank, but half-afraid of what he might reveal.
Frank glares at Sonny. "My partner here obviously is a non-believer. But I know what I know." Frank falls silent, knowing if he says anymore, this will get back to Julian post haste. He's said enough.
Blair breaks in, "Hey, man... if you've seen something... if you know something... You'd let us know, wouldn't you?"
Sonny crosses his arms across his chest again, taking a defiant stance. His face is totally somber, the look he gives Frank could cut through ice.
Frank squirms a little. He has GOT to get Ellison alone to talk about this. "Sure, sure..."
Seeing how the detective is obviously uncomfortable with saying more now, Jim tries to ease the tension. "Well, we've found it's good to be open to reality in all its guises, right, Chief?" he looks at his partner with a warm smile.
Jim's smile puts Blair at ease, as always. "Yeah, Jim." he smiles back at his partner.
Sonny is eager for these men to leave, eager to separate Frank from this new danger.
Frank wonders how he can ditch Sonny to talk to these two.
Jim has a thought... in this interrogation room, there are fewer inputs to deal with. He tries dialing up his aural sense higher, checking for heartbeats. Blair's, of course, is first... and aside from his, there is only one other!
"I believe you gentlemen need to pick up some IDs, don't you?" Sonny motions impatiently toward the door, hoping the visitors will get the message.
Jim's eyes go a little steely. Frank knows more than he is telling, and his partner, Sonny, has no heartbeat... a vampire? And obviously doesn't want them to talk to Frank. For the moment, Jim will play along.
From long exposure around Jim, Blair can tell his partner has dialed up one of his senses for some reason... he's dying to ask him what he's sensing, but holds back for now.
"Sure, then what?" Jim gets up slowly.
Frank is uncommunicative, doesn't look up when Ellison glances his way.
Sonny opens the door. "Then we'll all start work together in the morning."
Blair stands up, following Jim's lead.
"Fine with me. I guess we'll see you both then." Jim gestures to his partner. "Let's go, Chief."
"Okay, Jim." Blair nods to the others. "Nice to meet you."
Frank waves without looking up.
Jim and Blair exit the room, departing down the hallway to the personnel office.
============
As soon as the door closes again after the newcomers leave, Frank rounds on his partner, his eyes flashing. "Man, you just HAD to make me out like some escapee from the insane asylum, didn't you?"
Sonny laughs off Frank's anger. "Frank, I don't make you out to look like anything. You do damn well on your own, talking about vampires and werewolves and all other such nonsense." The Ventrue primogen is growing weary of this charade he had been playing with his mortal partner. He reminds himself to talk with Julian about it.
He stabs a finger into Sonny's chest. "This isn't over, Toussaint. We have yet to talk about the TRUTH, you and me. Or what nonsense really is going on!" He is so tempted to just come out and say it, more sure than ever that Sonny is Kindred, but thinking of Julian holds him back.
"Don't point fingers at me, Kouhanek." He grabs Frank's finger, squeezing it just hard enough to make him wince. he stares directly at the much younger detective, speaking in a staccato monotone. "You don't know half of what you think you know. And you'd be better off to forget what you do know."
"Ow! Fuck you, Sonny!" he yanks his hand away, scowling at him. Frank backs off hastily, wanting to throw a punch, but the twist to his finger was only a warning and he knows it. So Frank settles for a scowl.
An evil smile curls around his lips. he leans closer, right into Frank's face. "You're not *my* type." He pauses, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do." He turns and heads out the door.
Frank lets his partner go, but after waiting about a half minute, heads on out He has a strong feeling Sonny is going to run to Julian over the 'wolves' thing. And Frank needs to confront Julian just as much as he needs to confront his partner.
It's SHOWDOWN time in San Francisco...
============
After picking up their IDs, Jim and Blair head out to the truck, preparing to go back home. Jim already has his tie off, stuffed into his pocket. They've been silent since leaving the interrogation room, but can talk more freely in the truck.
"Man, I hate monkey suits..." Jim shrugs off his suit coat, tosses it behind the seat.
Hurrying after Jim, unable to match his long strides, Blair asks, "Hey, Jim... what were you sensing in that room back there, with those other two cops?" He hops in the truck, slams the door shut.
He puts the truck in gear, starts out of the parking garage. "Sonny Toussaint... like Dr. Carr. No heartbeat. If what Frank is saying is true... they must be vampires."
Eyes a bit wild, Blair hangs on as Jim moves the truck out. "Oh man... I did NOT want to hear you say that word..." he groans, repressing a shudder.
Staring only at the road, Jim's expression is a little closed. The impact of this hasn't fully hit yet. "He did not have a heartbeat, Blair. I'm certain."
Hooking one arm into his shoulder-belt, the other Blair waves in the air, gesturing. "Oh gods, Jim... that really scares me, ya know? Cause I believe you. I know your senses are right about this... but I wish to God they weren't."
"No one believes Frank, either. But we will. I wonder..." Jim pauses.
"So... what do we do now? Go out and stock up on silver crosses, holy water and garlic bulbs?" Realizing how crazy that sounded, Blair instantly mutters to himself, "Oh man, I do NOT believe I just said that!!"
"Chief, I'd like to try another walk on the spirit plane again... we might find out more that way."
"Okay... okay, good idea, Jim." Blair agrees, nodding, happy to do something familiar about this very unusual situation.
Jim sighs, "Otherwise, we're going to get Frank alone as soon as possible to
find out everything he knows. Count on that one.""Yeah. If we CAN. If that... uh..." cringing, Blair doesn't want to say the "V"-word, so he corrects himself, "if his *partner* will let us."
They fall silent then, during the ride across the Bay Bridge and back to Berkeley. With relief after the strange morning, they enter their loft apartment, grateful to be alone again.
Needing a bit of emotional support, Jim pulls Blair into his arms and holds him close against his chest, just letting the sensory input of "Guide" soak into him.
After the stressful morning, Blair is so relieved to be safe in his lover's arms again, closing his eyes, inhaling Jim's familiar scent, centering himself.
Jim lets flow over his being Guide scent, Guide heartbeat, Guide warm body against him. He kisses Blair's hair, then lays his cheek against it, just enjoying the softness.
Blair didn't realize until now how tightly he's been holding himself together all day.
Jim feels a slight trembling in the smaller body in his arms. "Shhhh, Chief, we're home. No werewolves or vampires here."
Blair groans, "Oh gods, Jim... I hope there aren't!" He sighs. "Can we sit for awhile? I'm kind of tired all of a sudden."
"Yeah..." Slowly, carefully Jim releases his lover, follows him over to the couch.
Blair throws himself gracelessly onto the couch, running a shaky hand through his long hair. "I sure hope our next spirit-walk will shed more light on this crazy business, that's all I can say, Jim." A nervous little laugh tumbles from his lips.
Jim unbuttons the top button of his shirt, and his shirtsleeve cuffs, getting comfortable as he sits beside his partner. He runs his arm around Blair, nudging him closer. "Me, too. We ought to wait until our minds are clearer before attempting another, though."
"Yeah." Blair snuggles in under Jim's arm. His eyes are a bit haunted. He closes his them.
Jim's voice drops softer. "Love you, Chief..."
Blair's face brightens instantly, hearing those familiar, comforting words. He opens his eyes, looking up into Jim's. "Love you too, Jim!" he replies, smiling warmly.
Turns on his megawatt smile, Jim then descends to his lover's luscious lips where he makes a valiant effort to forget all about the world outside their little domain...
THE END
