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Warning: Canine Squicks (near end of Chap. 2)/Slash/Threesomes

The Sentinel
-- Sentinel Evolutions Part 2--
written by Roy's Girl, Scribe and Kata (November 2002)

Scribe, perched between Jim and Blair in the truck cab, peered back over her shoulder, peeking through the glass into the enclosed bed. She looked at Blair, on her right. He cocked an eyebrow silently. She looked at Jim.

He didn't take his eyes off the road. "Don't start."

"But she's scared. Why can't she ride up here with me?" Scribe asked, trying for plaintive, but coming off whiny.

"Why?" Jim glanced at her briefly. He couldn't take his eyes off the road long. He was following the bright red Range Rover driven by Jane, and it took all his concentration. The woman drove like a lunatic, even on this narrow, twisting road. "I can tell you why in two words--wolf pee."

"But it was just a few drops, and she was scared when you came to that abrupt stop."

"It was either that or go up Jane's tailpipe."

"Well, ~I~ was the one she peed on. If I can wear it, I'd think you could..."

Jim was gritting his teeth. Blair patted her leg. "Scribe? Sentinel sense of smell, okay?"

She wilted a little. "But this is so unfair!"

Jim sighed. "We've been over this. Yes, it's unfair. I'm not particularly enamoured of the idea, either, but you don't hear me bitching about it."

"No, but you can do 'pissed off silence' louder than ANYONE I've ever known, man," Blair said. "Scribe, we're all stuck in this situation--we just have to make the best of it."

"Have you got any idea how SICK I am of being told that?" she snapped. "It's all I've ever heard, my entire life. The kids in your class torture you? Make the best of it. Have to quit college for a year because you don't qualify for a grant and they won't give you a loan? Make the best of it." Her voice was rising. "Minor problem with your car that you can't afford to fix now, but it's going to get worse if you don't? Make the best of it. Dropped into an alternate universe and told that you're about to completely change your life, probably for one that will be a lot less comfortable? Well, I don't WANT to be brave and stoic about it, damn it! I'm pissed, and I feel like whining!"

There was silence for a moment. Finally Blair said, "Got that off your chest?"

She glared at him. "Don't think it's going to be that easy. If you don't want to listen to it, turn me loose."

"Okay, Scribe. Let's say we turn you loose." She looked at him suspiciously. "We pull over to the side of the road and put you out--WITH wolf. Do you have any idea how far we are from civilization? We left the main highway almost an hour ago. That last town was about thirty miles back, and it was a feedstore, a gas station, and a Quik-Stop. We haven't been on paved road for the last fifteen minutes, the woods keep creeping in closer and closer, and I have a feeling that the road is going to peter out pretty soon. Now, where, exactly, do you think you'll go?"

Her voice was smaller when she spoke. "You could let me take the truck back."

The look he gave her was incredulous, and Blair put his hand over his face. "Let's put aside for a moment the fact that I don't like ANYONE else driving my truck. You don't have a license. We can't even be sure that there are the same traffic laws here that there are in your home world. Where would you go?"

"I... Well, I guess I couldn't realistically make it back to Texas." She winced. "And I'm not sure I'd want to find out if there was another version of me sitting there, typing away. I could go back to Cascade."

"And I suppose I'd let you have use of the loft. But how would you live there? There are bills to pay. You'd have to eat. And how would you support yourself? You can't very well get a job with absoulutely no proof of identity or paperwork." She sat back, _expression blank. "You didn't think of that, did you?"

"Jim," Blair said quietly. "Ease up."

"She has to deal with this, Blair." His voice softened. "Scribe, I'm not unsympathetic. I know a little about being suddenly thrown into a strange environment, completely cut off from your former life, remember? But honestly, can you think of an alternative?"

She drooped even farther. Her voice was desolate. "No, I can't. And if ~I~ can't, there probably isn't one."

Blair slid an arm around her shoulders, shaking her lightly. "It'll be okay. I'm glad you're with us." He leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Frankly, I think we're going to need all the back up we can to deal with that lunatic up ahead."

She gave him a faint smile and a doubtful look. "And you think I'm going to be much help in that area? Optimistic little thing, aren't you?"

"You have no idea." He nipped her earlobe.

She giggled, hunching one shoulder to push Blair back, and Jim felt relieved. She was an odd woman, but then, Blair was an odd man. He'd also been a little befuddled and annoyed by his neo-hippie witchdoctor punk when he'd first met him, but now he couldn't imagine life without him. Well, he could, but he didn't WANT to.

She was giggling again, and Jim risked another glance. Blair was licking her ear now. Her _expression was caught somewhere between pleased and flabbergasted. Jim knew how she felt. Being the focus of Sandburg's undivided attention was exhilerating, and perhaps a little daunting if you hadn't been actively pursued before. He figured that, for a middle-aged virgin, it had to be mind boggling.

She pushed Blair away. "Stop it--that tickles."

"Put you in a better mood, didn't it?" He was just the tiniest bit smug.

"Yeah, well, that was an easy one. Wait till we run out of toilet paper--THAT will be a challenge."

Blair laughed, and Jim couldn't resist a chuckle. Even Scribe smiled again, but it faded. "Um, I think we're here."

They had just turned a sharp corner. A few yards ahead the road ended in a roughly cleared area no bigger than half a tennis court. It was going to be crowded, because Jane's Ranger was already parked there, next to another large truck. The woman was currently in a three way hug with two men--one with reddish, sandy hair, and the other one with Indian dark hair. As they slowed to a stop, the trio looked up. Jane started pointing and speaking rapidly.

The three in the truck examined the three standing under the trees, and were examined in turn. Scribe said softly, "Son of a bitch."

Blair said, "What's up? They look perfectly normal to me."

She was shaking her head. "She told me, but I didn't really think about it. It's really them. I had SUCH a crush on Johnny when I was in junior high."

Jim looked at her in disbelief. "You went to school with them?"

She took a deep breath, but Blair cut her off. "I think it's that alternate universe, fanfiction thing again." She nodded.

Jim's eyes narrowed. "Exactly how deep WAS this crush?"

"My hormones had just made themselves known, and I didn't know what to do with them." She sat back a little, giving him an arch look. "And what's it to ya?"

She and the Sentinel exchanged a long look. Neither one seemed to be willing to break it. Blair sighed. "I can see that there's a LOT of talking to be done. First things first, though. Let's go introduce ourselves."

Jim grunted, and they piled out of the truck and began walking to the waiting trio.

Roy sighed. He knew there wasn't any other way for the approaching Pairing to develop and thrive correctly, but sometimes he *hated* this *other* job. Being a paramedic firefighter was a rewarding career in it's way, but it was a cover. A way to blend in. Their *real* job was to identify and bring together Sentinel Core groups, train them, make sure the Alpha was properly supported, and then place them somewhere *other* than the *training ground* where that Alpha had developed initial skills.

"Brace yourself. Ellison is a strong one. AND Scribe reads as a newly emerged Anchor. He and his Guide have already bonded to her. She's still fighting it, though. Kata's another one, and a little wiser. She 'knows' better than to argue with fate. She's also to busy laughing up her sleeve at Scribe to realize she's already bonded to Simon and H.." John cautioned his partner. "Those two will follow without even caring why. And Simon's another Sen. Offline until now, until Kata. Which should prove interesting."

"Yeah" Jane noted. "Especially since this *isn't* Jim's tribal ground, it's Bank's territory. We'll have to re-locate those three."

John nodded, but did not reply. He was still too upset with her for driving up here. She not only didn't have a license, she had never had one in her life. She'd been guessing, mostly. She'd also been too scared to take her eyes off the road, even when turning or changing lanes. Her hands had never once strayed from the steering wheel, either. Not even to use turn signals. The list of things that could have gone wrong reeled through the paramedic's mind, and he shuddered.

"Ellison, why did you shove Jane into a car and just say, "Drive?"

"It seemed like the thing to do at the time. I won't do it again," He winced. "I don't think I've *ever* tried to pace someone who drives like that before."

John cursed, then told him why that was. Ellison turned dead white. "Christ..."

"Everything that is going on here, now, is part of a much greater whole. You and Blair, and the rest of your core are but one unit of such cores amid hundreds of thousands. Most of the time, a core group will find it's members without proding, but those with a really Stubborn alpha..." He sighed. "Then we have to step in and make sure the support people are there, bonded, linked and learn to work together right."

"This time, the space/time continum had to be used and altered because several of the people who were genetically *designed* for you, weren't born in the right place or time, so they couldn't get to where you were." Jane told the three gently. "And Scribe *is* your Anchor. Just as Roy is mine." She shrugged. "You are part of a whole, disconnected until properly trained, so you couldn't inadvertantly give any other cores away, thru ignorance. Johnny will finish Blair's Shaman training, and Roy will school Scribe. I'm stuck with you."

Jane finished speaking, and the two little groups stared at each other. Finally Blair said, "Well, this is strange, even compared to our usual weirdness, but there's no reason why we can't be cordial." He held out a hand to Johnny, smiling brightly. "Hi. Blair Sandburg." They shook hands, then he shook hands with Roy. "This is my Sentinel, Jim Ellison..." Jim followed suit. "And this is..." He paused and looked at Scribe. "You know, I was just thinking. What's your real name? I mean, it isn't just 'Scribe', like just Cher, is it?"

"It's close enough," she said shortly. "I don't know you people--I don't give out my proper name. And what's the point, anyway?" She glared at Jim and raised her voice pointedly, "As it has been explained to me, I don't officially EXIST in this world, anyway."

There was a moment of silence, then Blair continued, "And this is our Scribe." She crossed her arms, scowling.

Roy studied her, seeing the fear and hurt behind the irritation. He smiled warmly and offered his hand. "I'm Roy DeSoto."

"I know. I used to watch you regularly, right along with Adam-12." His smile didn't waver, and his hand didn't drop.

She finally sighed and shook hands. "Hi. I'm Scribe, and I DON'T want to be here."

"Scribe..." Jim started.

"No, Jim, it's all right. This is going to be a gradual process for all of you, and she's got a lot more to overcome than either you or Blair. Frankly, I think she's doing remarkably well."

"Could have fooled me," Jim murmurred. "She did nothing but bitch the entire way up here."

Scribe's _expression was hurt, and she said frostily, "I'm going to go get Heart out of the truck." She turned and walked stiffly back to the truck.

Jane started toward Jim, hissing, "Jerk!" but Johnny caught her arm. He was one of the two people in the world who could get away with that, Roy being the other.

"Save it for later, Jane. He honestly doesn't seem to realize when he's being an ass. Before he can be trained to act right, he has realize that something is wrong with how he acts now."

"This could take a LONG time."

While they were talking, Roy followed Scribe to the back of the truck. She'd opened the back and lifted out a shivering, whining wolf pup. Now she was snuggling the little animal while it industriously washed her face. When she saw him coming, she quickly wiped her cheeks, but not before Roy noticed that not all the moisture was due to puppy kisses.

Roy rubbed the puppy behind the ears. "Heart just took to you right off, didn't she?"

"It's funny. I'm a cat person, you know? I mean, I don't have anything AGAINST dogs." A cold nose prodded her chin, and she looked down into yellow eyes, "uh, doggy type beasties. But something about her just clicked with me."

"You bonded. It happens, sometimes."

"Mm." She glanced at him. "From what I gathered from listening to Jane, I'm supposed to be... a sort of Guide?"

He nodded. "A non-Shamen Guide."

"A stablizer?" Another nod. She barked with laughter, but her eyes weren't amused. "If you just knew how funny that is. Me--a stabilizing influence on ANYBODY." She bit her lip, then spoke in a lower tone. "Look, I've always thought you were a really sensible, practicle sort of person. Can't you convince the rest of them that this is a mistake?"

He's started to shake his head. "No, not all of it. I mean--Jim and Blair, pretty darn obvious. Jane's scary, so I can believe just about anything for her. I don't believe either you or Johnny would lie about something important, and I don't know enough about Kata to make a call on her, but me? ME?! Come on, now. I'll lay claim to being able to write some really good stuff, and I can be funny when I try, but other than that..."

He shook his head again.

"Roy! Unless I'm misinterpretting this, these Sentinel Cores are supposed to be pretty much permanent, and as close as any marriage you're likely to find. They..."

She sighed, then stepped to the side of the truck. She nodded toward where Blair was talking with Johnny, while Jim stood by alertly. "Look at those two." He did, then looked back at her, eyebrow lifted. She rolled her eyes. "I'm realistic about myself. I'm fat, fair, and over forty. Sure, I had one REAL intense encounter with them..." her eyes unfocused for a moment in memory, then she straightened. "But they're LOVERS, for heaven's sake. As in soulmates? I've learned to be fairly content alone. But if I had to live around the edges of something that intimate..." She heaved a sigh. "I'm happy for 'em, and they deserve something a little more on their own level, don't you think?"

"Look, Roy's dealing with The Scribe, and I need to get started with Blair. Just take it easy with Jim. Granted, that sharp tongue of your's will be both needed and warrented with the man, but why don't you explain *why* he was out of line. Okay."

She sighed, nodded. "It's just that...he reminds me of Chet. Additude, behavior...I wanna do him like I would Kelly."

Gage stared at her for a moment. "Just be gentle. They're family now."

"KEWL! That's what ya'll said about CHET, and HE'S fair game..."

Johnny chuckled. *She could be so juvenile at times* He thought. *But she has such a love of life...at least, now she does* He winced away from the memory of the kind of shape she'd been in when he'd found her again. It had taken *all* of his and Roy's skill as paramedics just to stablize her. That, and two days. It had been deemed unwise to move her, and she had fought off three other teams of paramedics already. Losing blood each time until they'd tried. She had went utterly still under Roy's first touch, whimpered out "Roy?" and quieted at once. Like she had for *years* before their seperation.

That was all it had taken for an immediate I.D.. She had never been able to tolerate the touch of any hands but their's without panicking. He froze.

"Wait here." John told her, then called Blair to quickly and quietly explain about that, and the reasons for it. Blair's face went ashen as he listened to the account of a five-year-old child rescued by them from a baby-raping father. Jim came up behind his Guide to place both hands firmly on Blair's shoulders as he, too, finished listening to the recounting. "Just don't touch her, whatever else you do. You can spout off all you want, but if anyone but me or Roy, or one of her pets touches her, she flashbacks and well....I don't *care* how good of a fighter you are, Sentinel." John used the formal address for a reason. "She *will* hurt you. She'll think you're her *father* and if that happens, all the rules are off. That won't be good. If you'll remember, she *is* a mage." John sighed. "Scribe's your's. She's Blair's backup for you, Jim. You're gonna get to keep her, but that means that explaining all this to her, is your responsiblity."

Jim had paled during as John had spoken. "Dear God, that poor..." He bit off a curse and cuddled Blair's shaking form. "FIVE?"

"Yeah, five." John bit out. "Now go take Scribe from Roy for a little while so he and I can explain that I had to tell you. She's not gonna like knowing you know about that. She still has a guilt issue with it."

"Why?" Blair asked, horrified.

"I'm not sure, but it will take a lot of reassurance from DeSoto and me to deal with the fact I had to tell you. Preferably before one of you touched her." Gage shrugged and went to retrieve the mage, while the other two snatched Scribe up, talking fast.

"She isn't nearly as hardassed as she'd like us to think, then." Jim noted.

"Just don't touch her." Blair added. He thought a moment. "However, *I* need some reassurances myself, so why don't we go find somewhere private for the rest of the night?"

Jim grinned eagerly, picking their woman up and dashing for the cover of the trees....

*How the hell did I get into this situation?* Scribe thought, a little dazed. She was currently pitched head down over Jim Ellison's shoulder as the big Sentinel trotted after his giggling Guide, deeper into the forest.

Not that something like this hadn't featured in occasional fantasies. Heck, she'd DONE being snatched away to a mountain hideaway by a big, handsome, sexy man before in her fictions--but that was a fantasy. She'd known damn good and well while she was writing it that there was no chance of it actually happening. *And once again Fate delights in kicking me in the ass.*

*This isn't going to work. Yeah, they seem interested now, but just wait till the novelty wears off. I don't want to have to deal with the awkward silences and furtive 'geez, she's STILL here' looks. I know they wouldn't MEAN it--they're both nice guys. But heck, they're a COUPLE. I feel like a major third wheel, and I need to do something about it before they start to resent me. Anyway, I'll have the memory of one FANTASTIC whoopie session to warm my golden years.*

She patted Jim on the back--actually, on the butt, because that was where her hands were dangling. "Jim? Put me down." She was a little breathless from the jouncing.

"In a minute. I think Blair has spotted a nice open space up ahead," he replied.

"I've been walking since I was less than a year old, Ellison."

"You clever thing, you. Just consider this delivery service." There was a leer in his voice. "Your own personal Sentinel and Guide will provide all KINDS of services."

"I've never seen such a pair of horndogs in my entire life!"

"Why, thank you!" Blair said cheerfully. "Here's a nice spot." He was clearing away twigs and small stones. "Just give me a sec and we'll have a nice, sweet bed of grass."

"What? Grass?" Scribe started squirming. "Down NOW, Ellison!"

"Whatever you say." He let her down by letting her slowly slide the length of his body till her feet were once again on the ground. Her eyes widened as she felt compelling evidence that proved her assertion that he had an active sex drive. He hadn't turned loose--his grip had just shifted from her waist to her ass, pulling her up tight.

"Jim?" She put her hands against his chest and pushed. She only gained a couple of inches between their torsos--his crotch stayed pressed firmly against her lower tummy. "Slow down, Big Fella. Look, you need to remember that up until yesterday I hadn't even played kissy-face with anyone. I'm not ready to go from Vestel Virgin to Whore of Babylon in one jump."

She was a little surprised when Jim took hold of her hair (the orange tint seemed to be fading out on its own) in back, forcing her to look him in the face. His voice was firm. "I don't want to hear ANYONE talking about you like that--not even YOU." He shook her head gently. "Understand?"

"No, not really, but I'm not going to argue about it right now."

Blair tossed aside a small armful of twigs and dead leaves, dusting his hands. He came over to Jim and Scribe, slipping his arms around her, managing to slide his hands between the two. "There. A sweet smelling, verdant bed awaits you, fair maiden."

"Not a maiden anymore, as you very well know," she responded. He chuckled, taking advantage of the expanse of neck Jim had just bared by beginning to nibble. Scribe made a small sound, then cleared her throat. "Thanks, but no thanks. On the ground? In the woods? No, thank you. At this rate I'll die without ever having done it in a real bed."

Jim bent down, chose a spot on her throat, and licked. "That's all right. I don't mind being on bottom this time."

"Hello? BUGS, okay? I need to go back to the truck and check on Heart, anyway."

"Heart is fine," Blair assured her. He'd slid his hands up to her breasts now, beginning a slow, sensual massage. "But it's sweet that you're worried about her." He squeezed gently. "Don't you think she'd make a terrific mother, Jim?"

"Hey! What...?" She squirmed violently and managed to slip from between the two men.

Jim shoved Blair's shoulder. "Great way to spoil the mood, Darwin."

"It was meant as a COMPLIMENT."

Jim held out his hand toward Scribe. "It's okay, sweetheart. Rangers are prepared, remember? I brought a large supply of protection, and I always keep a couple in my wallet."

"That isn't exactly what..." She took a deep breath. "This is like that time I let the church youth group talk me into going on the Batman Escapes rollercoaster at Astroworled."

Blair looked interested. "Yeah? How was it?"

"Scary. I did the whole thing with my eyes closed." She started to back away. "You boys just have fun--I'm really not interested." Jim narrowed his eyes shrewdly. His nostrils flared. *Oh, crap. He's in Sentinel mode. I can guess what's coming.*

She wasn't wrong. Jim said calmly, "Yes, you are. You've got very distinctive pheromones."

"That's neither polite, nor fair," she said accusingly. Jim shrugged. She started backing away again. "I'm serious here, guys. I need a few minutes to myself. Go for it, be nature boys. Make hundreds of thousands of fans in another universe ecstatic. I'll be back at the truck." She turned and hurried back the direction they'd come.

Jim started after her, but before he'd gone two steps, Blair caught his arm. "Let her go, Jim."

"But Blair, she didn't really mean that," Jim protested. "She WANTED to be with us again. I could TELL."

"I know you could. Damn, Jim, I don't have Sentinel senses and ~I~ could tell, but she said no. No is no, Jim. Right?" Jim was silent, staring after the departing woman. Blair shook his arm. "I said RIGHT?"

Ellison sighed. "Right. But I don't understand her."

Blair laughed slowly. "You don't understand repression and denial?" Jim smiled reluctantly. "I thawed you out, man, and I don't think her walls are as tough as yours were. Together I believe we can convince her to let that spark flare." He stroked Jim's arm. "Because that's what we want, isn't it?"

Jim looked down at him for a moment, then said slowly, "We haven't talked about this. It's come on so suddenly that everyone's just been kind of rolling along with it. After we got together, I thought I'd never want to be with anyone but you, but now..." he turned his eyes back toward where the writer had disappeared. "I don't want to hurt you."

"You're not. I feel the same way." He smiled, looking a little puzzled. "All I can figure is that it's like Streeter and the paramedics say--It's genetic--fated, you know?"

"I feel it. You feel it. What about her?"

"She feels it. It just scares her. We'll get her over it. Now," he reached out and laid a firm, warm hand against the firm, warm bulge in Jim's jeans. "She said we should enjoy ourselves. Sounds like a good idea to me. You mentioned something about being on the bottom?"

Jane had no patience with subtlety. "Why aren't you screwing their brains out? You three need to have sex, lots of sex, to cement the bond."

"I don't go to the beach because I don't want to get sand in intimate places," Scribe said tartly. "The same thing goes for leaf bits and insects. Where's...?"

*whuff!* Heart came bouncing to her. Her puppy awkwardness got the better of her, and she did a nose dive at Scribe's feet.

"Aw, poor baby!" She picked up the little canine, and received a prompt face washing. "Oof. It's a good thing I'm not alergic to animal spit, I guess." She put the pup back on the ground, soothing its grumble with a pet. "I'll start unloading our truck. They'll be along in a while." Without waiting for a response, she went and opened the back of the truck, Heart trailing her closely.

She crawled into the truck bed, wiggling in amongst the tightly stored supplies, muttering to herself, "I know it's here SOMEWHERE. I KNOW Sandburg wouldn't have been able to leave it behind, even if Jane told him it would be a distraction, and Jim said it would be useless out here."

She dug. It was hidden in a pile of blankets. "Aha! Bingo." Blair's laptop.

She peeked throught the glass, through the truck cab and made sure that the other three were occupied. Johnny was looking back toward her truck with a hint of suspicion in his _expression, but Roy handed him a couple of sleeping bags, and he started back through the trees with them.

She quickly opened the laptop and hit the power button. It booted up quickly and easily. *Good, he charged the batteries up before we left. Now, let's see if that wireless internet connection thing actually works.*

It did. She rapidly went to Yahoo and got into her mail program. *Lord, I hope this works. I'm desperate, and there's only one person I can think of who might have enough net experience, and STREETER experience, to help me figure a way out of this. Lessee...* She set up an email form for the makebelieve lists (squidge AND yahoo, just in case). *This is going to be fast, dirty, and unbeta-ed. I just hope it works.* She started typing. *Sentinel Evolutions: I Have Absolutely No Idea... Headers and disclaimers in previous parts.*

*Scribe fled from the horny Sentinel and Guide, rushing straight back to the truck. She did her best to disarm Streeter, DeSoto and Gage, offering to begin unloading her groups supplies, and made her way to the back of the truck.*

*Once there she located Blair's smuggled laptop, and got on the Internet, thanking heaven for the new technology. Then she made her desperate move, praying like mad that the lovely, brilliant, talented, efficient, FORGIVING listmum/archive goddess would be understanding about being dragged into this insanity.* *She quickly wrote a section getting her into the truck and on the laptop, then wrote, 'then she wrote 'there was an electric buzz, a flash of light, a pop, and the startled webmistress appeared before her,' and pressed SEND.*

Scribe wrote 'there was an electric buzz, a flash of light, a pop, and the startled webmistress appeared before her,' and pressed SEND.

There was an electric buzz, a flash of light, a pop, and the startled webmistress appeared before her--on top of a sack of groceries.

Peja blinked around at her new environment. "I was just reading a new segment of that crazy mish-mosh Jane, Scribe, and Kata had gotten into, and..." She trailed off, spotting the woman with the orange hair fading back into red-brown. She had a laptop on her knees, and her blue eyes were wide. "Scribe?" The woman nodded. "Oh, dear." Peja shifted. "There's a rather uncomfortable can right..." She shifted again, then reached under her and came up with a flattened white plastic bag. Her voice almost eerily calm, she said, "I think I squashed Blair's marshmallows."

Roy looked around the cavern and spotted the bedding. It was in a wide but hay-filled trough that had a well-cured bearskin robe over it, making it soft and warm. He and John took their time undressing Jane. They hadn't loved her in more than a month, and already her breathing was getting ragged.

"Jesus, it's been too long." She murmurred. "God, I love these four hands." She rubbed her face against one set of knuckles from each man. They waited for a her, she always did this. If the others hadn't been there earlier she would have taken on both of them where they stood. John's arms came up to encircle her waist just as Roy buried his face in her neck. He kissed her lightly, heard her moan, felt her arch, and they carefully laid her down. This was a reconnection, a re-affirmation. She waited for them to assume control, as they always did. While waiting, she heard a muffled 'pop' and a sizzle of electricity. Then conversation. She grinned.

"What?"

"Scribe tried for re-inforcements and didn't check my security settings first. I've got your laptop, but she thought it was Blair's. That thing has full Core Locator Security on it. You can bring them in, but it takes a 2/3s vote by the full Intergalatic Council to reverse it."

"We *know* that, what did she do?"

"Pulled Peja herself into this pow-wow. I *know* I didn't tell either of them about the *real* spirit animal who wanted to attach himself to Peja, so that means....HEY! JIMBO!" She yelled.

Ellison went stiff as a board, shot off, and suddenly collasped to one side of Blair. "Holy Shit, Streeter! Christ! TURN DOWN THE VOLUME!" He said as he held his aching skull.

She told him what Scribe had done, and then told him to inform Blair what the new writer's name was. He did, watching Blair's face.

"Oh. My. God....PEJA? I wonder what animal..."

"Tell him, Coon. Also tell him that the rest of the male population of the bullpen is in route, along with Chet Kelly, which is something Scribe needs to be warned about. Oh, yeah. Peja said she sat on and squashed Blair's marshmallows. I think I'm going to let Blair handle it. I'm busy."

"She said a Racoon." Jim told him.

Blair thought a moment, then grinned. "Fits"

"Then Jim told him what else she'd said. Including the bit about the Intergalatic Council. And that she was going to let Blair handle it."

"Oh man..." He huffed. "Shit, well, let's get to it. I don't think we should allow Scribe time to think anymore. Just rev her up and get her going before her brain can override her body. That way she'll be too tired to get into mischief." He told his sentinel, who got a devious, and determined look on his face.

"She's your back-up, right?"

"Yeah, so...?"

"Doesn't that mean I get to protect her too?"

Blair started grinning...he just *knew* where this was going. "Yup."

"Even against herself?"

"Oh yeah. In fact, we *both* do."

"That's what I hoped you'd say. Didn't you get a chance to stew that natural stuff yet?. The um, *special* tea?" Yeah, and she had some of it at the last rest stop. It should kick-in in about another 30 minutes. Make her hornier than hell, too."

"Then I guess we better go protect her from herself and get the other one settled. Jane says Peja will have her hands full for the night since she didn't get just ONE coon, she got a litter of about fourteen of the little busy-bodies."

Blair laughed at the poor woman's predicament. "Let's go get our woman. I want to have her naked and in our arms by the time that aphrodisiac we gave her kicks in."

"Strong?" Jim's voice was hopeful as they went back to the truck, stark naked.

"Very."

The pair walked up to the truck, grinned at Peja who was staring at their crotches. The naked men's phalluses rose high and proud as they snared their woman. "Excuse us." Jim quipped as he pulled Scribe out of his truck.

"Nooo, that's okay...go right ahead." Peja said vaguely, staring at the pair of pale white asses as they trotted off into the forest with their *very* horny prize...

For the second time in less than an hour Scribe found herself dangling over a broad male shoulder, with a bird's eye view of a beautiful male ass flexing efficiently as she was bounced along. This time said ass was gloriously naked, and therefor even more distracting than it had been. Besides that, Blair was right behind them, equally naked, and emphatically aroused. The visual feast was beginning to have an effect. Determined to stick to her plan of abstinence on the theory of 'you can't miss it if you haven't had it' (and completely ignoring the fact that this tact would be useless, since she HAD had it), she closed her eyes.

It didn't help. She was beginning to get unfamiliar, but pleasant tingles racing to interesting parts of her body. For one thing, the way her chest was rubbing against Jim's shoulder blades seemed to be stimulating her nipples. She squirmed, trying to relieve the pressure. Very ineffective if she was trying to relieve the sensation, SPECTACULARLY effective if she was trying to enhance it. She squirmed again. "Let me go, Ellison! I suppose I'm lucky you're not dragging me along by my hair, but this is STILL too damn cave man for me!"

She squealed when he smacked her butt (and was a bit alarmed to find that the tiny sting sent a little electric jolt through her crotch). "Me Sentinel, him Guide, you sandwich filling. Hush, woman," Jim grunted, in a very creditable Johnny Wiesmuller impersonation.

"THIS ISN'T FUNNY!"

"Actually, that WAS pretty funny," said Blair. "Loosen up, Scribe."

"I'M VERY HAPPY BEING TIGHTLY WOUND!"

"You're about to get your spring snapped." This time Jim rubbed her ass with one hand, keeping the other firmly around her thighs, holding her in place.

"Stop that. It's not working," she scolded.

"Yes it is," he countered.

"Quit using that darn musk sniffing thing."

"Babe, you're right up here by my face--I can't help it. Besides, evein if I turned my smell OFF, there's still the heat." His hand slid down the curve of her ass, probing at where her legs were pressed together. She immediately squeezed her thighs together as tightly as possible in an attempt to keep him from groping, then moan. The action had an unlooked for effect. She was suddenly aware of a warm, slippery sensation between her legs. Jim chuckled, pushing and managing to wiggle his fingers between her thighs, then started to nudge upward.

"Uh... you BASTARD! Um... Dewey decimel system! Triple zero, Computers, information, & general reference. One hundreds, philosophy & psychology. Two hundreds, religion..."

"702, erotica in the arts. 802, erotica in literature," chanted Blair.

"You're making that up!" Scribe accused. "Those have nothing to do with sex."

"The 02s of those are listed as Miscellanious." He grinned at her, wiggling his eyebrows. "I've READ what you've written on Miscellany. Let's see, human sexuality would be in the psychology section. Non-traditional life groupings are covered under social sciences. There are histories of sex in the movies and television in the media sections." He reached up to run his hand through her hair. "Where would you classify those stories you wrote about that bi-sexual Dom hairdresser?" He tugged gently. "I can sympathize with him in some things. I bet this would feel lovely drifting across my belly and thighs."

Jim's hand had crept higher, and was rubbing firmly. "Keep it up, Darwin. I'm feeling definite dampness here."

"Scribe, have you considered making love to either one of us while the other fucks whoever is having you?"

Scribe made an odd sound, somewhere between a mewl and a whine. Her eyes flew wide open, and she gasped. "Oh my god! I sound just like my Siamese cat used to! I'm in HEAT!" She Jim chuckled, and she could FEEL the vibrations luring another trickle of moisture from her body. She pounded on her back. "DON'T YOU ~DARE~ LAUGH AT ME, ELLISON!"

"I'm NOT," he protested. "Not really, but you're so damn CUTE."

"SOMEONE MY AGE CANNOT BE CUTE!"

"Can't prove it by me," Blair asserted.

"This is too fast. This is too strong. I haven't even had direct skin contact with naughty bits, and I feel like I'm melting. This is..." She was quiet for a second.

"Nice?" Blair supplied hopefully. "Sexy? Thrilling?"

She lifted her head. Her eyes were starting to unfocus with lust, but they were still very lucid. "Suspicious, and unnatural."

"Blair assured me that it was purely organic and natural, and... Oops."

"YOU SLIPPED ME A MICKEY FINN!"

"Spanish fly," Jim corrected. "Get your slang right."

"You're both wrong. It's a perfectly natural, very potent aphrodisiac," Blair informed them.

They'd reached the cave. "I'm going to kill both of you," she snarled as Jim ducked and carried her in.

The motion under the bearskin to one side paused (well, some of the motion), and Roy and Johnny popped their heads out. Jane's voice, muffled, said, "The only way you're going to do that, kid, is if you fuck them to death. Go ahead and try. It'll do you a world of good. Now you two get back in here--she'll be fine."

As they disappeared back under their fur spread, one of the men murmurred, "Not bad." The other chuckled affectionately.

When they reached the place where all their bedding had been made into a comfortable nest, Jim once again placed Scribe on her feet. This time, just to be on the safe side, he quickly stepped back out of knee reach. "Okay, Scribe, first of all, this was done with the best of intentions."

"Save 'em for the road to hell," she snapped. She was standing very still, except for a very fine full body tremor that almost made her seem to vibrate. Finally she growled, "Fine. You asked for it," and started ripping off her clothes. "Jim, get over here on the bed."

"Okay." He stepped over to stand beside her. "Look, if you want to..."

"Shut up." She pounced on him. She wasn't a small woman, and he wasn't expecting it. In a split second she had him on his back. In another split second she'd impaled herself on his rigid sex.

She yelped as he speared into her, and Blair said anxiously, "Scribe! Slow down or you'll hurt yourself!"

"You be quiet, too!" she ordered, holding very still.

Jim was frozen also, staring up blankly. "Oh, geez," said Blair. "He zoned. The sudden sensation was too much."

"Oh, no you don't! I'm not having sex with you like this, even if you ARE still hard, Ellison," she said. "It would be too much like rape. Jim!" She shook his shoulder.

"Scribe, let me..." Blair started.

"Jim," her voice was suddenly gentle. "Listen, Jim. I'm sorry. I'm pissed with you, but I didn't mean to do this to you." She stroked his cheek. "Come back, come back, wherever you are." Blair watched, surprised and interested. She'd had no training, but she was instinctively doing exactly what was needed.

Jim blinked slowly, his dilated pupils contracting to normal size. In a few seconds Blair could tell that he was back, that he was really SEEING the woman above him. "Hi," Jim whispered.

"Hi, yourself," she whispered back. "Sorry, but don't think this lets you off the hook." Her hips started to move slowly. "After I'm through with you, it's Blair's turn. And you'd better recharge your cells while I'm with him, because I have a feeling I'm going to tackle you AGAIN." Blair settled next to them, stroking himself as he watched the two join, occasionally reaching out to squeeze a nipple or stroke a sweaty flank.

On the other side of the cave, a sated Jane was cuddled down between her two lovers, giggling smugly to herself. "You can't run, you can't hide," she crooned. "And you damn sure can't keep stalling for long." She settled down for a nap, feeling comfortable and safe for the first time in weeks.

"Mmmm, John...do that...God yes!" Jane's cry of encouragement echoed through the pre-dawn air of the cavern, waking Jim at once. He listened to the three, and she winked at him before yanking Roy's hips toward her mouth. She swallowed him whole, knowing damned well Jim was watching. She didn't really give a shit. She wanted something more, this time, and had her body primed to get it.

She wanted a baby.

One of the oddest effects of accepting your role in the universe, was the effect it had on subjective age. She felt the changes, muttered a warning to Ellison that he and Scribe were about to undergo the same thing, just as her men were, and let it happen. She knew that Cores were one of the many kinds of Immortals in the universe, and now that she had *her's* complete, every member would match the youngest one's age by morning. She grinned, hearing the 'other' orgy going on down by Jim's truck. There was a chittering that let her know that *ALL* of Peja's coons were in attendence, as well as Rafe's otter and Chet's elk. She had her legs wide open by this time, and was drawing her Johnny inside her tight heat eagerly. She squeezed her vaginal muscles to make a six-sided wall, and then made those walls ripple around his turgid flesh.

Chrissst! How the HELL do you do that?" He hissed as he grit his teeth.

"Want me to stop?"

"HELL NO!" He gasped...frozen for an instant, then began to thrust as he pulled her over on top of him. Roy positioned himself behind her, greasing her well before he slid into her ass. She moaned again, struggling to find a rythum, then shrieked as she did so.

"OH GOD! YES! Deeper! R0Y, God, yeah...punch it!"

"That's my girl," DeSoto crooned. "Take it, love. Oh you love it, huh, girl?"

"Anything, anywhere, and anytime, long's it's you two."

"Shhh. Don't think of it...stay with us." It wasn't the first time Roy had needed to reassure her mid-stroke. He did it automatically, Jim noted, and felt sorrow fill his heart. Scribe and Blair were awake now, and as engrossed in the openly wanton display of love, passion and old pain as he was. The three exchanged glances that became stares as Scribe and Jim realized that during the night they'd lost *years* in physical age. They matched Blair...

"She warned us, but I didn't believe..." Scribe stuttered. Then she stopped and stared harder. "Um, Jim? Your hair's back!"

He started, looked at Blair who only nodded.

"Oh crap. Don't know if it's the damned tea, that display over there, or nature but..." She looked at Jim, the way *all* guides look to the sentinel involved. "DO something!"

He smiled down at her, feeling her finally accept him and Blair, and simply took them both into his arms.

It was a sunny afternoon in an unusually crowded part of the Cascade National Forest. A bluehaired young woman was sitting by a tall tree, reading a pocket book and trying not to listen in on any of the action going on, but the sounds were kind of hard to ignore.

*Geez, there they go again.* She sipped from her water bottle and tried to bury herself in battles and plots. A racoon watched her.

"Get back to your mistress," Kata told the furry critter. It stared at her for awhile longer before going off to join the others.

*It's getting to be a zoo in here. All that's missing is my lynx.*

A growl sounded from behind her.

"Think of the devil, come here."

A purring lynx flopped beside her.

"You being here means that something pretty serious is going to happen. Considering the recent activities, I'll probably end up with a sentinel-guide pair too." She thought about it for awhile. "Jim and Blair are taken, so's Rafe. Goddess, I hope it's not Megan. I'm *so* not into women." A pause. "I was dropped here right in front of H and Simon. Mmmm... Could be worse." She petted the lynx. "As I'm a firm believer in energy conservation and fate, how about we just wait here?" The large feline purred its approval of the plan. "Thought you'd agree."

A car was driving along a seldom used road in the Cascade National Forest.

"Tell me again, why're we going toward those lunatics instead of staying in Cascade?" Simon asked drily.

"No idea really, boss. It's just that, well, don't you feel we ought to?" H asked desperately. He was way out of his depth with the mystical and unexplained.

Simon sighed. "Yes, but is it wise or even sane? I mean, we just took off. The police chief's convinced I've taken off after a cheating lover or something."

"At least I don't have any such problems. Seeing as I'm here just to look after you," H grinned. At least, that was the official version they had cooked up.

"By the way, how do you know which way to drive? Cascade National is kind of a large place," Simon asked casually.

H thought about it for a second. Opened his mouth, closed it. Simon watched him as a panicked _expression creeped up in H's face.

"Great. Wave farewell to the rational world."

Simon could feel something coming closer, it was as if he could just catch a glimpse of something glorious. They were approaching something important, important to them personally. And his senses were going crazy. Light hurt his eyes, smells burned his nose, clothes itched. *This can't be.. It's impossible.* But it was happening, to him.

H looked at his friend, worried about the nervous wriggling. Simon was never nervous, pissed or grumpy, yes, but not nervous. To be honest, he was not exactly calm and collected about this either. He could feel his feelings for Simon deepening and warming the closer they came to wherever they were going. He had never felt anything like this. *Have to admit, it feels... right.* But it was unfamiliar and out of this world, or maybe from beneath or beyond this world.

They rounded a corner and the camp came into view. As they had somehow known it would.

Kata saw the car drive towards them from his seat just off the camp itself. *It's show time.*

The car was parked by Rafe's jeep and Simon and H stepped out.

"Rafe?! What are you doing here?" Simon shouted.

"The same thing you guys are, I bet," Rafe said grinning. "Call of destiny and all that."

"Quite a concentration of animal life," H said, staring at a particularly friendly racoon who was trying to climb up his leg. The attempt was unsuccessful mainly because H kept moving away.

"What is this place?" Simon asked, looking around him. There were a lot more people here than just Jim, Blair and the ladies. A lot more animals too. The wolves seemed to be a minority.

"You could call it a sentinel-guide-mentor training camp," an unfamiliar woman told him cheerfully.

"And you are?"

"I'm Peja. You must be Simon."

"Er, yes, but how - Never mind."

"Hi, guys!" she called cheerfully. "And hands off, Peja. These are mine."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Peja assured her. "I have my own."

"Good. Now why don't you two come along and I'll explain it all to you. Or as much as is prudent at the moment," she told the two men.

"But where are -" Simon started.

"Busy. As we'll be." Kata grabbed her pair and steered them towards the forest. "The best places are kind of taken at the moment, but I don't mind. Unlike Scribe, I'm a nature lover at heart."

Peja watched amused as Kata hauled off her sentinel and guide. "Now, where were we?" she asked her sentinel.

Jane looked up and saw Kata dragging Simon and H. in her wake. "HEY! KATA! THERE ARE ENOUGH HEARTHS IN THE CAVERN FOR EVERYONE!" She shouted across the clearing. She knew these folks had had a lot of shocks, but by the time they had to appear before the Intergalatic High Council as the legal representives for Earth, they HAD to be ready. The major government of the world were very close to being space travel capable, but they had proven to be too unstable in their personalities to actually be in charge out their. Politians and space just didn't mix.

Sentinels, whether Natural or Mystical, and Guides whether Shaman or Anchor, and those who lead both in their lives were vital to the Transition. This little group had been chose for a huge responsibility. She sighed, and whispered the information to those who she knew damned well *would* Hear her.

Jim, Peja and Simon were going to have a hard row to hoe, as the saying goes. She was counting on Peja to handle it best. Scribe had not brought the woman she *knew* she had gotten the one programmed into the Office laptop. The single thing that made her work the most complicated was manipulating the thousands of paraell planes of existance.

She had deliberately 'loaded' people who had 'no' responsibilities, no family, no friends outside 'storyland'. Otherwise, however, these ladies were identical to the writers she knew. She smiled. The versions here had had no one. Now they had their Cores. She explained this gently to the women at dawn, and watched their eyes widen.

"This is a tricky business, and it is one that does *not* allow for mistakes. Mistakes fuck up lives, people. You are the Cores that will explore Space, you are the recognized Earthian Representives, and the particular incarnations you are, are not the ones you thought. In other words, you are *all* being written in by *yourselves*.

Peja had the strangest look on her face. "Christ, I knew it felt right, I mean, this didn't bother me at all...and now I know *why*.

Scribe stared, processed, accepted, and finally relaxed between her men. "What you're saying is, I don't *have* to go back, since I'm already there?"

"Yep."

"And that means I don't have to give them back, right?" Rising hope was in her voice. "Or the sudden youth thing?"

"That's it. Feel better? Out of *all* you got these two, *and* you can keep them. You *are* home. The same goes for Kata, and Peja with *their* Cores." She cocked her head at the three women. "Feel better?"

They smiled slowly, until finally realization filled Scribe's face and eyes. "They're going to let *US* run things. I mean, *us*? We do this, how?"

"By living it the way you would have written it...."

She let her head fall straight back and looked up at Ellison. "You *do* realize this is where *we* start to get frisky, right?" She felt him hug her in response, and heard Sandburg's chuckle. "We, why not? There's no reason to hold back on my, um, creativity...." She thought for a moment. "I guess this means me and Blair have to get trained, and *you* have to get housebroken." Then she heard Kata bust out laughing.

"You know Jane's gonna do that, right?"

"They're turning *her* loose on him?" Peja giggled, "Man, oh man are *you* in trouble. She'll get the job done, but boy are *you* in for a few shocks! Oh man, that's rich!"

Jim stared at the other two, then looked at Scribe. "Is there something I *need* to know about this woman?" He asked uncomfortably. She smiled proudly at him. "Good lad. But then you have better grasp on manners than he does. I'm going to have to 'mother' him. He has to learn how to behave, more than anything." She paused, thoughtfully for a moment. "Jim, you hurt have got to learn when to keep your tongue behind your teeth, and your mouth shut. I have already decided how I'm going to teach you how to do that. I've got a baby-guide here that needs an adult sentinel to watch over her until she's old enough to find and bond with her own Core. She's thirteen and her mother's Core died a year ago." Jim's nervous _expression softened. "I'm making YOU responsible for her wellbeing until she's 21. Blair and John will train her, since she's Shaman Gifted, and Scribe will explain things when her period starts, unless you piss her off, that is. But the constant 'little girl' questions of why, why, why and why are YOUR problem. She gets attached easily, and she gets her feelings hurt just as easily."

"Uh..." Jim stuttered.

Jane cut him off. "There's nothing quite like having to listen to a child sob her heart out because of something YOU said or did to teach you not to do that." Jane pointed out without mercy. "Then your Core Group get to point out, in detail exactly 'why' whatever you did to make her cry hurt her. BEFORE you do whatever is needed to make it right." She told him.

"Umm. Yeah, that would probably work." Jim shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot.

"Probables don't figure into this. Probables tend to leave loopholes open for mistakes, and I don't do mistakes. As I said, mistakes fuck up lives." She snapped. She looked at Sandburg then.

*Uh oh.* He thought, paying attention to the information he somehow just *knew* was about to be landed on him. He was right.

"Instinct, O Guide. Let's talk about your alpha's instincts. A thirteen-year-old child, one who is a genetic Guide *and* a shaman, *and* his responsibility. You know Sentinels: How hard would his guilt kick in? How much would hurting that orphan break his heart?" She stared at Jim. "Or haven't you yet learned that pain tends to teach lessons that just won't sink into that thick skull of your's any other way. When I think of what he went through...I could just spit."

"Jane..." Roy's voice was soft, but there was warning in it. She obeyed at once causing Jim to stare.

There was a question in Blair's eyes as well. John caught it. He also smiled a little. Her obedience was how she proved she loved and trusted them, he knew. And she gave it to *no* one else. Oh, she liked other people, loved a quite a few, but she *obeyed* no one else. He explained it quietly while she listened and all she did was cuddle between her men, accepting the caress of their hands and bodies openly, publickly and proudly. Then she called Mitri to meet her Foster Core.

Sentinel Evolutions: Chapter 3: Segment 2: Scribe #5

Scribe was silent, biting the inside of her cheek. Jim didn't like that. "I'll repeat myself. Is there something I *need* to know about this woman?"

"Well..." it was drawn out. "You've already heard the barebones straight history from John and Roy." Jim nodded agreement at this, his _expression tightening. He loved children. Anyone fucking around with them was on his short list to have their ass thoroughly kicked.

"Aside from that," her tone became wavery and ethereal, "She's one of the great mysteries of the universes." Blair poked her, and she said in her normal voice, "Honestly, I just know her from connecting on the net. Um, connecting with her other self on the net?" She shook her head. "One reality at a time. What do you need to know about her? What do you need to know about her?" she said slowly and thoughtfully.

She cleared her throat. "She is one of the most persistant people on the face of this, or any other, earth. Don't think you'll be able to outlast her on anything she wants you do, just DO--she'll wear you down. Makes her VERY efficient at getting things done, though it isn't always comfy-cozy for those working with her." She looked at a smirking Jane, "Damn, woman, the PACE you set when this thing got started! ~I'm~ a prolific writer, and I still felt like one of those guys who turns out a book once every decade or so."

Kata, who was watching this little instruction session with interest, commented, "Steven King says that anyone who can only turn out one book every four years is basically a lazy bastard."

Jim was looking apprehensive. "Why do I have the feeling that the mention of Steven King's name is not entirely inappropriate?"

Scribe ignored his comment. "She has massive numbers of spirit animals at her beck and call, so it behooves you to be nice to her unless you want mouse droppings in your cornflakes and moose slobber in your hair. She thinks more moves ahead than a Russian Grandmaster of Chess. Nice sabotage on the laptop."

Jane bowed and saluted.

"She goads you if she thinks you aren't living up to your potential, and is absolutely shameless about hectoring you into participating to the fullest."

Kata was rolling her eyes. "Testify, my sister."

"But," Scribe held up a finger. "She isn't ACTUALLY malevolent. Um, I kind of liken her to a softer, not quite so psychotic version of Strife, but then I'm also deep into the Xena fandom. Oh, and it's a MAJORLY stupid move to mess with anyone she cares about, has taken under her wing, or views as vulnerable."

"Protective?" Blair asked.

"Like a mama grizzly bear/tiger hybrid in full 'get the HELL away from my cubs!' mode. Oh, and one of her favorite passtimes is deflating full of themselves macho men." She looked pointedly at Ellison.

"Hey!"

Blair cleared his throat. "You can't help it, Jim. It's part of the Alpha thing, but it has to be honed so that it doesn't interfer with the harmony of the Core." He looked to Jane for either confirmation, or a smack on the nose.

The trio came to a warm and sunny clearing nearby the sentinel-guide camp in the Cascade National Park. Kata’s lynx stayed on guard at the edge of the clearing. Simon and Henry had taken one look at it and decided it was just part of the general madness.

“Okay, now park yourselves here and we’ll see if I can explain some of this to you,” Kata announced, nudging the two men forward.

“Good. First, what’s going on?!?” Simon bellowed. He flopped down on the ground, looking relieved now that he had gotten the shout out of his system. Henry looked at him amused and sat down more graciously.

“You already know some of it, that is, you’d know if you bothered to analyse what’s been happening,” Kata said as she seated herself, after checking the ground for any larger stones or sticks.

“We do?” H asked perplexed.

“Yes. Just think of how you’ve been acting, or wanting to act, and compare it to how you’ve seen others in the bullpen act.”

H started to think about it. After a minute, his eyes seemed to bulge out of his face. “Blair?!?”

“What?!? You mean… ?” Simon asked Kata, or tried to ask. He still could not say it out loud.

“Yep. Now, why don’t you tell him what this means,” Kata suggested to Simon.

Simon buried his face in his hands. The mutters sounded suspiciously like curses and complaints, with a few prayers thrown in.

“Simon?” Henry asked softly after it became evident the other one was not going to come out of it without some coaxing.

Simon straightened himself, with obvious effort.

“Okay, now Blair’s Jim’s guide. Jim’s a sentinel, meaning his senses are more acute and under his conscious control than other people’s. Blair helps him control those senses and keeps him from zoning. Zone’s a state when a sentinel concentrates on one sense so much he blocks out everything else.” Simon sighed. “Far as I know the two are normally lovers.”

Henry thought about it. “Doesn’t sound that bad. Besides, I already knew some of that. But what about the mentors or something that woman told us about in the bullpen?”

“That’s me,” Kata said. ”A mentor, well, as the title says she teaches the Core group, and an anchor is the touchstone for both the sentinel and guide. I suppose I'm to be both to you two.”

“And all this means… what?” H asked, still wary.

Kata grinned. “That your lives have changed quite a lot and the three of us are going to become very close.”

“But how?!? We’re detectives, I’m a police captain for heaven’s sake. We can’t suddenly just…” Simon signed furiously with his arms, at loss for words.

“Why not?” Kata inquired. “Even if you don’t believe in destiny, can you honestly say that you could just walk out on us? On this?”

Simon opened his mouth to say yes, but closed it. He could not honestly say yes, not anymore. He might have been able to say yes before this whole thing started, but after meeting Kata, it had been a done deal.

“Henry?”

“I can’t.” H looked at Simon. “The two of you are already a part of me, specially Simon.”

The two looked at each other in amazement and affection. It was *so* cute.

“But how could this happen now? After all this time?”

“The three of us have come together at last and it’s time,” Kata answered. Her patience was growing thin with the two pigheaded men. Why the heck did they insist on talking this to death?

“But what about when we get back to Cascade?” H asked. “How could we… I mean the three of us are supposed to stay together, right?”

“Yes, and what’s the problem?” Kata was beginning to fume.

“Er, well, two men and a woman, I mean…” Poor Henry wilted before the glare from Kata.

“Okay, you two are thinking too much,” Kata announced. She decided it was time to move on to the fun part and pounced on Simon.

Simon suddenly found himself on his back with Kata kissing the life out of him. He was most eager to participate in *this* sort of activities, too eager to think rationally. Kata sat up on Simon and grabbed Henry by his shirt. He pulled the flabbergasted detective one to within kissing distance. Simon was stroking her jeans clad thighs, and the hands were slowly moving upwards.

“Thinking is overrated,” she whispered before kissing H. roughly.

Roy had left the groups, walking back into the caverns. Now he returned, with a short, slight figure shuffling behind him. For a moment, in the less than glaring light that filtered in from the cave mouth, Scribe (with her less than Sentinel vision) was confused, because this looked more like a pre-adolescent BOY. But as she came closer, Scribe noted the delicate bone structure, the piquant, impish features, and the barely-there bumps under the loose sweatshirt that heralded a budding bosom. But the little girl's dark hair was chopped almost as short as Jim's. In fact, now that the rejuvination had lowered his hairline a bit, it looked like he had more than she.

Johnny noted her puzzlement and drew the three close for a quick bit of last minute instruction. "Listen, this is important. Nothing about the hair, okay? She had it almost down to her waist when her family was killed. But during the first stage of grief, she got hold of a pair of scissors and did a real job on herself. We had to treat scalp wounds."

Blair bit his lip in sympathy. "Classic mourning ritual, and classic self-destructive behavior, too."

Johnny nodded. "We're just grateful that she didn't use the scissors on the rest of her body." When Jim winced, he said, "Like Jane told you, she's been actively suicidal. Her whole world was torn apart by that avalanche. She was BORN into a loving, fully formed Core, and it was smashed in an instant." He sighed. "We've had to pump her stomach twice--once for aspirin, and once for a heart stimulant. Thank God we walked in just as she swallowed that, or we would have lost her for sure."

"But in that case, wouldn't the room being off limits be sort of dangerous?" asked Scribe. Johnny silently pointed at Jim. "Oh. Right."

"We'll all help on that score, Jim," he told the Sentinel. "It's too important to leave to one person. But for the rest of it?" He slapped him on the shoulder. "On your own, buddy."

Roy and Mitri came to stand in front of the group. Roy said gently, "Mitri, these nice folks are going to be your foster Core till you're old enough to find and bond with your destined group. Jim, Blair, and Scribe." He didn't explain who was what to her--as a born Guide/Shamen, she could tell.

The girl studied them silently, arms crossed tightly across her thin chest. Even with the butchered hair, she was a remarkably pretty child, and was probably going to be a stunning young woman. Scribe tossed Jim a quick glance. *I can picture him beginning to lay in a supply of baseball bats for persistant suitors right now.* She glanced over at Blair, and saw total enchantment in his face. *And Blair has just found an elf princess. Oh, geez, looks like I'm middle ground.* She looked at the girl again, who was regarding them with wide, hazel eyes, and felt something inside soften and warm. The maternal instinct she'd always known she had, but had despaired of ever finding use for, was stirring.

The silence was stringing out way too long. As usual, it was Blair who couldn't keep his mouth shut. He gave Mitri a patented Sandburg smile. "Hi, Mitri. Guess we're going to be family."

She was not charmed. "H'lo." She pointed at him. "You're not my uncle." She pointed at Scribe. "You're not my mother." Finally she pointed at Jim. "And YOU'RE not my father. THEY all knew what they were doing."

Jim sighed. "Blended families--the joy of the modern age." He was alarmed when tears suddenly welled up in the girl's clear hazel eyes, and she turned and ran back into the cavern, her sobs trailing behind her. He found himself the focus of near murderous stares from everyone--including Blair. He threw up his hands. "What did I DO?"

THE END

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