By: Ophelia

With many thanks to Ronnee for the challenge that spurred this on and also for the quick once over.

Warnings: There is mention of missing persons in this piece.

If this is a subject you do not like to read, then be warned at this point.

The night was thickening; he could feel it in his bones. The cold air of Cascade was closing in on him as he tried once more to reach out with his senses to find his partner. He had to be here. He had to be somewhere close by.

Hold on Sandburg, Jim let his mind call out. It was becoming a mantra now that he knew they had caught the kidnappers. When one caught the kidnappers and found no missing person with them, that usually meant one of two things. The first was the unthinkable; they had killed and had disposed of the victim. The second, they had stashed the victim somewhere to lead out a long, lonely, lingering death. They did not want their person found and they would go to great lengths to ensure that wouldn't happen.

But in this case, Jim was supposed to have an edge. He was a sentinel. He should be able to catch a whiff of Sandburg's scent, or hear the man's heart. He knew what Blair's heart sounded like, they had been partners too long for him not to. So why, with his genetic advantage, was he still left pacing the dirt road next to the docks, trying to think of something more he could do to find his missing friend.

"Jim, give it a rest." Simon came over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You're over working the problem here and getting caught with no solution. Take a few minutes to focus or something."

Jim had to be looking at him with eyes of disbelief as the Captain pulled his hand away. "Give it a rest, Simon? Blair is out there somewhere and we can't find him. The longer he is gone, the more we run the risk of losing him for good. You know it and I know it and they sure as hell know it!" He pointed to the kidnappers that sat in the back of the patrol car. Taking a moment, he centered himself before opening his eyes and looking at his friend once more. "Simon, help me get my guide back and I'll give it a rest. But don't ask me to do that until I know where Blair is."

"All right, Jim. You do what you need to, just keep me posted." Simon turned and walked away content to let the sentinel do his thing.

Jim took a moment to reassess the situation. Why Blair? These people had no ties that they could find to anything that Blair was currently involved in. So why take Sandburg from the University? Why send a note to the dean requesting artifacts for his return? It didn't make sense. The artifacts hadn't even been worth that much money and they were x-rayed to find no hidden compartments that could have been used for smuggling. So why?

The hands on his watch kept ticking as he just felt his time was running short. They were going to do something to Blair whether they were in custody or not. He could just feel it. Once more his mind yelled out to his guide in a faint hope that somehow, in some way, Blair would hear him. "Hold on, Blair! I'm coming, I promise you that."

Jim could feel his facade beginning to crack as he heard one of the kidnappers beginning to laugh in the back of the car. Turning, he noted they were looking at him as they laughed and the more he looked back at them with his anger growing the harder they chuckled. The bastards were

enjoying this. They were enjoying that the PD had not made any move to help Blair. Because they knew the PD didn't know what move to make.

His anger was reaching its limits, a fever pitch of hate and emotion. All of which he wanted to take out on the laughing jerks in the back of the car. He could feel his spirit guide's force wanting to come out and rip these idiots limb from limb - the court of law be damned. But then he heard it, the fatal mistake when the scummy man on the left whispered, "He was right. He'll never find him, evidently a sentinel isn't as sharp as we first thought. Insanity rules my friend, insanity will rule."

Jim took off at a dead run towards Simon, pulling him away from his group of officers, knowing that his anger would prevent him from thinking it all through, his anger would be the one thing that could cost him Blair's life at this point.

"Simon, I need you to help me here. If you were a criminal who knew all about Sentinels and you wanted to drive one crazy what would you do?" He was panting hard as his mind slowly started shutting down on him. Seventy-two hours of no sleep will do that to any man.

"Ah, I dunno, Jim? If I knew everything about Sentinels I guess I would go after the guide?" Simon's eyes grew wide with understanding. "Blair! They know what he is!"

"That'd be my guess. So keep thinking here. If you were going to hide a sentinel's guide from him, how would you do it?" Jim started to think of ways himself. It was harder then he thought, trying to come up with his own weaknesses.

"I would find a way to make him disappear. Some way to make it so that you couldn't hear him at least."

"You would go for the sound cover-up first?" Jim started looking around again; he needed to keep looking, to keep searching. Blair was close, he knew he had to be close.

"Of course, scent can be covered or disguised easily. Hunters do it all the time. But sound, you are not going to tell me that any sentinel doesn't know the sounds of his own guide. The relationship is too close not to. So, Jim, now you tell me, how does someone cover a sound from a sentinel."

And that was all it took. That one little thing that had been hitting his eardrum the entire time and he just filtered it out. "White noise," he replied, even as he focused in on where the noise was being generated from. Quickly, he moved to the dock and went down underneath it. The mud and dirt of the river sending nasty smells to his auditory gland. Quickly, he sniffed them away as his body started sinking in the mud he was trying to make his way through. "Over here, Simon!" He yelled as his eyes focused on the small door that was partially covered by mud. "I'm coming, Blair, hang on!" He yelled, hearing the cops behind him willing to back him up.

By the time he reached the door, he was covered in dirty smelling mud and his head was pounding with the onslaught of sensual input. But he pushed it out of his mind. He couldn't give up now; Blair was behind this door. Blair was almost home. He pushed his hands in the mud, deep into the mud to free the door that held his guide; and when he finally got the door open, he found Blair bound and gagged, slightly unconscious, with battery operated white noise generators strapped on him in various places. This was why it had taken so long. This was why he couldn't find his guide.

As they pulled Sandburg out of the hole that would have been his grave Jim followed his guide into the ambulance while they made their way to the hospital, his only thought was one of concern. Only one person could do this. Only one person knew and believed about Sentinels. And that one person was sending a message that he was back.

Brackett.

The End.