InsaneJournal

Simon sat behind his desk, his cigar clamped tightly in his teeth, his frustration evident on his face. “You said twins?”

Jim sat across from him. “Identical,” he muttered. Simon scowled.

“Then who do we have down in lock up?”

Blair, who sat next to Jim, shrugged and winced as his headache reached him again. Carolyn reached around his shoulder and handed him a couple of aspirin, which he took with a nod. Jim growled.

“That would be the question of the hour, Simon.”

Simon reached out, snagged his phone with one hand and took the cigar out of his mouth with the other. He stabbed at the buttons on the phone then turned back to the receiver. Then when the other end was picked up he barked,  

“Yeah, Banks here. We have a Juno in custody only it’s not Tommy. Think you could see clear to sending us the pertinent files? Thanks ever so much.” Then he hung up without saying anything else. 

In moments, his fax machine began to rattle and hum, then spit out a couple of pages for Simon to gather up and read aloud.

“Well according to this, Tommy Juno was born in a little town in Northern Ireland called Dungiven.” He glanced up when Jim snatched the paper from him impatiently. Blair oogled in surprise, but Simon being Simon let it go with a stern growl. Jim ignored him as he continued reading.

“In 1967 a woman named Sara Juno died during childbirth at home. Her husband was I.R.A. and wanted by the cops over there. Means no hospital and no birth certificate. But all the locals remember her giving birth to twins. Identical.”

Blair reached for the sheet. “What were the names?”

Jim glanced at the sheet. “Tommy and Dylan.”

Carolyn leaned forward. “It’s not uncommon for identical twins to have matching DNA gene strands but different fingerprints.”

Simon’s narrowed gaze conveyed his surprise at that but he felt compelled to add on an, “I’ll be damned…” as he sat down at his desk again.

Jim nodded in that curt fashion of his before returning to the fax paper he held in his hand. “In ’68, Juno’s father was killed in a shootout. The brothers were adopted by different families and as adults they tracked each other down. Then they moved to the US to begin working as free-lance hitmen.”

Jim glanced at Blair and Carolyn. Carolyn caught the puzzle piece that was floating and ran with it. “They kept their double identities a secret and Tommy always had an ironclad alibi for his hits!”

“So the man we have in lock up is really Dylan Juno… wow, that’s one hell of a gimmick.” Simon replied, suitably impressed. Blair snorted behind his curtain of hair.

“A gimmick that we have nipped in the bud, as it were. We have half the team downstairs, caught red-handed.”

Jim nodded once, then began to frown. “Yeah we have him, but we have to have both of them. Tommy’s still out there. And, if that attack on the sushi bar is any indication, he’s pissed that we have his brother in custody.”

o-O-o

Jim and Blair walked down the hallway towards interrogation, each man thinking his own thoughts. Blair grumbled as they walked, his head still aching from the flashback visions he suffered from only an hour ago. Something was still begging for his attention and it was only a matter of time before the danger was upon them again.

Jim stopped, his hand on the door handle when Simon barged in from the end of the hall. “Jim, we just got a tip about a shooting at O’Toole’s trucking. We need to get there ASAP! Let’s roll.”

Jim nodded once, handed Blair the file he had been carrying and hurried off to follow his captain. Blair stood floundering for a moment, unsure as to where he should go and what he should do. Another moment and Jim poked his head around the corner again, glaring at Blair.

“You coming Chief?” he asked. Blair nodded and took off down the hall towards his Sentinel.

o-O-o

Blair shut the truck door with a resounding thunk as he followed Jim and Simon towards the warehouse. Simon glanced back at him a moment.

“Look, Sandburg, this is a crime scene. I don’t want you touching anything.” He snarled at the young man. Blair’s gaze widened a moment, the narrowed in defiance.

“Look, Banks, I’m an anthropologist. I’ve done excavation work and that is much more delicate than fresh crime scenes. You still have to be careful what you touch. Only in a dig, you have to be wary of things disintegrating on you, not just contamination.”

Jim listened to the by-play of his captain and his… companion. He had to side with Blair on this one though for the simple fact that the kid had already shown he was capable of staying out of harm’s way when the need warranted. Banks seemed to take Jim’s silence as agreement with the anthropologist and backed off a stretch.

Blair moved to follow Jim, Simon leading them both. Keeping his head down and watching his feet, he slammed into the wall that was Ellison as the man had suddenly stopped behind his captain. Simon’s voice floated back to them both.

“Kid, you may have been on expeditions and to excavations, and seen bodies before, but I don't think dried up old husks can really prepare you for what's in here. I’ll say this once. You might want to stay back at the truck.” Jim glanced over Simon’s shoulder and turned back to Blair.

“I think the Captain’s right this time, Sandburg. I know you’ve seen some stuff… but this is… well…” His voice trailed off. Blair snuck a look around Simon, caught sight of the first bullet ridden body and blanched. His voice thick with nausea, coupled with his massive headache, he decided that both men were most likely right in this instance.

“Yeah, I’ll… um… yeah, I’ll be in the truck if you need me Jim.” And then he was gone, beating a hasty retreat back to the parking lot before he lost what little food was left in his stomach. Slipping into the passenger seat, he closed the door against the sights and sounds of the officers and lab techs crawling over the warehouse and its gruesome scene inside. He really didn’t want to think for a while.

What he needed, he thought with a wince as another shaft of pain bored through his skull, was to get rid of this headache. Then he actually might feel more useful.

His hand moved to swipe his hair out of his face when he felt fur brush against his fingers. Opening his eyes to mere slits, he saw the wolf and the panther, both curled up in the truck, surrounding him and comforting him. “This is the part of his job that sucks, you know? Dead people in bloody pools, riddled with holes. Gods, when did I get to be so morbidly poetic?”

The panther grumbled a bit as he laid his head on Blair’s knee, tongue flicking out to lick his hand. The wolf leaned against him, keeping him upright and allowing him to sag just a bit. Both animals felt warm and alive, their hearts thumping in tandem so loudly that Blair could hear it. He smiled as he stroked first the wolf and then the panther, amazed that in just a few moments of being in their presence, that his headache was mostly gone. He sighed.

He blinked when they vanished right before Jim opened the driver’s side door and climbed into the truck. He glanced over in surprise. “Done already?”

“We need to talk to Juno, the one we have in custody.” Jim threw the truck in drive and then peeled out. Blair sat back with a blank look on his face and held on for the ride.

“Oh… okay then.” He muttered as they headed back.

o-O-o

Jim paced the interrogation room, the table firmly between himself and Dylan Juno, who sat in his chair with an almost serene look upon his face. In the observation room, on the other side of the glass, Simon watched the pair intently, Blair nervously chewing his thumbnail beside the big man.

Simon glared at his best detective through the glass, his voice low as he muttered. “I hope Jim keeps his head in the game while he’s in there. We need Juno in one ‘viable’ piece.”

Blair flashed him a sardonic look before returning his attention to the two men inside. “You were the one to let him in there alone, Sir,” he muttered back as he watched the detective pace, marveling at how much the man resembled his animal spirit at this moment. Juno appeared truly clueless as to the danger he was facing at this moment.

He blinked when Jim suddenly stopped moving, his back to the glass as he faced Juno. He listened to the tin-ny quality of the voice through the speakers as Jim finally spoke. “Your brother is still out there, Juno. Most likely has given you up as a lost cause. Getting caught like this, it was never in either one of yours plans, was it?”

“My brother will come for me.” Dylan replied. “Blood is thicker than anything.”

Jim turned away from him, gazing through the glass and seeming to meet Blair’s eyes with his own. “Sometimes family isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Look at your Dad, not preparing for the worst, getting shot and leaving you and your brother to deal with different families.”

“We survived,” Dylan muttered. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “We found each other again. We always do.”

“And now, you’re going to prison… how long do you think Tommy’s going to wait for you? Five, ten years before he gives up and moves on?” Jim smirked as he turned back to the man.

“You don’t know my brother,” hissed Dylan just as Jim’s phone rang. Simon snarled something unintelligible as he banged out of the observation room and into the interrogation room to listen in on the call. Blair remained where he was, listening through the speakers.

“Ellison.” Jim answered curtly. He put the phone on speaker.

*#“Damn you, Ellison. He’s more than just my brother. He’s the other half of my soul!”#* Jim turned to Simon and mouthed ‘Juno’ to the man. Dylan moved to sit forward and call out until Jim gave him a look that said it was not a good idea. Blair’s head began to throb again. Jim snickered.

“Tommy, buddy… pal. Look, I guess you figured out I got your brother. So why don’t you turn yourself in and we can carry on with life, eh?” Dylan moved as if to protest and Simon shushed him without a word, just an upraised finger. Tommy continued on the other end of the line.

*#”How’s about you say hello to a friend of yours Ellison. Let’s see if she’s as important to you as Dylan is to me, eh?”#* There was the sound of scuffling on the line and then another voice came on. *#”Jim? It’s Beverly. I was just…”#*

Juno cut her off by pulling the phone back to himself and speaking once more. *#”That’s enough, I think you get the point. I have something you want, and you have my brother. Meet me at the fairgrounds on the midway in 30 minutes. I see any other cops but you and she dies.”#*

He hung up immediately, leaving Jim to stare at the phone as Simon fumed and left the room. Dylan glared at the cop. “I told’ja he wouldn’t leave me here.”

Blair sighed as he held his head, the throbbing was getting worse. He just knew this was all going to end badly. He muttered just loud enough for Jim to hear, “Players upon players, moves upon moves... man this case is like a funhouse on acid. Makes me glad to have been an only child anyway even if it was to an unconventional kind of mom.”

Jim glanced at him with equal parts confusion and laughter flickering across his face.

o-O-o

The fairgrounds appeared empty to the naked eye, but Blair knew better. He sat stiffly in the van, Dylan Juno sitting behind and to his right. Jim had just walked onto the midway while Blair sat in the driver’s seat, waiting for the signal to drive closer. He glanced over his shoulder at the hit man. He knew it was stupid, Juno was a killer. But on the off chance it might help, Blair had to try, even if Juno didn't care about what Blair had to say. Leaving things as they were just wasn't an option.

"You and your brother think you're hot stuff don't you? Thinking up this bait and switch scheme in order to get away with killing people for what - money? Killing just for profit and thrills?" Blair hissed in the captive Juno's ear. Dylan didn't say anything, but he shifted uncomfortably.

"You think killing that cop was fun? Are you pleased with yourself? I mean it takes a big man to kill someone who was just a kid really, not more than 25 years old... or maybe a bit older. Real big." Blair was scathing. Juno appeared unfazed.

The panther hissed and Blair sat up straighter, the time was close now. He poked one more time for good measure, "You and your brother thought you were untouchable, but Jim caught you. Think about it, and now your brother is out there trying to rescue your sorry ass from doing the time you both deserve to serve. Your genius brother kidnapped the DA to try to get you back... oh and that cop, the kid, he was like Jim's little brother. Like you are to Tommy, so why shouldn't he kill you so Tommy can know how he feels?"

Each thing Blair said seemed to impact on Dylan Juno, until he finally hissed back, "If the kid wasn't supposed to be in the line of fire then he shouldn't have been in the war. In this war, everyone is expendable!"

Blair met the other man's slightly wild eyes with his own, which were calm as the deepest sea, and replied with an unnerving calm tone, "If this is war, you are seriously outnumbered and unarmed."

Juno edged as far away from the grad student as he could get freaked right the hell out. Blair kept his gaze even until he heard the signal from Jim, calling him with a whistle. He turned in his seat and threw the van into drive again, pulling forward to where Jim was waiting. Braking to a halt, he parked the vehicle, then moved from his seat to the sliding door, cranking the handle and sliding it back to reveal the fairgrounds. Dylan peered out into the gloom, looking for his brother.

From the funhouse, they could both hear the voice of Tommy Juno ring out. “Dylan, is that you?”

Blair nudged Dylan who blurted out, “Yeah Tommy, I’m right here!”

“Are you all right?” called the brother in shadow. Dylan nodded his head slowly as he glanced over at Blair, who was doing his best impression of a calm ocean. Blair leaned in closer and hissed in his ear.

“You better answer him so he can hear you. If Sanchez dies, it’ll be on your head… for the pitiful amount of time left in your miserable life once Ellison get’s hold of you.”

“Fine, Tommy!” called the other man to his unseen brother. “Everything is fine.”

Blair nodded once to show that he was pleased with the response and Dylan turned back to wait for further instructions. Tommy called to Jim. “You send him over here.”

Jim shook his head. “Uh-uh. You send out Sanchez. Then I’ll send Dylan over at the same time.”

There was silence from the funhouse and Blair took a deep breath to steady himself, his nervousness threatening to break his perfect outward calm. Finally, the door swung open a bit further and they could all see Beverly standing in the entrance, her hands held up in caution. Jim nodded once and Blair nudged Dylan out of the van, one hand on his elbow as he waited.

When Beverly started walking towards them, Blair released his hold on Dylan and the hit man stepped towards the funhouse. The two people passed each other on the path, but Dylan reached out at the last minute and shoved the woman to the ground before sprinting the last few feet to the funhouse. Beverly went down and stayed down, covering her head with her hands.

Jim rushed forward, Blair hot on his heels. While the cop raced for the funhouse, Blair stopped to help Beverly to her feet and then to the relative safety of the van. He glanced back just as Jim was opening the door.

“Jim,” he muttered mostly to himself, “Those two are out to pay a deadly game. You better keep your head or you will lose.”

He noticed Jim cock his head slightly to the side and knew that the big man had heard him. Once Jim was inside, Blair turned his attention back to Beverly, while praying to all the gods he knew that Jim would be all right without him.

o-O-o

Jim cautiously walked into the near darkness of the funhouse. He paused just inside the doorway to adjust to the dimness now surrounding him. He reached out and rested his hand on the wooden frame of the door, and stood silent for what seemed a very long period of time. 

The Juno twins were huddled together in a corner near the funhouse’s mirrors room. Their voices near silent in the shadows as they discussed their options in hushed whispers. Tommy was trying to call the shots, but Dylan wasn’t too happy with his brother’s slipshod planning.

“Dylan, you go that way, and I’ll take this path. He can’t find both of us in the dark.” Tommy glanced over to the door, hoping perhaps to get a glimpse of Jim. Dylan laid a cautionary hand on his brother’s arm.  

“This man, Tommy. He’s not to be trifled with.” Dylan sounded a bit nervous about tangling with Jim. Tommy scowled but nodded once. 

“Aye, we should take him out once and for all. But first, we need a better vantage point. Let’s go.” With that, they both raised to a crouch and struck off in opposite directions.

Jim in the meantime had been waiting with his head cocked to side in the pose he favors for listening. Then there is a moment where he seems to lose his focus, his expression going from intent to vague. It doesn’t last long as Jim shakes it off and mutters to himself distractedly, “No no, not now… keep it together… remember what Sandburg said, it’s all in my head.”

A few more tension filled minutes passed, and then Jim was moving into the shadows. His steps becoming surer, and his hands steadier, the further he went into the labyrinth the funhouse was made up of.  Navigating the twisting turns with an eerie aplomb, he takes his time. There is no rush now.

Jim finds Dylan Juno first, crouched down with his back to the silently approaching detective. Jim pounced. Grabbing the man he lifted and turned him around with one hand, the other came around in a punishing haymaker to the face. Juno goes down without a sound, knocked out cold. Jim smiles grimly in satisfaction.

It doesn’t take him long to secure his first prisoner to a lead pipe with his cuffs, and then used the man’s own handkerchief as a gag to keep him silent. Then he is off again, stalking the shadows much like his spirit animal would in the jungles of home. Pausing here and there as he loped confidently through the building to make sure he was still on the right track using the cues he picked up with his senses. All of a sudden a sly grin crossed his face, and Jim began to make a roundabout circuit to the room of mirrors. He was rounding the last corner with gun firmly in hand when Tommy called out

“Brother, are you all right?” It’s a near whisper, but enough for Jim to hear as he moves counter to the other man’s movements. Stalking his prey - gun in one hand, the other curling up into a fist.  

Tommy calls again. “Dylan! Where are ya?” 

“Sorry, he got tired of waiting for you…” Jim snarled as he rose up out of the shadows. Tommy Juno spun around at the other man’s words - directly into the right cross that Jim swung. He like his brother fell to the ground, out cold after one heavy punch. Jim sighed as he holstered his gun and began to mutter to Tommy as he cuffed him. 

“You have the right to remain silent, anything you say, can and will be used against you in a court of law…”  

o-O-o

Blair smiled in relief as Jim walked away from the officers who were tucking the Junos into their police cars for the journey back to the station. He had been so nervous to have Jim in the funhouse on his own, but when the big man had returned to daylight, dragging one Juno and jerking his thumb over his shoulder to indicate where the other one was, Blair knew that it had all come out right in the end.

Now, after the preliminary verbal reports and the official arresting of the two assassins’, Jim was walking back to Blair with a smile on his face. Blair bounced slightly. It had been a tough case, a lot of things could have gone wrong. But now everything was done but the paperwork. Beverly Sanchez had an ironclad case against the brothers. Jim had managed to control his senses in the funhouse. And Blair… well Blair wasn’t certain what this meant for him.

Jim stopped in front of him, eyes falling to half mast as he peered at his companion. “Chief? You ok?”

Blair ducked his head a moment to regain his composure. There was that doubt again, that tale-tell feeling that he was doing something wrong, that he wasn’t cut out for this job as Companion. Hell, this was supposed to be a fact-finding job, he was supposed to be using Jim as a research subject, not becoming his friend. He smiled brightly, the expression forced by sheer willpower.

“Fine man. Good job catching them without a shot. I think Danny would have been proud.”

Jim nodded. “I remembered what you said about grounding, so I distracted myself a bit and used hearing. Did you know I can hear heartbeats? And every heart beats the same, even the Juno twins. I was able to figure out where they were, followed the sound and caught them.”

Blair grinned, his eyes gleaming. “Great man. See I knew you could control it.” He looked up when he saw Beverly coming their way. “Well, knowing that the faithful companion’s most important job is knowing when to get lost, I’ll see you later man. Call me if you need me.”

If Jim was going to say anything, Blair never knew. He was walking away just as fast as he could towards the entrance to the fairgrounds. As he reached the gates, he realized that he had no way of getting home, and he despaired for a moment about finding a cab all the way out here. He was debating turning back and asking one of the Uniforms for a ride when a silver sedan came to a stop next to him. The driver side window rolled down and Carolyn Plummer sat smiling at him. “Hey Blair. I heard you wanted to get an interview with me for your dissertation on the close societies. And it looks like you’ve been abandoned by Jim, so how’s about you and I have dinner and we can talk.”

Blair smiled as he moved around the car to the passenger side. One settled into the seat with the door closed, Blair turned to Carolyn and smiled. “Thanks Lieutenant, I really appreciate this.”

“Sure thing, and call me Carolyn… or Caro. Jim does.” She smiled as she started the car off to a decent place to eat. Blair sighed. At least he could finish another chapter in his dissertation… either of them, for that matter. He hoped that Jim was having a good time. After all the hell he had been through, the big guy deserved a break.

o-O-o

It was late by the time Blair finally managed to return to his warehouse home. Larry greeted him when he walked in frantic and Blair realized belatedly that he hadn’t left any food out for the poor guy. He made his way over to the fridge and took out a bowl of fruit for his ‘house’ guest, and a cold bottle of beer for himself.  

“Man, I really need to get that paper written up so I can send you home, eh buddy?” Blair said to the little Barbary ape as he handed him the bowl with the fruit. Larry though wasn’t paying him any attention now that he had some food. Blair laughed, ‘Yep, that’s the way it always seems to go isn’t it. I have my uses and then when they aren’t needed anymore, back into the woodwork I go.’  

Shaking his head in bemusement, Blair wandered over to his couch and sat down. His hand nudged something on the seat beside him and looking down Blair saw that it was his journal. Hunh, he hadn’t written anything in the thing since this whole sorry case with the Junos’ had started. He flipped to the last page and read over what he’d been thinking and feeling.

Thinking about what had gone down during the last few days and rereading what he had written had Blair understanding that eventually he was going to have to make a decision. He was going to need to set his priorities, find his limits, see exactly what it was that he was willing to do when things got hairy. Did he have what it took to be a cop? Was he even supposed to stay on as Jim’s partner, with or without the dissertation? Hell, was he meant to change so dramatically?

No. He didn’t think so. He was an Anthropologist for Christ’s sake, he wasn’t meant to carry a weapon! He was a teacher, a nurturer - not a warrior. This path was leading him so far away from his chosen profession, it was asking him to give up his long held morals and beliefs. It was wrong! But how if it was so wrong, did it feel at the same time so right?

To be at Jim’s side, to be his partner, helping him and ‘guiding’ him made his heart sing. But the other stuff – the gun stuff, the sheer violence – that wasn’t him. Maybe if that was needed he wasn’t meant to be with Jim like this, no matter how right it felt. Blair sighed.

This wasn’t his path. He wasn’t ready, hell he might never be ready to be what was needed to be a full and suitable partner for Jim. The necessary changes he would have to undertake in his outlook, the sheer amount of adaptation, it was staggering. That decided him, tomorrow he would have to start thinking seriously on two courses of action.

He would either have to find someone who could take over the Companion job for the Sentinel from him, or he would have to find some way of helping Jim to shut his senses off – or at least down to what is considered ‘human normal’. He had his own job and responsibilities, he couldn’t live in a land of ‘what if?’ or ‘what might have been’. He had his life, and with no further distractions, he would live it.

His mind made up, Blair got up and started his nighttime routine. Locking all the doors and setting the extra security measures into active status. Making sure Larry’s cage was clean and the little ape was settled in snug for the night, then his own ablutions, after which he rapidly crawled into bed and turned off the lights.