Chapter Text
Blair leaned back in Jim's chair and put his feet on the desk. Unhappily, he looked around the nearly empty bullpen and glanced forlornly towards the door and freedom.
"Don't even think about it, Chief," Jim said as he came out of Captain Bank's office. "And get your feet off my desk."
"Think about what?" Blair asked grumpily as he thumped one foot and then the other back to the floor.
"Making a break for it," Jim answered, hiding a grin.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Blair assured dryly as he leaned forward and dropped his head onto his forearms, right in the middle of an open file. "How long are you gonna hold me prisoner here anyway?" he asked.
"You're not a prisoner, Sandburg," Simon growled as he followed Jim over to the desk.
"What do you call it?" Blair asked without raising his head.
"I call it protective custody," Banks snapped.
"Don't let it get to you, Sandy," Megan soothed. "It's for your own good."
"Whatever," Blair sighed. "Oh, hey, Megan, a messenger brought a package for you while you were in with Simon and Jim. Here," Blair said with more enthusiasm as he picked up the thick envelope and handed it over. "It's an airline ticket."
"Going somewhere Connor?" Jim asked reaching for the ticket, only to have his hand slapped away.
"Houston," Blair supplied before Megan could respond.
"Sandy!"
"Houston?" Brown said joining the group. "Let's see. Who does Megan know in Houston?"
"So that's why you brought a suitcase to work," Jim said, ever the detective.
"I can't believe you're going to see Jay and didn't tell me," Blair chastised, keeping Megan's attention while Brown snuck her bag towards his own desk.
"Sorry, mates. It's business," Megan said calmly.
"Yeah, monkey business," Henri laughed as he jimmied the lock and popped open the suitcase.
"Henri!" Megan screeched and bound over to his desk to slam the lid shut. A brief tussle ensued and Brown ended up on his ass in the floor. Megan hmphed a little as she tucked a suspicious looking piece of silky black material back into the suitcase and shut it again. "Speaking of business, I'd like you all to mind your own," she said haughtily.
"Uh, Connor," Simon said with a touch of apology in his voice. "I hope your ticket is refundable."
"But Sir!" she protested. "I've been planning this holiday for weeks!"
"Yeah, business..." Henri muttered as he rubbed his butt.
Megan spared him a glare before turning pleading eyes back to her boss.
"I'm sorry, Megan. But the way this thing went down this morning, I've got two injured detectives, and no one to watch our witness as it is."
"I don't need a baby-sitter," Blair protested.
Simon ignored him. "Thank God Rafe and Carson weren't injured too bad, but I can't spare you until I can get one of them back. Not while there's a cop killer still on the loose." He patted her on the shoulder before he went back to his office.
"Come on, Connor," Jim consoled. "It comes with the territory."
"Can you change the date on the ticket?" Blair asked helpfully.
"I suppose I could, but what date? There's no telling how long it will be before we catch this wanker," Megan bemoaned.
"Jay's gonna be disappointed," Blair said.
"I don't suppose you could transfer the ticket to someone else," Jim grinned, looking from Megan to Blair.
***
Jay sat in the airport lobby killing time. Megan's flight was delayed, but he didn't mind too much, even though he was anxious to see her. People watching was a hobby of his, and the airport was prime people watching territory.
He held a single red rose between his hands and lowered his head to sniff it from time to time, enjoying the smell. A little old lady approached and adjusted her glasses to read the arrival time on the monitor over the gate. Jay glanced around and noticed there were no more seats so he rose to his feet and offered his with a tip of his Stetson.
"Thank you, dear," the woman smiled as she settled into the still warm plastic chair.
"My pleasure, ma'am," Jay drawled softly just as the PA system announced the arrival of the flight. They waited quietly as the minutes seemed to stretch on and on.
"My granddaughter's on this plane," the little old lady finally said to break the silence. She craned her neck to look up at Jay’s impressive height.
Jay eased down to one denim-clad knee, which brought him more or less face to face with her. "Well if she takes after her grandma, then she must really be a looker," he teased with a serious expression on his face.
The old woman's eyes twinkled and she took a large hand in her own. "Oh, she's purdy, all right. And she's single."
"Is that right?" Jay grinned.
"Yes, but I see you're waiting for somebody special," she sighed, looking at the flower.
"Yes ma'am, I am."
"Too bad. I'm ready for some great-grandchildren."
Jay laughed and helped her to her feet as the ramp door opened at long last and passengers began spilling into the lobby, some looking expectantly for familiar faces, others moving quickly away. Jay inched closer to the doors, as the rush became a trickle. His brow furrowed as a curly brown head came bouncing into view.
"Blair?"
"Jay! Hey, man, good to see you. For me?" he asked, taking the rose and smelling it deeply. "You shouldn't have."
Brady glanced back up the ramp and noticed no one else seemed to be coming down it. He looked at Blair expectantly for a minute before shaking his head and taking him into a big hug with a laugh. "I guess the joke's on me," he said good-naturedly.
"Surprise," Blair said softly, but with a big smile and toss of his head as they broke the hug.
Jay caught him by the chin and turned his face to the light. "What's all this?" he asked with a grunt as he examined the fresh bruise along Blair's cheek.
"Long story, man. I'll tell ya on the way." As they turned to go, a little old woman stepped into their path.
"Uh," Jay stammered for a second. "Well, ma'am, he ain't purdy, but he's mine," he said at last, as he grinned and threw an arm around Sandburg's shoulder.
Blair flushed and put the rose behind his back.
"I won't say he ain't purdy," the woman mused with a wicked smile as she patted Blair's undamaged cheek. "He just ain't what I expected."
Brady chuckled deeply as the woman turned away and ushered a beautiful but confused granddaughter away.
"Luggage?" Jay asked, still grinning.
"No." Blair indicated his backpack and followed as Jay led the way out of the concourse. "You get taller?" he asked, measuring up his friend as they walked.
"New boots," Jay said. "Maybe we should get you some."
They got almost out the door before Blair muttered an indignant, "Hey, are you saying I'm short?"
***
"He should be there by now," Megan said leaning over Jim's shoulder to pull away the file he was pretending to read.
"Yeah," Jim answered distractedly. "He'll call."
"Maybe you should call Brady," Brown put in from farther down the table. "You know, give him care and feeding instructions for Sandburg."
Jim snorted while Megan shot Henri a dirty look. "I think we should have let Jay know there was a change in plans," she said guiltily.
"Nah, he'll figure it out," Jim teased. Brown laughed and Megan eventually found a small smile. "But I'd have loved to have seen Brady's face when Sandburg got off the plane."
"He'll take good care of him," Simon said from the doorway. "In the meantime, let's catch this creep before anyone else gets hurt. Jim, run down what happened this morning one more time for me."
Jim sighed and leaned forward in his chair to rest his forearms on the table. "When we got to the warehouse, I had reason to believe Marcot was meeting there with Michael Dobson, the baby of the Dobson clan, and several other unknown perps." He gave Simon a meaningful glance as he discreetly tapped one ear with a finger.
"Me and Rafe and Brown entered through the back. I left Sandburg out front to call for backup and Carson there to watch the front door. The perps began to fire on us and we returned fire. Rafe got winged and Brown went to help him.
“Marcot used the confusion to slip out the front door and I followed him. When I got outside Marcot had Carson on the ground; Carson was already unconscious. Dobson jumped me from behind. I heard gunfire, but couldn't see because I was tied up with Dobson right then.
"Of course Blair had a front row seat to the whole thing. He pushed a crate off a stack and it hit Marcot just as he fired. Thank God it threw his aim off and he hit Carson in the shoulder instead of the head. By the time I had Dobson subdued, Marcot was gone."
"So Sandburg can definitely identify Marcot as the shooter?" Simon asked.
"Oh yeah. And Marcot can definitely identify Sandburg as a witness. They came face to face long enough for Marcot to hit Sandburg with the gun before he jumped off the pier into the water. We're lucky he didn't just shoot him. That's more Marcot's style."
"So we've got a lock on an attempt to murder a cop, even if we can't make anything else stick. All we've got to do is catch him."
"And keep Sandburg alive long enough to testify," Brown added. "I'm just saying," he groused as everyone at the table turned a glare towards him.
"Marcot is a psycho," Jim allowed. "And he's managed to elude us this far. He’s smart."
“Computer genius, accoarding to his file,” Megan agreed.
"Well, now that Sandburg is out of the way, we can concentrate our efforts on catching this guy instead of guarding our witness," Simon replied. "He's safe in Texas," he added when he noticed Jim's pained expression.
"Next to you, Jim, there's no one better to watch out for him than Jay," Megan said softly. "And it was your idea."
Jim took the folder back from Megan and opened it again. "I know," he admitted, sounding only slightly dejected.
***
"So Ellison figured it would be better to get you out of town? That doesn't sound like Jim," Jay said thoughtfully as he stowed Blair's pack in the guestroom.
"Oh, he didn't really want me to go, but he knew I'd be a pain in the ass if he had to keep me locked up. At least this way I'm not a prisoner in my own home. Plus, Megan couldn't use her ticket anyway," Blair mumbled apologetically as he had already noted the abundance of candles and flowers in the apartment. Not to mention the bubble bath he had seen next to the tub. "I really am sorry to ruin your plans, man. I can stay somewhere else."
"What? Don't even think about it, Sandburg," Jay scolded.
Blair laughed. "You sound just like Jim."
Jay made a face and pretended to shudder. "I'll have to work on that," he muttered. "You up for Mexican for supper? There's a great place right down the street."
"Sounds good, man. Let's go."
"Hey, I've got an idea," Jay said as he ushered the shorter man out the door. "Megan was gonna help me with a couple of jobs. You wanna catch some bad guys?"
"You mean she really was coming down here for business?" Blair asked, stopping to look up at the big cowboy.
"Of course," Jay said innocently. "Nothing like a good take down to juice up a relationship."
"How romantic," Blair said, rolling his eyes.
"Don't get any ideas. You're still sleeping in the guest room."