Loft

"Tell me about Faith's guide, Grace. What was she like?"

"Lyssa was very special. She was my best friend after Faith. She was the only other woman I knew back then who wanted to be a scientist as much as I did. She was a recent widow. Her husband had been with one of the first units shipped to Viet Nam. He was also one of the first casualties of the conflict. She had a daughter around Jimmy's age named Stephanie."

"Was that how you met?"

"We met while I was attending graduate school. She was my lab partner in several classes. I was the one who introduced Lyssa to Faith. We were studying and needed a break. Faith was having some problems with her husband at the time and occasionally stayed with me."

"Problems?"

"Her husband was a heavy drinker. He often became abusive when he was drunk. Several times he beat her bad enough to put her in the hospital. Twice he was arrested, but Faith refused to press charges. She loved him."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Grace. I realize in those days the police didn't treat spousal abuse as a very serious crime."

"It was a long time ago, Blair and it wasn't all bad. I had the chance to witness one of the closest relationships outside of a family. Faith and Lyssa seemed drawn to each other. I believe they had a closer friendship than Faith and I, and my sister absolutely adored Lyssa's daughter. It was wonderful to watch."

"What makes you think Lyssa was her guide?"

"Faith always had these severe allergies, which often caused her to black out... 'zone-out' is your phrase for it. I always had trouble bringing Faith out of those zones. Lyssa could always do it with ease. Faith actually zoned less with Lyssa around."

"Jim didn't zone out that often. Of course, he had managed to repress his senses for a long time and found me shortly after they reappeared."

"The year that Faith and Lyssa were friends was the happiest time I'd ever seen my sister have. When Lyssa died, my sister was devastated. The way she died made the situation even more difficult."

"How did she die?" Blair asked, fidgeting in the chair. He suspected he already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear Grace's explanation.

"Faith's husband killed her in a drunken rage. Lyssa and I were trying to get Faith out of the house. Paul was drunk again and was hurting her."

"I assume he was sent to jail?"

"No, he died. Faith was so upset when she realized that Lyssa was dead and that Paul had killed her. When he was stupid enough to attack me, Faith hit him with the fireplace poker."

"I'm surprised she wasn't sent to jail."

"It really was self-defense. He wasn't going to stop until we were all dead. We saw him kill Lyssa. Faith was never the same after that. It was almost as if she had given up hope."

"Hope?" Blair asked puzzled.

"Of ever being happy again."

William Ellison's Residence

Jim heard the sound of a car door slamming outside. He pulled back the curtains shading the window. "Steven's here," he announced.

William looked over at the clock on the mantle. "I hadn't realized so much time had gone by. It's a little before noon."

"I better call Sandburg. He's gonna be worried," Jim said as the doorbell rang.

"Use the phone on the desk there. I'll go tell Steven you're here," William suggested as he moved into the hall to answer the door. He paused and turned back around. "See if Mr. Sandburg wants to join us for lunch, Jimmy?"

"Dad, he hates it when you call him Mr. Sandburg. Try to call him Blair," Jim said before he picked up the phone and dialed the loft. On the third ring, a familiar voice said hello.

"Hi, Chief, just wanted to let you know that everything is fine. I lost track of the time and didn't want you to think something terrible had happened." Jim smiled as he heard his father warmly greeting his younger brother outside.

"Thanks for calling me. I was getting a little worried. I take it things are going well over there?"

"My dad has been very forthcoming. I'm not sure I'd use the word 'well', though. Steve just showed up here. He and my dad had plans to have lunch together. We've been invited along. You interested?"

"Jim, we have a houseguest," Blair answered tentatively.

"Who's there, Chief?" Jim asked, picking up immediately on Blair's hesitation.

"Actually, it's your mom, Jim."

Jim was speechless for a brief moment. After what had happened the last time his mother was in town, he couldn't believe Blair would invite her into their home. "Sandburg, after what happened last time, how can you..."

"...Your real mom. If you think hard, you'll realize just who visited us last fall," Blair interrupted.

Jim was thankful he was partially leaning against his father's desk as he figured out exactly what Blair was telling him. "It was Faith."

"Yeah. Your mom was really upset when I told her Faith had been here. Grace wants to see you, Jim. She thinks you're all in danger -- you, Steven and William."

Jim wasn't sure how to answer. Did he want to see his mother? He could only stand and stare at the phone in his hand. He heard Blair's voice asking, "Jim? You still there?"

"Jimmy, are you all right?" William asked from the door. Steven was standing slightly behind him.

"Blair, I need to call you back."

"But, Jim!"

"Give me a few minutes here," Jim said as he hung up the phone. He rubbed his eyes with one hand. "Mom is at the loft with Blair. She wants to see us, all of us. I didn't know what to say."

Steven crossed the room and sat down on the sofa in front of the fireplace. "You told me your first meeting with her didn't go all that well."

"It wasn't Mom who came here last October. It was Faith, impersonating her."

"Why?" Steven asked.

"She was checking out the enemy. Grace always swore that Faith wanted to hurt the two of you. She must have wanted to see what she'd be up against. Damn it, I told her that Jim was a detective when she came to see me," William admitted angrily.

"Why Faith came to see us pretending to be our mother isn't as important to me right now as the fact that our real mom is here now. Stevie, do you want to see her?" Jim asked.

"No... Yes... I don't know," Steven muttered, folding his arms across his chest, his foot tapping nervously on the floor. "Not alone, I don't want it to be just her and me."

"Dad?"

"If you're asking my opinion, I think you should see her. There are some questions only she'll be able to answer and I think you ought to hear her out," William replied, trying to be open- minded about his former wife.

"No, Dad. I was wondering if you wanted to come along. Mom seems to think you're in danger from Faith, too."

"You mean right now?"

"Yeah. I was thinking we could have lunch at the loft, all of us together."

"We were planning on having Chinese anyway, Dad. We could take it to the loft and eat there," Steven interjected, looking at his father for his agreement. William nodded, albeit reluctantly.

Jim smiled. He wasn't sure this was a good idea, but after hearing his father's side of the story, he wanted to hear what his mother had to say. "Let me call Blair and find out what they want. We can pick it up on the way to the loft. I'll drive and bring the two of you back when we're done."

"I'm not riding in that pickup truck of yours," William replied, waving a hand in denial. "I'll take my car."

"Stevie, why don't you ride with me. We'll pick up the food." Jim tried not to sound like he was begging, but he really wanted to talk to his brother alone and bring him up-to-date. "Okay, Stevie?" Jim asked.

Steven must have heard the tone or seen something in Jim's expression. "Sure, I'll ride with you, Jim," Steven said and then added with a smirk, "I'm not letting you into my car. I like my fenders just the way they are."

"I thought you forgave me for that?" Jim asked, plastering an 'I'm hurt' expression on his face.

"I did," Steve chuckled before adding, "Also, promise me you won't take off in hot pursuit of someone. I've heard about the way you drive in that mode from Blair."

Jim was already in the process of dialing Blair and could only mock-glare back at his little brother. William chuckled as he watched the interaction between his sons, thankful that he hadn't permanently damaged their relationship by raising them as he did.

Loft

Grace's eyes had filled with tears as she realized that Jim had hung up on Blair.

"Jim doesn't do surprises very well, Grace. He didn't say no, he said he needed a few minutes. That's a good sign," Blair explained. He and Grace moved into the living room as they waited, not so patiently, for the return call. Thankfully they didn't have long to wait before the phone rang.

Blair answered just after the second ring. "Jim?"

"It's me, Chief. You really surprised me. Sorry I hung up on you."

"It's okay. Uh, it IS okay, right?"

"Yeah, just called to find out what you and our guest wanted from the Chinese restaurant. We decided to move our lunch to the loft so we could all sit down and talk."

"Hold on a minute and I'll ask," Blair requested. He put one hand over the phone and called over to Grace. "Your son wants to know if you'd like something for lunch. We're having Chinese delivered."

Grace's smile appeared to light up the room as she replied, "An egg roll with some shrimp fried rice, please."

Blair repeated her request before adding, "You know what I like, Jim. Just how many guests are we having?"

"Steve and Dad are both coming over," Jim explained, staring at his little brother who was anxiously pacing in front of the fireplace.

"I'll be ready. Don't worry about drinks. The refrigerator is full and I'll start a pot of coffee."

"See ya in about an hour, Chief."

"Fine," Blair answered before hanging up the phone. "William and Steven are coming here with Jim. Seems we're going to have a little get-together."

"William's coming? I can't... I don't know if I can face him." Grace reached for her purse and pulled out her compact. Looking at her face in the small mirror, she groaned, "I must look terrible."

"You look fine and I'm sure you can face down William. If you'd like to freshen up a little, the bathroom is down the hall. It will be about an hour before they get here. They're picking up the food first."

"Thank you, Blair, for everything," Grace said over her shoulder as she headed for the bathroom.

"I'm doing this for Jim," Blair called back. After the door closed, he muttered, "I hope I haven't made an error here." He moved into the kitchen and picked up the coffeepot.

"So, Jim, what was it you wanted to tell me that you didn't want Dad to hear?" Steven asked as he climbed into the truck. "Why did you want me riding with you?"

"Maybe I just enjoy your company," Jim shot back a little defensively.

"Yeah, right. Try another one."

"Honest, it's not something I'm trying to hide from him. There has been way too much hiding already. Dad and I have been talking all morning and there are some things you need to know."

Steven flinched. "This doesn't sound good."

Jim spent the next ten minutes of the drive catching his brother up on the family history. When he was done, he waited for Steven to say something. He was not completely surprised when his brother remained silent.

"Stevie? You okay?"

"Yeah, it's just really hard to take in all at once. I'm not sure that I believe it all. So that's how you got hurt? Our own aunt threw you down the stairs?" Steven asked incredulously.

"Yep," Jim confirmed as he stopped the truck at a light. He checked his rearview mirror. He thought he had picked up a tail when he had left his father's house. Two cars back he saw the same light blue Toyota Corolla that had been parked two houses up the street when he left. The driver was a woman, but a large floppy hat and sunglasses hid her features. He spared a glance at his younger brother, not surprised to see the dazed eyes looking inward. "Do you remember any of it?"

Steven slowly shook his head. "Though you'd think I would. I remember you being in the hospital and coming back home. Why can't I remember what put you in the hospital?"

"Probably because it would have been pretty traumatic for a four-year-old to witness," Jim pointed out. "You've probably repressed it like I did." He took another quick glance in the mirror. He was pretty sure it was Faith who was tailing them. When the light turned green, he turned right. It was a little out of the way, but he wanted to see if the Toyota would follow. He wasn't surprised to see the car continuing to follow.

"But why?" Steven ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Why would Faith do that? If she loved our mom, why would she hurt her nephew? And why would Mom cover it up?"

Jim sighed. "From what Dad said, Faith's a sentinel, too. And if I'm catching it right, this Lyssa must have been her guide." Jim turned left at the next intersection, watching the light blue car continue to follow.

"Like Blair is for you?" Steven asked. "But it doesn't sound like they were together very long."

"No, and Lyssa was killed defending Faith." Jim pulled into an empty parking space in front of the Chinese restaurant and turned off the engine. "Trust me, there's a boatload of guilt that goes with your guide getting hurt because of something you did. If Blair..." Jim choked on the words. He paused, gathering his courage. "If I had lost Blair at that university fountain three years ago, I doubt I would have been sane afterwards."

Steven shifted uncomfortably on the bench seat. He really didn't like where this was going. "So you're saying Faith went insane with guilt?"

"Guilt and the senses. I thought I was going crazy before I met Blair. He grounds me so I can handle them."

Steven's serious blue eyes met Jim's. "Okay, I might buy that you'd go insane without Blair. Maybe. And I'd probably organize and take point on the suicide watch if you felt responsible for Blair's death. But to be so far gone as to actually hurt a kid, let alone a nephew?" Steven shook his head emphatically. "No. No way. You've always been the protector, Jim. You might shoot a perp to protect yourself or someone else. But you'd never hurt someone who was defenseless, especially a kid who couldn't protect himself. There had to have been something else seriously wrong with Faith for her to act that way."

While oddly comforted by his brother's faith, Jim was still worried. "Yet she viewed ME as a threat. Maybe it was because I was another sentinel, taking Mom's attention away from her?"

"You think Mom was standing in as Faith's Blair?"

"Maybe. It doesn't sound like she was close to anyone else."

"But..." Steven took a deep breath to keep his emotions under control. "But why did Mom chose her over us?"

"Maybe she's as mixed up as Dad about things. He thought he was protecting us. She thought she was protecting us..."

"And we got drop kicked in the middle," Steven finished with a grumble as his eyes lowered to his lap.

Jim reached over and squeezed his brother's shoulder, feeling the hurt just as keenly. "Yeah, but we managed to survive." Though it would have been a lot easier if Mom had stuck around. Thinking hard, Jim assessed his brother. "I want you to make me a promise."

Steven looked up, eyes narrowing at his brother's tone. "What?"

Taking a deep breath, Jim quietly requested, "If something happens to Blair and I become a danger, I don't want you to throw your life away like Mom did for Faith. Toss my butt onto the first plane to Peru and leave me in the jungle."

Steven's eyes widened. "Jim..."

"Like you said, I'm a protector. I do not want to be a danger to any future nieces and nephews. Nor do I want them to be forced to repress their senses like I was. I trust you to make sure that doesn't happen and protect them from even me if it comes down to that. Promise?"

"Jim..."

"Promise?"

Wiping away the moisture from the corner of his eyes, Steven quietly answered. "Promise. But only because I don't think it will ever come to that. You'd probably check yourself onto that plane first."

"Good enough," Jim replied, opening the truck door. "Come on, let's go inside."

"I'll just wait here."

Jim eyed the blue car parked up the street from the restaurant. "I'm not carrying all this food by myself. Get your lazy butt out of my truck."

Steven opened the door and exited the truck. "Actually, I do have to make sure you get the order right. You're getting older now and they say the memory is the second thing to go."

"I'm not touching that line, little brother, and you ought to remember that I'm still bigger and meaner than you," Jim replied as he moved around the front of the truck to stand next to Steven.

"Sorry, couldn't resist," Steven laughed as he reached for the door.

Jim lightly cuffed him on the back of the head.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"Sorry, couldn't resist," Jim answered smugly. As Steven entered the restaurant, Jim took another look up the street. He didn't want to alarm his brother, but he needed to deal with Faith.

William was standing next to his car in the parking lot when Jim pulled into his usual space. Jim grabbed half the bags, leaving the others for Steven as he exited the truck.

"Hi, Dad. You could have gone upstairs. Blair would have let you in without me."

William glanced nervously up at the third floor of the building. "I know, but I didn't want to face Grace alone. There's strength in numbers, son."

"You nervous?" Jim asked his father as he noted that Steven hadn't gotten out of the truck yet.

"Maybe a little," William answered.

Jim bit back his laughter. Before now he wouldn't have believed that there was anyone his father would be afraid to face.

"Here, Dad, take the food upstairs. I don't think Stevie's going to get out of the truck without a little encouragement."

William chuckled as he ran his fingers through his graying hair. With a curt nod to his eldest, he walked toward the front door into the building.

Jim waited until his father was actually inside the building before heading to the passenger door of his truck. He opened the door, startling Steven.

"Food's getting cold, Stevie."

"So are my feet, Bro," Steven replied softly.

"You've got nothing to worry about," Jim answered, rubbing his little brother's forearm. He was so accustomed to seeing "Steven the talented businessman" that he hadn't consider the possibility of him feeling insecure.

"I don't know what to say to her. I really don't remember much, just that she wasn't around very much," Steven explained.

Jim reached in and pulled his brother out of the truck. "Look at it this way. She doesn't know you any better than you know her. I'm not ready to welcome her back with open arms as my mother either, but I do want to hear her side of the story, and maybe get to know her a little better, too."

Steven's jaw dropped after hearing his brother's answer. Here he had believed that Jim was comfortable with the idea of their mother coming back into their lives. Jim leaned over and grabbed the rest of the food before using his elbow to push Steven towards the door. "At least close your mouth so she doesn't think you're part fish."

Since his hands were free, Steven used one of them to punch his big brother in the arm. Chuckling to himself, he held the door for Jim and then pushed the button for the elevator. Just as the doors started to open, he realized that this might not be as scary as he thought.

Hearing footsteps in the hallway, Blair opened the door to the loft, expecting to see Jim. He was surprised to come face to face with William Ellison.

"Hello, Blair. Jim and Stevie are right behind me. Where do you want me to put the food?" William said quickly, avoiding looking at his ex-wife standing a few feet from the open doorway.

"Just put the food in the kitchen. I figured we'd have a buffet style lunch," Blair answered, moving out of William's way. Hearing the arrival of the elevator in the hall, Blair didn't close the door. Steven exited the elevator first, with Jim right on his heels.

"Hey, Steve. How's it going?" Blair greeted the younger Ellison. As soon as Jim was close enough, Blair grabbed the remaining food bags away from him, ignoring Jim's glare. "Talk to your mother, Jim. She's been waiting a long time for this moment," Blair whispered softly.

Steven took only a few steps into the loft before stopping. He could only stare silently at the woman standing in front of him. She was dressed in a pair of dark blue dockers and a yellow fleece long-sleeved shirt, not what he had expected from someone who had been married to William Ellison. She had tears running down her cheeks but she was smiling proudly.

"My little boy! You're all grown up," Grace said through her tears. She opened up her arms, inviting her younger child in for a hug.

Steven closed the distance between them with a single step and moved into her embrace. It seemed words weren't necessary. For now, actions spoke louder than words.

Jim entered the room just in time to see Grace hugging Steven. He hesitated a moment, watching his mother with his younger brother, not quite sure what he was feeling. Grace seemed to know he was standing there. She reached out with one arm and pulled her elder child into the embrace.

"I can't believe that I'm holding you again," she said through her tears. "I've waited so long for this moment. I was starting to believe that it would never happen."

Blair and William stood together in the kitchen, watching the emotional reunion taking place between mother and sons. Both men knew that there was a lot of baggage that would have to be discarded, on both sides, but this was a good beginning.

William was the first to look away. He began rummaging through the cabinets, pulling out plates and placing them on the counter. Blair followed his lead and grabbed several coffee mugs. When he had completed his task, he saw that Grace was talking softly to her children. He couldn't hear what she was saying, but Jim and Steven were both smiling.

"Is anyone hungry?" he called from the kitchen. Jim nodded and offered his arm to his mother. She wiped away her tears and smiled as Jim escorted her to the table, with Steven pulling her chair out for her.

While there was quite a bit of discussion over lunch, topics remained in safe areas. Grace wanted to hear about her children's recent lives -- how they were doing at work, current girlfriends, that type of thing. Everyone avoided mentioning the person who had brought the Ellison family together again at this time.

They sat at the table for over two hours making small talk. As the discussion turned to what Grace had been doing recently, Blair realized that the course of the reunion was about to take a more serious turn. He started collecting the dishes from the table. His plan was to give the Ellison clan as much space as possible. "Why don't you all have a seat in the living room? I'll clean up the rest of this mess."

Steven ruined his well-laid plans by saying, "I'll take this garbage out for you, Blair," as he gathered the empty containers from the table.

Jim had recognized what his friend had been trying to do and appreciated his efforts, but he wasn't about to leave Blair out of this discussion. He had as much at stake with Faith being in town as the rest of them. "It will go much quicker if we all clean up. I'll get the dishes. Sandburg, why don't you give Stevie a hand taking all that to the dumpster. You could also get rid of that garbage from the kitchen you forgot to take care of last night."

Blair started to protest, but something in Jim's expression told him that this was important, much more important than emptying the kitchen garbage. "Sure, Jim."

Jim followed the two young men as they headed downstairs from the loft with his hearing. Knowing that Faith was nearby, he wasn't about to let either Blair or Steven out of range of his senses. He was wondering how he could convince Steven and his father to spend the night at the loft.

Blair led the way down the stairs and out the back door. He turned to the right and entered the alley. Steven immediately saw their destination. A large black dumpster was placed against the side of the building.

Steven lifted the lid and groaned loudly. He tried not to breathe too deeply. "Oh, MAN! I bet Jim makes you do this job all the time. This smell must drive him nuts with his senses." Steven dropped the trash from their lunch into the bin. He quickly moved a few feet back from the container, holding his nose to limit his sense of smell.

"Most of the time," Blair answered as he threw the bag into the bin. Blair's back was to the front of the alley, so he didn't see a slim figure move out of the shadows coming directly at him.

"Blair! Look out!" Steven yelled as he moved to Blair's side. It looked like his mother was coming toward Blair with a tire iron, but she was dressed differently. It had to be his Aunt Faith.

Blair brought his hands up to defend himself, but the tire iron clipped him across the back of his shoulders. His knees buckled at the pain, but he regained his feet. He looked around for something to defend himself and Steven, but nothing was handy. "JIM!" He yelled, knowing that his partner was probably monitoring them.

He launched for Faith's arm as she took another swing at him. He deflected the blow away from himself by knocking his attacker off balance. Unfortunately, he had pushed her right into Steven and the two of them went down in a tangle.

Faith elbowed Steven in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him as she scrambled to her feet. She had lost the tire iron in the struggle; therefore, she attacked Blair again with her bare hands.

She pushed him backwards and his head hit the side of the dumpster. His vision faded to black as he lost consciousness. Just before the darkness claimed him, he could have sworn he saw Jim coming around the corner, a look of rage on his face.

Steven was trying to both catch his breath and climb to his feet. Faith was getting the upper hand on Blair and he needed help. He was horrified when Faith shoved Blair and he hit his head during his fall. Steven was frozen in place as Faith turned her attention to him. In that instant, he was never so happy to hear the sound of his big brother's voice coming from the front of the alley.

"Leave them alone!" Jim yelled as he ran down the alley.

Faith froze for a split-second, torn between achieving her goal or fleeing the scene. Her decision was easy to make upon seeing the rage on her nephew's face. Her obvious escape route blocked, she ran for the back door to the building.

After watching his aunt run into the building, Steven knelt down next to Blair. He was relieved to see him rolling onto his side and groaning softly. He noticed a shadow moving next to him. He looked up to see Jim standing right behind him.

"Get her!" Steven said angrily. "I'll look after Blair. He'll be okay with me."

"Go, Jim," Blair muttered after hearing Steven's reassurances. "I'll be fine!"

Overruled by his little brother and his best friend, Jim started chasing after Faith. Family ties wouldn't protect her from Jim's anger now. He extended his hearing. Faith was clearly in good shape for her age, but she would be pushing herself physically to make her escape. It took him a moment to locate her. He recognized the sound of the main door to the building closing and the sound of a rapid heartbeat.

"Get Blair upstairs and lock the door, Stevie. I'll be back." Jim took off, determined to chase down the person tormenting him in his life and his dreams and put an end to the nightmare.

Faith exited the building, checking the mouth of the alley. She had left her car two blocks over. She was sure her nephew had spotted her tailing his truck earlier and didn't want the car parked within sight of his home.

Thankfully, this time of day there were quite a few people on the sidewalk. She set off in the direction of her car at a fast walk. She could only hope to lose herself in the crowd. At least with all these people around, her cop nephew wouldn't have a clear shot at her, and there would be plenty of distractions she could use against him.

By the time Jim reached the street, Faith had almost a full block lead on him. Jim tried to weave his way through the small groups of people walking on the sidewalk, almost tripping over a stroller. His plan was not to draw any attention to himself or Faith.

He doubted that his aunt was armed, but he wasn't taking any chances. He was slowly gaining ground on her when she noticed she was being followed. She darted out into the street about fifty yards before the intersection. Jim could only watch as one car after another swerved to avoid hitting her.

The first to lose control was the taxi into whose path Faith had stepped. In order to avoid hitting the woman, the driver turned his cab into oncoming traffic. The green Ford Explorer had no time to stop and hit the cab almost head on.

The blue Saturn behind the Explorer had been following too closely and rear-ended the other vehicle. The next car in the line of traffic managed to avoid the other three cars by turning onto the sidewalk, but was unable to stop before hitting the front wall of the bookstore on the corner. Thankfully the pedestrians on the sidewalk were agile enough to move out of the path of the oncoming car.

The smell of gasoline permeated the air. Helping people at the scene of the accident was more urgent than catching up with Faith. Jim moved to assist the driver of the Explorer out of his car before the situation got any worse.

Faith had just reached her car when she realized that she was no longer being pursued. She watched as her nephew leaned into the window of the Saturn to check on the driver. "Soon, dear boy. I'll be back soon and we'll finish this."