Thorns and Briers A Time Stamp for A Glimmering From Afar

[laurie_ky]

picture by pattrose

Time Stamp for A Glimmering From Afar set six months after the events of The Path of Sorrow

No traveler e'er reached that blest abode who found not thorns and briers in his road.
William Cowper


Thorns and Briers

I clamped down on my unlit cigar, staring at the holo-projection of MIC's budget. All day I'd been struggling with stretching too little money into too many categories, and seeing where I could shift credits to where they were needed the most. I was tired of numbers, tired of having to translate lost funding into cutbacks.

Most of MIC was deserted and as soon as I had finished my budget for the meeting with the Chief of Protectors tomorrow, I was going home. My son would be coming over later tonight for the weekend, and I wanted to spend time with my boy.

So when Jim commed me and practically begged me to do him a favor, I really didn't want to agree.

So what if Sandburg's case worker called him in for a surprise drug test while Jim was testifying on Marna. Jim hadn't wanted Sandburg to go by himself, but Jim wouldn't be able to fly back the ship he'd signed out till well into the middle of the night here on New Rainier, and he wanted me to go and babysit the kid.

Sweet shooting stars, it was only a drug test.

I wasn't concerned that Sandburg wouldn't pass it; I'd tested him myself two days ago and like all the other tests for the last six months, he'd been clean. But if his caseworker wanted to test him, well, it was part of her job. Nothing for Ellison to get twisted up about.

He hadn't talked to Sandburg, just got a message the kid had left for him; afterwards, he hadn't replied to Jim's repeated comms to him, and there was no answer at their home.

I wasn't sure how I'd gotten dragged into acting as Ellison's backup when it came to Sandburg, but I suspected the culprit was a bottle of Agrasa back on Quyllur, when Jim, Jack, Mickey, and I had hatched this plan to saddle Jim with Sandburg as his guide.

I had to admit Sandburg was good for Jim. I'd brought Jim Ellison over from Vice, and he'd had a reputation there as being smart, effective, but also prickly, a loner. He was a good detective before he worked with a guide, but with a guide he was solving cases like a hot knife through butter. And he was happy. Sandburg made him happy.

I'd been watching Sandburg closely since he got tangled up with Jim, and while Jim groused about the tests to map and improve Jim's abilities, the kid seemed to know what he was doing.

He did a good job with his maintenance duties, too. He wasn't sullen when he was mopping floors or replacing light fixtures. He was more likely to be humming to himself or grinning at support staff members or, if encouraged, spinning some unlikely story for the entertainment of his listeners. He didn't shirk his work, and he was quick and efficient. The maintenance supervisor told me he wished he had a dozen workers like Sandburg.

Jim had been lobbying for me to let the kid have access to files, be able to use department resources to help do research on cases, telling me that the kid was brilliant and we were under utilizing him.

But the fact of the matter was I didn't trust Sandburg, and I was willing to only go so far with letting a convicted criminal have privileges.

He seemed good-hearted, but I knew it could be a con, an act, although Jim swore to me that he would know something like that since their soul-bond didn't allow for deception.

Jim was biased; Jim was besotted, and he wasn't capable of really scrutinizing his guide's past and current behavior. I'd agreed to Sandburg doing his community service in my department, but I wasn't going to shut my eyes to that fact that he'd agreed to illicit activities - harmful, deadly drug dealing -- in order to further his mother's agenda on removing class barriers.

He was tainted by his upbringing. And the reformers could try and excuse what he'd done, but he'd had free will. Nobody made him agree to break the law.

I went along with Jim's plan to claim Sandburg, and maybe the punishment of mind-wiping and twenty-five years labor was too extreme; I was willing to try this out, but Sandburg had to toe the line. At least he hadn't made any more sexual comments to me or anybody else, so I was willing to concede that it had been the fault of the drug he'd been given when he was sent to Jim to bond.

Little shit had a mouth on him, though. If I'd been less than straight it would have made me want to shove my dick down his throat, just to shut him up.

As it was, he had been seriously annoying.

But he made Jim happy, and I liked Jim, and not just as one of my men, we'd developed a personal friendship.

So I agreed I'd go to the Community Service office and check on my friend's guide. But first, I was finishing this damn budget report.

////

Sandburg's beacon had shown him to still be in a treatment room at Community Service, according to the holo-map I'd referenced after wrapping up my report.

I sighed and resolved to comm Jim after I'd checked on Sandburg and hint that a box of Marna cigars would sweeten my mood after playing babysitter for his guide.

The building was quiet when I arrived, and I'd held up my badge to the desk security and announced I was here to meet with Samantha Giles, probation caseworker. I signed in, and was sent to the ninth floor.

I located the room and knocked once on the door and entered. I introduced myself to the slim, beautiful woman who was stepping away from Sandburg's gurney. Her motions were jerky, hurried; she seemed flustered, and her face was flushed.

Huh.

I've been a protector for twenty-two years, and every instinct I had was telling me this woman had been doing something she thought I'd find objectionable.

I narrowed my eyes. “Ms. Giles?” Sandburg hadn't made a sound, and I took in his appearance, assessing him. He was in wrist and ankle restraints, and a sheet, partly twisted and crooked, had been carelessly pulled up, only half way covering his naked belly. I could make out the outline of his cock; he'd been catheterized, the tube snaking out from under the sheet, urine collecting in a bag tied to the gurney.

It was obvious he was bare under that sheet. Why? Where was his patient gown?

Ms. Giles was rapidly regaining her composure, and I decided to make her feel at ease. I didn't want to tip her off that I thought something here wasn't right.

“Captain Banks, correct? What brings you here now? I'm drug testing Mr. Sandburg and he won't be free to leave till morning.” She folded her arms over her chest. I didn't want her getting defensive; I decided to flatter her and see if she relaxed.

“I'm impressed that you remember me from my holo-image, since it's been a good six months since you and I last spoke, Ms. Giles. Or may I call you Samantha? I trust that the drug tests results and my monthly reports on Sandburg have been satisfactory?”

She nodded, and I went on, putting a touch of disdain in my voice.

“You know, Samantha, I admire you for your ability to deal with scum like Sandburg here every day. I mean, I catch criminals, but you have to put up with their excuses and pathetic attempts to rationalize breaking the law. And do you actually get your own hands dirty with drug testing them? Sandburg there has a catheter, I see. Did you put it in him, or are you just monitoring the procedure?”

Sandburg had been watching me carefully ever since I'd walked in, and his expression had gone blank when I'd called him scum. I couldn't believe he wasn't talking, trying to get my attention. He was always chattering on about something or other. In fact, the last time I'd seen him go silent like this was when he'd clammed up after his arrest.

“My friends call me Sam, and I'm a med-tech, Captain Banks --”

“Oh, please, call me Simon. After all, as long as you're Sandburg's probation caseworker, we'll be talking to each other. Has Sandburg done as he was told since he's been here? I make sure he does what he's been ordered to when he's scrubbing toilets or doing other janitorial work for me, those times when Jim Ellison doesn't require his help.”

“He's behaved himself, although he didn't like me touching him when I inserted the catheter. And yes, since I'm a med-tech as well as a caseworker, I do all the intensive drug testing for the Community Service probationers. It's part of my job. But why are you here, Simon? I chose tonight to test Sandburg, since I knew his sentinel would be off planet. Less stressful for Ellison that way, because he'd have hovered over him --” She casually indicated Sandburg with her thumb, “And I wanted to spare the man.”

“I suppose Sandburg is not allowed to comm anybody while he's here, and Jim got a little rattled when he couldn't talk to him, so he asked me to stop by to check on the kid. Jim's a friend, so I agreed. Waste of my time, I know, but Jim's not always rational when it comes to his guide. Best day in the little bastard's life was when he met Jim.” Conspiratorially, I took a step closer to her. “Just between you and me, while I know being with him makes Jim happy - it's the sex, I suspect. Bastard cipher picked up a lot of tricks and knows how to satisfy a man - I wish that I'd never assigned Jim to the Yana case. Sandburg should have gotten the full sentence; this--” I waved a hand dismissively in his direction, “sets a bad precedent for the courts.”

Samantha gave me a sly smirk. “We share the same opinion, Simon. But, bastard cipher or not, he's my responsibility now, to protect our society from if he breaks his probation. That's why I'm testing him. This way, restrained, he can't doctor his urine with any agents that would give him a false clean drug screen. I'll send samples to the lab, and we'll determine if he's been fooling us. If he has, then I'll violate him and if the judge agrees, he'll be on his way to Cyclops Industries, mind-wiped and compliant. If he passes, well then, I guess I can rely on you to inform me if he screws up, although I can see that it would be hard on his sentinel. But you know, I've done some research, and I believe Ellison could bond with another guide and not experience the ill effects from breaking his bond with this sorry guide for very long. In my opinion, the judge was too hasty in making her decision; she bought into this belief that Ellison had to have Sandburg, that no other guide would satisfy him.”

She'd said she'd violate him, and I knew she meant violate his probation, but I had a strong suspicion that in the two hours he'd been here, probably alone with her once he'd been restrained, that she had violated him. Used her position of authority to gag him into silence while she touched him.

Jim had warned me, but I thought he'd been over-exaggerating, that he'd been over-protective and reading too much into a moment's conversation with his guide's caseworker.

I should have been here sooner. I should have come as soon as Jim commed me. I owed Jim and Sandburg a big apology. And if Sandburg confirmed that Samantha Giles had molested him, used her authority as his caseworker to restrain him and make him helpless so she could fondle him, then I'd have to try and get proof and arrest her. Because she wouldn't have started with Sandburg and he wouldn't be her last victim, unless she was stopped.

I gave her my best buddy to buddy smile. “Well, maybe things will work out for the best after all. But I gave my word to Jim that I'd keep my eye on Sandburg till he comes, which won't be for about six or seven hours yet. So, I'll just make myself comfortable here. Sandburg can go to sleep. How do you monitor him, anyway? Surely you're not tied up here all night with just him, are you?”

She laughed. “I usually test four to six probationers at a time. I rotate between them, and when I'm not in the room, I have the cameras turned on and security monitors them. Security will comm me if somebody has a problem. It's perfectly safe. Sandburg, turn your head and demonstrate for Captain Banks that if you should vomit, you won't choke on it.”

He did, without making eye contact with either of us.

I rubbed the back of my neck, massaging the tired muscles there. Then I yawned. Now to set the bait.

“Hmmm. I am pretty tired, so maybe I'll wait for a little while, to appease Jim, and then go home. If I do leave how do I contact security to turn the camera on before I leave the room?”

She explained which wall comm button would have security responding, and I assured her that when I left, I would make sure Sandburg was monitored by security again, and I would have them comm her that he was alone in the room.

She changed the collection bag and took a sample for the lab. She held a portable skimmer over the back of his right hand to read his code and transferred it to the label of the urine sample, explaining to me as she worked that DNA would be extracted from Sandburg's urine and verified that it matched his code.

“Sandburg tells me he never did drugs, but I find that highly unlikely. I did a hair analysis when he returned to New Rainier, and it did show he'd been clean for a long time, but I suspect when he was younger he at least experimented. And he did make and sell Yana. That alone is enough for me to continue to test him, because probably one day, he'll slip. He'll use again, and then I'll have him. I'll violate him and his placement will be reviewed. Even if he's allowed to stay with Ellison after that, he'll receive additional time on his sentence or more community service hours to fulfill.”

She had sounded darkly pleased by that potential scenario, and I murmured my agreement. She left after walking over to Sandburg and tilting his chin so he would have to look at her.

“Remember what I told you about how I expect you to follow my rules. I'll be back later, don't cause any trouble, or you'll regret it.”

She left then after telling me it was a pleasure to meet me in person.

I opened the door to make sure she wasn't listening at the keyhole, and I heard Sandburg's deep sigh when I closed it again.

He startled when I walked over into his field of vision. Then he scooted as much onto his side as he could, away from me, and stared at the wall. Well, at least he trusted me enough to turn his back on me. It was a starting point.

“Sandburg.”

“I thought you'd left. Go home, Captain Banks. Get some sleep. I'm okay, and I'll tell Jim when he comes that you stopped by.” He made his voice sound as blank as his look had been earlier.

I laid my hand on his back and he flinched, every muscle tightening in the flight or fight reflex. I kept it where it was; I needed to break through this shell he'd built around himself.

“Sandburg, I need to ask you some questions. And I want the truth, so don't lie to me, boy.”

I moved my hand up to his shoulder, tugging at him to turn over on his back, so I could see his face.

He complied, body still tense.

“Sandburg, look at me.” He did, but he wasn't asking for help with his gaze. The bleak message I received from those large blue eyes was that that he was on his own.

“Look, you don't have to like me, but I need you to tell me the truth. There's more people to consider than just yourself if what I suspect is going on is really happening.”

He looked warily at me, and I put my question to him bluntly, hoping to shock an honest reaction out of him.

“Is Samantha Giles molesting you?”

I'm no sentinel, not like Jim, but I didn't have to be one to notice the quickly drawn in breath, the way his eyes looked away, and how the tension in his face and muscles increased.

“Sandburg, tell me the truth. If she's doing this to you, then she's doing it to others and I need to protect them.”

He nodded slowly to himself, and looked up at the ceiling. I allowed it; he might need a little distance to get through talking with me.

“Yeah, okay. You're right, the others need protection. I was going to tell Jim anyway. It's kind of hopeless keeping a secret from your soulmate, and the beautiful Ms. Giles doesn't get that at all, or she wouldn't have told me that I'd better keep silent if I knew what was good for me.”

He closed his eyes for moment, then resumed staring up at the ceiling.

“What made you think something was going on, Captain Banks?”

I tugged the sheet over him so that it wasn't twisted anymore and covered him up to his chin.

“When I came in she struck me as acting odd, like I had almost caught her with her hand in the cookie jar. And you don't have a patient gown on, and the sheet looked like she'd barely got it halfway up your body. Now start at the beginning and tell me what went on here tonight, and when we leave here, you're going to need to come down to the station and make a statement.”

He did look at me then, and sighed once more. “That won't be enough. It'll be my word against hers. Guess who'll be believed.”

I said gently, because nobody deserved to be sexually assaulted, especially by someone abusing their professional status to coerce victims, “I know, Sandburg. I've got a plan to catch her red-handed; it'll mean using you as bait. But I won't do that if you don't want to go along. I can set up somebody undercover, but that'll take time. It's your call, but before you decide, I want to hear what happened. Now, like I said, start at the beginning.”

I grabbed a chair and pushed it over next to him, and listened as Sandburg recounted how he'd been ordered to strip in front of her, with a security officer observing in case he got aggressive, and then he'd been told to get on the bed, naked, and she fastened the restraints around his wrists and ankles.

So far that wasn't anything I could take to court. It was discourteous not to have allowed him to disrobe with some privacy and not to have given him a gown, but it wasn't illegal.

Apparently watching Sandburg undress at her command and restraining him had fired her up, because when it was just the two of them, she started in on him.

She stroked his arms, legs, and belly, while she made it clear that if he wanted to remain with his sentinel he'd keep his mouth shut and not make any complaints about her. He simply wouldn't be believed and he'd find himself brainless and picking vegetables on a convict labor farm, his sentinel left in agony from the broken bond, until he found another guide. He'd agreed.

“I didn't want to antagonize her, and there wasn't anything I could do that was going to stop her. She, uh, she doesn't see me as a person. So she doesn't have to treat me with consideration and respect. She thinks I deserve more punishment - she told me that. I'm speculating here, but my guess is that she thinks all of the convicts she oversees should have been punished more severely, and she's going to be the instrument of justice and do it herself.”

Sandburg had a hard time describing her actions, clenching his fists, and he had stopped a couple of times to take deep breaths before he continued. He still wouldn't make eye contact with me.

She'd tried to make him erect by stroking his penis, even putting a gloved finger in his anus and stroking his prostrate, but he wouldn't get hard for her. She'd become angry about that. He said he didn't tell her it was because of the bond. She put the catheter in and made disparaging remarks about how he now had no control over that bodily function.

“She didn't hurt me when she put the cath in, used something to numb me. I think... I think she wasn't trying to cause me physical pain, but instead she enjoyed humiliating me. Told me that when she removed the catheter she wouldn't let me out of the restraints till I'd peed on myself.” His face flushed with embarrassment. “She kept playing with my penis, and went on reminding me that I was helpless, dependent on her; she made me drink two glasses of water to rub that in. Before she left she deliberately placed the sheet at the foot of the bed after asking me if I wanted her to cover me up. She lowered the room temperature and told me I looked so sweet and vulnerable. I was cold all the time I waited for her to come back.”

I interrupted him. “Are you cold now? Never mind, of course you are. You should have said something, Sandburg.” I got up and looked through a closet in the room and found some extra sheets and light blankets. I unfolded two blankets and covered him; some of the tension that I'd ascribed to anxiety relaxed.

“I'm sorry I didn't notice you were freezing, but why didn't you ask for help?” I walked over to the wall and adjusted the temperature gauge. Then I returned to the chair by his gurney.

He didn't respond, but he did glance at me for a brief moment. And I had my answer. Stubborn kid. “Sandburg, this is an order. And if you don't obey it I will be seriously annoyed, and you don't want to be on the receiving end of my temper. If you have a need, you tell me. Here, while you're strapped down, or when you're at MIC. Do you understand?”

His lips tightened. “I don't want to bother you. I'll manage on my own.”

Stubborn, stubborn kid. Good thing I was a father to a stubborn teenaged son. I was in fine practice for dealing with one skinny, half-sized guide who was young enough to actually be my son.

I know Sandburg expected me to bellow at him, but I was wilier than that. Instead I put my hand on his forehead, and asked him to think about Jim.

“Jim and I are friends, so if I help you out when you need it, I'm helping him. You don't want to cause Jim any distress, do you? He's crazy about you, in case you hadn't noticed. I'm going to be apologizing to him for a month for getting over here later than he asked me to. And I am sorry, Sandburg. So, don't compound my error by not asking me for what you need tonight. I'm Jim's stand-in till he arrives.”

Sandburg gave me a long look this time. And then he let me have it. “Captain Banks, you can't stand my guts. I know that. I accept it. You don't trust me at all.”

He started to talk faster, an avalanche of words crashing down now that I'd pushed at him. “Don't try and snow me with this kindness act. You weren't lying to my caseworker when you said those things about me. You do think I got off too easy when Jim claimed me. You think I've got Jim by the balls because I'm a good fuck. The only reason you're even here is because Jim asked you to do him a favor. If I had commed you, asked you to come with me like Jim has done every time I've had to meet with my caseworker, you'd have refused. I believe you when you say you want to stop her to protect the others she's no doubt doing this to, but I know you're not doing it for me. What happens to me doesn't concern you. You're Jim's friend, but you have no interest in being mine. You've told me you believe I had a hand in the Yana trade, and I know you haven't changed your mind about that. So, no. I don't want to ask you for anything. And I really hate that I have to tell you all the details about what Samantha Giles - Sam to you - did to me tonight. But I know I have a responsibility to stop her if I can, so can we just get on with it? I can guess what your plan is going to be. You're going to leave me in here alone, and she'll come back and do more sick stuff to me, and you're going to be recording it, right? Diverting the signal to another camera or making security record it when she tells them to turn off the monitoring because she's in here with me, and she'll be watching me.”

I had let him vent, let him get it out of his system. And he was right -- I didn't trust him. And he was wrong. I wanted to protect him, too.

“Sandburg, until a judge says otherwise, you're one of my men. I don't have to like you to want you to be safe. I won't lie to you and tell you that I trust you, but your actions with Jim have gone a long ways toward me deciding maybe Jim wasn't entirely out of his head when he claimed you. Now, let's try this again. Is there anything you need right now? Are you thirsty? Are you comfortable? I can't let you out of the restraints because this is a legitimate test. We can't afford to rock the boat by doing anything that would get you in trouble. And yes, if you feel up to being the bait, I was going to override security and keep the cameras on, and get a recording of her molesting you again. But, and I'm serious about this, you don't have to do it. I can get somebody undercover placed on her caseload, somebody like you, young and good looking, with a lot to lose if he reported her. We'd see if she'd go for him, and we'd be prepared to document it. So, kid, do you need anything?”

I'd kept my hand on his head, firm but gentle, and it was a tell-tale for his true emotions. I didn't have a soul bond that would inform me of what was really going on in that curly head, but if he truly loathed me, then he'd have told me to move my hand, or shook it off.

He didn't do either. I thought to myself that I could end up liking him, if I let my guard down. But I had only to think of Daryl's friend, lost to Yana, and the close call Daryl himself had had, and my guard against the Sandburg charm was strengthened.

But it was as I'd suspected; Sandburg wanted my approval. He wanted me to like him on a personal level. I resolved to make sure that my feelings against him didn't result in me treating him unfairly.

It was too damn bad he'd messed up, gotten involved in Yana. I could have liked him under other circumstances.

“Simon? I'll do it. And can I have a drink of water, please? My mouth is so dry.”

Before I moved my hand I gave his head a tiny shake, to let him know that we did have a connection of a sort, that I was going to take care of him till Jim arrived. Then I got him a drink, helped support him with my arm at his back, and held the glass up to his lips so he could use the straw. He drank thirstily, and afterwards I helped him to get as comfortable as possible.

There wasn't much more for him to tell me; Samantha had returned and engaged in more of the same, more touching of his penis, more stroking his arms and belly, and inner thighs. More comments designed to increase his sense of helplessness. She'd quickly grabbed the sheet and tossed it over Sandburg's naked body when I had knocked on the door, and she'd hissed a warning to keep his mouth shut right before I'd entered the room.

I squeezed his shoulder before I hit the comm button on the wall and told security to turn back on the cameras, and to inform Ms. Giles that I had left, and to remind her that his sentinel wouldn't be here for at least six more hours.

Then I left him pretending to be asleep, and had a short, but effective talk with the guy saddled with security duty.

///

I commed Jim from MIC, hours later, after Samantha Giles had been arrested and taken in for booking. I'd had security call for another med-tech to come in and take care of the other three men and one woman who were being drug tested this night.

Sandburg had come through, he'd acted in a way that had pushed his corrupt caseworker to lose any control she might have wanted to show, after having almost been caught by me earlier. He told me later that when she realized that this might be her only chance at him alone, that Jim would make sure to take his guide with him the next time he had to be away from New Rainier, that it had enticed her into being more assertive with him.

I had called for backup from the local precinct, and as soon as I felt we had enough documentation to prove that she was abusing Sandburg, six more protectors came in and helped me secure the evidence, and I had the honor of arresting Samantha Giles and removing her from Sandburg's sight.

She'd kissed him, she'd fondled him, she'd finger fucked him again, and she'd been up on the gurney, sans panties, riding his thigh when I'd neutralized the locked door, and I and two more protectors strode in to pull her off Sandburg. She'd been shocked, and tried to pass this off as consensual sex between her and her client, which might get her fired but wasn't something to be arrested over. It was with great satisfaction that I told her she would be seeing the justice system from the other side now. I covered Sandburg back up, and waited for the replacement tech to come.

Sandburg had been great. He'd made sure to say loudly enough that he didn't want her to touch him, that he wasn't consenting, that he wanted her to stop. He'd been begging, pleading with her, something that didn't happen the first time she'd molested him tonight, and it had spurred her on to more and more reckless behavior.

While the other probationers were being interviewed, to see if they also had been molested, I stayed with Sandburg. I asked him quietly how he was doing, and he told me 'fine.'

“Are you, Blair?”

He nodded.

“I'm going to get you out of those restraints as soon as we can. I can arrange for you to see a counselor, but I won't force you. It would be a good idea, though. And Blair, thank you. You caught her. You made a difference.”

He gave me a strange look, and a wan smile. Then he told me that Jim was pretty pissed off and that I might want to comm him, let him know that things were okay now. I decided to wait until I'd taken Blair back to MIC.

I spoke with the med-tech replacement as soon as she arrived. Turned out that enough time had gone by that the second sample could be taken and Sandburg turned loose. Ms. Giles apparently had enjoyed keeping her probationers under her thumb for as long as possible, which is why she had insisted they stay twelve hours in restraints.

This woman repeated the procedure Samantha had done earlier that evening. Then she started to remove Blair's catheter.

I told him I'd step out in the hall, but he asked me to stay. Hell, I felt like I owed the kid, so I talked to him, distracting him, while the med-tech slid it out and disposed of it and the collection bag.

Blair gave a wobbly sigh and got out of bed, sheet wrapped around himself, while he poked around the treatment room until he'd found his clothes. Soon enough he was dressed in the eclectic style of rumpled shirts and trousers with torn knees that most of the male students at the university favored. I knew that he wasn't allowed to have too many clothes, but I wondered if he'd accept some new clothing from me. Probably not. Remembering holos in his file, he'd dressed like this voluntarily.

I brought him to MIC, and took his statement. He was tired, but then, so was I. But he'd been doing some heavy duty manual labor for most of the day, after he'd attended the seminar at the academy that had kept him from traveling with Jim to Marna. Besides, he was feeling the let down from the adrenaline his body had hammered him with from being sexually assaulted.

I commed Jim, after I'd told Sandburg to go into my office and lie down on the couch. He didn't argue, which told me more about the exhaustion he was feeling that anything that came out of his mouth.

“Simon, he's not okay. If he tells you he's all right, it's a front. He's feeling very vulnerable right now, and depressed and sick. He's also feeling lonely, and missing me, and I don't think he should be alone. I know I've asked a lot of you tonight, but--”

“I'll keep Blair with me, till you get here. Tomorrow, you find some reason for him to be with you all day; tests, or something non-protector related, in case Community Services checks on him.”

“Blair? When did you start calling him by his name? I've only heard you call him Sandburg.”

What? But thinking the last couple of hours over, I realized I had been calling him by his first name. Now that was a change. No wonder the kid had looked at me funny earlier.

“Never mind, Detective. Just come and pick up your guide and get him out of my hair. But Jim... he did a fine job tonight. You let me know if we need to get him set up with a counselor. He says he doesn't need one, but you'll know if he's able to, ah, what's that word he's always spouting? Oh, 'process.' And I owe you an apology and I promise it won't happen again. I delayed getting over to Community Service until I'd finished the budget report. I gave Samantha Giles the time she needed to molest Blair. For that I'm truly sorry, and I told Sandburg the same thing. If you ever need me to step in for you on another occasion, I won't delay again. You have my word.”

Jim had a few words for me, but in the end he accepted my apology.

He thought he'd be here in two hours. I went into my office to tell Sandburg the news, since Jim was still too far away for their telepathy to work, and he was just sitting on the couch, staring off into space.

I passed along my information, and asked him if he wanted to use my comm and talk to Jim himself.

He shook his head no, and blinked slowly at me.

Kid was practically asleep. I gave his shoulder a little push and told him to get some rest. He resisted until I let him know I'd be working at my desk. Then he gave in and stretched out on my couch.

It's comfortable, and I've catnapped on it enough to know. I dropped an afghan I keep for times like this on top of him and when he made no move himself to unfold it, I did it for him.

He was asleep before I'd gotten to my desk.

He was a convicted criminal. But he'd allowed himself to be molested to stop a corrupt woman from abusing others. He'd smuggled Yana plants. But Jim trusted him.

I'd been calling him Blair. Maybe I still didn't trust him, but to my chagrin, I realized that sometime tonight I'd crossed a line that I'd been sure I wouldn't.

Apparently, I did like the kid. But he didn't need to know that, exactly. I would keep an eye out for him, though. Make sure my promise to have him treated fairly was kept.

To the accompaniment of soft breathing from the vicinity of the couch, I pulled up report forms for this case and started filling them out while I waited for Jim to relieve me of guard duty. And maybe, just maybe, I'd think again about utilizing some of Mr. Sandburg's other talents, besides those that involved knowing which end of a mop to use.

The end.




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