A woman on a mission, that‘s what she was. Nobody dare standing in her way; she would destroy him, crush her, rip them apart. She was god today; she would decide who would live and who would die. Well, actually all of them would die, but they didn’t know that yet.

She chuckled quietly, looking at the walking dead all around her. If they had the faintest idea of their immediate future, they’d go home and spend their last hours with their loved ones. No, she wouldn’t get sentimental; they deserved that, all of them, all these self-centered assholes and the little hissy bitches. And most of all, Tony. ‘Get real, Rosy, I’d never fuck someone as ugly as you,’ that’s what he said. That was his death sentence. They all would die, slowly, painfully, but he would be the first. Why the hell had she ever agreed to go out with him? Her last date. That was seven years ago. Right on the day. He would die exactly seven years after he rejected her. Okay, maybe not exactly the same day, because her little surprise could take up to two day to kill him. As she had intended. A very slow and painful death. And she would watch, see Tony die, see how his face would contort with pain. His beautiful face. Such a nice façade for such a rotten bastard. This face still hunted her dreams. Not for much longer now; it would all be over soon. Very soon. She could already taste her sweet victory.

Her face twisted in an ugly smile. Admittedly, she was no beauty queen, never had been, but he had been unnecessarily cruel to her. Why the hell had he asked her out in the first place? Just to humiliate her? He had called her ugly, had called her a cow, said he’d rather do a goat than her. And she had simply left, crying, losing her face, her pride. He had called her ugly, but he never called her stupid. With her intellect, she could have won a Nobel Price; she could have found a cure against cancer or HIV. His cruelty had steered her interests into another direction. She patted her coat pocket absentmindedly. The little vial was still there, containing the solution to all of her problems. Containing liquid death. A death she was ready to set free. To spread all over the world, erasing the human race permanently.

She had once seen a film where an actor had said something like the world would go to hell with the help of the postal service. Some kind of action flick. Well, she would clean the face of the planet with the help of FedEx. Relax, it’s FedEx. Not any longer. Another chuckle escaped her thin, colorless lips. But, on the other hand, death was the final relaxation. So the slogan would fit after all, in a twisted way. Her tools of doom would be picked up tomorrow, Friday, the thirteenth, how appropriate. She thought about the multitude of envelopes and packages in her laboratory, ready to be sent. The little vials inside them were labeled as samples. Samples for new artificial sweeteners, cleaning agents or a liquid fertilizer. Everything that would attract the recipient to open the package and spread the virus all over the world. If all of them would be opened the world would be devoid of people in a few days. If only half of them served their purpose, it would take a couple of weeks. It didn’t matter; even one of them would be enough. It would just take longer. She didn’t really care. She would die shortly after she had her ultimate revenge and infected Tony. But that was okay, she would die happily in the knowledge that he would follow her shortly after. Her death would be painless, she had seen to that. Again she fingered the little pill in her other coat pocket. Such a little thing, but it would make sure that she would go in peace while he would suffer terrible pain before leaving this world.

Another unpleasant smile played around her lips when she exited her car. She was in a no parking zone. But that didn’t really matter anymore, did it? She giggled to herself and ascended the stairs towards Hargrove Hall.

Half an hour later, she was more than frustrated. Having concentrated on creating her weapon of revenge, she had forgotten to make sure that her prime target was still working for Rainier University. He had quit two years ago and nobody really knew where he was working now. She looked again at the piece of paper in her hand. Blair Sandburg. So, this Sandburg knew where Tony was. Maybe. Well, he better should. She was a woman on a mission and nobody would stop her.

It took her another five minutes to find Sandburg’s office. A sheet with his office hours was taped to the door. She was in luck; he should be inside at the moment. She knocked, and at a cheerful ‘come in!’ from the inside, she stepped into the office.

A curly haired boy – he didn’t look old enough to be a teaching fellow like the secretary had said – turned around and greeted her with a dazzling smile. Involuntarily, she smiled back. There was no way to ignore that smile. Too bad that Tony hadn’t been as friendly as that boy, seven years ago.

”Hi, I’m Blair Sandburg. What can I do for you?”

”Nice to meet you, Mr. Sandburg. I’m looking for Dr. Anthony Jackson. The secretary told me that you might know where he is?”

He frowned and looked down for a moment.

”I’m sorry, Tony died eight months ago. Have you been good friends?”

”Not really. What happened?”

”Tony had… mental problems. He, he committed suicide. He had problems for quite some time.”

”Really? I knew him seven years ago. Do you think he had these problems then already?”

”Probably. He left a note where he stated that he had these problems since he was a teenager.”

She had waited so long, enjoying the thoughts of her revenge only to have it snatched away from her! Sure, she could buy that Tony had been insane. No sane man would have rejected her.

”Can I help you, Madam? You look very pale.”

She shook her head and turned to leave, then reconsidered. If he wanted to help her, then he should. He had been so nice to her; maybe not everyone was as wretched as she had thought. But still, she had worked so long to see her little virus work. She wanted, needed that satisfaction.

”Mr. Sandburg, if someone told you that you could save the world, but had to give your life for it, would you do it?”

He looked at her with a strange expression but answered nevertheless.

”That’s hard to answer when I’m not in that situation, but I guess I would.”

”Well, you are lucky and find out what you will do or won’t. Here in my jacket pocket I have a vial, containing a deadly virus. Very deadly. Should I decide to set it free here and now, Cascade will be a ghost town in four days. And North America will be one giant museum next month. So, I give you a choice. Either you will come with me to my laboratory where I will set it free in a safe environment where it will only infect you and I or I’ll break the vial now. It’s your choice.”

”Why are you doing that?”

”Choose. Now.”

”Okay, okay, I’ll come with you. But please, let me say goodbye to my mother and my roommate. I don’t have to see them, a phone call or letter would be enough. Please?”

She nodded, smiling.

”I have a phone line in my lab. As soon as we’re in there I’ll let you make as many calls as you want to.”

”Thank you.”

He stood up, moving carefully. She smiled at that. He was trying to make her feel safe so that she wouldn’t break the vial accidentally. His face was an open book, so easy to read. She could see that he had no hope to survive but was determined to save his friends. Well, he would die in the conviction that his sacrifice saved the world. What a way to go! She motioned him outside, into her car.

”You’ll drive. 228 Maple Road, you know the address?”

He nodded tensely. She enjoyed the ride to her laboratory immensely. He drove so carefully. What a shame that this sweet boy had to die.

As soon as they arrived at her laboratory, she ushered him quickly inside. She was dying to see her little invention work. Giggling at her line of thought, she pushed him inside the lab. This room was totally safe, once she sealed the door there would nothing get outside, not the boy and not the virus either. Sure, he could open the door once she died peacefully and painlessly, but somehow she doubted he would do that. Would counteract the purpose of this whole action, namely saving the world.

She locked him in the room and gathered all the packages and envelopes and carried them inside. Then she went out again and brought blankets, cushions, a few bottles of water and all food she could find and closed the door from the inside.

”Okay, Mr. Sandburg. You’re still sure that you want to do this?”

He nodded nervously. She smiled pleasantly, then she handed him the telephone.

”You can start to make your phone calls while I start to destroy the virus and my notes. Don’t worry; there will be enough contact to infect both of us while I burn it.”

 First, she took the vial out of her coat pocket. She noticed how he watched wide-eyed how she opened it and started to dial quickly as soon as he saw the milk white liquid she was slowly pouring into the flame of the burner she had lighted shortly before. The flame flickered, but it was hot enough to deal with the thick liquid.

”Don’t worry, Mr. Sandburg, it won’t work that fast. You are young and healthy so it could take some time. On the other hand, there are seventy-two of these vials I have to destroy here, so you will get quite a lot of my little friend into your system. I’d say you have between twenty-four and forty hours until it will be over. You will feel fine for the next couple of hours and then you’ll start to feel a bit sickly. From that time on it will get worse until you wish you’d never made that deal. And then you will open this door to get help and will extinguish the whole mankind that way.”

She was sure that he had been listening, but he wasn’t looking at her. He was looking down and his long hair hid his face from her view. He was shaking like a leaf and his breathing sounded quick and panicked, but he didn’t say anything. Too bad, she’d thought he would be a lot more entertaining. He seemed to calm down a bit and continued dialing his telephone number. He looked away from her when he waited for an answer. Time to mind her manners. She was raised to be polite and thought that he should have his privacy when he talked to his loved ones and quickly swallowed the little pill that would make her passing peacefully.
 

“Mr. Sandburg, it was a pleasure to meet you. You should continue to burn the rest of it, together with the notes on the table over there. And you should mix the virus with the alcohol over there, the three green bottles. It will burn better that way. But be careful, you could hurt yourself if you don’t take care.”

She giggled insanely.

”Anyway, if you decide to leave this room, you only have to press the button over there. See it? Fine. I will leave you alone now.”

His panicked look was the last thing she noticed before the world around her grayed and she did her last breath.

~~~~~~~~~~

Blair dropped the receiver. This time he was not able to stifle the panic attack. He was going to die here, alone and in pain. She had clearly been insane, but even the presence of a madwoman was better than being alone. His breathing quickened again and he grabbed one of the big envelopes, shook the contents on the floor, three vials tumbling on the tiles, fortunately not breaking, and put it over his mouth and nose and breathed into it. He couldn’t black out now. There was a window in the door to the laboratory and if someone looked in and saw the woman lying there and decided to open the door – no, he had to act quickly. With a big effort, he calmed his breathing down and managed to relax a little. Then he collected the receiver from the ground and dialed Jim’s number again.

”Ellison.”

”Hi, Jim, it’s me.”

”Sandburg, I expected you to be here half an hour ago! Where are you? I expect –“

”WOULD YOU PLEASE SHUT UP! Oh god, I’m sorry, Jim, so sorry, I didn’t want to yell at you. Please forgive me.”

”What is wrong, Blair? Are you hurt? You don’t sound so good.”

”This woman, she came into my office and asked for Tony and when I told her he was dead then she asked me if I wanted to save the world and that she would set a virus free that would kill every human on earth and asked me to come with her and I’m in her laboratory and she’s dead, she killed herself and she told me I would die soon and you have to make sure that nobody opens the door or they will all die, all will die and not just me.”

”Where are you, Blair?”

”228 Maple Road, the door sign says Bitterman Laboratories.”

”I will be there shortly. Don’t worry, Blair, we will get you out there safe and sound, okay?”

”Okay Jim. Please, hurry, I - I’m scared.”

”I’ll be there in no time. Call me on my cell phone then I can talk to you while I drive.”

”No, I need to call my mom. I have to say goodbye, just in case.”

”Okay. Call me as soon as you’re finished, okay?”

”I will. Bye, Jim.”

”Don’t worry, Blair, we’ll make it. I’ll be with you in no time. Bye.”

Blair removed the receiver and stared blankly ahead for a moment. He knew that he had no time to waste but he couldn’t think of anything to say to her. ‘Hi, mom, I’m dying’ wouldn’t do it. But he had to tell her, and quickly at that. He started dialing even though his mind was totally empty. It rang. Again. And again. He stopped listening and looked at the big clock over the exit. The second hand raced over the clock face, ticking away what was left of his life.

A sudden commotion outside of the room startled him. He looked at the receiver in his hand. Did he want to call someone? What was happening here? And why was it important to look at the clock? There was something in the back of his memory, lurking, waiting to jump him. A muffled voice reached him, throwing him a lifeline back to consciousness.

”Blair?”

Jim? What was Jim doing here? Where was here for that matter? He looked up, saw Jim’s frightened face in the door’s window, glanced higher and saw the clock and everything came back to him, crashed into his mind, stole his breath with the intensity of emotion. Blair shuddered violently and hugged his knees to his chest. With a kind of detached curiosity he noticed that he was sitting on the ground, all around him packages, envelopes and vials like the one she had opened, signing his death sentence. Oh god! The last minutes on earth, seeing and feeling the same things a lab rat did shortly before death. White, sterile walls, suffocating him. No, not sterile. There was death all around him, waiting to invade him, but that wasn’t even necessary any more, he was already full of death and just needed to wait until his body acknowledged that.

”Blair? Can you hear me?”

He looked up again, to the window in the door, then unavoidably his gaze moved up to the clock again. How much time was left?

”Blair?”

Jim. Jim was out there waiting for an answer. Could the dead answer?

”Blair, answer me please! Are you in pain?”

Pain? She said there would be pain. Much of that from his impression.

”Blair, please!”

”Sandburg! Answer, dammit!”

Banks’ voice shook Blair out of his stupor. He looked up and saw two worried faces in the little window. Funny, they looked almost like twins with their identical expression.

”Hi, Simon, Jim.”

He wondered if Simon could even hear him. Jim would, there wasn’t much the sentinel would overhear. Surely he could hear the virus doing its devastating work in his body.

”Are you in pain, Blair?”

”No, Jim, I feel good.”

Good. Fine. Fucking ecstatic. If he felt any better he would start to puke his guts on the white tiles.

”Don’t worry, we’ve found an expert. She worked with Guzman for almost four years and knows most of her research.”

”Who’s Guzman?”

Jim looked to his left. He turned his head to follow the gaze and looked into the open eyes of his abductor. Blair shuddered and buried his head in his hands. She was out of sight now, so why couldn’t he stop shaking?

”Blair?”

Against these insistent voices. This time he ignored even the captain’s bellow. Thinking hurt and he didn’t want to hurt. As if he had any choice in that matter. He was feeling light-headed and a bit nauseous but that had to be the stress. No way it already started. She said a couple of hours, right? There had to be time left, time to… Time to do what? Eat a good dinner? Read a book? Plant a tree? Kiss the soft lips of a woman a last time? Did it even matter anymore? A few hours looking at these white walls more or less, what would that bring? She did it right, killing herself before the pain started. Maybe he should follow her example.

His shaking increased and breathing became painful. Did it get darker in the room? What room? There was a jungle all around him, peaceful, nice and quiet. So beautiful.

~~~~~~~~~~

”He passed out.”

”Damn, Jim, why Blair? Does he have a sign on his back: ‘Psychos, take me’?”

Jim only shrugged. That didn’t matter now, did it? They could discuss it to death but that wouldn’t help Blair. Where was that damn scientist?

A breathless woman burst into the room, looked shortly into the room and deflated visibly.

”Dear god, it’s true. This stupid, crazy bitch!”

”Not that I wouldn’t agree, but who are you?”

She looked up at his face, utterly astonished that she wasn’t alone in the room. Then she glanced again into the room. Jim followed her gaze. This time she passed over the body of the dead scientist/madwoman with only a short glance and settled her eyes on Blair’s body.

”god, he’s so young.”

She was only whispering but Jim’s hearing was turned up to the maximum to get every little sign of life form his best friend, so her murmur sounded like a shout in his ears.

”I’m Detective Jim Ellison and this is Captain Banks. May I ask who you are?”

With a visible effort, she turned away form the window and faced them.

”I’m Dr. Jenny Markham, I worked with Dr. Guzman and, well, Teddy thought I could help. He already briefed me on the situation.”

”Is there anything you can do from out here?”

She looked thoughtfully, then gazed through the window again.

”I could use the lab over there, but I’d need a sample of her virus. Or her papers. Have your men found anything in her office?”

Jim shook his head. He had seen the papers lying on a tray inside the room. Just perfect. The only chance of rescue was inside the room, the one room they couldn’t enter. And Blair was out of the picture, at least for the moment.

”She took it with her into the lab. Are there no copies?”

”I don’t expect to find any. She was kind of paranoid, you know? I could go inside and work in there. I’m a professional, I could look over a corpse and an unconscious man, I think.”

”I think Blair will wake up soon. He had a panic attack and blacked out but I don’t think he’s hurt otherwise.”

She glanced up at him and shrugged noncommittally.

”What would that bring? He’s no scientist or is he?”

”He’s an anthropologist. A very smart guy, you know? No, what I meant is that he could bring the papers over to the window.”

”I don’t know if that’s enough. But I do know that we don’t have much time. He has to wake very soon or he won’t be any help at all.”

Jim listened again to his partner’s life signs. Blair was still out cold. Did it usually take that long to overcome the aftereffects of a panic attack? Maybe the virus was already taking effect? He stepped closer to the airtight door and pressed his hands and his forehead against the glass, trying desperately to will his partner awake. Was there a slight stirring? He was sure the limp finger of his guide’s left hand had just twitched minutely. Was that a deeper breath than the ones before? Again he concentrated, closed his eyes tightly and visualized his guide. In his mind, Blair started to wake up. Smiling, he opened his eyes and looked into the unfocused pools of deep blue on the other side of the door. Blair smiled back at him, before he shuddered violently.

”It’s okay, Blair, stay cool, we’ll get out of this whole. Do you understand me?”

”Yes, Jim.”

Damn, Blair sounded like a little boy, lost and afraid. But at least he was standing up now and came closer to the door.

”A fine mess I got myself into this time, huh?”

”Just a typical day in the Sandburg zone. Chief, could you get the papers over to the window? Dr. Markham wants to have a look at it, okay?”

”Sure, Jim.”

The student gathered the papers with trembling fingers. A few of the pages slipped and he had to bend down to pick them up. Jim realized in the same moment as Blair froze that this hadn’t been the best idea. Blair was now looking directly at the vials and envelopes scattered on the floor.

”Blair, look at me!”

No reaction. Shit, the kid was seriously spooked; there was no bouncing back this time. Time for another tactic.

”Chief, please help me, I need you Blair. It’s all too bright.”

Blair’s head shot up and he straightened, moving to the door hurriedly. Yep, using Blair’s protective instinct worked every time so far.

”What’s wrong, Jim? What can I do?”

”You could hold he papers against the window. Sorry for the little deception.”

Jim tried to look appropriately cowed at Blair’s accusing glare and then they both started to laugh at the same time, Blair’s laugh slightly hysterical, but still releasing some of the tension. The student leafed to the papers quickly and then pressed two of the sheets against the glass. The scientist came quickly closer and studied the paper.

”Oh yes, that’s exactly what I need! Let’s see what we have there… okay, that’s where she started.”

She tried to stay calm, but her breathing pattern gave her away. It didn’t look good for Blair, dammit!

”This is amazing; I mean she started with a really dangerous virus and when she changed it, it became more harmless with every step. In the end, she created a new kind of influenza. Sure, influenza can be deadly, too, but the chances are in your friend’s favor. He’s young and strong, he’ll survive it.”

Could that be true? He saw an equally astonished expression on his incarcerated partner’s face.

”I need to send this papers to a friend to check the results, I mean, I don’t want to make a mistake here, but there’s every reason to be optimistic.”

She took a digital camera out of her backpack and took pictures of the two pages. Jim noticed that Blair’s hands were still shaking slightly.

”Okay, I can send these pictures from the computer in the office on the second floor. That will take five minutes, then I’ll be back, okay?”

Jim and Simon both nodded silently and she turned around and were gone. The sentinel listened to her footsteps until she sat down in an office somewhere above them, working on the computer and for a while before she started a phone conversation. Jim decided to listen in.

’Burt, this is Jen. I just sent you an email. Look at it, I need your advice.’

’Hang on a moment… Okay, I got it. Oh no, don’t tell me. That looks like Guzzie’s work, right?’

’You got it. Burt, this is important, okay? How dangerous do you think it is?’

’Looks nasty to me. But not as bad as I would have suspected, considering the direction of her research so far.’

’Yeah right, Burt, but she infected someone with that virus and I need to know his odds and the best treatment.’

’Jesus! Someone I know?’

’No. Remember her favorite mind game?’

’Oh no! Don’t tell me you mean her ‘would you save the world if it would cost your own life’?’

’Exactly. She’s gone totally over the bend. She really did it, asked a young man whether he would give his own life to save the world and infected him. My guess is that his chances are fifty-fifty if these papers are correct. I need you; I need medical personnel that can tell this man that he is going to live with a straight face. He has to believe that he has a chance or he won’t have one.’

’You can count on me, Jen. Will we need Mandy, too?’

’Please bring her along. She’s much better with such things than I am. So, Burt, what do you say? What are his chances?’

’Fifty-fifty sounds about right. Make sure that he gets supported by his family if it can be done safely.’

’Okay. We’ll move him as soon as you’re here. And Burt, his friends don’t know his chances. I don’t want them to tip him off and told them it was a new kind of influenza.’

’Influenza? You couldn’t come up with something more probable?’

’Jesus, I had to improvise here. You know that I’m not good with these things.’

’I know. Okay, I’ll be with you in half an hour.’

Jim turned his attention back to Blair and Simon, fighting the urge to clench his jaws. As much as he despised lying to Blair, he could admit that there might be some truth in her statement. He would play along. When he’d become worried, Blair would write it off as his overprotective pattern he always showed when his guide was hurt. Simon looked at him questioningly.

”What happened? What did you hear?”

”She talked to someone named Burt and he confirmed her assumptions. But they still want to take all safety measures; just to be on the safe side. You’re okay with this, right, Blair?”

His partner had watched him with a worried expression and relaxed now, nodding. Then he turned away from the door to get one of the water-bottles, moving awkwardly with his head turned to the side, away from his dead abductor. Task accomplished, he hurried back to the door to be close to his friends.

”How do you feel, Chief?”

”Okay, I guess. I’d really like to get out of here.”

”I know. It won’t take much longer from what I heard.”

The scientist came back then with a much lighter step.

”Okay, I called a friend and he will help us with the safety measures. I know this sounds dangerous, but we need to be careful with this virus, make sure that it doesn’t get spread and maybe mutate, you know?”

”We understand, Dr. But how will you get him out safely?”

”See the door at the other side of the room? It’s an airlock. Standard safety measure in our field of work. Teddy believes in safety. Good that he does.”

”Yes, very good. Can we do anything until your friend arrives?”

She shrugged and smiled at them.

”Just keep him occupied. We’ll get him out of here in no time.”

Jim frowned. Not once she had looked at Blair, not once talked to him directly. If she wanted to convince him that he was going to be okay, she wasn’t doing a good job.

”His name is Blair.”

She actually blushed and looked down, then straightened her back and turned her gaze to Blair.

”I’m sorry, Blair, I didn’t mean to be rude, it’s just, well, I don’t like dealing with diseases. That’s why I’m the safety inspector of Bitterman Laboratories. Unfortunately, it makes me awkward around sick people and even the prospect of someone getting ill freaks me out. Not the best condition to work as a virologist; I know.”

”Not really.”

Blair smiled when he answered to her confession. Jim was relieved to see that. They needed to keep the student in a happy mood. As much as that was possible.

~~~~~~~~~~

Blair felt awful. His last days had been the stuff nightmares were made of. And it had just started with the kidnapping and Guzman’s suicide. The transport from the lab to the hospital had been pure stress and it had become even worse after that. The last five days he spent being poked and prodded and woken nearly every five minutes if he managed to sleep at all. They had drawn so much blood from him that he thought he had to be anemic now.

The doctors were more optimistic every day, but he didn’t share the sentiment. He was hurting. Hurting non-stop for the last four days, unable to move by himself, afraid he would provoke the pain to flare up again. It was even impossible for him to lift a finger; every joint was reacting to the slightest movement with fierce pain.

Jim was with him for at least eight hours every day, separated by a window until the doctor’s deemed him uninfectious. Burt had reassured him that it wouldn’t take long now. He didn’t believe him because the pain hadn’t ceased a bit in spite of all of the treatments the doctors had tried. It was kind of funny, if they moved his limbs he was okay, he just wasn’t able to do it by himself. It felt as if every of his joints consisted of sandpaper, scraping his nerves raw with every movement he made. If that was influenza, it was nothing he had ever heard of.

The door opened. Let’s see, last time Nancy was here to feed him, then it had to be Carl’s turn now for the massage. His favorite time of the day.

”Hey, Blair!”

”Carl! You here and not in Hawaii?”

”Now what would I do in Hawaii without you? Did you thing about my proposal, sweetie?”

Blair laughed.

”As exiting as it may be, Carl, I still don’t want to marry you.”

”You don’t know what you’re missing.”

”Exactly. And I want to keep it that way.”

”Okay, honey. But think, you could have these hands every day. And night.”

”Sounds tempting, Carl, but I still think I’ll pass. But if I ever choose to change my sexual orientation you’ll be the first to know.”

”And don’t you forget it.”

Oh man! These hands were pure heaven, relieving the tension of his too long immobile body. As usually, he started to cry. Not because Carl hurt him, it was just the only way to get rid of the nervous energy that had assembled in his guts. The only other way was to shout from the top of his lungs but when he had done that, three days ago, it had freaked the nurses, doctors and, worst of all, Jim, who had been on his way up. He never did it again. Carl, on the other hand, wasn’t surprised when he saw the tears after finishing the massage. With a sly smile he assured him that he wasn’t the first man to cry under his hands. It was the first time since meeting Guzman that he was laughing aloud. Everyone tiptoed around him, telling him to take it easy, to get his rest. He was fucking tired of taking it easy and did he even have a choice besides getting his rest? He wasn’t tired, he wasn’t weak, he didn’t even hurt unless he tried to move. Which he did his best to avoid. So he was lying here, still as a corpse, and bored out of his mind. Carl’s visits were different; he treated him like a human being, not like an interesting disease to study.

”So, Blair, how was your day?”

“Oh, didn’t you hear about the party this morning? And the gourmet meal?”

”Okay, I guess you didn’t climb Mount Rainier today?”

”No, I was too tired after the marathon.”

”Right. Forgot about that. Okay, does that hurt?”

”No, feels good. Feels great, don’t stop.”

”God, Blair, you don’t know what these words do to me!”

Blair burst out laughing. Carl had done this to him every time in the last five days. He heard Carl chuckling satisfied behind his back while he was loosening his sore neck muscles.

”Okay, backside is done; I’m turning you around now. No, don’t tense, it won’t hurt. Relax, Blair, breathe slowly.”

Easier said than done. Despite of Carl’s gentle ministrations, turning around always hurt like a bitch. He closed his eyes tightly and visualized a hilly landscape with a small stream, green meadows and a deep blue sky. He let a falcon fly over the stream, screaming while a few trouts jumped in the water.

”That’s better. We’re almost done. That’s it, all done. I told you it wouldn’t hurt, didn’t I?”

Blair opened his eyes, surprised to find himself indeed on his back. There had been no pain this time. Tentatively, he tried to move his fingers. It was still uncomfortable, but it was bearable. No comparison to the raging pain he felt the day before. He flexed his hands and moved his feet. Yes, it still hurt, but he was able to do it! He was moving without help!

”Carl, I can move!”

”Really? Show me!”

Blair lifted his right forearm and wiggled his fingers. Carl smiled broadly, his white teeth a sharp contrast against his dark skin, even visible through the face mask of the safety suit he wore. It was a testament of Carl’s skill that he was able to give fantastic massages through the gloves of the suit.

”Does it hurt?”

”Just a little bit. I’m gonna be okay, Carl, I’m really gonna be okay!”

”What, you didn’t believe the doctors when they told you the same thing over and over again?”

Blair smiled crookedly.

”Honestly, do you believe everything the doctors tell you? I don’t.”

Carl smiled back at him.

”But they were right, as you see. So, maybe you’ll trust them next time.”

”Maybe.”

They looked at each other and spoke in unison.

”Nope!”

Then they burst out laughing.

”What’s so funny, gentlemen?”

The sound of Jim’s voice, muted by the loudspeakers, made Blair look to the window. Grinning, he lifted his forearm again to wiggle his fingers at Jim.

”Hi, Jim!”

”Blair! You can move your head and your arm! That’s so great!”

”When this gorgeous man is finished with worshipping my body I’ll even try to sit up.”

”Oh, gee, Blair, I’m blushing here! Just say the word and I’ll leave Tony in a New York minute.”

Now it was Blair’s turn to blush. Jim had never been present before when Carl was teasing him and he was a bit worried about the cop’s reaction. He looked at the sentinel from under his half-closed lids, trying to evaluate his partner’s mood. But Jim was only grinning and he relaxed again.

”Gee, Carl, not on my behalf. I’m no home-wrecker.”

”Too bad. Okay, baby, I’m finished. Should I give you a hand to help you sit up?”

”Yeah, thanks.”

Carl supported his back and he managed to sit up slowly. He was a bit dizzy after lying flat for five days, but it passed quickly and the position was much better for him to exercise some long time unchallenged muscles. Carl patted his shoulder and left him alone again.

”So, Chief, how do you feel? Burt and Jenny said when you keep on getting better on this rate they’ll let you out of here in two weeks.”

”Yeah, sure. If I was as well as they keep telling me they wouldn’t need to wear these whole-body-condoms.”

”Hey, you’ve got your humor back. You’ll be on your feet in no time.”

Blair sighed deeply.

”I guess I’m just a bit depressed. Immobility does that to a guy.”

”Well, that will change now, right? I’ll ask Burt to get you a physical therapist.”

”Thank you, Jim. I didn’t believe that I was going to survive this, but now I do. You were right, we will beat this.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Simon rushed into the bullpen when he heard the commotion. Ellison and Brown were fighting; strictly speaking it was Ellison attacking Brown who backed away.

”Ellison, Brown, my office! The rest of you, back to work!”

Everyone scurried to their respective desks, sticking their noses in the paperwork. Simon huffed satisfied and went back into his office to deal with the gamecocks. Ellison was still the picture of fury while Brown was looking really uncomfortable.

”So, what’s going on with you two?”

”I’m sorry, Jim. I didn’t mean that. Sorry, captain, I just wasn’t able to keep my big mouth shut.”

”Care to explain that any further?”

”I just asked Ellison how flu-boy was this morning. I didn’t want to belittle what Blair did, just because there was no real danger.”

”No real danger? He was unconscious for four days, a fact he doesn’t even know himself. I’m not looking forward explaining that to him tomorrow, when he gets out, that we don’t have Sunday tomorrow as he thinks, but Thursday. He suffered so much pain. I’ve heard the doctors talk that first day in the lab; they never thought it was a kind of flu as they told us. They gave him a fifty-fifty chance to start with, but only if he believed he would be cured. His chances went down to ten-ninety over the next three days before he got better. It was so damned close. He has to go to follow-up examinations for the next ten years to make sure there are no aftereffects.”

Brown’s face went grey with shock. Simon’s own response wasn’t much different. All the doctors had lied? And Jim knew about it all the time? God, that must have been hard for Ellison.

”Oh god, Jim, I didn’t know. I’m so sorry. I mean, it’s not as if it was less courageous what he did if it wasn’t as dangerous as it was, but, god, I feel really bad now.”

”I actually understood that. Apology accepted, H. And I’m sorry that I attacked you, I was just so tense and took it out on you. Sorry.”

”Apology accepted, Jim. Tell Hairboy that I’ll visit him when he feels up to it, okay?”

”I will.”

”Okay, gentlemen, now that your little lover’s tiff is settled, get back to work. And since you’re best friends again, you’ll transfer your open cases to Brown. When you’re done you can have an early start on your vacation. Now get out, both of you!”

”Thank you, sir!”

~~~~~~~~~~

’If he says another time ‘How do you feel, Chief’, I’m gonna club him over the head with the nearest heavy object.’

Blair’s thoughts became reality five seconds later and he actually grabbed a book from the shelf to make his silent vow come true, but one look into Jim’s worried eyes changed his mind.

”I’m fine, Jim. No change in the last two minutes.”

”Sorry, Chief.”

Jim smiled sheepishly. Blair put the book back on the shelf and laid an arm around his roommates shoulder.

”There’s no need to worry, Jim. Burt and Jen said there was no trace of the virus anymore and I went to Dr. Philips yesterday and he said I was healthy as a horse.”

”Why did you see him then?”

“Just a matter of precaution. Burt and Jen searched for specific symptoms and I just wanted to make sure that they didn’t overlook some general problem they didn’t search for.”

”Oh, good, good. That was… unusual. A very smart thing to do, but normally I have to drag you to the hospital while you fight with teeth and claws against me. I’m just a bit surprised.”

Blair sat down on the couch and patted the seat beside him. Jim sat down readily.

”Well, since I already was at the hospital... I just wanted to make sure that I wouldn’t put you into danger. Or someone else. I mean, I meet a lot of people every day and – well, I just wanted to be sure, you know?”

”Yeah, I know, Chief.”

He leaned closer to the sentinel and whispered into Jim’s ear.

”Hey, want to know a secret? You’re living with a rich man!”

”How so?”

”You met Edward Bitterman? No? He’s the owner of the lab. And apparently he’s a very rich man because he offered me five million dollars compensation. I told him that I don’t want the money but he wanted to hear nothing about it. I mean, the lab isn’t that big and his new security measures won’t be cheap either, but he insisted. This is so surreal; I mean he didn’t even ask me to sign something in exchange. But he assured me that the vials were all destroyed and her papers locked away safely, they just keep them in case something unexpected will happen to me, to my health. And that’s most important, that it isn’t out there anymore. The money is secondary and I don’t really believe that it is true.”

Jim grinned at him.

”So, you haven’t checked your bank account lately?”

”I don’t dare.”

”Why? I would want to know whether I’m a millionaire or not.”

Jim stood up and extended his hand to him. Blair looked at it, then turned his questioning gaze up to his roommate’s face.

”What?”

”Well, let’s power up your PC and have a look!”

”Okay!”

 Why the hell were his hands shaking? If it wasn’t true nothing would have changed and if it was, would it be so bad to be financially independent? There was nothing wrong with it, right? Right? So, calm down already! He took Jim’s hand and let himself be hauled upwards. They went into his room, to the computer. Did it always take such a long time to start that thing? Funny, half an hour ago, he didn’t even want to know, and now he was impatient. Finally, he typed his code and waited a few seconds for the balance to be updated.

”Wow, Chief, you’re rich! Hey, would you buy your poor, underpaid and overworked roommate a new truck?”

Blair heard Jim’s voice, but didn’t understand the meaning. He stared at the lengthy row of numbers, unable to grasp the exact value.

”Chief?”

Dear god. This was an obscene amount of money. And it was his. This wasn’t right. He had done nothing to deserve this.

”Chief, you’re in there somewhere?”

Blair blinked and jerked his head away. Jim’s nose had been only an inch away from his, with the sentinel gazing intently into his eyes.

”Sorry, Jim, I must have zoned. Is this true? No more worrying about student loans or how to pay the hospital bills?”

”Yep. And the best of it?”

”What is it, Jim?”

”You can buy a car that actually works!”



- End -



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