The Seven’s Sentinel

The 7^th story in the Sentinel.com Series

By Judy Seils

April 4, 2007

A TS/M7 ATF xo

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This is the seventh story in my Sentinel.com universe, so I figure it’s fitting that it is also a Magnificent 7 crossover. For those who don’t know TS, a Sentinel is a person with a genetic advantage. All five of his or her senses are naturally enhanced so that they can hear a pin drop in another room, or taste a grain of salt in a cup of water. This advantage does come at a price. Sentinels need a Guide, a partner to help them. Though they can function at low levels without a Guide, in order to reach their full potential, they need that one special person who can reach them if they zone. Zoning comes from focusing too much on one sense. It can be deadly if not interrupted. The Guide is an equal in the partnership, working to help the Sentinel learn how to control the use of his senses and watching his back to prevent zone outs.

The Sentinel.com universe begins at the end of The Sentinel TV series. Blair does go on to become a cop, but the arrival of Sentinels and Guides looking for help soon leads to Jim and Blair starting a foundation to help unite Sentinels with their Guides and teach the pairs to work together successfully. This story takes place several years after the Sentinel/Guide Foundation is opened.

For those unfamiliar with The Magnificent 7, this show is a western set after the Civil War, in the late 1800’s. Seven very different men are drawn together to help defend a Seminole village and end up staying on to protect a small, nearby town from the wilds of the West. MOG took these seven men and transported them into the modern age. Today they are ATF agents working out of Denver, and that’s the universe I kidnapped them from <EG>. Thanks MOG!

I don’t spend a lot (or any?) time introducing the characters, I just assume that since you choose to read it, you are at least slightly familiar with them. I hope you enjoy the story.

Spoilers: For the first 6 stories in this series, though nothing says you can’t read this one before reading the others. Also for ‘Warriors’ and ‘The Sentinel, Too.’

Warnings: Some language.

Kudos: To my most wonderful cousin and bestest beta ever, Cheryl. Sometimes it’s just scary how she finds the words I couldn’t.

Disclaimers: Other people own them, I’m just borrowing. Percy, Paul and Dennis are mine, all mine… hehehe... ur… um… The Sentinel.com universe is mine, but I’m not opposed to sharing if you want to play in it, please drop me a line first.

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The Seven’s Sentinel

“I don’t get it,” Blair Sandburg, Shaman and Guide of Cascade said as he dropped onto the couch beside his friend and Sentinel, Jim Ellison.

“It’s all about politics, kid,” Simon Banks replied, leaning back in the chair he’d claimed early in the evening. “The President wants to look good for the up-coming election and since we’ve ‘come out of the closet’ so to speak,” Simon grinned, “having ‘The Watchman’ on his security escort will do wonders for his image.

Jim shook his head. “It’s a wonder he didn’t request us for the entire tour and not just the Denver convention.”

Joel Taggart set his empty glass on the coffee table as he spoke. “Nah, the President has picked out ‘celebrity’ guards for each of his stops. Some of them, like you, actually have experience. Like Simon said, it’s all political. I doubt you’ll even be asked to look at security between all the parties and interviews.”

“Great,” Jim mumbled. “We get to be the entertainment.”

Blair smirked. “True, but you’ve got to admit, it’s a great opportunity for the SGF as well. We’ll just have to be sure to take along a few of our own watchdogs so that we don’t get any nasty surprises.”

~~~~~

Ezra Standish frowned. There it was again. I must be going insane. He closed his eyes and tried to think more pleasant thoughts. Warm, sunny cabaña on the beach. Cool drink in hand. And a lovely señorita singing just for me. He smiled, drifting for a few moments in the daydream before the annoying sounds of reality barged back in. “Honestly, Ezra,” he said, pushing himself into a sitting position on the floor of his ‘cell.’ “If you’re going to imagine a rescue, at least imagine them opening the door and letting you out. This ridiculous hallucination of hearing them looking for you is getting tedious.”

He sighed. The last three days had been difficult. Somehow his cover had been blown. But instead of being shot on the spot, his contact had gotten cold feet over killing a ‘cop.’ Instead he’d knocked Ezra out and the next thing the agent knew, he’d woken up in this small, dark windowless room. The only reason he knew three days had passed was due to the light on his watch. Otherwise, every minute had been spent in the dark.

Lately, Ezra fancied that the room had grown lighter. He could make out the spider web hanging in one corner and the crack in the floor that, if you held your head just right looked a bit like a rocking horse. Of course, Ezra knew this was nothing more than wishful thinking on his part. Lack of food, water, light and companionship were slowly depriving him of his senses.

“Mother always did say I had an overactive imagination.” Ezra leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes again. Still… the voices of his teammates did seem quite clear.

“This room’s clear,” Buck Wilmington said.

“This one, too,” JD Dunne parroted.

“There aren’t many more on this level,” Josiah Sanchez said. “Are you sure you he’s here?”

“He’s here!” Buck said. “I don’t know how I know, but he’s here. I can feel it.”

“I believe you, pard,” Vin Tanner said. “Let’s keep looking.”

“Here’s a stairway down to the cellar,” Nathan Jackson said.

Multiple footsteps sounding like a herd of horses caused Ezra to gasp and open his eyes. The steps changed, softened somehow, but were closer. Ezra stood up unsteadily and crossed to the door. He leaned heavily on the wall and pounded the door with his fist. “Buck! Josiah! Can you hear me? Are you real?” he called out, resting his head against the wall. He felt so weak. “Are you real?” he repeated to himself. “Or have I finally gone mad?”

“Ezra?” Buck’s voice sounded, right outside the door.

“Buck.”

“Ezra, hang on, we’re here. Just gotta open the door.”

“Buck,” Ezra repeated softly, comforted by the sound of his friend’s voice. He couldn’t summon the energy to move from the wall.

Ezra frowned at the strange scratching noises on the door.

“Hurry up, JD,” Buck urged.

“Let me do it,” Vin argued.

“I got it, I got it,” JD said. “Just stand back and stay out of the way.”

Ezra heard a loud click then clapped his hands over his ears at JD’s exuberant shout. The door opened and light flooded the room sending sharp spikes of pain right to Ezra’s brain. He cried out and clenched his eyes shut as he fell to his knees. Anxious voices pounded him from all sides and Ezra succumbed to the blissful darkness of unconsciousness.

*****

Ezra woke suddenly. He remained still for a moment trying to discover his whereabouts before opening his eyes. The last thing he remembered was being rescued by his teammates. But was that a dream? He heard beeping… could be hospital monitors. The smell of disinfectant… again associated with hospitals. Lastly, the scratchy feeling of the damn hospital gown against his skin and the pinch of the catheter in his arm. Not to mention the other catheter.

Ezra opened his eyes slowly and was pleasantly surprised that the light didn’t bother him. He sighed.

“Hey, pard,” Buck said, moving to stand beside the bed. “You feeling better?”

“Buck,” Ezra rasped, his throat dry. Buck raised the bed a bit and gave him a drink of water. “Thanks. I thought I was dreaming.”

Buck grinned wickedly, smoothing his mustache. “Well, now. I always fancied being in someone’s dreams, but I sorta hoped that someone would be a woman.”

*****

“Here you go,” Percy Brett said, handing Jim a manila envelope. “It was delivered by two secret service agents,” the ex-cop-turned-head-of-operations at the SGF continued with a grin.

Jim took the envelope that held their itinerary for the President’s visit. “Are you sure you don’t need me for something next week?” he pleaded.

Percy’s grin broadened as he shook his head. “No, son. I think we can handle things for a week while you’re gone. We have before and undoubtedly will again.”

“You’re not helping Perce,” Jim grumbled. “Some days being the head honcho really sucks.”

Blair entered the room chuckling as he had heard Jim’s last comment. “I think I’m rubbing off on you, Jim.”

“Wonderful,” Jim drawled. “Why couldn’t it be the part that allows you to talk people into submission? Maybe then we could have gotten out of this circus with the President.”

“Ah, come on, Jim. It can’t be that bad. We get a paid vacation to Denver for a week. Free food, free rooms, free flights… first class all around, I’m sure. People will be hanging on our every word and catering to our every whim. What’s to complain about, man?”

Jim ran his hand over his face. “I don’t see how you expect to ‘enjoy’ this trip with the press ‘hanging on our every word’ and watching our every move. And heaven help us if the President really expects us to act as security, because we already know how well that works when people know who I am.”

Blair’s eyes widened at the reference to the dissertation leak. He looked away from Jim, his heart pounding faster at the memory. A warm hand landed on his shoulder and Blair looked up.

“I’m sorry, Chief. I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”

“I know, Jim. It just caught me off guard. I’m okay.” He gave his friend a small smile and shrugged. “Look, I know this trip to Denver is going to be a challenge, but why go in with a negative attitude? If we stay positive, then we can handle whatever happens. Right?”

Jim smiled. “Right, Chief. Besides, if things really get crazy we can sick the press on Paul and Dennis.”

Blair chuckled. “That’s evil, Jim. And you can deal with Paul if he finds out.”

Jim laughed. Professor Paul Donaldson was an ex-marine and a Sentinel. He had shown up at the Foundation before the first buildings were finished and helped keep the other Sentinels and Guides that appeared at that time in line. His Guide, Dennis Kirkpatrick was a karate instructor and had also been one of the first dozen or so people to mysteriously find their way to the newly formed Sentinel/Guide Foundation.

Both men had stayed on as instructors at the school and would be coming along with Jim and Blair to Denver as backup. Blair had no doubt that that pair could handle the press.

Blair frowned thoughtfully. “Kind of strange, don’t ya think?”

“What’s that, Chief?”

“That a city as large as Denver doesn’t have its own Sentinel?”

Jim shrugged. “Probably just hasn’t come online yet.”

*****

Ezra leaned his elbows on his desk and rubbed his temples. It was only a little past ten and since he’d only been in the office for half an hour, he couldn’t very well take off for an early lunch. He sighed and grabbed the bottle of Tylenol from his desk drawer. He popped four of them into his mouth and washed them down with a swig of bottled water.

Nathan watched from across the room. He knew from the fact that Ezra hadn’t even tried to hide his headache that it must be bad. The medic crossed the room, not missing the Southerner’s flinch as he passed. Probably thought I was going to bother him about his headache. But I know better, I’m going straight to the top. Nathan knocked once on Chris’ door then entered.

“Come on in,” Chris Larabee said resignedly. No one ever waited to be invited into his office. “What can I do for you, Nathan?”

Nathan closed the door and sat down in the chair in front of Chris’ desk. “I’m worried about Ezra. He’s got one humdinger of a headache. Now, I know he had a slight concussion, but that was almost a week ago. He should be better by now.” The black medic twisted slightly in his seat to look out the window into the bullpen.

Chris frowned and followed Nathan’s gaze. He could see Ezra’s hunched shoulders as the agent peered at his computer screen. Ezra’s posture was never less than perfect at work. And he seldom showed discomfort either, even to his friends after all these years together. Chris looked a question at Nathan.

“I’m concerned that he’s bleeding in his skull. A hematoma could be causing his symptoms. Sensitivity to light, sound and smells, and the headaches. He needs a cat scan.”

“All right,” Chris said standing up and heading for the door. “Let’s go. We’ll take him to the hospital ourselves.”

“Now?” Nathan asked, relieved.

“Now.”

~~~~~~

The doctor shook his head. “I don’t see anything to worry about on these scans, gentleman.”

“I told you,” Ezra muttered.

“Then how do you explain those headaches?” Nathan shot back. “And the light bothering you so bad, not to mention the nausea and sound sensitivity?”

The doctor frowned. “All of those could be secondary to the concussion, although I would have expected the symptoms to resolve by now. In light of the lack of physical trauma, I’d have to say these problems could be psychosomatic.”

Ezra’s eyes widened. “I am NOT crazy!”

“No one said that, Ezra,” Chris soothed.

“He might as well have,” Ezra said pointing at the doctor. “I’m not imagining these headaches.”

“I’m not saying you are,” the doctor replied calmly. “Psychosomatic symptoms can manifest as real pain and certainly seem real enough to the one suffering them. The mind can play tricks…”

“Argh!” Ezra growled. He stood up and stalked out of the doctor’s office.

Chris and Nathan sent apologetic looks to the doctor and quickly followed Ezra. They found him down the hall sitting in a chair with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. They took a seat on either side of him and waited.

“I thought I was going crazy,” Ezra said softly, without lifting his head. “When I was trapped in that room… It was so dark and quiet. After a while I began to think I could see in the dark. And then… I heard you searching the house for me. I… I know it wasn’t real, but I…”

Nathan put his hand on Ezra’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Ezra. That was a horrible experience. The mind does what it has to sometimes to keep us sane.”

Ezra looked at Nathan, his green eyes pleading. “But I’m out now. I’m safe. Why can I still hear people behind closed doors? Why was I able to drive home last night without my headlights on? How can I smell that dreadful meatloaf they’re serving in the cafeteria downstairs?”

Nathan glanced across to Chris.

“I’ll be right back,” Chris said as he stood and went to the nurse’s station down the hall. He came back a few moments later and sat down. “Ezra, what else are they serving?”

“What?” Ezra asked, looking at Chris as if he’d lost his mind.

“Tell me what you smell?”

Ezra opened his mouth then closed it and licked his lips nervously. “Potatoes… green beans… carrots… and something vanilla… cake maybe?”

Chris stared at his friend. “You’re right. I asked the nurse about the menu. You didn’t hear me, did you?”

Ezra frowned and shook his head.

“Can you hear what she’s saying now?” Nathan asked.

Ezra turned to Nathan, breathing faster as he tried to control the panic he felt building in his chest. “What are you…? Nathan, please… I can’t…”

“Ezra,” Chris soothed, “It’s okay. Calm down. Let’s just go back to the office and see if we can figure this out. All right?”

Nathan nodded. “It’s all right, Ezra. I’m sorry.”

Ezra took a few deep breaths and dropped his poker face into place. “I apologize, gentlemen. I fear I’ve not been myself lately.”

“No need to go all Iceman on us, Ez,” Chris chided as they stood and headed for the exit. “There’s something going on with you and we’ll figure it out, don’t you worry.”

They walked out to the car in silence. Ezra opened his door, looked over the roof and met Chris’ eyes. “It is the result of our search that has me concerned, Chris,” Ezra admitted candidly then climbed in the back and closed the door.

“Me, too,” Chris whispered to himself, not realizing that Ezra could hear him from within the car.

~~~~~

“Are you sure you don’t want me to send someone with you?” Simon asked. “Megan and Joel, or Brown and Rafe?”

“We’ll be fine, Simon,” Jim assured his ex-boss. “We’ve been working with Paul and Dennis on security training since they joined up. Paul was an MP for God’s sake. I trust them to watch our backs.”

“Besides,” Blair chimed in. “The President’s people already have the entire Denver PD, plus their local ATF division on duty for the convention.”

“Feds,” Simon grumbled. Although the ATF had never given his people any real trouble, he still had less faith in federal agents than he probably should.

Jim grinned. “They can’t all be that bad, Simon. Granted, we’ve run across our fair share of stupidity, but there have been a few we could trust.”

“Yeah, well, just make sure you come home in one piece so I can tell you ‘I told you so,’ if things go bad.”

Blair shared a mischievous grin with Jim. “I think Simon’s trying to tell us to be careful, Jim. And that he’ll miss us.”

Simon growled. “Go! Get out of my office, I have work to do.”

Jim and Blair stood up smiling, saluted the Captain and left his office with Blair giving him a last little wave over his shoulder. Simon grinned and shook his head. “Be careful, Jim,” he added softly. Jim turned back at the door to the hall and nodded.

*****

Chris crossed the bullpen and leaned over JD’s desk. “When did you last sweep the conference room?” he whispered, only loud enough for JD and Buck at the next desk to hear.

JD frowned. “Monday when we came in, like usual.” He looked at Buck to back him up.

“Yep,” Buck said, “Clean as a whistle. Why?”

“Do it again,” Chris ordered. “I want everyone in the conference room in ten minutes,” he said in a normal voice, then caught Nathan and Ezra up in his wake and led them to the conference room ahead of JD and Buck.

Josiah and Vin exchanged a quick look and followed, not wanting to miss anything. As they entered, Buck and JD were pulling out the equipment to check the room for bugs.

Ezra sat beside Nathan at the conference table looking rather tired. Chris sat in his regular place at the head of the table. The others followed suit. Vin sat beside Chris and Josiah took the seat by Vin across from Nathan, leaving the seat between Ezra and Chris open for Buck and the one on the end by Josiah for JD.

“The room’s clear,” Ezra said suddenly.

“How do you know that, Ezra?” Chris asked.

His tone made the others frown. It wasn’t the expected sarcastic come back or a teasing jibe. Chris really wanted to know why Ezra said the room was clear.

The Southerner folded his hands on the table and kept his eyes down. “I don’t know. But you won’t detect any anomalous surveillance equipment.”

They waited in silence until JD and Buck confirmed Ezra’s statement and took their seats. Ezra relaxed minimally as Buck sat down.

“All right,” Josiah said. “What’s wrong? What did the doctor have to say?” he sent a worried glance at Ezra then pinned Nathan with his gaze. Ezra was the closest thing Josiah had to a son, even if they refused to acknowledge their feelings openly. He knew Ezra respected his opinion and Josiah cared deeply for the young Southerner.

“Nothing’s wrong, Josiah,” Nathan assured. “The doctor gave him a clean bill of health.”

“Then what about his headaches?” Vin asked. He’d seen the affects of Ezra’s headaches in the last week. Some of them had sent Ezra to his knees.

Ezra leaned his elbows on the table and covered his face. “Just tell them, Nathan. The doctor thinks I’m nuts. Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. Bananas. God, I must be hungry.” He chuckled a bit and looked around the table, his amusement dying as he saw that the others weren’t finding his humor entertaining.

“You’re not going crazy, Ezra,” Chris stated firmly. “There is something going on with you, but you are not losing your mind.”

Josiah and the others frowned.

“Why do you think you’re going crazy, Ez?” Buck asked.

Ezra sighed and explained the things he’d seen and heard in the cell during his confinement. He focused his gaze on the table top as he continued. “Last night, I drove home. It was dark when I left the office. When I pulled into my driveway, I realized I’d driven all the way home without the headlights on. But I had not required them. I could see the road quite clearly. I actually had to leave the lights in my home off because they were too bright.”

“You said you could hear us,” JD asked, brushing a lock of hair from his eyes, “when we were upstairs looking for you? And out in the hall?”

Ezra nodded, trying to keep the fear in his gut from showing on his face. “I heard you picking the lock. I could hear the tumblers clicking over, the pin scratching the surface of the metal.” He looked up at JD. “Good job, by the way.”

JD grinned, but it quickly gave way to a thoughtful frown. “This sounds familiar…” he muttered slumping back in his seat to think.

“I agree,” Chris said. “I just can’t think where I’ve heard it before.”

Josiah looked at Nathan. “The doctor didn’t have any suggestions?”

Nathan shook his head. “He thought the symptoms might be psychosomatic, a result of the concussion and maybe related to PTSS. I’m with JD and Chris on this though. Something about it sounds very familiar.”

“Did you do an internet search?” Vin asked. The others looked at him. “What? That’s usually the first thing you do when you need an answer.” The team’s sharpshooter could make any weapon dance in his hands, but found computers a bit scary.

Ezra chuckled. “Vin’s right. I’ve probably unconsciously been avoiding it.” He looked at JD. “Would you do the honors?” Ezra asked motioning to the terminal in the corner. It was handy to have a computer in the conference room so that they didn’t have to break up a meeting to collect additional information.

JD moved over to the computer and pulled up the internet connection. “Okay, what should I look for?”

“Hyper senses,” Josiah offered.

“Sensitivity to normal sensory input,” Nathan added.

JD nodded and typed in the search phrases. He hummed to himself as the search engine worked and he started to scan the list. “Huh,” he said, surprised.

“What?” Buck asked, moving with the rest of the team to stand around JD and try to see the screen.

“Remember that movie a few years ago, ‘The Watchman?’”

“Yeah,” Vin said with a smile. “It was about a detective with… heightened senses…” He looked at Ezra with sudden understanding. “He had the same problems, hearing things no one else could, vision picking up things others couldn’t see… Geeze, Ez, you’re a Watchman.”

Ezra stared at Vin. He absorbed what the sharpshooter was saying but kept recalling scenes from the movie. He, Vin, Buck and JD had gone to see it together, and then dragged the others to a second viewing. They’d spent weeks playing around afterward, making jokes about how a Watchman would have smelled that explosive or been able to listen to a conversation without the aid of technology.

How could he possibly be a Watchman? That was a fictitious character. He wasn’t some super hero. He just wanted to do his job and enjoy the family he’d found with Team 7. He had no need for this… this…

“No,” Ezra said firmly. He shook his head and backed away from the others. “I’m just having some strange reaction to that concussion.” He turned and walked to the bank of windows that looked out over the street, tuning out the others as he tried to find some logical explanation for everything.

“Hang on a second,” JD said. “I remember at the end of the credits there was a website. Thought it was a joke then…” He typed in www.watchman.com and huffed. It was a blank screen. “That’s weird.”

“Probably just an inactive site now,” Nathan said.

“But inactive sites usually say something,” Buck countered. “Why just a blank screen?”

Vin squinted at the screen and frowned. “It ain’t blank. I can’t tell what’s on it, but it ain’t blank.”

“What?” Chris exclaimed.

Vin pointed at the screen. “There’s somethin’ here, I just can’t really make it out.”

The others looked at each other.

Nathan shrugged. “Vin’s always had really good eyesight. Maybe…”

“Hey, Ezra,” Buck called, turning to see what the undercover man was doing.

Ezra stood looking out the window.

“Ez, come over here and look at this,” Buck said. “Ez?” He moved to stand by his friend and glanced at his face. “Shit. Nathan! Something’s wrong.”

Nathan shot over to Buck and Ezra. “Ezra?” he asked moving the man far enough away from the window so that he could see his face. Ezra stared right through him, his face blanker than any poker face he’d ever worn. There was no sign of life in his green eyes.

“Ezra!” Nathan shouted. He shook him by the shoulders and patted him on the cheek. Nothing changed except that Ezra began to list to one side. “Help me get him in a chair.”

“What’s wrong with him?” Buck asked as he took one of Ezra’s arms and guided him into a chair.

Everyone moved back in around Ezra, concerned by this strange behavior.

JD snapped his fingers. “It’s a… whatchamacallit? Zone. The Watchman in the movie ‘zoned’ when he concentrated on one sense too hard.”

“Right!” Vin agreed. “But how do we snap Ez out of it? In the movie he had a partner…”

“Shit,” Chris swore. “How do we go about finding this ‘partner’? I don’t recall the movie telling us that.”

Buck shook his head. “Don’t we have that on DVD?” he asked JD.

“We don’t have time to watch the movie!” Nathan exclaimed. “Maybe I can give him something…”

“No!” Buck shouted. Ezra flinched, but Buck didn’t see it as he continued. “You can’t give him anything. You know he’s always been sensitive to medications and anesthesia, guess now we know why. I’m not gonna let you give him something that might make this zone worse.”

Vin, JD, Josiah and Chris were watching Ezra while Buck took on Nathan. The entire time Buck had been talking, Ezra’s head had been tilted toward him.

“Buck,” Chris said softly.

“What?!” Buck asked, still upset by Nathan’s suggestion.

“I think he’s listening to you.”

“What?”

“Look.”

Buck looked at Ezra and saw what Chris meant. Ezra’s head was tilted slightly toward him and he was leaning against Buck although Nathan was just as close to him on the other side. “Ezra? Can you hear me, pard?” Buck grabbed Ezra’s shoulder to keep him from falling as Buck went down on one knee by Ezra’s chair. “Hey, Ez, come on, time to wake up. You’re starting to drool, pard. It’s not a good look on you.”

Ezra blinked and took a deep breath. He looked Buck in the eyes, confused by his close proximity. “What happened?” He frowned and looked around at the others. “What?”

“Now, Ez,” Buck soothed. He squeezed Ezra’s shoulder gently. “You zoned on something. Do you know what you were focused on?”

“Excuse me? Zoned?” Ezra asked. He shook his head. “Nothing… I was just looking out the window. I saw a flash on the street below,” he swallowed hard. “It caught my attention and I wanted to see what…” Ezra looked at Buck, wide-eyed. “It was a ring,” he whispered breathlessly, “on the… sidewalk.”

Vin whistled and sat back in his chair.

“That’s eleven floors down,” Josiah said, as if they all needed the reminder.

“Ezra?” JD said softly. “Would you look at this screen? See if you can see anything?”

Ezra slowly turned his head to look at JD. He licked his lips then nodded once. He and JD led the way back to the computer with Buck and the others close behind them.

Ezra stared at the white screen then shrugged. “I don’t see anything.”

“Come on, Ez,” Vin encouraged. “It’s right here. I can see there’s something, but I can’t tell what it is.”

“You can see it?” Ezra asked.

“Just that there might be something. It’s real fuzzy and almost blends in with the background.”

Buck stood behind Ezra and put his hands on Ezra’s shoulders. “Come on, Ez, you remember in the movie how they did things. The Watchman had to relax. Don’t force it, I know you can see what’s on the screen, you just have to let your instincts take over.”

Ezra sighed a bit shakily, but nodded and gave his hands and arms a little shake to release some of his tension. He looked at the screen and let his mind wander. It was a bit like finding his center when he practiced his Taekwondo forms. Ezra jerked forward and touched the screen. “Good Lord,” he whispered.

“What’s it say, Ez?” JD asked.

“It’s another website address,” Ezra answered automatically. “Www.sentinel.com.”

JD typed in the address and they found themselves with another puzzle. This time the screen had only the words ‘enter password’ and a box. “Now what?” JD asked looking up at Ezra.

Ezra frowned at the screen for a moment and tilted his head. “Is the sound on?”

JD checked and nodded. “Yeah, just turned down all the way.” He adjusted the knob on the speakers and waited. “I don’t hear anything.”

“It must be another test,” Ezra drawled. “Like the first screen, only this one has an audio component as well.”

“What’s it say?” Josiah asked.

Ezra swallowed. “It’s telling me to relax and focus. There’s a picture, too. Try typing ‘water lily,’” he said reluctantly.

JD followed Ezra’s instructions and a new screen appeared. This one was a questionnaire.

“Well, brothers,” Josiah grinned. “It does appear we’ve stumbled onto something.”

“Yeah,” Chris agreed, “but who’s behind it?”

Buck frowned. “You think we should stop? That it’s a trap?”

“Could be. What government wouldn’t love to have someone with the abilities of a Watchman at their beck and call?” Chris asked.

“JD,” Vin interrupted, “Can we do this from a secure address? So they can’t trace it back to us?”

JD frowned and chewed his lower lip for a moment. “It’s gonna take me some time to set it up so that no one can trace it back. Right now, I’d say we’re only safe from run-of-the-mill hackers.”

Chris nodded. “Do it. Then go back in and erase whatever trail we might have left in this search,” he said with a nod toward the computer.

“Will do.”

“So what do we do now?” Buck asked, leading a rather subdued Ezra back to the table to sit down. Everyone but JD followed.

Josiah folded his hands on the table and leaned forward. “Ezra, do you recall having anything like this happen when you were a child?”

Ezra frowned and shook his head. “No. At least, I don’t think so.” He ran a hand through his hair, careless of his appearance in the face of this strange revelation. “But Mother’s always been a stickler for appearances. If I did something she considered ‘odd’ you can bet good money she would have schooled it out of me expeditiously.”

Nathan frowned. Ezra was looking pale, maybe even a little shocky. “Let’s take a break from this for now, at least until JD gets us a secure line.” He looked at Chris. “Don’t we need to go over the schedule for the President’s visit?”

Chris looked from Nathan to Ezra and nodded. “I’ll get the file from my office. Vin, why don’t you and Josiah run across the street and get us something to eat?”

“Good idea, Chris,” Josiah said. He put his hand on Ezra’s shoulder and gave a slight squeeze as he passed.

Buck settled into the chair beside Ezra. “If I recall, the President has added some ex-detectives from Washington to his Secret Service contingent for the Denver convention.”

“I wonder why?” Nathan asked, keeping a close eye on the silent Southerner.

“Something to do with publicity and getting in nice with the law enforcement community, I’m sure,” Buck answered, also watching Ezra.

“He’s chosen different people for each stop on his tour,” Ezra added distractedly. “All of them have experience with law enforcement. I believe you are correct in assuming it is for show, but that does not mean these VIPs won’t insist on some sort of deference from the local agencies. A friend of mine with the St. Louis PD told me that their VIPs were a royal pain. The President has named these Washington detectives as his security advisors for the duration of his stay in Denver. Presumably they will have some authority to dictate the way things are handled.”

“Damn,” Buck said. “Just what we need. A couple of retired cops who probably haven’t fired a weapon or seen the inside of a police department in ten years.”

Chris entered the room carrying a file folder. He glanced at JD and saw that the computer tech was still focused on his screen so he took his seat and opened the folder. “Here it is.”

Ezra grabbed the file and slid it over in front of him. Chris rolled his eyes, but sat back and watched as Ezra read and began to comment. “The men in question are Jim Ellison and Dr. Blair Sandburg. They aren’t all that long out of public service, just three years or so.” He scanned the information and went suddenly white as a sheet. “Oh my God,” he breathed.

“What?” four voices asked as one. Chris and Buck both reached for the file together while Nathan grabbed Ezra’s wrist to take his pulse.

“Get him some water, JD,” Nathan said.

JD nodded and left the room.

Chris and Buck ended up standing side by side as they read the file.

“Sentinel?” Chris said aloud.

“As in www.sentinel.com?” Buck asked just as JD entered carrying a bottle of water.

“Holy shit,” JD exclaimed. “This Ellison and Sandburg are Watchmen?”

Chris took the file from Buck’s unresisting hands and nodded. “Only Ellison. He’s a Sentinel and Sandburg is his,” he frowned, “Guide.” Chris looked up, first at Buck and then Ezra. “Evidently the movie was based in reality. The Guide is like the Watchman’s partner in the movie.”

Buck stared at Chris until his old friend’s gaze returned to him. “You think I’m Ezra’s… Guide, don’t you?”

“Makes sense,” JD said, turning his attention from Ezra to his roommate. “He responded to you during the zone. And you two have always had a way of clicking, even when you were pissing each other off.”

Ezra guzzled about half the bottle of water then shook off Nathan’s hand. “Ah’m fine,” he drawled, his accent thick and heavy with stress. “And Ah’m right here in the room, thank you.”

Chris, Buck and Nathan sat back down.

“Do you want me to continue this, Chris?” JD motioned to the computer. “If we’re going to get to meet them in person, do we really need to follow this link?”

Chris nibbled his lower lip for a moment. “Keep at it, JD. It would be nice to get some information now and be prepared for when we meet them.” JD nodded and went back to work.

“Are you ready to talk about this now?” Chris asked Ezra.

Ezra, his face studiously neutral, met Chris’ eyes briefly. “What do you wish to discuss?” he asked amenably.

“Damn it, Ezra,” Chris said running a hand over his face. “This is a surprise to all of us. We want to help and we can’t do that if you shut down on us.”

Ezra stared at him for a long moment, weighing years of friendship and trust. He dropped his gaze to the table and his shoulders sagged minutely as he dropped his mask of control. Fear shone in his green eyes as he lifted them back to Chris’.

“I don’t really know what to say,” Ezra said softly. “I can’t… or maybe don’t… want to believe this is happening to me, but it is rather difficult to refute the evidence.” He paused. “I need time to adjust, Chris. Please?”

Chris nodded. “All right, but this isn’t something you can push aside and ignore, Ezra. When you’re ready to talk, come to one of us.” He looked at Buck. “I think maybe you and Buck need to talk.”

Ezra met Buck’s eyes and saw an uncertainty there that was surely mirrored in his own. He nodded. “I want to talk to these detectives,” he said firmly.

******

Becky shook her head and looked up at Blair. “It’s strange. I could have sworn we had a hit on the Watchman site, but now… it’s gone.”

Blair frowned at the computer tech. “A glitch, maybe? We haven’t had a hit on that site since the DVD came out, end of last year.”

“Maybe,” Becky said, twirling a strand of her hair between her fingers. “But I don’t think so.”

“Well, Jim and I will be available if you figure it out. Just give me a call. I’ll let Percy know you have permission to use our emergency number.” Blair looked at his watch. “I’ve got to get going. We have to meet our flight in three hours.”

“Have fun,” Becky grinned. “I’ll let you know when I figure this out.” Cool, I get to use the Bat phone.

“Thanks.”

******

When Vin and Josiah got back with the food, they took the time to eat and discuss the upcoming Presidential convention. JD finished setting up a secure line and they all gathered around the computer again to see where the next screen would lead them.

“We’ll have to go through the passwords again,” JD informed from his seat in front of the computer. Ezra had declined the position even though he would be answering the questions.

Ezra looked at the screen and exhaled despondently. Buck patted him