Warning: Very tongue in cheek. All meant in fun. Dedicated to DawnC, the listmom for SentinelAngst.

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Blair glanced at his companion and frowned. It was all his partner's fault and he was going to get Jim -- later, much later. Right now he was cold, tired and way too angry to deal with Jim. If Jim hadn't opened his big mouth, Blair would not be in this predicament. Right now he would settle for being rescued. But later, when Jim was least expecting it, he was going to get revenge for this.

Usually Blair didn't have a problem with helping out with witnesses. In fact, he prided himself in being far better than most of the guys in station at getting details from witnesses. This time, however, he had drawn the line. He had other things to do and spending the day at a safehouse with a witness was not among them. Unfortunately, his big mouthed partner had volunteered his services, while Blair was in class and couldn't argue about it.

So now he was handcuffed to a witness as he waited for Jim and the rest of Major Crimes to rescue them. He sighed as he settled the young woman more comfortably against his shoulder. She stirred and he looked down. Wide eyes looked up at him. She was fighting off her exhaustion. He wasn't quite sure how she had managed it, but the woman had done well. Despite what could only be sheer exhaustion, she had handled the kidnapping fairly well.

"You okay?" He whispered. The kidnappers were probably searching for them right now.

She nodded solemnly. Then she curled closer to his side. "I've decided to go to law school," she murmured quietly. "Then I can lock them up and throw away the key."

Blair fought a smile. She was just feisty enough to do it too. He looked around again. In their rush to escape the kidnappers, neither of them had been able to keep track of their location. Now they were thoroughly lost. There were men with guns looking for them. Jim was out there somewhere. Struggling to figure a way to help Jim find them while hiding from the kidnappers, Blair drifted off into sleep.

"Calm down, Jim. It won't be much longer." Simon spoke quietly as he watched his detective pace.

"I can't hear Blair, sir." Jim growled, barely able to contain himself. He paced back to Simon's side, jaw muscle tense.

Simon winced. During the past five hours, the sentinel had been growing more and more tense. This job was supposed to be a piece of cake, something to keep Sandburg busy while Major Crimes put the finishing touches on his birthday party. The only thing necessary was for the observer to baby-sit a witness for the Feds. Once they arrived and took the young lady to her new life in California, Jim was supposed to bring the kid back to the station for the surprise. Of course, since the plan involved Sandburg, everything that could go wrong -- did.

Instead of picking up a witness, the Feds had found an empty safehouse. Sandburg and the witness were gone. The front door was wide open. The officers left with them were found tied up, unconscious, in closets. There were no prints. No clues. Nothing but a rapidly disintegrating detective.

A bright young rookie had arrived in time to see Sandburg forced into a van. Then he had managed to stay on their tail without being seen. As soon as it was safe, Da Costa had back tracked to convenience store and called it in -- directly to Captain Banks. Everyone in the station knew better than risk Sandburg, so the rookie had known who to call.

Now they were playing a waiting game. The state police and the FBI had joined the party and their negotiators were trying to get the hostages released. The SWAT leader stood patiently, his men deployed around the cabin, waiting for the word. If that word came, everyone on the team knew they had to get in without harming either the witness or the observer. Simon had overheard their instructions -- the man who pulled Sandburg out and handed him to Jim was got the pool, well over $500 at this point. If Ellison beat them to it, the pool was to be carried over to the next situation.

A movement at his side brought Simon's thoughts back to the present. Jim had turned away from the cabin whit a frown. "Jim, it's not what you think. Sandburg's okay. They won't hurt him, not yet."

"I can't hear him, Simon." There was a slightly desperate note in Ellison's voice.

"Maybe it's all the noise." Simon tried to reason with his friend.

"No. Blair taught me how to filter this stuff out. It kept getting in the way when we were at a crime scene so he taught me to ignore it." Jim paced forward slightly, his eyes focusing on something at the edge of the forest. He turned away from the cabin, head tilting. Before Simon could comment, his detective was sprinting off into the woods. Simon called out once before breaking into a run behind Jim.

As he drew even with Jim's motionless form, Simon drew in a deep breath. Behind him he could hear the rest of his detectives as they caught up to them. As he began to vent his anger at the man who had led them on the wild chase through the wood, the sentinel raised a finger to his own lips. The relieved grin and the mischievous glint in his eyes eased Simon's fears.

"What do you see, Jim?" He asked quietly.

"Look between these two rocks, sir." Jim pointed.

He turned, letting his eyes trace the invisible line from Ellison's fingers to the two sleeping figures curled against a huge tree. The observer's red shirt stood out against the autumn ground cover. Somehow, even though handcuffed together, the two had managed to arrange themselves comfortably in the little hidden grotto.

Simon shook his head. Only Sandburg could look comfortable when sound asleep, the young woman handcuffed to him cradled under his protective arm. The way her hand reached up to his , even though marked by the handcuffs, looked ... cute.

As the men began winding their way through the only approach to the two, the observer's eyes popped open. He reached for one of the many stones piled near his free hand. He froze as he recognized them. Instantly a bright smile flashed across his face.

"Hi, guys. I knew you'd find us." Blair's voice was rough with sleep. He struggled to sit up without much success. As he did, the handcuffs glinted in the moonlight.

"I wish I had a camera." Megan's whisper was almost wistful. "They look so cute all curled up in matching shirts and bracelets."

Simon began to grin and his detectives began to chuckle at the wary look Sandburg gave them. Jim pulled out a pair of sunglasses and covered his. When the forensic photographer began shooting his film, the chuckles grew louder.

"Aw, man! This sucks!" Blair's sleepy words made Simon's day. Now all he had to do was wait for the pictures.

finis