Happy Valentine's Day, Chief
by Wyndewalker
Ratings: G
Fandom: The Sentinel

Jim leaned against the doorframe leading out on to the balcony, watching as the night slowly overtook the city wrapping it in a cloak of gentle darkness. Normally he wouldn't call the dark gentle but tonight was different. Tonight was a night for lovers. Tonight was Valentine's Night. Across the city people were meeting up with their lovers for a romantic evening for two out on the town or snuggled up together at home in front of an intimate fire.

Suddenly Jim snorted in amusement. He'd thought he'd left all the romantic nonsense behind when he and Carolyn had gotten divorced. Not that he hadn't been on a slew of dates with various women since then, but Jim Ellison didn't do romantic. Not anymore. He couldn't say the same for his roommate and Guide, Blair Sandburg. At the moment, the kid, okay he was only about ten years younger than Jim but he was still a kid at thirty, was in his room putting the finishing touches on his outfit before going to meet his date. Sandburg had been fussing all day about what he was going to wear, what flowers he should bring her, should he get her a box of chocolates too or would that be too overdone, should he drive them to the restaurant or should he see about getting a taxi, could Jim loan him a couple of bucks, he was pretty sure he enough but he didn't want to look like an idiot if the bill was more than he expected and dammit, Jim, quit smirking at me like that, the kid had snapped at him. Yep, the kid was in serious lust with this girl. Jim doubted it was much more than that even if Sandburg kept insisting she was the Greatest Love of his Life. He'd been able to hear the capital letters every time Sandburg said the phrase.

The door to the downstairs bedroom was yanked open suddenly interrupting his thoughts. The small hurricane known as Sandburg came hurtling out as he dashed around the apartment looking for some last minute items. Jim could here him muttering under his breath.

"I know I left my good shoes right over there, but they're not there now so where in the hell could I have put them. Dammit, I can't go out without the proper shoes. What am I going to say. Gee, I lost my dress shoes so I figured you wouldn't mind if I wore hiking boots to this fabulous four star restaurant that I had to make reservations for six months ago on the assumption that I'd have someone to go with me. Yeah, that'll go over real big. Where are my shoes?"

"Try the closet, Chief. You know, that place where you're supposed to put them after you take them off," Jim grinned at him.

"The closet, of course. Why didn't I think of that? Of course that's where I put them."

"Sorry, but no cigar. I put them there after I tripped over them twice." Jim emphasized the word twice.

Blair flushed as he dropped down onto the couch to put his shoes on. "All you had to do was tell me, man, and I would have put them away."

"I did."

"Oh." If it was possible Blair blushed an even brighter shade of red.

"Don't worry about it, Chief, but you'd better get going if you want to be on time," Jim said, glancing at his watch.

"Damn." Blair rushed about the loft even faster, grabbing his wallet, his jacket and his keys. He was at the door, his jacket half on, when Jim's voice stopped him.

"Forgetting something, Chief?"

"Huh? What?"

Jim looked pointedly at the table.

"Oh, man, I can't believe I almost left that. Denise would have killed me if I showed up empty-handed." He rushed back to the table and scooped up the bouquet of a dozen roses, the small box of all natural candies, the small white stuffed teddy bear, and small book of love poems. Jim shook his head in amusement as his Guide struggled to juggle all of his parcels as he got the door open.

"Have a good time, Chief."

"Thanks, man," came the muffled reply and then the door was closing. He turned back to his contemplation of the city. It didn't matter to him that he was home along on Valentine's day. Actually, he preferred it that way. He'd learned long ago that by taking a woman out on Valentine's day she would then expect certain things from the relationship. She would expect you to call more than once every three or four days. She would start expecting you to pay for everything whenever you went out on a date. She would expect to either spend a whole lot more time at your place or you to spend a whole lot more time at hers. She would expect to hear the words I love you. She would expect a commitment. And Jim was most definitely not ready for any of those things. He didn't want any of those things. One bad marriage was more than enough to cure him of that particular ailment. Besides, how would he explain his Sentinel abilities, or needing to have Sandburg around all the time. Hell, how would he explain Sandburg period? Not that he had those kinds of feelings for the little neo-hippie witch doctor punk, he smiled at that memory, but the kid had become his best friend, a younger brother he would protect with his life. Jim needed him for more than the control over his senses, but to help keep him connected with the world around him. He was a solitary man by nature and his Sentinel abilities only seemed to isolate him even more. If it weren't for Sandburg he'd spend most of his life either at the station or in the loft. It was a bleak future that had almost become reality.

Not wanting to think about such things anymore he headed into the kitchen to grab himself a beer before watching some TV. Detouring by the coffee table, he flipped through the TV guide. Finding what he was looking for he grunted in satisfaction. There was a Jags game tonight. It started at eight and it was six now, which gave him plenty of time to make himself dinner, eat, and have the kitchen cleaned up. Opening the refrigerator door, he stared inside a moment before letting out a small groan and thumping his head against the freezer door. Sandburg had forgotten to go to the grocery store this afternoon. Actually, he'd been side-tracked and bought all those gifts for his date Denise. He slammed the door shut. Grabbing his jacket and keys he headed out to the small grocery store just down the block.

Half an hour later he returned to the loft with the ingredients for a nice steak dinner and salad. He'd just finished unloading the grocery bags when he heard a key in the lock. Immediately homing in on the heart beat outside the door, he was surprised to find it was Sandburg. Alone. Something was definitely not right. He leaned back against the kitchen counter to wait for the younger man to enter the apartment.

When Blair walked in he barely glanced at Jim, just mumbled a hi as he dropped his keys in the basket. Jim peered at him closely, noticing the sadness and the shine of unshed tears in his roommates eyes.

"What happened, Chief? I thought you and Denise were going out."

"Yeah, so did I. Don't worry about it. I'll be in my room. You'll never even know I'm here." Before Jim could say anything else Blair closed his bedroom door behind him. Yep, something was definitely not right. He strongly suspected this Denise woman had stood Blair up and that pissed Jim off. Blair was a kind, giving, loving person and did not deserve to be treated like shit by anyone, even if he was occasionally guilty of it himself, but that wasn't the goddamn point. No one had a right to treat his Guide that way, least of all some selfish young woman who had no clue as to what she'd given up that night. Now he just had to figure out how to make it up to Blair.

Jim wasn't very good with dealing with emotions. To quote Blair he 'sucked at it', but that didn't mean he didn't care. It was just easier for him to demonstrate his feelings and right now he wanted to show Blair that he was there for him. Decision made, he set about making dinner. It took a little rearranging but he was able to split the steak so each of them would have a decent sized portion. Jim was glad he'd decided to get the 16oz steak instead of the 10oz he'd originally planned to get. Once the food was set to cooking he quickly rummaged through the cabinets for the good cloth napkins he knew he had somewhere, the candlestick holders with candles, and the good dishes. It took him a little bit to get the table set just so. He almost laughed out loud at himself. You'd think he was setting up a romantic dinner for two lovers. While there were people out there who believed that's exactly what he and Sandburg were, they weren't. They were family and that was enough for him.

With a slight sniff he checked on the steak and the noodles boiling on the stove. Sensing that they were done, he turned off the oven and the stove. He placed large portions on two plates and set them on the table. Surveying his work critically, he light the candles before going and knocking on Blair's door.

"What is it, Jim?"

"Dinner's ready."

"What?" The door opened and Blair blinked up at him, rubbing at the tear tracks on his cheeks. "What are you talking...oh!"

Blair had just caught sight of the table. His eyes widened and he stared back up at Jim. "I...I don't understand."

Jim smiled, "No one should be alone on Valentine's day, Chief. I know I'm a poor substitute for Denise, but I thought maybe you'd like some dinner and then we'd watch the Jags game at eight."

"Oh wow, man. Thank you. And you are so wrong about Denise. She doesn't even compare to you."

Once they were seated Jim asked, "Do you want to tell me about it? If you don't want to it's okay. I'll understand."

Blair paused for a second, tucking his hair behind one ear, "No. It's okay, and you deserve to know what happened after doing all this for me."

He actually blushed a little at the compliment. Him, Jim Ellison, was blushing. "It wasn't any trouble. I was getting ready to make myself dinner and it was only right I make some for you to."

"Yeah, sure, and put candles on the table and break out the good dishes that you usually won't let me anywhere near for fear I'll break one. Um-hmm, no trouble at all." Blair bit into his steak. "Um, man, this is really good in an artery clogging way."

"Sandburg," Jim growled, then smiled when he saw the teasing light in Blair's eyes.

They ate a few more minutes in silence before Blair spoke, "She dumped me when I got to her apartment. Apparently she met this other guy a couple of days ago and she realized she didn't love me and wanted to spend Valentine's day with him. Just like that. We've been dating for two months and suddenly she decides she wants to be with him. What gets me is she couldn't have told me yesterday or waited until tomorrow. No she had to dump me on Valentine's day. I mean, how cruel is that? Then to top it off she wanted to know if they could have my reservation at Sandersby's. How do you do that to a person? I just don't get it."

"Don't stress yourself over it, Chief. If she couldn't see what a great person you are then it's her loss. I know you cared about her but sometimes the best thing to do is just forget about it. Cut your losses and move on. Besides she doesn't deserve you."

He stared across the table at the older man for a long moment, seeming on the verge of tears again when he said, "Thanks, Jim. That means a lot to me."

"Any time, Chief. Any time."

They finished their meal in companionable silence. Done eating they washed the dishes and settled down on the couch to watch the game. It was almost half-time when Jim glanced over at Blair. "Happy Valentine's Day, Chief."

"You too, man. You too." Blair turned back to the game, but his thoughts were focused elsewhere. This is what this holiday is really all about, he thought to himself. It's about not being alone. It's about being with those you love and friendship. It was only modern society that had taken the holiday and commercialized it to the point where people felt abnormal if they didn't have a date for the evening. It made people feel like there was something unlovable about them if they didn't have a lover to share it with. When in reality there was nothing wrong with spending the evening with a friend. This is the way it should be. Two people who cared about each other, in whatever fashion, spending quality time together. So who better than to spend Valentine's day with than his best friend and partner?

The end.