Author's disclaimer: Nope...not mine :-(

Author's notes: For anybody waiting for sequels to some of my other stuff, this isn't a new story, it's been sitting around waiting for me to post it, I'm working on the other stuff...really!

First installment in the 'Sight Unseen' series which actually have no connection except that Jim and Blair fall for each other without physically meeting first. All are completely stand-alone.

Once again, all anthrobabble(and anything else that vaguely sounds like I might know of which I speak) is completely made up.

Thanks so much to Mary for the beta! Any mistakes left are completely my own.

Call Waiting
Ceares@yahoo.com

Jim Ellison cursed under his breath as the phone rung. He glared over at the offensive instrument, and considered throwing it off the balcony. With his luck, it would strike a pedestrian, giving them minor injuries, and major litigation. His second option was to just not answer it, but since he didn't exactly have to beat his friends off with a stick, chances were more than likely that it was his boss.

Simon never called for fun, so what it all boiled down to, was that he had to answer the damn thing. No matter how tired he was. Even though he'd just gotten off a fourteen-hour shift. Even though all he wanted in life was to lay back on his sofa with a beer, and watch the Jags game. Cursing Alexander Graham Bell, he picked up the receiver.

"Cheryl?" The voice on the other end sounded young. Light yet husky, and strangely soothing.

Jim frowned, wondering how the hell he'd picked all that up from one word. "Nope, sorry kid. You got the wrong number."

"Sorry man." click.

About ten seconds later the phone rang again. "Sorry Chief, still wrong number." He heard a resigned sigh on the other end.

"Damn, I really needed those notes. You wouldn't happen to have a paradigm for the mating rituals of the Jingala tribes of the lower Andes would you?"

A chuckle escaped him. "Sorry Chief, I'm all out." He paused as he heard a slightly muffled sound in the background. "Is that a goat I hear?"

"That depends."

Intrigued now, Jim sat down, relaxing on the couch and taking a swig of his beer. "Depends on what?"

"On whether you are a cop, an employee of animal control, or a member of the Alpha Beta fraternity."

"What if I said I was at least one of those."

"I'd say that was about par for the course so far today. So which one? No wait; let me guess... which would be the worst for me. You've got to be a cop." The voice was filled with resigned amusement.

"Not bad Einstein."

"Told you man, it's just the way my luck has been running lately." There was a muffled thump, then "Damnit not now."

"Hot date Chief?"

The laughter sent a soft tingle down Jim's spine, and he felt his own face dissolving into a grin.

"Nope, that's just Larry."

There was chattering in the background, and Jim frowned. "Is that a monkey?"

"He's a Barbary ape."

"Where do you live Chief, in a zoo?"

Again the laugh. "Hey, it's been called that, but most of the animals around here pay tuition."

"So you have a goat, and an ape named Larry. Which are you, Curly or Moe?"

"Oh man, that's harsh."

"Hey Chief, I just call em' like I see em' or rather in this case hear em."

"Speaking of that, how did you hear the goat? He's in the other room with the door closed. I could barely hear him myself."

Jim tensed a moment then relaxed, remembering he was just having a phone conversation with a stranger. "I've got really sensitive ears."

"Yeah? Wow! Kismet man." The voice was filled with enthusiasm now. "You won't believe this, but I've been doing a study on people with heightened senses. This is so cool man. We can set up an appointment for you to come by and be tested..."

"No way Chief." Jim stiffened. The kid talked about his luck, what about Jim's. What were the chances that of all the numbers in Cascade, it would happen to be his the kid called.

"Listen man, they're just simple tests, and we pay..."

"I said no. I'm not interested in being anybody's lab rat kid."

"Whoa Joe Friday, chill out. It was just an idea."

"Well it sucked."

"What? You work for the Cascade Idea Police?"

"Look just forget it okay!" Jim was aware his irritation was out of proportion, but he couldn't help but be angry that the kid had ruined what was turning out to be the most interesting conversation he'd had in a while.

"Fine, Okay."

Jim winced as the phone was slammed down in his ear. He put his own receiver back with a frown, only to leap at it when it rang a few minutes later. "Listen Chief I'm..."

"Jim?"

Trying to fight the wave of disappointment that washed over him, Jim leaned back tiredly against his sofa. "Simon. What's up?"

"Ellison."

"Hey Joe Friday."

Jim was aware of a smile spreading across his face involuntarily at the sound of the young man's voice. Over the past few days, he'd found himself trying to put a face to the voice. To imagine what his 'wrong number' looked like. "Chief. Let me guess, trying to order a pizza? Get notes on the formula for cold fusion?"

A chuckle came from the other end. "Low man. Can't I call just to talk to you?"

"The answer is still no Dr. Frankenstein. You can't do any tests on my hearing."

"I'm hurt that you don't know me better than that, after all we talked for ten whole minutes last time."

Jim couldn't stifle a laugh. "You're right Chief, I'm so sorry. Tell you what. I'll be a character witness at your trial."

"Man, you are so good at sarcasm. You have the perfect voice for it. Mine is way too friendly. Anyway, I had a question for you. A pi... cop question, and since you're the only cop I know, viola."

"Hey, you don't know me kid, despite our long history together over the phone. And did you just almost call me a pig? What are you, some kind of Neo-hippie?"

"Sorry about that man, it's just that after hearing it all the time from Naomi, it's kind of lodged in my brain."

"Naomi?"

"Yeah, my Mom."

"You call your mother by her first name?"

"Hey, it you ever meet Naomi, you'll know why."

"So, what's your question kid?"

"Well, I have a friend. And it is a friend, not me, who got into some trouble a couple of years back, and they sort of want to make sure that it's not going to come back and bite them on the ass. So, I wanted to know how easy is it to access police files?"

"That depends Chief, on the type of crime, the age of the person."

"My friend was young. Like 15 or 16."

"Unless they were tried as an adult, then their records should be sealed."

"So nobody can access them?"

"Not legally."

"Woohoo! That's what I told my friend man, but I just wanted to be sure. Thanks Joe."

"Jim."

"Huh?"

"It's Jim."

There was a smile in the kid's voice as he answered. "Okay, Jim. And I do know you."

"Oh come on, after two phone conversations, what do you know about me?"

"Okay, let's see. You always answer your phone on the first ring, so, either you're waiting for a call from Ed McMahon, or you're really dedicated to your job, which probably means you don't have much of a social life."

Jim shifted uncomfortably on the sofa as he silently acknowledged just how dead on the kid was. "Not bad Kreskin, what else?"

In the background, Jim could hear movement, then a door open and close, and somebody shout for B. The kid put a hand over the mouthpiece, yelling back that he was on the way.

"You're a nice guy."

"What makes you think that?"

"Well, you didn't hang up on me the first or second time I called, or the third."

"There is that, but I think we need to go beyond nice to sainthood Chief."

"Ha ha. You answered my questions and didn't Narc about the zoo. "

"Narc? Kid you've got to update your vocabulary." He heard the shout for B again, and the kid sighed.

"Shit, I've got to go man. Listen, ah... you've got caller ID right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, you know, use it man, if you change your mind about the tests, or have a burning question about Barbary apes, or ...well, whatever okay?"

Jim couldn't help but be warmed at the tacit permission to call the kid. "Sure. So if that ape question comes up, who am I asking for?"

"Oh, duh... It's Blair, or B if the guys here don't know who you're talking about."

"Well, goodnight Blair."

"Goodnight Jim."

"Jim Ellison, Beyond the Call, right?"

"Yeah."

"I thought your name sounded familiar. I had a friend that had a mad crush on you man. She must have read that article fifty times. I'll have to write and tell Lori I actually talked to her hero."

"I wasn't a hero Chief, just a survivor."

"Sorry man, I didn't mean to...I know you lost friends."

"It's okay. It was a long time ago kid."

"I wish you wouldn't call me that. I'm not you know."

"I know. I don't mean it that way, it's just you're so... I doubt innocent is the word I'm looking for here Chief, maybe buoyant, that sometimes you remind me of a kid. You enjoy life so much."

"Yeah, well that's what it's for Jim. It's hard, but it's not that hard. Not if you don't let it be."

Jim thought of all the tragedy he'd had in his life, but there'd been good times too. They just seemed to get lost sometimes. Talking to Blair made it easier to find them again.

"Hey Jim, you know what? You went from like GI Joe, to Joe Friday, and your middle name is Joseph. Coincidence? I think not."

Jim laughed, knowing Blair was deliberately being silly to change the somber mood of the conversation. "Have you considered psychiatric help Chief?"

"No, but my therapist has."

"So now you have all this information about me. You even know what I look like. I don't know anything about you, other than you seem to have a strange taste in pets, and friends, and an occasional 60's flashback."

"Hey there's not that much to know man."

"Oh come on, I don't buy that Chief. Tell me about Larry then, or why you call your mother by her first name." Jim settled back, happy to just listen to Blair talk.

"You know, you may be sorry if I get started. I've been known to make strong men weak with my loquacity."

"I'll take my chances Chief."

Jim heard from the kid, Blair, about once a week on some pretext or the other. No matter how stressful the day, he always found himself relaxing when he heard the cheerful voice on the other end.

Jim had never been the pen pal type, and he'd never had a relationship with anyone he'd never even seen, but over the next couple of months, he felt like he and Blair had become friends. At work he'd find himself smiling, recalling something the kid had said, or whistling to himself, just in anticipation of getting a call. He had started getting strange looks and comments on a hidden lover. For some reason, he could never bring himself to take the next step though. He could never bring himself to call Blair, no matter how often it was hinted at.

Then he went on stakeout, trying to catch the Switchman, a bomber targeting Cascade. Day after day, watching and waiting and for the first time in his life, James Ellison needed to hear someone else's voice. He called the number that he had memorized long ago, but never used.

"Hey Chief."

"Jim! Man, I got the message off your machine. Didn't think I'd hear from you for a while."

"Yeah, I'm on stakeout. I just..." He trailed off as he registered sounds in the background. A woman's voice, then wet sucking sounds. "Come on B get off the phone." Then Blair's voice muffled. Jim suspected he'd put a hand over the receiver. "Go away Susie".

"Look Chief, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you had company. I'll call some other time." He stifled the twin pangs of disappointment and jealousy that washed over him.

"No, wait! Hold on, don't hang up!" There were mumbled curses from the girl, then the sound of footsteps and a door slamming and being locked.

"Okay, I'm back."

"I didn't mean to cramp your style Chief."

"Nah, it's okay man. I'd rather talk to you."

"Rather than be with her?"

There was quiet for a moment, and Jim thought he wasn't going to get an answer.

"Yeah man, weird huh?"

"No, I feel the same way. I called because I couldn't -not- hear your voice for a week."

"I'm glad you did. You never call me."

"I know, it's just, I guess I was just afraid that it would change things."

"That could be a good thing. Maybe we need to change it. Maybe move it to the next level."

Jim thought about his life before that night, and realized how bleak and lonely it had been. How Blair had changed so much of that with just his voice over the phone. "Yeah, maybe so." They were both silent for a moment.

"Whew. This is getting kind of intense."

"Is that bad?"

"No man, It's just strange. I mean, I'm not... I don't usually connect this way. We've never even met and I feel like I know you better than I've ever known anybody."

Jim realized he felt the same, even though he'd never even gotten around to learning the kids last name, or any of the little trivial things that made you think you knew a person. The link between them was somehow more than those little things. Somehow almost primal.

He took a deep breath. "So is meeting the next step?"

"Logically. If you want it to be."

"Maybe after things wrap up with this case we can catch a Jags game or something."

Another long silence. "This is...we're not just talking pals here are we? I mean it's okay if..."

Jim cut in abruptly. "No, no I don't think we are."

A deep breath. "Okay then."

"I don't know how long this is going to go on. It could be a while."

"It doesn't matter, I'll be here."

Jim stared at the man in front of him in shock. He was one of the most beautiful men Jim had ever seen, but that wasn't what had him shocked into momentary silence. It was the sheer audacity of the young man handing him a card. Jim looked down and read B. Sandburg-Anthropology Dept.- Rainier University.

A grin and a quick escape left Jim staring at the door of the room, mouth hanging open. That little son of a bitch. At first, Jim had thought that the kid didn't recognize his voice. That moment of grace had lasted about five seconds. Blair knew his name, there was no way he wouldn't put two and two together, which meant he had to be pretending, hoping Jim wouldn't recognize 'his' voice.

A part of Jim was pissed that the kid was willing to give up their potential for his research, but a part of him admired the kid's balls in trying to pull this off. Mostly though he was stunned and delighted to find the connection was as strong and as true as it had seemed over the phone. He'd felt the pull immediately, and he knew Blair had felt it too. Had seen it in those sky blue eyes.

Jim sat in Blair's office, watching the younger man spit out an explanation for Jim's abilities. He called him Chief deliberately just to see if he could get a reaction from Blair, but other than a brief flicker of the eyes, nothing. Oh the kid was good. Not good enough to fake it when Jim had him pressed up against the wall though. An intense look flashed between them, and then Blair was smiling ruefully.

"Whoa, Joe Friday."

"Yeah Chief?"

"How much trouble am I in here?"

"A lot. Think you can handle it?" Jim pressed closer until their mouths were almost touching. He was already hard, pressing up against Blair's stomach, and Blair was returning the favor. His hands latched onto Jim's shoulders.

"Oh yeah." he whispered just before leaning forward slightly and capturing firm lips with his. "Definitely."