Author's webpage: http://skeeter63.org

Author's disclaimer: If you're not already aware that these characters aren't mine, I fear you.

Jim gave a loud sigh as the barking started. Then he took a deep breath, counted backwards from ten, sat up in bed and bellowed "SANDBURG!" so loud that the windows rattled.

Moments later, he heard the sound of the doors to Blair's room open, bare feet scurrying across the floor, before the barking stopped and left only a blessed silence. A muffled, sleep-induced "Sorry" was heard from downstairs, before the bare feet moved again and the French doors closed.

Giving another sigh, Jim flopped back down in bed, buried his head under his pillow and tried to go to sleep again, but quickly found that it was no use.

Since Blair had found the small mutt wandering around on the street, it had been pretty much impossible to Jim to catch a full night's sleep.

The little mutt looked like a cross between a Chihuahua and a terrier or some sort and had immediately captured Blair's heart. With its long hair, over-sized ears and large eyes, the Sentinel had to admit that it was pretty cute, but that didn't mean he was willing to sacrifice his sleep over it!

Pepper, as Blair had affectionately dubbed it, was surprisingly nice and clean for a dog used to living on the street, and since he was so small, he didn't eat much. However, sometime during the middle of the night, the mutt would always start to bark and whine, wanting to get out or hearing something it had to investigate.

If it wasn't for those nightly noise sessions, Jim would have liked the little fellow a lot.

And Pepper was not only unusually nice during the daytime, he was also the perfect companion when Blair had a date, leaving Jim home alone to pine over his best friend. Of course, Pepper didn't realize Jim was in love with Blair, but he provided a great comfort, anyway.

Glancing at his watch and deciding he wasn't going to get anymore sleep and that eight was a respectable time to get up, even on a day off, Jim rolled out of bed, grabbed his robe, then walked to the bathroom.

In the shower, the detective frowned a little, listening for Blair's heartbeat. It was there - beating a steady rhythm, signalizing that the curly haired anthropologist was awake.

As he shaved, Jim wondered if Blair was letting Pepper curl up in his bed again. Probably. Jim had tried telling his friend that they had to learn Pepper that he wasn't allowed to sleep in their beds, but whenever Blair rescued the older man from the dog-barking nightmare, he always allowed the little mutt to curl up on top of his own covers.

Quickly dressing, Jim walked to the French doors and knocked lightly, before peeking in. Just as predicted, he immediately spotted Blair, wide awake in bed, playing with Pepper - also in bed.

The two were currently holding onto the opposite ends of a short piece of rope, pulling with all their might. Pepper's small paws shifted frequently, trying to lock themselves down against the bed sheets which just refused to stay in place. Blair was baring his teeth in an imitation of his smaller companion, and both of them were making growling sounds, although Blair's growl sounded suspiciously like a gurgle.

Jim had to bite his lip not to laugh out loud.

"Hey, Chief. Breakfast's ready in ten, and the shower's free. I saved you some hot water."

"Thanks, man," Blair responded, then let go of the rope, so Pepper tumbled backwards with a surprised yelp. "Ha!" Blair exclaimed. "Every time, man!"

"Christ," was all Jim said before he left, but Blair knew he wasn't really mad.

"Don't worry," he whispered to Pepper, who tilted his head and looked up at his owner with big, brown eyes. "He's just mad because I won't play with him anymore, since you moved in."

There was a 'humph' from the other side of the door, and a bark from the four-legged hairball on the bed.

In reality, Jim smiled softly to himself as he walked into the kitchen and set about making breakfast. At first, he hadn't been too ecstatic about adopting Pepper.

When Blair first had come home with the little guy, the dog had been smelling like five garbage trucks, eleven dead fish and two pieces of shit, and he hadn't looked much better, either. But once Blair had him washed and cleaned up, Jim had laid eyes on a beautiful, little creature with wild hair and round, begging eyes.

And when Blair made a face like that, Jim couldn't resist.

Unconsciously, the Sentinel began whistling a tune under his breath as he started to scramble eggs and make toast. Sandburg came out of his room and immediately disappeared into the bathroom, while Pepper toddled over to where Jim was standing and sat down, close enough to observe Jim closely, but with enough distance between then so that there was no chance the big man would step on him.

As the man continued to whistle, Pepper tilted his head and gave what could only be considered as a dog-frown, then turned his head towards the bathroom where the shower was running. He couldn't understand why his two owners were preparing for the day separately, when it was so obvious they wanted to do it together!

Sure, they were taking good care of him - better care than he'd ever gotten in his entire life - but watching them pine over each other the way they did was too much for Pepper's little dog-brain. How was he supposed to handle both watching Blair go out with every other creature on God's green earth in hopeless attempts at getting over Jim, and watching Jim be miserable while Blair was out on those dates?

Looking back at Jim, he gave a low bark. And as if on command, Jim turned and immediately threw a piece of toast down to Pepper. The mutt jumped, caught the piece and then gave a satisfied mewl-like sound, before he settled down. Yes, he definitely was in good hands, but something had to be done.

And soon.

The best laid plans of mice and men might always not be much, but the best laid plans of mutts named Pepper, were unique.

"Going out tonight, Chief?"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah."

"That... Sharon girl you've been talking about?"

"No, no, that was ages ago. Gillian's her name. She works in one of the stores at campus. Real nice girl. You should meet one day."

"Sure." When hell freezes over.

Silence settled between the two as Blair pulled on his jacket and Jim merely stood there, watching him.

Another night alone.

He sighed, but slowly and without a sound, so Sandburg wouldn't notice anything.

"Well..." Blair finally said, hesitating just a little. He's not going to ask me to stay, he figured, so why bother to wait for it?

"Ta-ta, then."

"See you later," Jim said.

"Alligator," Blair responded, and then he was out the door.

Turning around, Jim faced the four-legged creature behind him and shrugged. "I guess it's just you and me, pal. Again."

He walked to the fridge. "Want a beer?" he asked, and at Pepper's blank expression, he shook his head. "Nah, didn't figure so, either."

The small dog looked from Jim, to the door, to Jim again. The stupid, long-haired human had left again! Time for the plan to hit the road.

Pepper promptly laid down, rolled over and started to howl.

There was a loud crash as the beer bottle hit the floor and Jim clenched his hands over his ears, trying to block out the bone-cutting noise. His sensitive hearing was going haywire, and he gritted his teeth.

"Worse than nails on a fucking blackboard," he muttered to himself as he ran over to the dog.

"All right! All right! You can stop now! I'm here!" But in response, Pepper only increased his howling.

Reluctantly, Jim let go of his ears and cringed. Clenching his jaw, he pictured the dial and slowly managed to dial down until the hearing became bearable.

"There," he said, sighing. "Now - what's with you, buddy?"

Slowly prodding the dog, Jim was startled a bit when he was rewarded with a loud yelp and a growl. Frowning, he got up from the floor and grabbed the phone. Pepper slowly stilled his howling until it became soft whimpers so he could hear at least one side of the conversation.

"Hey Chief, listen, could you come back home? No, I don't know... I think something's wrong with Pepper, and you're better at handling the mutt than I am... Yeah, thanks... I don't know, just tell her it was a family emergency, or something... No, I don't, he's not family, he's our pet. Now get your ass down here."

And as Jim turned back to the small dog, still lying on the living room floor - unmoving - he could have sworn the little bastard was actually smiling at him.

Ten minutes later, the door opened and Sandburg entered the loft, throwing his keys in the basket.

"Hey," he greeted Jim, his voice full of concern for his pet, "what's wrong with him?"

"I don't know," Jim said. "I don't dare touch him. He just starts howling again, and the sound really fucks up my hearing."

"Did you use the dials?" the curly haired man asked as he knelt next to Pepper.

"Yes, I used the dials," Jim snapped, harsher than he'd intended. Then he took a deep breath. "Sorry, I'm... just worried, I guess."

"The little rascal has grown on you hasn't he?"

There was a mischievous grin on Blair's face, and Jim immediately put on his best 'I'm a big, bad cop' expression. But he didn't say anything.

Instead, he just mumbled out a "Maybe," and then watched as his best friend carefully placed a hand on Pepper's small snout.

"Well, he doesn't feel warm, but I'm no Sentinel," Blair said. "What do you figure?"

Carefully placing a hand on Pepper's snout, Jim shook his head. "No, I think it's normal body temp. For a dog, anyway."

Sighing, both men stood, and Blair ran a hand over his curls. "Well, I guess I better stay home tonight, just in case."

At that moment, Pepper jumped to his feet and waggled his tail, so eagerly that his entire butt swayed back and forth. Both men raised their eyebrows at the animal.

"Or maybe I can go after all?" Blair suggested.

Pepper's tail faltered a little and he sat down, tilting his head. When would his stupid owners get it???

The dog let out what could be considered a sigh and looked away.

"Well, I'll say," Jim muttered. "That's one sneaky bastard you've got there, Chief."

Blair just stared at his dog.

"You know, I think someone has a crush on you," Jim teased and grinned, deciding that it wasn't a total lie.

"Come on," Blair said, kneeling before Pepper and scratching one, large ear. "You're not jealous of Gillian, are you? I mean, she's really nice and all. And she's got this cute kitten..."

At that, Pepper just glared at Blair with big, brown eyes. His owner couldn't possibly be trying to set him up with a cat. No way. No humans were that stupid.

A chuckle from Jim caused both Pepper and Blair to turn their heads. "Looks like he didn't think much of that idea, Chief."

"Humph," Blair said, shooting his nose up and turning back to the small mutt in front of him. "You're just jealous," he informed the dog, before he stood again, making his way out to the kitchen to grab a beer.

Pepper watched as Jim followed the smaller man, then listened as the friendly banter started out there. Then he sat down on his butt, yawned and scratched his ear, before he licked his balls. This was gonna take longer time than he'd originally thought.

Why did humans have to be so stupid?

"Any game tonight?" Blair asked as they sat down on the couch and Jim switched on the TV.

"Nope. I was planning on watching a movie."

"Which one?"

"Don't know. Just some movie. 'Snake Eyes,' maybe. I don't know."

"Cool. Let's watch that, huh?"

Jim nodded and without a word, dug out the tape and popped it into the player. Pepper tilted his head again and watched as the two humans on the couch sipped their beers, watching the movie. There was too much space between them. Waaay too much space.

And Pepper was no idiot.

A dog, maybe, but no idiot.

He could see the signs clearly, even if the stupid humans couldn't. His large owner - Jim - wanted to be with his small owner - Blair. Blair wanted to be with Jim. So why didn't they do something about it, damnit? Deciding he needed to step in again, Pepper got to his feet.

Both Blair's and Jim's head snapped around when Pepper barked and tried to crawl onto the couch. Between Blair and the armrest.

"No, Chief, no way!" Jim protested when Blair moved over to allow Pepper to curl up on the couch. "We agreed, no doggy feet on the couch!"

"Aw, come on," Blair begged, his eyes turning big and pleading. "Please, man! He just had a bath yesterday, and he's as clean as any dog can be! Look at him!"

Jim took one look at the dog, then turned his gaze back to his partner. With those big, blue eyes and that beautiful hair, and those pouting lips, who could deny Sandburg anything?

"Fine," he sighed, and Sandburg pumped his fist in the air. "The dog stays."

Satisfied, Blair moved closer to Jim until their hips were touching lightly. "Thanks, man."

Jim swallowed audibly as Sentinel senses were filled with Blair all around. "You're welcome," he stammered out, trying to ignore the feeling of Blair's body heat, practically burning a hole in his jeans. Then he focused on watching the TV, while discretely tugging at his sweater so it covered his lap and his raging erection.

The two returned to the movie, and continued to sip their beer.

Pepper watched them carefully, before he decided to make his next move. About ten minutes later, the dog suddenly sprang up, jumping for Blair's face, and attacking the soft cheek with long, wet licks.

"Pepper!" Blair exclaimed as he jerked sideways to get away from the small hairball, and in the process was squeezed into Jim.

"Sandburg!"

Jim's exclamation pretty much matched Sandburg's, and the older man started to rise as he spilled his beer over his lap, but Pepper wasn't about to let the two get off that easily.

Making another leap, he crawled up Blair's body again, effectively pushing the curly haired man into his best friend, and before anybody had the chance to say 'Pepper,' both Sentinel and Guide was lying in a heap on the floor.

And on the couch, sat a very satisfied Pepper.

"God, I'm sorry!" Blair said, but he didn't sound at all sorry.

Jim's eyes narrowed as he tried to get his partner off him. "Don't laugh, Sandburg, I'm warning you!"

"Sorry," came the muffled reply, but it was obvious Blair had to really struggle not to laugh hysterically.

"This isn't funny, Chief!" Jim tried again, trying to sound stern. "I've got beer all over myself and I'm..."

"You're what?"

"Just get off me!"

"Yeah, yeah, sorry!"

And Sandburg scrambled backwards and off his partner. But just as he moved, his hand brushed the very obvious bulge in the front of Jim's jeans, and when the younger man finally sat back, his laughter had died and his eyes were as wide as saucers.

Jim immediately knew what had happened. Of course he knew - he had nearly come in his pants like some nympho teenager, just by that brief, brief touch of Blair's wram hand, the younger man's body heat feeling like a thousand flames of pleasure to Jim.

Embarrassed, he sat up himself, and promptly pulled his sweater down over his lap again, the fabric having moved away when they fell. And the whole situation really wasn't all that funny, anymore.

"Sorry," he mumbled, getting to his feet.

Blair sat unmoving on the floor.

"Chief?"

Blair just stared at him.

"Uh... Blair?"

No reply.

"Listen, if this bothers you, I can... you don't have to stay, I mean... Not that I want you gone, I just-"

"You want me?"

Blair's surprised squeak cut Jim's ramble off.

Jim only blushed hard and looked away. "Well, love you actually," he mumbled, then hastily added, "But like I said, Chief, if it bothers you-"

"You asshole!" Blair said loudly, cutting Jim off again.

For one small second, Jim's word was shattered. Then, as Blair got to his feet and pulled him down for a deep kiss, Jim's world was suddenly re-built, bigger and happier than ever. And as the kiss continued, and grew deeper and more frenzied, the Sentinel decided that he could learn to live in this new world. Absolutely.

Finally, Jim broke the kiss and cradled Blair in his arms, holding him close. "Just one question, Chief - why am I an asshole?"

"You didn't tell me," was Blair quiet reply, before all talking was put on hold for a few hours. And from the couch, Pepper watched with a satisfied bark as the two men made their way upstairs.

Sometime during the night, Pepper's head jerked up as quiet steps descended the stairs up to Jim's bedroom, and the detective quietly made his way to the kitchen. A couple of moments later, he re-appeared with a glass of water in his hand.

When he spotted the mutt lying innocently on the couch, a lopsided grin appeared on Jim's face, and he walked over to squat down in front of the small dog.

"You know, you gotta wonder why you suddenly became to ill tonight," he mused, reaching out with one hand to stroke the animal's furry head. "And I have to admit that you have grown on me, little peanut."

Pausing a little, Jim took a sip of the water, but didn't stop his stroking. "I don't really know if you're aware of what you did here tonight, but I'm grateful anyway."

What kind of question was that? Of course he was aware of what he'd done!

Almost insulted, Pepper let his jaw drop, and his pink tongue immediately dropped down to drool on Jim's couch.

"I'll let it go," Jim said with a quiet chuckle. "For now. But if you try anything again..."

Then the detective stood up and headed for the stairs. He stopped, though, with his foot on the first step, in order to turn back towards the couch and direct another smile at the small mutt lying there.

"Thanks," he said quietly.

And as he turned back and continued up to the bedroom to join his sleeping lover, Pepper tilted his head, decided that humans were definitely weird, and licked his balls again.