The boys belong to Pet Fly. I only had the pleasure of their company for a little while.

GreenWoman gave us Treeline and challenged us to write a happy ending. Stormfront was written as my hopeful ending. But Winds-of-Dawn suggested that there could be an unhappy ending, too. So I started from the same place and ended up someplace totally different -- a place from which there will be no redemption. This is only slightly different from the version posted to Senad. Hopefully all the errors have been cleaned up.

A little language. Hints of violence. It's often been said that men in bad suits from the government would take Jim away if his abilities were known.

This story is a sequel to: TREELINE by GreenWoman

Blair stared down at the envelope in his hands. Part of him wanted to fling this into the fire. Another wanted to carefully preserve it. He didn't have to read it. He knew in his heart that it was a carefully worded plea for him to come home to Cascade. He knew Jim too well. The damned, anal-retentive jerk.

The wind chased him back inside long before rain began to fall.

The loft was beginning to darken as the storm front rolled across Cascade. Jim hardly noticed as his thin hands typed commands into the laptop. A few final keystrokes and the large document was saved.

He connected to the Internet and uploaded the carefully re-created and sanitized dissertation to his contacts. Then he sent several e-mails.

"It's done."

The rain fell in torrents as he shut down the computer.

A black van stopped outside 852 Prospect. A pair of men in bad suits got out and walked into the building. Five minutes later then returned to the van with a third man carrying a small bag.

"Jim resigned. I went by the loft. He's not there." Simon hoped he'd gone to Blair. Maybe they could work things out together.

"Joseph Begelman, a prominent Cascade businessman and Member of the Board of Regents for Rainier University, was found dead of an apparent suicide today at his home," Don Haas reported for KCDE News. "Begelman was cleared of charges of rape and murder of Angela Vogel. However, police investigating the suicide uncovered evidence not only that Begelman was guilty of that crime, but that he may have committed others. Cascade PD will be issuing statements as more information becomes available."

A lone assassin perched atop a foreign building. An high powered rifle without a scope was brought to the ready. A single shot was fired. A man fell.

Wire services later reported the death of another prominent terrorist who fancied himself a political leader.

Simon got out of the SUV. He'd brought the supplies as usual when he hadn't heard anything in the last month. Blair came out of the cabin to meet him as usual. Simon frowned.

"Where's Jim?"

"What do you mean?"

"I thought he'd be here."

"Why would you think that?"

"He resigned. Said that he was going where he belonged. That's with you."

Blair smiled sadly.

"I don't think he thinks that anymore, Simon."

Blair pulled the note from his back pocket and handed it to Simon. Blair had finally opened it.

"Forgive me. I do love you. Goodbye."

"Then where is he?"

"Sir, is there anything I can get you?" A pert first class attendant on an international flight asked the impeccably dressed businessman.

"A cold beer would be nice, miss, thank you." His blue eyes were cold even though his tone was polite.

He set up the laptop when the announcement that electronic devices could be used was made. He connected his modem to the airphone and engaged the most sophisticated encryption protocols known.

"Mission accomplished," he transmitted to his handlers.

Simon had run into a steel wall in his search for Jim Ellison. He'd been unable to file an official missing persons report because Jim had resigned and made arrangements to close the loft. He had even said goodbye to Blair. He wasn't missing. He was an adult who had left voluntarily.

There was something in Blair's calm acceptance of Jim's disappearance that worried Simon. If it weren't for the fact that Blair actually had responsibilities up at the cabin, Simon would be afraid to leave him alone there.

He picked up the mail Rhonda had brought in and began going through it. A government envelope caught his attention. He opened it. Instead of an official letter, it contained a photograph.

Jim in a black suit outside a government building. His hand rested on the crest of the covert agency housed inside. On the back of the photo were just a few words.

"This is my home now. Goodbye, Jim."

Simon had to face facts. The Sentinel was gone.

End The Rain Came Down by kyanoswolf: kyanoswolf@earthlink.net

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Disclaimer: The Sentinel is owned etc. by Pet Fly, Inc. These pages and the stories on them are not meant to infringe on, nor are they endorsed by, Pet Fly, Inc. and Paramount.