A Sense of Belonging the Complete Collection
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A Sense of Belonging The Complete Collection by katef illustrated by PattRose Book 1: A Sense of Belonging A long, dark story set in a universe where Sentinels and Guides are known and valued, and Blair and Jim are not as canon. Blair is a traumatised and abused kidnap victim, and Jim is a well- respected but unbonded Sentinel Detective working undercover. Book 2: You Belong to Me Jim and Blair’s developing partnership and their role as Cascade’s new Alpha Sentinel / Guide team are explored. The story continues after Blair’s release from testing at the Sentinel / Guide Department, and covers the pair’s return to the Major Crimes Unit at Cascade Central Police Department. (N.B: The Mayan fertility ritual is fictional. I have no idea if it bears any relationship to an actual ritual, Mayan or otherwise) Book 3: Friendship and Family Matters In the aftermath of Jim and Blair’s first case as the Major Crimes Unit’s resident Sentinel / Guide pair, they continue to develop both their personal and working relationships, while dealing with the reactions of friends and family members as Jim helps Blair to regain some of his former life. Book 4: The Birthday Party It has been a year since Blair’s kidnapping by Vittorio Galbini. How are he and Jim coping with their responsibilities to each other and to their work? Book 5: The Prodigal Son How far would William Ellison go in order to lure Jim away from the PD? Book 6: The Holiday Jim and Blair take a relaxing vacation in order to repair and strengthen their bond. Book 7: Temporary Insanity As the anniversary of their bonding approaches, Jim and Blair’s happiness is threatened by unforeseen outside influences. Book 8: The Water’s Fine As the second anniversary of their bonding approaches, both Jim and Blair acknowledge that all is not right in their world. Can Jim come up with the means with which to heal their bond for good? A Sense of Belonging October 30: Sentinel Detective Jim Ellison rubbed his hand over his face in an attempt to stave off a combination of exhaustion from long hours of surveillance and the added stress that the unceasing rigid control over his wayward senses produced. Without a bonded guide to help him with fine-tuning and support, he was finding it increasingly difficult to utilise his gift to its full extent without incipient headaches or even the occasional zone when sheer fatigue got the better of him. Knowing that a bonded guide could be the answer to his sense problems was one thing, but actually finding and bonding with said guide for life was something he simply wasn’t prepared to do. It wasn’t so many years ago that the whole concept of sentinels and guides was one of suspicion and misunderstandings. Sentinels themselves were considered as either supermen or freaks, depending on one’s point of view, whilst the need for guides was considered by many non-sentinels (or mundanes) as an excuse for some sort of legalised sex-slave, and consequently many guides were treated accordingly. Recent years had seen a vast improvement in attitude such that Sentinels were now considered to be an asset to the community, especially in services such as the military, the police force and other law enforcement agencies, rescue services and healthcare, and their guides’ supporting roles were understood to be of far greater importance than previously realised. A whole government Department for Sentinel / Guide Affairs, complete with regulatory body and specialised health care and psychological assessment had been created with a view to maximising the potential of these gifted individuals. These developments notwithstanding, Jim still couldn’t see his way to binding another person to him for the rest of his (and his guide’s) natural life, so continued to ignore all attempts by the captain of his police department, Simon Banks of the Major Crimes Unit, to try to get him to attend social ‘mixers’ designed to pair up potential bonded partnerships. As an ex-military officer with outstanding credentials, Jim was a very private individual who, once having joined the PD on returning to his home city of Cascade, found himself and his talents eminently suited to the type of undercover operation for which the MCU found itself particularly successful. This latest operation, which was threatening to drive Jim to distraction, was a complicated joint operation between the MCU, Vice and the FBI in an attempt to infiltrate and eventually bring down the wide-ranging criminal network run by one Vittorio Galbini. Although superficially a highly respected member of the Cascade business community, with more than a little influence on the local political and social scenes, Jim and his colleagues knew Galbini for the ruthless and amoral low-life that he really was: one who was knee-deep in illegal drug dealing, arms smuggling and prostitution over an area stretching from Cascade to Vancouver. Only his tight control over his associates and henchmen, maintained through a combination of bribery, corruption, blackmail, and, where necessary, torture and murder, ensured the continuation of his empire thus far. Recently, however, flaws in the security and set up of one or two of Galbini’s larger deals had come to the attention of the FBI, one of whose agents had been in deep cover for several months, such that it was deemed appropriate to get the joint venture underway with a view to finally taking the evil bastard’s empire down and him with it. Thus it was that Captain Banks from MCU and Captain Sullivan from Vice, along with Special Agent Matthews from the FBI and their department colleagues had hammered out a plan to infiltrate Galbini’s closest gangland associates by setting up Jim Ellison as a potential client for a large drug shipment for his carefully created fictional set up in the Seattle area. Once inside Galbini’s inner circle, Jim was to get the man’s trust and collect as much information as possible in as short a time as practical to take the operation down. This then was the reason for Jim’s current tiredness. He’d been watching the comings and goings of Galbini’s closest associates for days now, along with fellow detectives Rafe and H amongst others, using his heightened senses to track and record the various negotiations with a view to obtaining the widest possible base of information before approaching his target. Once he had as much information as feasible under the circumstances, he professed himself ready to act, and began the subtle negotiations to get himself accepted as a potential business partner. Two days later, under the guise of being introduced as a potential customer by the undercover agent, Jim found himself in the company of Galbini and a few of his closest henchmen, calmly taking the first steps in creating the fictional drug deal. The background research gathered by his colleagues and himself stood him in good stead, as did his hard-ass attitude and calculated air of menace, such that he found himself quickly in favour, so much so that he was invited to stay at Galbini’s mansion in the Cascade suburbs for an evening of entertainment before closing the ‘deal’. While he was well aware of Galbini’s varied criminal activities, Jim didn’t possess much information regarding the gang lord’s personal whims and vices, other than to know that he wasn’t averse to indulging himself in the comforts available through his connections with prostitution. However, even as hardened an officer as Jim undoubtedly was, he was almost taken aback with shock when, after a gourmet dinner, complete with brandy and cigars, Jim was shown into Galbini’s large and expensively furnished den to find out what the proposed evening’s entertainment was to be. Kneeling submissively on the rug in front of Galbini’s sumptuous couch was one of the most beautiful boys Jim had ever seen. Very slender, with curly dark auburn hair, the boy appeared small in stature, and was virtually naked, wearing little more than a skimpy loincloth and a leather bondage-style harness complete with collar, wrist and ankle cuffs. His beautiful, but completely masculine, face was down-turned, eyes fixed on the floor at a point in front of his knees, and it didn’t take sentinel senses to make out the fine tremors running through the slight frame. Although his face was unmarked, there was ample evidence of abuse, sexual and otherwise, in the many marks and fading bruises on his skin. Jim found himself at once horrified at the boy’s condition, and ashamed to feel a growing arousal at the sight before him. Wrenching his gaze away from the tempting morsel, he looked at Galbini, whilst raising a quizzical eyebrow at his host, who was grinning in vicious glee at his guest’s reaction. “So, you like my pet?” he said, taking a sip of expensive brandy. “He is my favourite –; completely under my control, but I’m not averse to lending him out for the night to my chosen friends. He will do anything you want –; all I request is that he comes to no permanent harm, and that you don’t mark his face. Otherwise he’s yours to use for the night if you want him.” Struggling to take control of the situation in which he found himself, Jim took his time answering, giving the appearance of cold calculation, whilst fighting down a feeling of inner panic. He couldn’t turn down Galbini’s offer without seriously offending the man.