See part 1 for disclaimer and warning.
Part 6
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Reality 2

Jim stayed with Blair until he fell asleep, then he went to search of Dr. Walker. She had come in earlier to say she had some important news. Jim only hoped that the news was good. Blair seemed to recover from the seizure with no lasting effects. So they were no worse off than before, but Dr. Walker couldn't guarantee that, if Blair continued to have seizures. Ellison found the doctor sitting in her office, working on reports. She looked up and gestured for him to enter.

"You had some news?" Jim tried to keep the hope out of his voice. He took the seat in front of Dr. Walker and waited expectantly.

"I was going over Blair's chart. He's spent a great deal of time here since he started working with the police department."

Jim didn't know what to say to that.

"When we ran the tox screen, we found something unusual."

"Blair doesn't take any drugs."

"I'm not suggesting that, Jim. Anyway, the drug we did find, no one in his or her right mind would take. Add that to the head injury that he suffered, and you've got a bad combination." Dr. Walker looked down at her desk and picked up a piece of paper. "According to what I've been able to find, this drug was banned in the early 50's."

"What was it used for?" Jim asked.

"It was given to mental patients as an experimental drug. It was hoped that it would calm them down. It had the exact opposite effect. Instead, these mental patients became even more violent. They had severe hallucinations. It was finally banned after two patients killed an entire floor of patients and doctors one night."

Jim closed his eyes at the thought of what Blair had probably gone through. After the incident with Golden, Jim had though that Blair would leave, but he hadn't. Now this had happened. "What do we do now?"

"Look, Jim, these effects are the same for everyone, but Blair was lucky."

"How?"

"Whoever gave this drug to Blair, put it in a liquid. One, this means that it wasn't put immediately into this blood stream. He was probably just starting to feel the effects when he hit his head. Second, the liquid helped to dilute the drug. Blair didn't get hit as hard as he could of."

"So, he's going to be alright?" To Jim, this was the best news that he had heard all week.

"He should be. As soon as the drugs are fully out of this system, we'll know more. Until then we'll watch him carefully. This is what caused the seizure. As for everything else, there is no reference to this happening, but it probably the cause."

"I don't like the sound of that, doctor."

"It's possible that Blair suffered some brain damage. Like I said, we'll have to wait. Right now, you might want to consider who might have done this."

"Thanks, doc." Jim knew the doctor was right. Someone had done this to his Guide and he was bound and determined to find out whom. He left the office and headed straight for his truck. It was time to do some digging and hope he was wrong.

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Reality 1

Simon rushed to the hospital after one of the doctors working on Blair had called to say that they had some news. Beverly Sanchez had been heading towards his office when he got the call so she was with him. She said she was only there as a friend, not as the DA. Simon believed her. She was concerned about Blair even though, at the same time, she hated what he had done. Simon could only hope that this news was not only good, but would provide them with some type of explanation to what had been happening.

"I know you're hoping for the best, Simon, but I hope that at the same time you're ready for bad news." Beverly looked over at the Major Crimes Captain as she spoke.

"Look, I know Blair would never hurt Jim. There has to be a logical reason for what happened."

"The logical reason is that Blair Sandburg may have gone off the deep end. There's always that chance. We see it happen to cops all the time."

"I know the signs, Beverly. My own partner lost it. He opened fire on a bunch of witnesses for no reason. Blair wasn't at that point." Simon slammed his fist against the steering wheel to emphasize his point. Then he had to slam on his brakes when the car in front of them stopped suddenly. "Jerk!"

"Captain!" Beverly snapped. "I know that you were close to the both of them, and I'm not say there isn't an explanation. I just want you to be prepared if there isn't one." Beverly turned to look out her window, not wanting to look at Simon anymore.

The anger was more than apparent on the Captain's face. It didn't help that he had gotten news of changes that would be taking place in the Major Crimes division. There was the chance that he would be moved, but to make matters worse, most of the detectives were going to be transferred out. Rafe was already look to go back to SWAT. The department was justifying this 
change with Jim's death. Simon wasn't sure it wasn't time to look at early retirement. The option had come up when he got news of  this change. It was something to consider. Neither he nor Beverly said another word until long after they reached the hospital.

"Come in, Captain Banks," the doctor said when Simon knocked on the door jam. "I'm glad that you were able to come right over."

"Dr. Miller, this is the District Attorney Beverly Sanchez."

"Pleasure to finally meet you. I've gotten to know some of your office personal pretty well since they seem to call at least once an hour for updates." The doctor gave Beverly this look that conveyed exactly what he's feelings were on that subject. "You can't get a lot of work done with that happening."

Beverly smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry for that and will correct the problem when I return to my office."

"That's fine." The doctor walked over to the coffee maker and offered them some. Both Simon and Beverly accepted. Handing over the two cups, Dr Miller began. "We ran a tox screen and found some unusual things that might explain some of what's been happening if not everything."

"Are you saying that Sandburg may have taken something? The kid hates drugs." Simon easily remembered when Blair had been dosed with Golden. It was something he knew he would never forget.

"I don't believe that this is something he would have taken. It was banned in the 50's." The doctor went on to give the history of the drug and what it was used for.

"So you're saying that Blair was probably drugged?" Beverly could feel a knot in her stomach tighten at the thought.

"Yes. We believe that it's why he killed his friend. Like I said, it makes the person extremely violent. He most likely saw Detective Ellison as a monster or an enemy and attacked."

"Fire people," Simon whispered.

Beverly looked over at Simon when she heard him whisper `fire people.' She had been out of town when Blair had been dosed with Golden, but she had heard about what happened. "Thank you doctor. If you could send this information to my office, I would greatly appreciate it."

"I will do that. Good day, Ms. Sanchez. Captain Banks."

"I want to check on Blair before we leave," Simon said.

Beverly nodded her head in acceptance of the idea. "I'll have all charges dropped by tomorrow, but I still need more proof that Blair didn't take this drug intentionally. Not for myself Simon," Beverly quickly added when she saw the look on his face. "I know that Blair would never take something like this, but the public's is going to want some more proof than this."

Simon nodded his head as he approached Blair's door. Quietly he opened the door and peered in. Blair was lying on his back sleeping. Simon knew that Blair would find no relief at the thought that he had been drugged. He would only see the fact that he had killed Jim and nothing was going to change that. Banks could only hope that he could provide Blair some comfort and reassurance. He also knew that William and Steven Ellison were going to go after the kid legally. It wouldn't matter if he had been drugged or 
not, they wanted him to pay for Jim's death. `He might be innocent in the eyes of the law, but Blair's got a long fight ahead of him.'

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Reality 2

Jim walked into the bullpen on a mission. He knew whom Blair had suspected as their killer, and he was also one of the people who would have access to Blair's teas here at the station. Ellison knew for a fact that Blair hadn't taken the drugs at home. He hadn't drunk any tea before they left and hadn't gotten anything but the tea he had in the break room. He had already gone over with Simon who they suspected of killing the kids, now Jim was going to find out if he had drugged Blair, too. If he had, he was going to pay.

"Hey Jim, how's Hairboy?" Henri walked into Jim's path as he asked the question. Ellison, who had heard him, but decided to ignore him, also flattened him as he went through Henri instead of around him. He continued heading straight for Detective Camble, who was standing at Jim's desk.

"Hello, Jim." Detective Camble looked up and smiled at Jim, not even seeing the warning signs that told everyone else that Jim was about to lose his temper.

"Detective Camble." Jim clenched his jaw and wished that this guy would resist arrest, especially since he saw Simon come up behind Camble. He was holding a bottle and mouthing `drugs'. "You are under arrest."

"What? What's the charge?" Camble started to back up and promptly ran into Captain Banks. He saw the bottle in the Captain's hand and knew he was in trouble.

"How about we start with the drugging of Blair Sandburg," Simon stated. "Then we'll move on to the murder of eight children."

"You've got no proof that I murdered those children." Camble moved his hand towards his gun. Jim saw the movement and pulled his own. Behind the Sentinel were Joel, Rafe, Henry, and Megan, all of whom had their weapons out.

"Oh I think we've got all the proof we need." Joel had been let in on what was happening. He had been with Simon as he searched Detective Camble's desk, locker, and then his house, after they had gotten a search warrant. "It would seem that you thought Blair was getting a little too close. What you didn't know was that he had let Jim in on what he suspected."

"Sandy was drugged?" Megan looked from Joel to Camble. "You drugged Sandy?"

"Rafe. Brown. Read him his rights and get him down to lock-up. IA will meet you there."

"Yes, sir." Brown and Rafe said at the same time. They were more then happy to remove this piece of garbage from Major Crimes.

"I thought Sandy got hit in the head."

"He did," Jim reassured her. "However, after running a drug test, they found some unusual chemicals in his system. That's the reason Blair's been the way he has. As soon as the drugs are out of his system, he should be fine."

"That's great news," Joel said.

"Simon, I'm going back to sit with Blair. Dr. Walker thinks that the rest of the drugs should be out of his system by tonight."

"Go ahead, Jim. I'll stop by later."

Jim smiled and relaxed for the first time in the last few day. Everything was going to be alright. Blair would wake up and be fine, John Camble was going to jail for a long time, and the children of Cascade were safe.

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Reality 1

Blair felt himself waking up and wondered what he would find when he opened his eyes. He could hear someone off to his right, turning the pages of some book. For the first time in days, the sound was clear instead of distorted. He felt fear grip his heart. He wondered what he would do if it were Simon sitting by his bedside and not Jim. He wasn't sure he could live with himself, if he had killed Jim. Not that he would be doing much living. He had the feeling that if he'd killed Jim, then he would follow soon enough.
He just wasn't sure if it was going to be at the hands of Jim's friends or the state. As much as he wanted to put it off forever, Blair knew he couldn't. Slowly, he opened his eyes to see Simon sitting beside him. He turned away and quietly whimpered, but Simon heard it.

"Blair?" There was a hint of fear in Simon's voice.

"Why?" Blair cried.

Simon knew what Blair was referring to. Jim's death had been senseless. They had found evidence to free Blair of any wrong-doing, but that wouldn't stop the kid from blaming himself. They still didn't know who had drugged Blair, and Simon had the feeling that they never would.

"Blair, it wasn't your fault, someone drugged you."

"And that makes everything alright? I killed my best friend in cold blood." Blair looked back over at Simon. As upset as he was, he never even noticed that he was free for the restraints. "Jim is dead."

"Blair, I know, but it's not your fault." Simon knew that he wasn't helping and only time would, but he had to try. He owed both Jim and Blair that much.

"It doesn't matter. I still killed him and I've got to live with it."

"Not that you're going to live long." Both Blair and Simon looked over at the door to see the person who said that. Simon reached for his gun, but wasn't fast enough. "I don't think so, Captain. I want your hands where I can see them." Simon slowly raised his hands while staring down the barrel of a gun.

"Detective Camble, what's this about?" Simon demanded an answer.

"Maybe you should ask Blair." Camble motioned Simon to sit in the chair by Blair's bed, but not before he had relieved the Captain of his weapon.

"He's the one who's been killing those kids. He worked with the families, but since he was a cop no one thought to mention him. I only found out about him the night before Seattle called. Jim didn't want to believe it until we had more proof, but we never got the chance."

"And you never will. See I figured that you would kill Ellison. Hell, I was counting on it. What I hadn't counted on was the fact that you would survive. I had hoped that the drugs would kill you. I guess I didn't give you enough credit." Camble smiled down at Blair as he talked. "Now I guess I'll have to do this the hard way. A bit more messy, but effective."

"You can't just kill us. Someone's is going to hear." Simon pushed himself out of the chair, only to be shoved back down by Camble.

"Now, Captain, you don't seem to get this." Cable removed a silencer from his coat pocket and attached it to his gun. "See, no one will be able to trace this gun. I just shoot the two of you and walk out. No one will even suspect me."

"You were seen by the cop at the door," Simon said.

"Yes I was, but since he's dead, it doesn't matter. Goodbye." With that Camble shot Simon twice in the chest and once in the head. He slipped out of the chair and fell to the floor dead. "Now your turn Sandburg. I have to say that I do admire you. No one else had been able to track my association with the families, but unfortunately, no matter how much I admire you, you're a liability."

Blair looked at Camble, but couldn't get himself to say anything. He knew that Simon was dead, there was no mistaking that. Now he was about to join his friends. But that would leave Camble free to continue to kill. With a sudden moment of clarity, Blair knew that couldn't happen. He launched himself at the detective, but he never had a chance. He felt the burning pain in his chest as the bullet's entered and then nothing.

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Reality 2

Blair awoke with a scream and shot up into a sitting position. The images of Jim dead by his hands, Simon shot on the hospital floor, and John Camble's face were playing over and over in his head. His hands immediately went to his chest to feel for the bullet holes that he knew were there, but he found none. There wasn't any blood, either. He just didn't know how that was possible. He had felt the pain as they entered his chest. **Could it have been a dream?** Blair wondered. It was only as his heartbeat settled in a slower rhythm that he took stock of his surroundings. The room wasn't that much different from the one where he and Simon had died, but it was still different. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he heard the most beautiful sound ever. Jim was calling his name.

"Blair. Buddy. Come on Chief, are you alright?" Jim was saying over and over again. He was sitting on the edge of the hospital bed with his arms wrapped around his Guide. "Talk to me buddy."

Blair slowly turned his head so he could see Jim. All he could do was sit there and stare for a moment. By the door, he could see Simon waiting. It had been a dream. Blair turned and wrapped his arms around Jim and started to cry, repeating "you're alive" over and over again. Once an awhile a "I didn't kill you" worked its way out.

Jim just sat there holding his Guide, trying to comfort him. He heard Simon say goodbye and leave. There would be time later to explain what had happened to Blair. Right now, the only thing he wanted to do was hold the younger man and thank god that he was alright.

The End
Had you worried there for a minute didn't I, but I couldn't kill off 
Jim,
Blair, and Simon.

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