What Came After?

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What Came After?

by ljc

5/08

Summary: The PhD.

Warnings: A bit of bad language.

Note: Prompt (doctor) from the SentinelThursday list.

Disclaimer: All characters, places, and objects from The Sentinel belong to Pet Fly Productions, UPN, Paramount and the SciFi Channel. No money is being made. No copyright infringement is intended. Any resemblance (of original characters) to any person living or dead is purely coincidental. No similarity to any person either living or dead is intended or should be inferred. This story was written by ljc with the love of the show in mind.

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<> Blair Sandburg, PhD. <>
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Blair stared at the elegantly framed certificate and thought //... Finally. Even if it is honorary, and for literature at that. Who'd have thought?//

“The Sentinel” by Blair Sandburg had hit the top of the New York Times Best Seller List and stayed there for months, helped in part by the devastating press coverage of several years before. It was ironic, but it helped to launch “The Watchman” television series and a movie. The  book had been a gamble but Jim had supported him.

Blair was as proud of another literary effort, the “Jake 'Darwin' Smith Series”. He grinned at the thought of all the young people that followed his 'wannabe teen anthropologist' series. He delighted in the teaching this allowed him to do, both in his writing, and in person. Jim had encouraged him to do a limited lecture series as part of the promotion for the first 'Darwin' book, and the strategy had paid off both in sales and in his own personal satisfaction.

Jim was still a Detective in Major Crime, and Blair still consulted, which he juggled with his research for his fictional efforts. When the first “Sentinel” book came out, Jim often told Blair how proud he was of him, but Blair knew that Jim was also scared of the possible repercussions. Since Jim wasn't as free with those admissions, Blair had to infer it from his clenched jaw, the half eaten meals, and the middle of the night wanderings.  Of course when the reporters did show up, for whatever reason, they scared the bejeezus out of both of them.

It had been ten years since the first book came out. Nothing overt had happened to validate their fears, but Brackett hadn't been forgotten. They had decided to stay on Prospect Avenue since they knew the people in the neighborhood, and the people knew them. They knew what felt right and what was out of place. They'd finally decided to buy the building at 852 so they could control the area closest to them. The loft was their safe haven, and they were near their work, and their friends and family. When Jim retired they'd probably work something else out.

They didn't know what the future would bring, but who did? They'd done all they could to protect themselves without going into hiding, and they'd decided that would be a 'last resort'. So they stayed and took as many precautions as they could, and hoped that they could continue to protect what Blair and Jim both thought of as 'their tribe of Cascade'.

“Sandburg, are you going to stare at that certificate all day?” asked Jim.

Blair grinned but also blushed a little, “Alright, man. Where do we hang this thing?”

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finis