DISCLAIMER: All characters, etc...all of them in the world of The Sentinel are owned by Pet Fly Productions & UPN. I've just taken them out of the toy box to play and I promise to put them back when I'm done, because I'm a good girl and I always put my toys away.

I rate this story "R" for the m/m relationship, and plural marriage.

However, Nia belongs to mia...

Plenty of sap here - hankies may be needed as this is the last of the "Nia" stories.

This story takes place twenty years after "Labor."

"There's no words to say
No words to convey
This feeling inside I have for you"

From "For You." by Tracy Chapman

Blair Sandburg sat on the firm hospital bed; he'd always hated hospitals, they were so cold, stark, no life to them. He looked at the man lying in the opposite bed, hooked up to more machines than Blair had ever seen in his life. He sighed and pushed back a lock of grey hair.

Jim wasn't getting any better. The doctors couldn't stop the cancer that had begun in his leg and rapidly spread to his brain. Radiation had subsided it for a time, but it also made Jim sick, confined him to his bed. Jim Ellison would rather die than be confined to a bed...Would rather die...

Blair shut his eyes tightly to stop the tears, but when he saw it was futile, he opened them and looked around the private room. Flowers were everywhere, from all of the men who's served under Jim in his long career as police chief of Cascade. The largest arrangement was from former FBI director of Pacific Northwest Activities, Simon Banks, the card said "Get well Big Guy." in large letters.... Get Well Big Guy.

Blair looked at his husband again. Jim had been in the coma for seven days. Thank Gods that the hospital was kind enough to allow Blair to stay in the same room as Jim. Being Dr. Sandburg, Former Chairman of the Anthropology Department and Professor Emeritus at Ranier University, didn't hurt either.

Blair sighed. He leaned over and grasped Jim's hand. "Jim...Jim..." he whispered. This wasn't fair, Jim was fine a year ago...though eighty-four, he was still in good shape, still went to the gym three times a week.

"Jim...please don't leave me..."

Blair quickly shook his head. No, that wasn't fair. If Jim was suffering, if he was in pain, he shouldn't stay. Shouldn't stay....Blair squeezed his eyes shut, but couldn't stop the tears from falling. Jim. They had been together for almost 50 years and was this how it was going to end? Jim on life support and Blair....

Nia had been there every day. She was so supportive, but she had her own life, a thriving law practice with her husband Thomas, while her other husband, Harry had his veterinary practice at home. Their daughters, Tyler and Spenser were away at college, (didn't want to study where their grandfather worked) and their son James Sandburg was captain of his high school basketball team. Blair looked at Jim's face, blue eyes hidden by closed lids.

"Remember how I felt when Nia said she was going to marry two men, Jim? I wanted to lock her in her room, I wanted to kill them....but you...you were so understanding...you reminded me of that tribe in East Africa, where, because of a disease that killed many of the women, the ones who were left, took more than two husbands. You sat me down and reminded me of that. I told you that maybe it had been wrong for Nia to be raised by two men, and you said that we'd brought up Nia to be honest, true and hard working, we'd brought her up to take care of herself, and to care for others as well. Took me two weeks Jim...but...I agreed...and man, I'm glad I did. We've got three beautiful grandchildren, even though you didn't like the idea of the girls being named Tyler and Spenser...then I had to convince you that Nia wasn't nuts, especially since she picked the names. Jim, remember at the wedding reception, when I started crying, you said I was sad because we were losing a daughter, and then you told me that we weren't losing a daughter, but we were gaining TWO sons......it wasn't that, man...See, Nia's marriage meant she wasn't a little girl anymore, that she was a grown up...that we were getting older...and one day...one day...this was going to happen....oh...Jim."

Blair felt another wave of tears come, but this time, he didn't try to stop them, instead, he let them fall on Jim's hand, that he still held. "Can you feel that, Jim? Do you know I'm here...do you know how much I love you?" Blair sighed. He touched Jim's face gently. "Yes, you do....I know you do...I'm your Guide...I'll always be your Guide...forever."

Blair yawned, as he suddenly felt very tired. He gently placed Jim's hand on his stomach, then moved his bed closer to his husband's. Blair took off his glasses and lay on his side, where he could watch the machines, keeping Jim alive.

As he closed his eyes, he saw something flash passed him, it was large, black and had the eyes of a cat. Blair's eyes shot open, and he saw Jim, looking at him, a weak smile on his face.

"Jim..." was all Blair could get out. "You're awake...I got to get the doctors..." Blair tried to sit up, but couldn't.

Jim smiled and shook his head. "I'm so tired Chief."

Blair blinked back the tears as he realized what Jim was saying. Next to Jim's bed, sat a black panther. The panther had its head on the foot of the bed, its eyes closed. Blair nodded slowly.

"Jim..." Blair whispered. "Go home..."

"Blair..."

"Go home Jim..." Blair looked at the panther. "I'll be there."

Jim smiled. "I love you, Blair...partner..."

Blair reached out and grasped Jim's hand, their fingers entwined. "I love you too."

Two nurses and a doctor rushed into the room as soon as they heard the life support monitor beep. They ran to the bed of the former police chief of Cascade and checked for life signs. Jim Ellison had signed a Do Not Resuscitate form, he wanted no "heroic measures" used to keep him alive. The only reason he was on life support was because the doctors were hoping he'd come out of the coma. The doctor shook his head, then looked at his watch. "Time of death, 9:00 pm."

One of the nurses looked at the other bed. "Oh, my God...his husband's asleep....I better..." she gently touched his shoulder. "Dr. Sandburg." She frowned when he didn't stir. "Dr. Sandburg." She said louder.

The other nurse and the doctor turned their attention to the other bed. The doctor checked for vital signs. "Oh my God," he said. and looked at the nurses, disbelief in his eyes. "He's gone."

Nia was reading up on a case, in her office, when the telephone rang. Immediately, she froze. This was going to be it. Daddy Blair, telling her that Daddy Jim was dead. Nia took a deep breath walked into the hall, just as Harry turned to her.

"It's the hospital," he said.

Nia nodded, maybe Daddy Blair was just too distraught to talk. Nia took the telephone. Thomas came out of his office, he looked at Harry, who was staring intently at Nia, then walked over to his wife and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Ms. Washington this is Dr. Smyth from Memorial Hospital..."

"I'll be right there." Nia hung up the telephone.

"We'll come with you," said Harry.

Nia shook her head. "James might come home. I'll be right back."

Harry looked at Thomas. "Wonder why the doctor called, and not Blair."

Nia looked at her husbands, then nodded slightly. "I think I know why." As she turned to go, she saw her twin daughters, Tyler and Spenser, standing against the wall, eyes full. They'd come home from college when Jim had slipped into a coma. Nia smiled at her daughters and kissed both of them on the cheek.

"It's going to be okay," she whispered.

Dr. Smyth was surprised when Nia Washington got off the elevator. He expected to see a woman in tears, screaming, nearly hysterical, calling for her fathers. Instead, Nia was calm as she looked at the doctor.

"Ms. Washington...I'm so sorry...but..."

"They're both dead. Da...Dr. Sandburg too."

The doctor's eye brows narrowed. "How did you..."

"Dr. Smyth, my fathers lived together, worked together and loved each other for over forty years...I... Can I see them?"

"Yes, they're downstairs, in the morgue."

Nia didn't flinch when she saw the bodies of her fathers. Instead she smiled, both of them looked so peaceful, so happy.

"Apparently they were holding hands when they died. We had to break their fingers..." Dr. Smyth's voice trailed off.

"Don't worry about it. May I...I mean...can I have a minute alone..."

"Certainly." Dr. Smyth nodded. "I'll be right outside if you need anything."

"Thank you." Nia waited until after he was gone, before returning to look at the bodies of her fathers. She pulled a chair close to them and sat down. They looked so happy, so peaceful, as if they knew they were going to be together forever. Probably did. Nia couldn't remember a time when she hadn't seen her fathers together. Even when they had a fight, one of them would just walk around the block, or go for a drive, but only for a few hours, before coming back home. Both men would apologize and then look in each other's eyes, hold hands and walk up the steps, smiling and laughing like school boys.

Though Nia knew that Blair was her biological father, she never thought Jim any less of a parent. "We'd never had made it without you...both." She remembered right after Tyler and Spenser were born, she, Harry and Thomas were all still in school, living in a run down house in a bad neighborhood, they had brought their daughters home to that; Nia was determined that she wouldn't ask her fathers for charity.

Jim would come with a turkey, or a ham or a chicken, saying that he'd won them in a raffle and after all, it was just he and Blair alone, far too much food for both of them. God, they must have won about a thousand raffles. Or Blair would come in with a pot of something he'd cooked, saying that Jim didn't like what he'd made and he just couldn't see throwing food away. Both of them had helped with the crib and baby toys. Jim said that the men at the station gave things to him, while Blair said that his students and staff bought things. Sometimes, Jim would take Nia aside and place a check in her hand. When Nia protested, Jim would tell her that he'd lied to Blair about giving her the money, that he told him he was going to buy something for their house.

"He'll kill me if he finds out I gave it to you. It'll be our secret."

Then, a week later, Blair would take her aside, place a check in her hand and reprise the same scenario. It didn't matter, Nia always took the money and promise to pay it back.

"No, no don't do that," Blair would say, "Jim will kill me if he finds out I gave this money to you. I mean you clearly said you wanted to make it on your own, and he respects that."

Nia would just smile and say it was their secret.

She remembered, all those nights in that neighborhood, seeing a police car cruising around the block, parking a safe distance from the house, she knew Jim sent those officers to watch out for his family, but she never said anything to him about it, and he never admitted it. When they moved into the house they now lived in, in a much safer neighborhood, Jim installed his security system in the house. When Thomas, Harry and Nia offered to pay, Jim and Blair said it was their housewarming gift to them.

Nia looked now at the two lifeless bodies. Jim, Blair. Both gone now, but both together. It was so right. Nia had been afraid to think of Blair, alone without Jim. But they were together now, and she knew they were happy. Thinking of that, caused Nia to weep. Dr. Smyth came in immediately.

"Are you alright?" he said.

"It's okay...it's okay..." Nia began to cry. Dr. Smyth gave her his handkerchief.

"I'm so sorry," he said.

"It's okay doctor...I'm not crying because I'm sad...oh, I'll miss them both...but...I'm just so happy..." Nia sighed and smiled a little, "because wherever they are, they're together."

Nia looked at the peaceful bodies of her fathers. "Because a Sentinel can't survive without his Guide."