Title:  Shake, Rattle and Roll

Author:  Angelee

Fandom:  The Sentinel

Pairing:  Blair/Jim, Steven/Michael, Rafe/Lee (preslash) William/Daniel (slash)

Rating: Adult

Summary: See title.

Beta:  By my sister Anna.  All remaining errors are mine-with apologies

 

Shake, Rattle and Roll

 

“Blair?  Can I talk to you for a minute?”

 

Blair looked up from his coloring book.  “Yups.  What you need?”

 

Rafe sat on the edge of Blair and Jim’s bed.  “I need to ask you a very important question.  It means a lot to me if you tell me the truth.”

 

Blair tilted his head to the side as he contemplated the young Sentinel.  “I always tell truth.”

 

Rafe sighed softly.  “I know.  It’s just that…”

 

“What?  What bottering you?”

 

Rafe looked over toward where Steven lay on his bed.  Comics scattered all over the mattress.  A glass of milk and a plate of cookies within easy reach.  “I want to know why you can’t turn me off like you did Jim and Michael.”  Rafe’s eyes darkening in pain, filling with tears.  “I need to know.  Why won’t you help me?”

 

Blair sat up on the bed.  Reaching out a tiny hand.  “No cry.  I help if I could.  But no can.  It no ‘llowed.”

 

Rafe moved his hand into the gentle touch.  “But why?”  he asked, sighing softly.  “Is it because I’m different from the others?”

 

“No.”

 

“Is it because I’m always putting my foot in my mouth.  Shut up, Steven,” Rafe said at the loud snort coming from the other bed.

 

“What?  I didn’t say anything?” Steven replied, not even looking up from his comic.

 

“You snorted in a not nice way.  That’s a comment.”  Rafe turned back to Blair.  “Is it?”

 

Blair thought about it. “Different maybe.” 

 

Rafe sighed unhappily.  “I knew it.”

 

“But not reason.”

 

Rafe looked up.  Eyes full of such sadness it hurt Steven to see.  Who’d placed his comic on the bed to listen and watch.  In case he needed to help either Blair or Rafe. 

 

“Why then?”

 

Blair crawled into Rafe’s lap.  “No cry no more.  It not bad thing be different.”

 

Rafe carefully gathered the little Guide into his arms.  “But why me?  Why can’t I be like Jim and Michael?”

 

Blair looked up at him, wiping the tears streaming down Rafe’s face gently.  “Different can bees berry good.”

 

Rafe sniffed.  “I don’t want to be different.  I want to be like everyone else.”

 

“No can do.  Rafe be Sentinell.”

 

Rafe buried his face in Blair’s soft curls.  Breathing in the calming scent the little Guide was releasing.  “I know.  I wish sometimes I wasn’t.  Everything for me has gone wrong since I became Sentinel.  Well, except for Lee.  He’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”

 

Lee’ll be happy to hear that,” Steven replied.

 

“Sometimes though I think Lee hates my guts,” Rafe said, a renewed set of tears clouding his eyes.

 

“He gets annoyed with you, Rafe.  Because you’re bossy, opinionated, and keep putting your foot in your mouth.  I won’t take it to heart, you’ve always been that way, even before you turned into a Sentinel. And Lee still loves you.  Beats the hell out of me why.  But he does.”

 

“Thanks.  That makes me feel a whole lot better,” Rafe replied, sarcastically.

 

Steven smiled at him as he went to sit next to them on the bed.  “You’re welcome.”

 

Rafe rolled his eyes.  “Whatever.  Well anyway and now I’ve hit puberty and no one wants to help me.”

 

“Want, Rafe.  Buts no can.”

 

“Why?”  Rafe asked plaintively. “You help everyone else.”

 

“Is because Rafe different from otters.”

 

“How?  How am I different?”

 

“I ‘xplain,” Blair told him softly.  “No cry.”

 

“I can’t help it.  I’m sad and hurt.  I feel…” Rafe’s voice hitched. “S…so alone.”

 

Steven touched the Sentinel’s arm feeling the fine trembling.  “You’re not alone, Rafe.  Never alone.”

 

“I feel it.  Lee doesn’t really want anything do with me because I haven’t been turned off and he’s afraid that I’ll molest him at any moment.”

 

“Lee doesn’t think that.”

 

“Yes he does.  Every time I touch him he freezes.  Not enough to send me into a zone, but I can tell he really doesn’t want me touching him.”

 

Steven gently stroked Rafe’s arm.  “That’s not true.  He let you hold him while you were reading poetry to him.  He lets you hold him all the time.”

 

“Yeah, but he hasn’t let me kiss him in a week.  He turns his face every time I try.” The hurt in the young Sentinel’s voice clearly heard.

 

“Rafe, you need to understand that Lee may not be ready to give you what you need.”

 

Rafe sighed heavily.  “I know that.  I just wished he quit thinking that I’m going to take it by force.  I’m not that much of a monster.”

 

“No monster.  No say that,” Blair told him angrily.  “No monster. No! Monster!”

 

Rafe buried his face in Blair’s curls.  Using the scent the young Guide was releasing to center and calm himself.  When he felt a little more equalized he looked up.  “It feels like it sometimes.  Sometimes it feels like everyone hates me.”

 

“No one hates you, Rafe.  You’re loved.  It’s just that sometimes your big mouth gets you into a world of hurt,” Steven told him softly.  “But you’ll eventually learn to control it.  Hopefully before you get the snot beat out of you.”

 

“Hopeful by then Lee will want me the way I want him.”

 

“He will.”

 

Rafe looked at Steven, his brown eyes almost black with the pain he was feeling.  “How can you be so sure?”

 

“He loves you.”

 

Rafe looked away.  “But not the way I need him to love me.”

 

“He will.  You need to give him time to get use to the idea that you’ve gone hormonal and that your relationship will be different.”

 

Rafe looked down at the little Guide in his lap.  “Will you tell me why you can’t turn me off?”

 

Blair nodded.  “I tell. Rafe different from Jim and Michael.  No stay off.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“No stay off.”  Blair reached over and touched Rafe just below the belly button.  “Here, no stay off.  Rafe body fight.”

 

Rafe looked at the little Guide in confusion.  “Huh?”

 

Blair gave a heavy sigh.  He turned to Steven to finish explaining to the very puzzled Sentinel. 

 

Steven frowned as he worked out what Blair was talking about.  Finally his face cleared in understanding.  “Ah?”

 

“What?  What?”  Rafe asked eagerly.

 

“Blair can’t turn you off because your body’ll fight it.  It won’t take.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Steven rolled his eyes.  Sentinel’s could be so dense sometimes.  “You’re going to be so lusty that it won’t take if Blair were to try and turn you off.  Get it, dumbass?”

 

Rafe’s brown eyes widened in horror.  “I’m going to be a hornball?”

 

“Yup.”

 

“Oh, my God and that’s suppose to make me feel better?  Oh, my God,” Rafe replied, burying his face in his hands in despair.

 

“Is not all that bad, Rafe.”

 

“What do you mean not that bad?  I’ve just been told I’m a horny pervert.”

 

Steven chuckled.  “That’s not what you’ve been told you stupid twit.”

 

“Oh, yeah, make it worse with the name calling.”

 

Steven shook his head, still smile.  “Rafe.  Rafe. Rafe.”

 

“What?  What?  What?” the Sentinel asked, impatiently.

 

“You don’t get it, do you?”

 

“No.  What?”  Rafe asked, looking at Steven in puzzlement.  Which Steven had realized sometime ago that it was a permanent state for Sentinels.  If you didn’t draw them a picture, followed it with flashcards, then a walk through, they didn’t get it.

 

Steven rolled his eyes.  “You have got to be the dumbest Sentinel on the planet.”

 

Rafe made a wounded sound.  “Kick me some more when I’m down why don’t you?  You sure you wouldn’t rather hit me with a rock?”

 

“I don’t think hitting you with a rock would help it’s only scramble your brains even more.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

Steven ran his hand over Rafe’s arm, noticing the Sentinel was still trembling, but not that badly.  “I’ll just have to draw you a picture.”

 

“Thank.  I’d be appreciated.  I really don’t get anything good out of being a horny pervert.”

 

Steven reached up and cupped the back of Rafe’s head, giving him a gentle shake.  “Numbnuts.  You are not a horny pervert.  You’re going to be a person who has a lot of love to give.  Lee is one very luck person.”

 

Rafe looked at Steven.  “How do you figure that?”

 

“He’s got you.  And you’re going to love the heck out of him for the rest of your lives.  I really don’t see anything wrong with that.”

 

“But…”

 

Steven gave him another shake.  “No buts…  Did you ever consider that the powers that be, gave you to Lee for a reason?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“Lee hasn’t had it easy up to now.  Did you ever think that maybe you were giving to him to make up for all the love he’s missed out on?”

 

“You think so?”  Rafe asked, eyes hopeful for the first time since he’d come into the bed room.

 

“I know so.  Lee is very, very lucky to have you.”

 

“But he won’t even let me kiss him.”

 

“He will.”

 

Rafe looked out the window at the storm clouds gathering.  “How can you be so sure?”

 

Steven smiled at him.  “Because I know everything.”

 

Rafe smiled.  Starting to feel lots better.  “You are so full of yourself.”

 

“Yeah, well-that’s cause I know everything.”

 

Rafe chuckled.  “I guess.”

 

Steven gentle stroked the back of Rafe’s head.  “Yeah.  You feeling better?”

 

Rafe thought about it for a moment.  “Yeah, I am.  Still got a gazillion problems, but I am.”

 

“Cool.  Wanna work through those gazillion problems?”

 

“You’d be willing to do that?” 

 

Steven smiled at him.  “You betcha.  We both would.  Wouldn’t we, Blair?”

 

Blair nodded.  “Yuppers.  We’s help.”

 

Rafe kissed the top of the Guide’s curly hair.  “Thank you, Blair.  For everything.  For the scent that kept me from going completely bonkers. For telling me the truth.”

 

Blair wrapped his tiny arms around as much of Rafe as he could, giving him a hug.  “No problem.  I helps always.”

 

Rafe’s eyes filled with tears again.  This time for a different reason.  “I have got to be one of the luckiest people on the planet.”

 

“There you go.  See you’re starting to realize what we’ve always know.”

 

“What?”

 

“That you’re okay and you’re going to be okay. You’re not great, but I figure that’ll come in time.”

 

Rafe chuckled softly.  “Thanks.”

 

“No problem.” Suddenly Rafe shook his head as if to clear it.  “What is it?  What’s the matter?”  Steven asked worriedly as the young Sentinel lost all color.

 

Rafe blinked his eyes rapidly.  “Something.  Something happening.”

 

“What?”

 

“Something.”  Rafe looked around the room frantically.  “Something isn’t right.” When suddenly the whole house started shaking. 

 

“What the fuck?” Steven shouted, when the bed began bouncing wildly.

 

“Oh, my God.”

 

“What, Rafe?  What is it?”

 

“Earthquake.”

 

The bedroom started shaking violently.  Pictures started tumbling from the walls, shattering picture frames.  The bedroom windows seemed to implode sending glass flying at the three terrified boys.

 

Suddenly the walls started crumbling around them.  There was no place for them to run.  They were on the third floor.

 

Rafe held the quietly whimpering Blair closer. Trying as best he could to offer comfort.  “Steven?  What are we going to do?” he shouted.

 

Steven grabbed Rafe pulling him roughly to his feet.  “Hold on to Blair.  Let’s go.”

 

Suddenly the rumbling noise grew louder.  Then nothing…