By Polly

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Rating: G

Notes: Since Lasairfhion was so brave to post her J/OMC snippet, I thought I'd bookend that by posting a yet-to-be-finished story in my Obligation Universe, which is a series of crossover stories (The Sentinel/The X-Files) in which Alex Krycek (Sasha) develops enhanced senses after being murdered by Skinner (uh, not that I have an opinion about that or anything) and Blair leaves Cascade to be his shaman guide, and they work together to thwart the alien invasion. The title is from a quote by Geronimo, btw.

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Blair knew he'd never be able to completely 'check his humanity at the door', because his humanity was the very thing that gave him the strength to battle the inhumane.

Still, he had come to accept that surrendering to his emotions would mess him up and make him an ineffective operative... and while he might be willing to risk being ineffective on his own behalf, he would never risk Sasha.

So he'd reconsidered the way he felt about a lot of things.

He'd never liked carrying a gun. He'd done it as an employee of the Cascade PD, but he hadn't enjoyed it and he hadn't carried it one single moment longer than necessary - meaning, he carried while on duty and that was it. His service weapon had remained locked away otherwise. He'd practiced with it the bare minimum required to maintain a passing score at the range, and he'd resented every second of that, too.

Not any more. He carried now the way Sasha did, which was almost every waking moment. His automatic stayed within easy reach even when he slept, bathed, or while he and Sasha made love. He practiced his marksmanship often, daily when possible. He kept his weapon - and himself - in excellent working condition; learning tips from Sasha about correcting his firing stance and lining his sight, as well as hand to hand maneuvers that were a dirty fighter's wet dream.

He'd grown stronger, while his hair had grown longer - something that amused him when he thought of the biblical allusions - and was in the best physical shape of his life.

He'd been surprised by how easy it was for him to become a warrior. Certainly it was easier than becoming a shaman had been. There was a voluntary sense of urgency that surrounded the improvement of his combat skills; where he'd practically had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the shaman thing.

The irony of all that wasn't lost on Blair. It was so reflective of Sasha's enthusiasm for honing his senses versus Jim's reluctance to accept them that Blair had had to meditate on it a few times in order to settle the dichotomy within himself.

Which he'd done.

He was a shaman *and* he was a warrior. He wasn't the first - look at Incacha. He'd also read once that Geronimo could delay the sunset and cause soldiers' bullets to miss... good skills for a shaman/warrior.

His growth as a warrior, however, had been fueled by his fears for their chances of victory. To paraphrase Lombardi, winning wasn't everything, it was the only thing, and losing this war meant losing not just the planet, but Sasha, too.

And losing Sasha was simply unacceptable, which meant *he* had to be willing to do whatever it took to survive.

He had to be.

Fin

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