I remember the time the kid first showed up. Not that I'd call him that to his face, since he's about the same age as me and he knows some of the dirtiest fighting I've seen in a long time. But he had this open face and a kinda innocence, a naiveté that seemed to make him seem so young.

Now I have two kids, 8 and 10, and I'm glad they're naive. Innocent, maybe not, but I'm glad that they can grow up without having the world constantly in their faces. But in a guy who was what at the time, 25, 26? I figured he'd stick around till someone stuck a gun in his face and then he'd be high-tailing it back to mommy.

Boy, was I wrong. Since I was only a Rookie at the time myself, I figured I could live that one down. I mean the kid came down to get his observer's pass and the station gets taken over by terrorists. He must have the worst luck in history. But he kept his cool. Managed to take out a few guys on his own and almost got himself killed, but since he was alive with barely a few bruises, most people overlooked that.

What I'm trying to say is the kid had gumption. My Mom used to use that word and I have to say it fits. The kid stuck it out. I think he's been kidnapped, shot, run over, captured by terrorists, I don't know what all. It's all true, I swear!

Well, the biggest thing of all was that the kid put up with Ellison. I've been on more than a few crime scenes with the guy and my first impression was if I stayed out of his way, he wouldn't chew me up and spit me out. Maybe. He's still like that, but without the maybe. I see you agree with me.

Any way, the two of them just sorta clicked. After a few months you just couldn't imagine the one without the other. If I was a mushy kind of guy, I'd say it was sweet. But I'm not so I won't.

They've been through a lot, those two. The kid's not the only one who's been through the ringer. I think they have their own room reserved at the hospital. They invited the entire ER staff out for supper once, as a thank-you. I think it was also as an apology since more than a few people ended up with various injuries caused by getting in the way of the one when the other was hurt.

Now, no one's surprised by that sort of behavior from Ellison, heck they tell all the med students that when they walk in the door. You don't stand between Ellison and Blair if there is anything of any sort wrong with the other. But who would think that from the kid? He turns into a snarling wolf if Jim's hurt. He almost took a crowbar to this one guy who shot Jim. Would have too if their Captain hadn't stopped him.

And we can't forget the disaster. You want to see grief personified, you should have seen the look on Ellison's face when the paramedics stood over Sandburg's body and said he was dead. But Ellison didn't give up. I don't think either of them would ever give up on the other. This time the faith paid off, and the kid lived. But we all held our breath until he was out of the hospital and back at the loft. And let me tell you that took a while and a trip to Sierra Verde before that was settled.

Did I mention they even live together? Now get that look off your face. I don't know what goes on there and I don't want to know. Now I don't think they're a couple or something, but if they were, I wouldn't give a damn. I know some people would totally freak and I have to admit, I don't think it's right, but I'm not gonna hold it against those two.

Anyway, things were uneasy for a while, but they seemed to settle down. Then there was the next disaster. Turned out that our local boy was actually some kinda super hero. I'm sure you remember the hype. Since Sandburg wasn't actually a cop, he had a life outside of the precinct (unlike the rest of us) and was just about done with his degree or something. Like I said, I'm no academic. Oh, yeah, it was his Ph. D.

Anyway, some jerk of a publisher leaked his work that was on, surprise surprise, Detective Ellison. Boy did we have fun with the whole 'enhanced senses' thing. Well, they were both pissed. And not just at us. They both had their faces splashed across the news rags and TV alike. The kid could have really cashed in on this. I heard about a multi-million dollar book deal.

But instead of fame and fortune, he threw it all away, declared himself a fraud. Now that's not an easy thing to do but he did it. He lost his job at the University, got kicked out of his classes, had his funding yanked, and I think they even tried to get him to pay the grant money back. That didn't work though. Ellison called in a few favors and got that settled.

Well, after that mess, the kid went to the academy. That took more guts than that press conference he gave. Everyone at the station knew Sandburg went through the worst hazing that they could get away with at the academy and a few times they didn't get away with it. But he persevered through that too and never a complaint from him. He got his badge and after a short spin through the various departments, ended back in Major Crimes. Nobody was exactly surprised.

Once there it was like he never left. Well, except for the fact that he got a pay check and he could actually arrest someone. The two of them ended up in the same sort of trouble that always seems to find them. Jim got shot, Blair got kidnapped, they both walk into a bank just as someone tries to rob it. Actually that happened twice. I have to say, they both have the weirdest luck.

Would you believe there's actually a pool going on when the next time they end up in the middle of a situation, without even trying. I'm down for three weeks Tuesday. The last guy who won, got eighty dollars. I'd get in while the going's good, cause from the looks of it you could use the lunch money.

So all this has been happening and I bet you're sitting there wondering why I'm telling you all this. Well, let me tell you another little tale about those two. About five years ago, some reporter got nosy and started poking around the Major Crimes crowd. He gave them some cock and bull story about profiling members of the unit as some sort of public relations promo.

Since the head honchos gave the go ahead, all anyone could do was shut up and bare with it. So this guy started digging, all the time smiling that crocodile grin. How did they know about this, what led them to think that. And then he cornered Sandburg. That was his first mistake.

He started bugging the kid with questions about his studies, the transition from student to Cop and his work as a student. The guy actually had a copy of Sandburg's book. He started talking about how he wanted the world to know the truth and babbling about how people should know the people who protect them. I don't know all the details, I just ignored the guy for the most part. Anyway, Sandburg just turned everything around and managed to shut the guy up somehow. The kid has a way with words.

Then this reporter did something really stupid. He confronted Ellison. That was his second mistake. He ended up with a black eye and Ellison was reprimanded. He almost got charged with assault, but cooler heads managed to talk the reporter out of that idea. So the slime bag slunk off and that was the last we heard of him. Or so we deluded ourselves into thinking.

A month later the idiot went public with a newspaper article that dredged up the whole mess again. It cited Ellison's and Sandburg's phenomenal closure rate, the almost impossible leaps of logic and one of the more damning examples he brought up was the trial of Thomas Juno. Ellison saw the guy from over 200 yards away shoot a fellow officer, but the case was thrown out because, as the defense pointed out, that was an impossible distance to see a person with any accuracy. Any way, going public was his third mistake. And his last.

The media blitz was, dare I say it, worse than before. The two of them had reporters camped out at the precinct, around their apartment and following them when they were driving around. It was completely insane. Two cases they were working on went bad when both of their faces were plastered all over the news. Everyone had had enough.

I don't know who started it or who was the first to sign it, but a petition, or maybe more of a statement started up around the precinct. Just about every cop, civilian aid, receptionist, coroner, forensic specialist and even some of the maintenance workers signed it. There were a few idiots who didn't but nobody liked them anyway. A number of cops from other precincts and a few Feds also joined the list.

It said quite simply that Detectives Blair Sandburg and James Ellison were the best team of detectives that Cascade had ever seen. Their closure rate was the highest among comparable units across the country. It also stated that this was due to the hard work and effort of those two, not from some cartoon type super powers. It stated that the two detectives had the full support of the entire Cascade PD, and that it was the tremendous amount of time and effort, the unique perspectives offered by their contrasting backgrounds, as well as the support of the entire staff of the Cascade Police Department that led to their success.

It was released to the papers, all the local TV stations (thank the heavens that it hadn't made the national networks yet) as well as the radio stations. I was there when the kid heard about it and let me tell you I have only seen the kid speechless twice. The first time was when he was offered his badge. The next time was when he heard that statement. Hopefully I won't see it again, because it usually happens when the both of them have just been put through hell.

The point of all this is that, like I said, contrary to popular belief, I ain't stupid. Everybody knew there's something special about those two. Well, after a while, things just clicked into place. I didn't say anything and neither did anyone else but we all knew. I'm sure Sandburg would've come up with some technobabble about instinctual recognition of a Sentinel or something. Like I said I'm not an intellectual. But we all know and we aren't about to let anything happen to the two of them.

As for that reporter? Let's just say he doesn't work in Cascade anymore and that job he has in Bixby, Arizona has nothing to do with the news industry.

Now I know you're a good kid, even if you are barely dry behind the ears, so realize that I'm telling you this in confidence. This isn't something we talk about. Hell, half the time we don't even think about it out loud. So this afternoon, when you thought you saw Ellison do something weird and saw Sandburg cover for him, you did.

It's not a bad thing to tell me when you see something like that, and I'm glad you did. It gave me a chance to fill you in on things. But you keep your mouth shut about it from now on. They're both cops through and through, even if the kid doesn't look like it, and the last thing you want to do is make their life harder by saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.

They make the streets around here a lot safer to walk and they make our job easier. Number of the bigger syndicates avoid Cascade like the plague now, so most of what we deal with are our own problems and there are more than enough of those to keep us plenty busy. We do get the occasional wacko out to get even with those two, but that's another story for another day.