By the Numbers
by Swellison

Jim Ellison sprawled comfortably on the sofa, watching the muted television set. The Nightly News had segued into Letterman -- the Top Ten Ways to Spot a TV Network Executive was scrolling across the screen, but Jim's attention wasn't on the TV. Rather, he focused on Blair Sandburg. His roommate was studying at the gray dining room table, pen rustling on paper. Until a few minutes ago, Blair had been typing on his laptop, immersed in his current term paper. The switch in writing apparatus meant Sandburg was thinking. While he could typewriter-compose with the best of them, the grad student preferred the old-fashioned pen and paper for brainstorming, outlining and free-associating. He put the fountain pen down and sighed softly.

Curious, Jim rose from the couch and walked over to the table. "What're you doodling, bare-naked ladies?"

"Oh, wow, you listen to them, too, man? That's great, it's high time you started broadening your music horizons. A man can only take so much Santana."

"Sandburg, what're you going on about?"

"Barenaked Ladies," Blair's hands fluttered in an "and so forth" move. "You know, the rock group."

"I was talking about this," Jim reached down for the legal notepad in front of Sandburg and picked it up. A block of numbers and letters occupied the top of the page:

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9
A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H	I
J	K	L	M	N	O	P	Q	R
S	T	U	V	W	X	Y	Z

Jim's eyes shifted from the paper to his roommate, seeking an explanation.

"Ah, my Anthro 101 class got kind of off-topic today, and we ended up discussing New Age philosophy. Kerstin, one of my students, brought up the numerology angle and showed me that." Blair pointed to the paper and continued. "It's a name-number correlation chart. The theory is that each letter of your name vibrates to a certain number. You write your name and note its corresponding numbers," Blair again gestured at the notepad in Jim's hand. Further down on the paper was

B	L	A	I	R		S	A	N	D	B	U	R	G
2	3	1	9	9		1	1	5	4	2	3	9	7		6	8
J	I	M		E	L	L	I	S	O	N
1	9	4		5	3	3	9	1	6	5				2	7	8

"The numbers off to the right are the ones that are missing from your name. The theory is that the numbers which are excluded from one's name represent the experiences one needs to achieve the cycle of completeness and rebirth. New Agers look for the missing numbers in crystals, but I thought, hey, how about finding the numbers in other people?" Blair glanced at Jim, to see how his by - the - book partner and detective was taking this New Age mumbo-jumbo, and continued softly, "I thought -- something so right, y'know?"

Jim's glance shifted to the names on the paper, with their associated numbers printed underneath.

"I mean, it's not like I'm looking for a cosmic affirmation or anything, but -- " Blair almost sighed, "It doesn't work, anyway," he murmured, momentarily forgetting that Jim could hear the softest whisper.

Jim looked from his roommate to the paper. "You left something out," he said, picking up Blair's pen and scribbling on the paper. He held the notepad in front of Blair, who immediately spotted the addition:

P	A	N	T	H	E	R
7	1	5	2	8	5	9

"See? It does work." The missing 8 in both of their names was taken care of by the "H" in Panther.

"The Panther? That's your Spirit Guide, Jim, not mine."

"Mi casa es su casa," Ellison smiled slightly, "My Panther is your Panther, too."

"But Jim -- I can't see the Panther -- only you can," Blair protested.

"Ah, ah, Chief. You're the one who told me that just because you can't see, hear, smell or touch something, doesn't mean you can't know it's there."

Blair glanced sharply at Jim, remembering the words from when his partner had been temporarily blinded by the Golden drug.

"Look at it mathematically then," Jim tried another tack. "You influence me; the Panther influences me. Surely there's an overlap of influence, therefore the Panther influences you, too."

"Set theory as taught by Jim Ellison," Blair teased, his eyes sparkling with acceptance. It did work.

Jim laughed with him, then said, "Why don't you break tradition and go to bed before midnight? We've both got a busy day at the station tomorrow."

Making sure that his laptop was logged off and shut down for the night, Sandburg gave in gracefully. He rose from the table and started walking towards his bedroom. Jim stopped him. "Next time you're looking for a cosmic affirmation of our partnership, you know where to look." Jim reached over and tapped Sandburg's chest, over the heart. "Right here."

the end

Note: Source for the numerology is "Love Is in the Earth - a Kaleidoscope of Crystals" by Melody