Skinsgame

Fanfiction
Title:	Skinsgame
Author(s):	Barb G
Date(s):	30 May 1999
Length:	17,828 words
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	The Sentinel
Relationship(s):
External Links:	Skinsgame at AO3 Skinsgame at the 852 Prospect collection on AO3
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Skinsgame is a Jim/Blair story by Barb G.

It was hosted at 852 Prospect and imported with the rest of the archive to Archive of Our Own in 2013.

Author's summary: "On an undercover assignment, Jim needs Blair to keep the ugliness away."

Reactions and Reviews

It never really occurred to me to wonder how Jim could continue going undercover when he's such a high profile cop until I read Skinsgame by Barb G. In her story, Jim must infiltrate a group of vicious skinheads by pretending to be a closet racist and bad cop. Barb does a great job showing the toll this takes on Jim's sense of self and his relationship with Blair, not to mention how freakin' dangerous it is.

She came, she wrote a few stories...then she went Due South. Which I'm okay with, believe me, but I wish she'd visit Cascade on alternate weekends. Holds the distinction of one of the few authors I'll read who uses 'cum' instead of 'come'.

There was no way I would be expected to go along with this. No way in hell. This totally went above and beyond the call of duty. I took a couple running steps to catch up with him. "You don't understand," I said, speaking quietly so that only Fiddler could hear me. I tried to pass off the terror in my voice as embarrassment. "I am shit scared of the needle gun. I tried to, with the Rangers, but I couldn't sit still for it."

Fiddler waved off my words, and motioned me into his private chamber. He shut the door, leaving us alone. "I like you, Jim. I think what you did took guts. This is the final test of your convictions. If you get this done, then I'll know you are one of us. If you don't, I might think the whole thing was a setup. Believe me, Ellison, they will never find what remains of your body. I'll send your heart back to your ape supervisor with a bite out of it. What will it be?"

Why you should read this: Intense angst, incendiary sex--and plenty of it--that's often contingent on plot (I know, the mind boggles--when's the last time you saw that), grown-up characterization, and a fine, tightly woven blend of case-story and relationship-story.

What might throw you off stride: The climax of the story feels a bit premature and the ending rushed, but perhaps that's just because I wanted this to be much, much longer.