Stop Whispering

Fanfiction
Title:	Stop Whispering
Author(s):	Grit Kitty
Date(s):
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	The Sentinel
Relationship(s):
External Links:	AO3?
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Stop Whispering is a Sentinel story by Grit Kitty.

Excerpt

""Did I ever say I want you gone?" snapped Simon.

"You sure as hell have been acting that way lately."

"Just..." Simon lifted his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "Let me look into this. Maybe I can make some discreet inquiries."

"Just like the sentinel stuff, huh." Sandburg shook his head. "I'm in a lot of closets here, and I'm starting to wonder what good it's doing me." He looked at his bandaged hand. "Jim's abilities have to remain secret, but this harassment, it has got to stop."

Simon sucked in a whoosh of breath at Sandburg's demanding tone, and his frustration broke free. "If you had just kept it in your pants, it never would have started."

"What?" Sandburg looked stunned.

"You heard me! Screwing around at a crime scene? What the hell were you thinking? And you're surprised that you're getting harassed now?"

"Wh--when?"

"After Jim let Zeller get away, I saw you; I saw you both in that hotel room. It was..." He felt ill recalling the hunger he'd seen, the open mouths, the flex of wet, pink tongue.

Sandburg looked at his hands a moment, and then at Simon, incredulous. "It --it wasn't screwing around, it was -- it was comfort, for God's sake! He thought Zeller shot me! He thought I died!"

"It looked bad to me," said Simon, but he could feel his conviction wavering.

"Oh, just like it looked bad when you wouldn't let go of Daryl all that day when the Sunrise Patriots took over the station?"

Simon glared at him. "I wasn't doing anything inappropriate."

"And Jim and I were? If one of us had been a woman, you'd never think twice about it! I can't believe you're such a bigot!"

Simon's guts froze and his voice chilled. "Get the hell out of my house, Sandburg. Now." He laid the paper on the table for Sandburg to pick up."

Reactions and Reviews

This is a terrific established relationship story which deals with homophobia and stereotypes. Unbeknownst to them, Blair and Jim are seen kissing at a crime scene after Blair has a close call. Shortly thereafter, the harassment starts up at the station--aimed almost entirely at Blair. After all, he's the long-haired poster-child for alternate lifestyles, right? He must be the "fag", the one who's corrupting macho, ex-Ranger cop Jim. This story is a fascinating, often ugly portrayal of what a gay man, especially one in such a tenuous position as Blair--an academically inclined "civilian observer" in a traditionally macho police environment--might encounter upon being outed. We see a range of reactions from Jim and Blair's friends and colleagues, including outright disgust and ugly hatred, discomfort and awkwardness, and easy acceptance. Simon's characterization is especially well done; he's a good man, but he's very uncomfortable with the idea of his friend being gay. When Blair comes to him about the harassment, will he do the right thing?

Best FF That Teaches You to Beware of Staircases and Watch Your Step on Crime Scenes: Stop Whispering, by grit kitty. The Sentinel, Jim/Blair. Here, grit kitty tackles one of those weird fandom conventions; in Sentinel fan fiction, homophobia doesn't exist. Or it does, but only in the same way that sneezes exist; they happen, they go away quickly, and they have no real effect on anything. But Jim's a cop, and cops are not famed for their cheerful acceptance of their colleagues' alternative lifestyles. In this one, grit kitty plays out a very realistic, rather grim scenario, in which Jim and Blair out themselves and things go about halfway to hell. I love that no one is entirely clean here. I also love that grit kitty keeps things from reeling off the edge of "unpleasant" straight into "overdone angst," and that she manages to patch things up without making them any less real. Also, check out the three-dimensional Simon in this story; a human Simon is a rare bird indeed.