Chapter One: Precipitation

Voice of True Danziger:

"Things are going pretty well right now. School is still a royal pain, but Dad's been much better about all of those rules he made when we first got to this planet. Now, he's a lot more relaxed about everything. He doesn't check on me all the time to make sure that I'm safe like he used to. He even lets Uly and me go off and play as long as Bess or Zero are nearby.

I think that Dad is a lot happier, too. He smiles tons more than he did before we came here. I'm not used to him smiling very much except for when he's around me or back when Alex and Les were alive. I think that he wanted everyone to think that he was mean so they'd leave him alone. But now, Dad smiles when he talks to Devon. Sometimes he even laughs. It's kind of weird, if you ask me."

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Despite the thunderstorm that had raged through camp the prior evening, Devon awoke from a peaceful night's slumber. She lazily turned over to face the tent's opening and noticed the wet grass lining the mud stained edges of the canvas where the fabric met the ground. She reshut her eyes and blissfully remembered her dream; the same one she'd had every night for the past month. In truth, the images in her mind were better described as a memory; the remembrance of a recent night spent in the arms of another. It was the evening that Devon had abandoned her inhibitions and acted on her need to show John how she'd felt about him. And he had done the same, matching her every movement and desire along with surprising her with a few of his own. Since then, each and every night as she closed her eyes and the darkness claimed her, so did he. Her visions of their lovemaking, once in the water and once on the nearby hill overlooking the lake, played themselves on a continuous loop in her mind. Devon cherished each passionate moment as though it was a priceless gift; a treasure that was as pleasureful as it was irreplaceable.

Although they'd mutually decided to wait on a relationship until Eden Advance arrived at New Pacifica, sometimes it wasn't easy for her. Often the urge to touch him was almost too much for Devon to bear. And if it did occur, then there was real trouble. Something as innocent as brushing against his arm as they passed each other could open the door to all sorts of feelings, many of them primal in nature.

Devon had no idea if John was also suffering from these same bouts of inner turmoil. Privacy was a luxury that seemed to elude them both at every turn. Whether they were hiking across the continent, eating in the mess tent or seated around the campfire at night, the couple always appeared to be under the watchful eye of at least one member of Eden Project. If she and John decided to go for a walk around the grounds, someone would either insist on tagging along with them or would miraculously show up just as the two were about to enjoy a private moment. Because of this, the pair was forced to limit the scope of their conversations to strictly business and nothing more. And although there had certainly been an infusion of playfulness in their more recent exchanges with each other, their interactions remained completely platonic.

Maybe it's better this way, Devon rationalized to herself as she rose from her bed and began to dress. Never getting the opportunity to be alone with Danziger enabled them to concentrate on getting the group to the west coast instead of selfishly focusing their attentions on each other. Plus, they still had the memories of their single, glorious night spent together as lovers instead of just co-leaders of Eden Advance. For now, that would have to be enough to sustain them.

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"Hey, Adair. Wait up," John called out to the leader as she made her way toward the meal tent for breakfast. He couldn't believe his good fortune that, at least for the moment, she was by herself. For some strange reason that he had yet to understand, he never got the chance to see her alone anymore.

Devon stopped to allow him to catch up to her. "Morning, Danziger," she said with a warm smile.

"Morning," he grinned. "Sleep well?"

"Like a baby."

He raised an eyebrow and quickly looked her up and down. "So that storm didn't keep you tossin' and turnin' all night?" he asked, somehow managing to make the innocent question sound ripe with innuendo.

Devon glanced around to ensure that they were out of range from prying ears before deciding to drop a few suggestive hints of her own. "Not at all. I never have any trouble falling asleep." She intentionally lowered her voice to a huskier tone. "You see, there's this thing I do."

Danziger's head shot backward, caught completely off-guard by the unexpected turn in their conversation. He tried to gulp, but found that he had suddenly been rendered unable to swallow.

"Uh, what 'thing?'" he finally sputtered out. Perhaps he shouldn't be hearing this.

Devon was amazed that she was able to stifle her laughter, especially taking into consideration that John's eyes were now twice their normal size and his pupils had all but disappeared. Yet, somehow she forged ahead.

"I think that Yale calls it 'guided imagery.'" She took a step closer. "I lie in bed, completely in the dark and push all of the stress and negativity out of my mind. Then, I picture an image that I find enjoyable. Something that relaxes me." She paused before whispering seductively, "And it's even better if it's something that has a rhythm to it-"

"Hey, guys, how's it going?" came the interruption from an overly perky Walman. He stepped in between the couple, but not before heartily slapping Danziger on the shoulder. Briefly, Danziger considered slapping Walman back, only a whole lot harder.

"What are you two talking about?" the crewman inquired, acting as though he had no idea that he was intruding.

Danziger was still too caught up in Devon's description of her sleep habits to answer him, so it was left to Devon to manufacture a convincing explanation. "We were talking about insomnia."

"Oh, I never have that," Walman offered. "I use that 'guided imagery' thingamabob. You know, where you think of something relaxing... like a waterfall or something along those lines."

At last, Danziger rediscovered his ability to speak and turned to him wearing a deadpan expression. "I think I know exactly what you mean."

Walman took a few paces toward the meal tent and stopped when he realized that Devon and Danziger weren't following. "Well, aren't you coming? Breakfast is almost over."

The pair gave each other a long, pained look before reluctantly falling into step behind their latest self-appointed chaperone.

After a few moments of silence, John dryly murmured to Devon, "So Walman falls asleep easily. Who knew?"

When the three reached the entrance of the mess tent, Danziger attempted to be chivalrous by lifting the flap to permit Devon first entry. Unfortunately, he didn't notice the large pool of rain that had collected in the canvas directly above the door. Just as Devon crossed the threshold, several streams of the displaced water splashed downward directly onto her head, soaking her.

"Devon, I'm," John halted his words when he was overcome with laughter at the sight of her; so much so that it took a few moments for him to catch his breath. "I'm sorry," he eventually was able to apologize between guffaws.

Devon didn't find her circumstance nearly as amusing as he did. "Yeah, I can tell by the sincerity in your voice that you're all broken up about it," she remarked, visibly annoyed as she rung out her hair.

Danziger was about to respond when he peered beyond Devon's water drenched form to see who was in the tent observing their conversation. He was a bit unnerved to find that, with the exception of Walman who was standing behind him, every member of Eden Advance was present. Moreover, all of them had turned to face the doorway and seemed to be eagerly awaiting his reply to the irritated leader.

The mechanic considered the best way to handle the situation and keep things from escalating any further. He finally opted for the casual approach.

"Aw, come on, Devon. It's just a little water," he shrugged. "Nothin' to get upset over."

She hesitated before coolly responding, "Really?"

Before John could answer her, Devon sprang into action. She stepped into the tent, leaving Danziger alone in the doorway and, with all of her might, she pushed upward on the canvas over the door where the reservoir of rain had gathered. A flood of water spilled over the edge and completely saturated Danziger, the sheer force of the flow almost knocking him to the ground in the process.

No words were spoken nor did anyone move a muscle for several seconds. The only noise heard was the dripping sound of liquid trickling from Danziger's sodden clothes. A breeze blew through camp and the mechanic shuddered from the sudden flash of cold. As he finally regained his bearings, John realized that Devon had been right all along. Being doused with dirty rainwater wasn't nearly as funny as he'd first thought.

"Aw, come on, Danziger. It's just a little water. Nothing to get upset over," Devon declared triumphantly.

John's lips barely moved as he mumbled something unintelligible under his breath.

"What?" Devon asked, leaning in toward him. "What did you say?"

He released a slow breath and met Devon's victorious gaze. She clearly had no idea what she was in for.

His words were spoken slowly as he growled through clenched teeth, "If I were you, I'd start running."

Now, it was Danziger's turn to act. The entire room erupted with a mixture of loud surprise and giddy excitement when the mechanic lunged toward Devon. The leader just barely staggered backwards fast enough to avoid the scope of his long reach. She ran further into the tent toward the closest folding table prompting Mazatl and Denner to scramble for cover, neither one of them willing to become an accidental casualty of someone else's war. The rest of the crowd fanned around the feuding pair, gawking at them as if they were watching a sports match where the teams had gone into sudden death. Devon briefly considered grabbing Morgan to use as a human shield, but thought better of it when she realized that involving the bureaucrat in their battle would only serve to inspire Danziger to become more violent. So instead, Devon barricaded herself behind the table and made a feeble attempt to reason with the angry, dripping-wet man.

She inquired with a strained chuckle, "Come on, Danziger! Where'd your sense of humor go?"

"You drowned it," he snarled, making a wild dash toward the right side of the table, causing Devon to retreat toward the left to stay directly across from him.

Devon held up both hands in surrender. "Let's declare a truce, okay? No hard feelings."

"Nope. Not a chance," he said, bolting for the left side.

The leader matched his maneuvers and remained out of his clutches. "Please, John," she insisted, specifically choosing one of her more diplomatic tones. "We'll call it even and be done with it."

The mechanic snorted. "You got a lot of nerve pulling that crap."

"What? You deserved it," she exclaimed indignantly before the hint of a grin shone through. "Plus, that was payback for the time you threw that mug of water on me."

"Jesus, that was nine months ago, woman!" he said, exasperated.

"I was biding my time!"

"Uh-huh," he said as he madly lurched across the table, inadvertently sending bowls and utensils sailing to the ground and almost losing his balance in the process. Devon took this as her chance to escape and made a break for the exit. John could hear her peals of laughter as she sprinted into the filtered sunlight.

"See you later, Danziger!"

Unwilling to accept defeat, especially one with so many witnesses, John raced after her in hot pursuit. The onlookers anxiously piled out after them with True and Uly leisurely bringing up the rear. The two children briefly looked at each other and rolled their eyes, embarrassed by their parent's behavior. Adults can be so immature sometimes, both groaned to themselves.

Devon increased her speed when she heard the squeaking noise of wet boots quickly gaining on her. In an attempt to shake her pursuer, she made a hard turn toward the right with the intention of circling around the Martin tent and then heading back toward the safety of the crowd. She never made it that far.

The group watched in fascination as Devon, quickly followed by Danziger, vanished behind the tent, but failed to reappear on the other side. Instead, they heard a slight scuffle and then Devon's angry shrieks.

"Danziger! Dammit, John! Stop!"

The mechanic finally emerged from the shadows wearing a prevailing smile. The trophy signifying his victory was proudly hoisted over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Danziger, put me down!" Devon yelled as she continued to struggle against him.

The fuming leader could only see the ground behind her as she was paraded in front of the hooting and hollering spectators. She could also tell that Danziger's stride was now infinitely more confident than it had been before her capture.

I bet he's wearing a cocky grin, too, Devon supposed. Boy, was she ever going to make him pay dearly for this.

"Put- me- down!" she ordered as she squirmed in his grasp.

His tone was now jovial as he demanded, "Say you're sorry first."

"No!"

"Then you're stayin' right where you are." Now, he was chuckling, which only made her angrier.

"I swear, John, you put me down this instant or so help me!"

Danziger stopped walking and asked with sincerity in his voice, "You really want me to put you down, huh?"

"Yes." Finally, he was listening to her, Devon reflected with relief. Now, if she could only persuade John to follow her orders. Well, there was a first time for everything.

"Right here?" he asked.

"Yes!"

"This very spot?"

God, the man is infuriating. "Yes," she commanded. "Put me down right here!"

John pretended to ponder his choices for a moment until a decision was reached. "Well, okay. If you insist."

Before she could react, Danziger slung Devon forward, catching and cradling her in his arms. Suddenly, her wriggling ceased. Devon had been so focused on winning their argument that she'd failed to recognize that this was the closest she'd been to John since their night at the lake.

As she turned her head upward to meet his stare, Devon observed the look of awareness in Danziger's blue eyes, showing her that he'd made the same realization. A few seconds passed before they were finally able to free themselves from the magnetic pull of their gazes. With expressions that faintly hinted at their underlying desire, they wordlessly reached an understanding with one another that, even if they were inclined to act on their temptation for physical contact, now was certainly not the time or the place to do it.

To that end, Danziger reinitiated the final step of his original plan. He relocked his mischievous gaze upon Devon's now subdued features and ever-so-gently lowered her to the ground... right into a large puddle of water.

Not too surprisingly, Devon's anger came back in full force. "Danziger!"

John jumped back before she could splash him or yank him in with her. He turned and lightly bowed to the cheering crowd, reveling in his triumph.

"I'm going to get you for this, John!"

Yeah, and your little dog, too, Danziger smirked to himself, quoting the line of a popular film-chip that included a melting witch that he'd seen as a kid. Sensing that the entertainment was over for the morning, he began to make his way back toward the meal tent.

"Where do you think you're going?" Devon called out to him while Yale gave her a hand and pulled her out of the puddle.

"Didn't you hear Walman?" he answered nonchalantly over his shoulder as he kept walking. "He said that breakfast is almost over."

"Hey!" she hollered, causing John to stop and rotate to face her.

"What?"

Devon knew that she should be furious with the mechanic. She should also be humiliated that she'd made a fool out of herself in front of the entire crew. But, strangely, as she looked at John, Devon wasn't feeling any of those things. She was having way too much fun to be concerned about the temporary absence of her dignity.

"Make me a plate of food, too, okay? I'm famished," she relayed without an ounce of hostility in her voice as she proceeded toward her quarters to change into some dry clothing.

Danziger was obviously unconcerned about his own soaked attire and nodded back. "I'll save you a seat," he smiled with a gleam in his eye before disappearing into the shade of the tent.

Both children tramped away to join their respective parents, leaving the remaining Edenites to huddle together and assess the latest developments in the unusual and sometimes downright bizarre saga of Devon and Danziger's (non)courtship of one another.

Bess grabbed Morgan's hand and blurted out excitedly, "I really thought they were going to kiss for a moment, didn't you?"

"Me, too," Magus agreed. "Did you see Devon's face when John started to put her down?"

"Hell, did you see Danziger's face?" Walman snickered. "There's no doubt about it, the man's crazy about her."

"Or just plain crazy," Morgan muttered.

As amusing as it sometimes was, Baines was getting tired of the pair's endless attempts to conceal their relationship. "Dammit, why can't they just admit that they're in love and get it out in the open already?"

"Yeah, they're making this way too complicated on everyone," Cameron complained.

The group momentarily broke off their conversation when they observed a newly outfitted Devon exit her tent with Uly and stroll toward the mess tent for her promised breakfast. Magus and Cameron quickly trotted away to meet the pair before they arrived at their destination, thus ensuring that they were present to witness all of Devon and John's interactions.

Walman wasted no time and also purposefully marched toward the meal tent with a mission of his own. There was no way in hell that he was going to stand idly by while Cameron put the moves on Magus. Walman began to lose his temper just thinking about it. Magus belonged to him and he to her. Well, sure he'd never told this to Cameron or even to Magus for that matter, but that part was irrelevant to Walman. What was important was that, whether she knew it or not, Magus had stolen his heart. And he'd be damned if Cameron thought that he could just swoon in and wreck everything that Walman and Magus had between them (or will have between them as soon as Walman gets the courage to admit to Magus how he feels about her). Yep, Walman reflected to himself, Cameron had better watch his step.

The other colonists (with the exception of Bess, of course) were oblivious to Walman's inner conflict as he strode away and disappeared into the dwelling with the other crewmembers. Instead, they continued to focus their energies on Devon and Danziger and restarted their conversation where it had been left off.

Alonzo folded his arms in front of him and said with a self-assured grin, "Don't worry, they're gonna slip up soon."

"We just have to keep monitoring them," Denner nodded.

Mazatl added, "Or keep them separated until one or both of them explode from the pressure."

"And until then, we get the added benefit of torturing them on a daily basis," Alonzo exclaimed with delight.

Julia declared confidently, "And judging from this morning's antics, I doubt they'll last much longer."

"Yep," Alonzo expressed with certitude. "It's just a matter of time."

Chapter Two: Storm Front

Only a few hours later, the caravan was halted when Baines inadvertently got the Transrover stuck by driving it into a patch of mud. Although Danziger was able to successfully maneuver the vehicle back onto drier land, the underside of the carriage was a muddy mess. To make matters worse, several of the instruments were now coated with sludge and would need to be carefully flushed out to prevent them from corroding any faster than they already were. Because John stated that it would take at least half a day to restore the 'Rover to its prior state, Devon grudgingly announced for camp to be set up for the night.

Baines, Walman and Mazatl stayed busy scrubbing down the Transrover's mud-caked frame while Danziger, True and Denner performed the more delicate task of removing several parts and inspecting them for damage before cleaning the pieces by hand and reinstalling them. It was slow, messy work and Danziger was already in a foul mood when Devon happily sashayed up to the muck covered crew.

"Hello, Danziger," she said cheerfully.

John set aside the CV-joint he'd been wiping down with a rag and eyed her suspiciously. He'd quite naturally assumed that Devon would be upset that they were falling one more day behind schedule due to Baines' mishap. Instead, she was looking at him like the cat that had just swallowed the canary. In other words, something was definitely up.

"My, my, aren't we chipper?" he offered cynically before repicking up the gadget and laying it on a nearby blanket to sundry with several other cleaned components. "I figured that you were coming over here to read me the riot act. Or maybe to tell me to work faster."

Devon followed him as he grabbed a wrench and made his way back underneath the Transrover to extract another part almost completely hidden under a thick layer of ooze.

"Not at all," she brightly exclaimed. "I just wanted to ask if you'd mind keeping an eye on Uly for the next couple of hours, that's all."

"Yeah, sure," John grunted while fighting to loosen a particularly tight bolt. After thinking about it, he asked in a slightly accusatory tone, "Wait a minute. Where are you off to?"

"Alonzo and I are taking the Dunerail and scouting ahead," Devon announced enthusiastically, grinning from ear to ear. "Maybe we'll do a little foraging while we're at it."

At this point, Denner and the others in the cleaning crew were becoming suspicious of Devon's odd behavior, too. They stopped working and exchanged baffled glances with each other as they tried to figure out why their leader would be so happy to be spending time with Alonzo. Had they missed something? Perhaps the plot was thickening.

Danziger was just as, if not more, curious than they were. "Somethin' you want to share with the class, Adair?" he asked evenly, noticing that the group was hanging on their every word.

"Nope. Nothing really to tell," she shrugged, feigning indifference. Then a look of evil glee overtook her face as she delivered the news that she knew would bring Danziger hours and hours of emotional torment. "Except that I'm driving."

Just as she had suspected, Devon's verbal arrow hit its mark. "Great. That's all I need right now," John grimaced, tossing the wrench to the ground and rising to his feet. "Look, if you got a problem with me, deal with me directly. Don't take it out on my vehicles."

"Oh, stop taking everything so personally," she mildly scolded, rolling her eyes. "I'll return it in perfect condition."

Danziger let out an exaggerated sigh. Every day that woman steals at least a month off of my life, he grumbled to himself.

"Fine, take the Dunerail," he conceded under the fabricated notion that he'd been given a choice in the matter. He took a step closer and warned, "But there'd better not be so much as a scratch or a missing chip of paint on it when you get back, do ya' hear me? And God help you both if there's a dent."

Devon snorted and shook her head as she started to walk toward a waiting Alonzo. Danziger continued in a louder voice, "I mean it, Adair. I'm gonna check it over personally."

Clearly not intimidated, Devon spun around and planted her hands defiantly on her hips. "Give it the white glove test, if you want. You won't find a thing."

She flashed a quick smile before rotating back and resuming her journey toward the Dunerail. John gave her a scrutinizing stare as she climbed into the vehicle and she and the pilot zoomed off into the distance.

When the two were no longer in view, Danziger turned his attention back to working on the Transrover, completely unaware of the looks he was getting from the surrounding crew. He was much too busy lost in his own thoughts as he found himself mentally cataloging the many facets of Devon's unique personality.

Annoying.

Overly confident.

Opinionated.

Quick tempered.

Inflexible.

Moody.

Pushy (make that very pushy).

Occasional God complex.

Absolutely irresistible.

He could hardly wait to get to New Pacifica.

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A little less than two hours after Devon and Alonzo left camp, Magus came rushing up to the Transrover frantically calling Danziger's name.

"John! John, you gotta get to the comm tent!" she implored.

Realizing that something was wrong, the mechanic jumped to his feet and instinctively looked for True. After confirming that she was safe, he worriedly asked the crew woman, "Why? What's wrong?"

"Just come quick," she urged before turning to the rest of the small group. "And somebody needs to find Julia, too." Magus tried her best to contain the panic in her voice as she pivoted back to Danziger and revealed, "There's been an accident."

Danziger was met by Yale, Bess, Morgan and Cameron as he rushed into the canopy-style tent which housed all of the communication equipment that Eden Project had managed to salvage from the crash. Bess swirled the eyepiece of her gear away from her face in order to address the mechanic.

"Don't worry. They're fine. We're on with Alonzo right now," she told him using her most comforting tone after viewing the distressed look on his face.

As per usual, John didn't have his gear with him, so he motioned for Cameron to toss him a spare set laying on a nearby table. He quickly logged on and was greeted by Alonzo whose face sported a split lip along with several scratches on his forehead.

"What happened? You guys all right?" Danziger questioned anxiously.

"Yeah, we're okay," the pilot assured, although he did appear slightly ill at ease. "There was a koba in our path and Devon swerved off the road to avoid hitting it. She accidentally rolled the 'Rail down an embankment."

He paused before reluctantly adding, "You're gonna have to come because I'll need some help to get it upright again. I think it's still drivable, but you should bring your tools, just in case."

Danziger was unconvinced and had no problem showing it. "Do a PV scan, so I can see how bad it is," he instructed gruffly.

Solace began walking toward the edge of the hillside to enable Danziger and the others to survey the severity of the damage. As he swiveled the eyepiece outward, he quickly panned past the image of Devon who was sitting on the ground with her head buried in her hands.

"See? It doesn't look too banged up," Alonzo optimistically commented after focusing in on the impaired vehicle. "It just needs flipping over and maybe a few minor repairs."

Danziger was no longer interested in inspecting the wreckage. Now, his mind was on something else entirely. "Tell Adair to get on her gear."

Solace swung the eyepiece back to its original position, centering solely on his image. He briefly glimpsed in the leader's direction and responded, "She can't. It was busted in the crash."

"Then give her your set. I wanna talk to her."

Alonzo again averted his eyes toward an unseen Devon before awkwardly relaying, "She won't, I mean, uh, she says that she doesn't really feel like talking right now."

"Why? Is she hurt?" John asked with a furrowed brow.

Yale turned to the mechanic, divulging, "Devon is fine, although she did hit her head on the steering wheel when they wrecked. It's probably just a bump, but you should bring Julia with you. Both of them have a few cuts and bruises that need to be looked at."

"Well, if she's okay then she can get her ass on gear and tell me herself," Danziger exclaimed, his impatience growing with each syllable.

Bess and Yale exchanged a momentary glance before the Earth-res disclosed, "Well, um, the rest of us spoke with her right before you got here and she didn't look too much worse for the wear. Right, everyone?"

The others in the tent all nervously shook their heads in agreement with Bess' statement. With a jolt of awareness, Danziger rocked back on his heels and clenched his fists tightly as he realized the sobering truth.

It wasn't that Devon didn't want to talk. She just didn't want to talk to him.

A deep growl escaped the pit of Danziger's throat as he roughly removed the gear from his head and reset it on the table. "Is the ATV charged?" he questioned Cameron through gritted teeth.

When the crewman nodded back in affirmation, John declared in a no-nonsense tone, "Good. Tell 'em that Julia and I will be there as fast as we can." He then turned to march out of the tent before he lost his composure.

"John, wait," Yale said, grabbing him by the arm. "You're going to have to hurry. There's another storm coming in from the northwest and it will probably be on top of them by sundown. Be sure to take some extra supplies because the four of you will most likely be stuck there until tomorrow when the rest of us can catch up to you."

Bess appeared next to Danziger, offering, "Why don't you let me load up the ATV while you and Julia get everything that you need, all right?"

The mechanic exhaled deeply. "Okay. Thanks." He motioned toward Julia who'd obviously just been alerted about the accident and was hurriedly approaching them to find out the details. "Fill her in on what's going on and tell her to meet me back here in fifteen minutes."

Without waiting for a response, John took off in the direction of his quarters in order to retrieve his tools and pack a few personal items. As he lifted the flap, he looked back just in time to see Yale place his gear onto Uly's head, presumably so that the child could speak with his mother.

Danziger shook his head in frustration. "Can't avoid me forever, Adair," he muttered to himself as he charged into his tent to collect his things.

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"Hey, I think I see them!" Alonzo called down to Devon from the top of the small mesa he'd climbed to get a better view of their surroundings.

Although at that distance, the ATV appeared to Alonzo as little more than a migrating billow of dirt and mud, he could easily tell that Danziger was traveling at a breakneck pace, pushing the vehicle to its limits as he slid around displaced boulders and large puddles of water. Despite the fact that Solace was more than a little nervous about catching hell from John for wrecking one of his prized vehicles, he let out a relief-filled sigh at the welcome sight of them. As a gust of wind whipped through his hair and rustled his clothes, Alonzo turned to view the black, foreboding clouds quickly moving in from the opposite direction.

Looks like we're caught smack dab in the middle of two approaching tempests, Solace inwardly joked. However, after taking another look at those ominous storm clouds which were getting closer by the minute, the pilot concluded that incurring Danziger's wrath would likely be the lesser of the two evils that he and Devon were going to be subjected to that evening.

It was late afternoon and the already gray skies were slowly continuing to darken when Julia and Danziger finally arrived at their destination. They jumped out of the vehicle and were met by a slightly sheepish, but very grateful Alonzo and Devon.

Alonzo wasted no time and wrapped his arms around Julia, pulling her into an affectionate hug. "Hey there, stranger."

"Hey, yourself," the doctor warmly greeted. Momentarily forgetting about his split lip, Julia gave him a quick peck on the mouth, eliciting a yelp from the pilot.

"Oops, sorry about that," Julia apologized before breaking into a grin. "So much for the idea of kissing your cut to make it better."

"Just when I thought that your bedside manner couldn't get any worse," Alonzo said with a chuckle while the doctor opened her med-bag and began to attend to the superficial abrasions on his face.

Meanwhile, Devon and John's reunion wasn't quite as pleasant. After conducting a brief, albeit intense, examination of Devon's features upon his arrival, Danziger basically chose to ignore her. Instead, he concentrated on the task of unloading the supplies from the ATV. Devon already knew that she was in deep trouble when she apprehensively approached him.

"I'm so glad that you're here," she expressed, looking slightly flustered as she fidgeted with the ring on her right hand.

He stopped working and straightened up to his full height, rigidly folding his arms in front of him. Devon noticed for the first time that his skin and clothes were still coated with dirt, most likely because he hadn't been given the opportunity to clean up after fixing the Transrover.

"Are you all right?" he asked, his voice as equally hard as the expression displayed on his face.

"I just got scraped up a little, that's all," Devon assured, briefly lifting her arm to show him a scabbing elbow. She pulled back her bangs to reveal a purplish bruise. "Except for this goose-egg."

John took a step forward in order to examine the size and discoloration of the knot on her forehead more closely. His fingertips lightly circled the edge of the bump just where the skin was starting to swell.

"Guess it's a good thing that I'm so hardheaded, huh?" Devon jested, making a feeble attempt at humor to try to lighten his mood.

Not even the hint of a smile escaped Danziger's lips. "So, you're okay?" he said coolly, dropping his hand to his side and taking several paces backward to put some distance between them.

Devon's own grin vanished as he retreated away from her. Boy, she'd really done it this time. John was so angry that he didn't even want to be near her.

"I'm fine. It's just a bruise."

"Why don't you let me be the judge of that?" Julia called out from behind the couple as she and Alonzo joined them.

John was all business as he looked past Devon toward Julia, stiffly instructing, "Check Devon out to make sure that she doesn't have a concussion. If she's really okay then, after that, both of you can unpack the rest of our stuff and put up the tents." His eyes returned to Devon. "That is, unless you had the forethought to crash the 'Rail near a large cave."

Devon's eyes narrowed at the mechanic's cynical remark. "No such luck," Alonzo replied before Devon could supply an appropriate retort.

"Okay, then," Danziger continued, his stern gaze remaining squarely on Devon. He gestured toward a nearby cluster of boulders. "You may want to set up camp near that rock formation over there. That way, we can at least shield ourselves from some of the wind. While you're doing that, 'Lonz and I will work on the 'Rail."

The sound of not so distant thunder reverberated in their ears to remind them of the seriousness of their situation. Danziger clapped his hands together.

"We don't have a whole lot of time here people, so let's get to it," he said firmly, picking up his tool box and setting off for the overturned vehicle which lay at the bottom of an incline about two hundred yards away from where they were standing.

After John disappeared over the slope, Devon turned to Julia, asking, "Has he been acting this surly all day?"

"No," the doctor answered as she scanned Devon's vital statistics with her diaglove. "Actually those were the first words he's spoken since we left camp two hours ago." She added with a shrug, "Although I could hear him grinding his teeth together for most of the trip."

Their conversation was interrupted by loud shouts carried by the wind from the base of the nearby hill. "Hurry up and get down here, Solace!" Danziger yelled with a ferocity that rivaled the impending squall. "I can't flip this damn thing over by myself!"

All three exchanged a look of trepidation. Alonzo found himself reconsidering whether or not the storm was indeed the greater of the two threats that he and Devon were currently facing.

Devon was obviously experiencing similar thoughts and swerved her wide eyed gaze toward Solace. "I'm a dead woman, aren't I?" she exclaimed.

A brilliant flash of light followed by another rumbling of thunder seemed to be a perfectly timed omen to support her dire prediction.

"Oh, yeah," the pilot nodded with a joyless smirk as he ambled backward toward the edge of the embankment. "I think that we're all in for a rough night."

______________________________________________


For one of the few times in his life, Danziger had some luck on his side. Alonzo had been correct when he'd presumed that the Dunerail wasn't too damaged and could be easily fixed. The frame was still intact and somehow none of the fragile components had been smashed beyond repair. It only took an hour or so for John to reconnect a few of the wires, patch one of the front tires and reattach the solar panels which had been torn off during the vehicle's wild tumble down the hillside.

Taking a moment to gaze at the steep grade of the slope, the mechanic reflected that Alonzo and Devon had been very fortunate indeed to have escaped serious injuries or worse. He also briefly recalled the memories of the prior winter when he'd been involved in a similar accident involving the Dunerail, but swiftly pushed those thoughts out of his mind. He was upset enough as it was.

Danziger had just begun to assist Alonzo in banging a few of the dings out of the framework when the pilot called his attention to the condition of the sky. Both of them had been so consumed with what they were doing that neither had bothered to notice that the sun had nearly been swallowed whole by the encompassing darkness. Moreover, the frequent sound of booming thunder could be heard echoing throughout the valley and John could feel the hairs on his arms raise due to the electricity in the air.

Realizing that they would need to take shelter very soon, John hurriedly refastened the 'Rail's cloth roof and then parked it under a large tree with the hope that its draping branches would screen out at least some of the forthcoming rain. After completing the task, Danziger remet up with Alonzo at the crest of the hill and they began to make their way back to rejoin their two crewmates. No sooner had they begun walking when the heavens parted and the pair was deluged by a torrent of water from above.

Both of them dashed toward the campsite that Julia and Devon had arranged among the grouping of large boulders. The dome-shaped tents had been placed at opposite ends, each nestled in the center of a smaller gathering of rocks to provide an additional barrier from the surging wind. Quickly inspecting the grounds, Danziger noticed a problem right away.

"Where's the other tent?" he called out to Julia as she poked her head out of the nearest double-occupancy unit.

The doctor successfully suppressed a smile as she viewed Danziger's alarmed expression. "There were only two," she replied as she moved aside to allow Alonzo entry.

"Looks like you're bunking with Devon tonight," the pilot said casually, also keeping his amusement in check.

"Whoa, whoa, wait a minute," John protested nervously, the crash of thunder nearly drowning out his words. "Why don't you and I take one and Julia and Devon can share the other?"

"Not a chance, pal," Alonzo declared, shaking his head emphatically. "Julia's a much better roommate than you are. She doesn't snore or hog the covers. Plus, she has all that medical expertise. I'm thinking of asking her to give me a complete physical." The corners of his mouth turned upward into a playful grin. "Maybe I'll give her one, too."

Before John was given the chance to respond, Solace began to seal the tent flap, snickering, "We'll see you and Devon in the morning."

Danziger stood there in the drenching rain for several seconds as he pondered his options. Sleeping in Julia and Alonzo's tent was certainly out. He briefly considered staying the night in the Dunerail, but thought better of it when he remembered that the metal vehicle was positioned under a tall tree, essentially transforming it into a lightning rod. Although possible electrocution still managed to come in a very close second, Danziger's first choice for refuge from the storm ended up to be sharing a cramped space with a woman who, at the moment, he was trying his best to avoid.

He slowly rotated and began his short journey to the other tent where Devon was undoubtedly expecting his arrival. He wasn't sure, but he swore that he could hear Julia and Alonzo's spirited laughter following him as he trudged his way through the heavy downpour. Just before he entered the shelter, Danziger let out an exasperated sigh. He was definitely in for a rough night.

______________________________________________


Alonzo was clutching at his aching sides as he doubled over with laughter. "Did you see Danz's reaction when you told him about the tents? He turned as white as a ghost. For a second, I thought he was going to pass out."

Julia was equally amused, merrily proclaiming, "Just wait until he finds out from Devon that there were only two sleeping bags."

Several moments passed before they were able to compose their chuckles enough to talk. "Good old Bess," Solace remarked. "That woman always has a matchmaking scheme up her sleeve."

A deceptively coy smile graced Julia's lips. "Well, to be honest, Bess had originally packed three of everything. I'm the one who took out the third tent and sleeping bag."

She shrugged as she observed the shocked look that had overtaken her lover's face. "What, I can't play, too?" she asked, batting her eyes innocently.

Alonzo was a bit surprised by her delightfully underhanded initiative. "Why, Dr. Heller, I have a whole new respect for you," he exclaimed as he closed the distance between them. "So, when do we check on them to see if they're sharing more than just a tent?"

"As mad as Danziger is right now, I'd give them at least an hour to get all of their aggression out. Then, when they finally get around to kissing and making up, you and I can catch them red-handed, once and for all," she answered with a satisfactory grin.

"Sounds like a plan," the pilot said, reaching up to softly caress her cheek. His hand slowly moved southward down her neck until it joined his other hand and began to unbutton her blouse. "So, uh, what should we do to keep ourselves occupied for the next hour?" he asked seductively as he leaned in to nuzzle her neck.

Julia turned down the lumalantern located just within her grasp. "I have a few ideas," she purred, eagerly tugging at his shirt to free it from his waistband.

He arched his head back to meet her hungry gaze. "I bet you do," he beamed as he bent his head to hers.

Chapter Three: Unfinished Business

Devon and John were feeling more than just a little uncomfortable. Danziger had already been less than pleased to learn that he was being forced to share a tent with Devon. And now, it turned out that there was only one sleeping bag for the two of them.

By the time he'd arrived, Devon had already unzipped the bedding and spread it out on the grass floor for them both to use. Without saying a word, the mechanic had scooted as far to the edge of the material as possible and made a futile attempt to block out the memories of the two previous times he and Devon had shared a blanket, once during a search for water and the other on a moonlit hillside overlooking a lake.

While John laid on his back, obviously deep in thought as he stared at the nylon ceiling, Devon had stretched out on her stomach and was situated near the center of the sleeping bag. She pulled back the crease of the tent opening to peer at the relentless wind and rain that continued to hammer the valley.

"It's really coming down out there," she commented, trying to break the tense silence between them.

"Uh-huh," he finally grunted in reply, his voice sounding distracted at best.

More stillness followed before Devon again tried to engage him in conversation. "Were you able to fix the 'Rail?"

Danziger's eyes remained focused on the drops of water roughly pelting the canvas above him. "More or less."

Devon gave him an odd look. She'd assumed that mentioning the Dunerail would open a floodgate of hostility from Danziger. Instead, his demeanor was best described as overall disinterest. To Devon, this new avoidance tactic of his was almost as confusing as it was infuriating.

As her irritation grew, she challenged herself to see if she could induce Danziger to look in her direction or, at the very least, speak to her using sentences consisting of more than three syllables. Realizing that he probably hadn't been given the chance to eat since that morning and looking for any excuse to end the uneasy silence, she reached into her bag and removed a packet of Spirolina.

"Here," she said bluntly, unceremoniously tossing the food at him where it bounced off of his shoulder.

The mechanic sat up and retrieved the package, his still-wet clothes leaving a soggy imprint on the blanket where he'd been laying.

"Thanks," he murmured, wearing a preoccupied expression. He only briefly met her gaze before returning his attention to carefully tearing open the foil wrapper.

It went right back to the silence, again (except for the sound of Danziger's chewing), and Devon was at a complete loss. For the first time in a month, she and John were finally being given the opportunity to be alone with one another. It wasn't that either of them were intent on pursuing a physical relationship, at least not yet. But she'd longed to be able to spend some quality time with him, whether it was to discuss the antics of their children or the group's traveling schedule or even to have an argument over something ridiculous-- she just wanted to be with him. And now, at last, they were by themselves and to Devon's deep dismay, though John's physical presence was a mere three feet from hers, he might as well have been a million miles away.

This is absolutely absurd, she began to fume. Danziger has the nerve to be giving her the cold shoulder just because she'd dented (okay, slightly more than dented) his precious Dunerail. And what was the big deal, anyway? It was nothing more than an unfortunate accident. Yet he was acting like she'd done it on purpose just to spite him. And besides that, although Devon may have put John in charge of keeping all three of the vehicles running, it was her own money that had bought and paid for them to be shipped to G889. When it came down to it, that 'Rail was the property of Eden Project, not John Danziger. There was absolutely no reason why Devon should be forced to walk on eggshells.

Well, that was going to stop right now.

She launched to the seated position. "You're really angry with me, aren't you?" she challenged, employing her most indignant tone.

Danziger crinkled up the empty food wrapper and stuffed it into the side pocket of his duffle bag. "Take a wild guess," he glowered.

Devon crossed her arms in front of her, inwardly readying herself for a heated battle with the mechanic. "Well, go ahead and get it out of your system," she demanded crisply. "Come on, tell me all about how I should have been paying more attention to the road instead of-"

John's head flew backward. "That's what you think this is about?" he interrupted in amazement. "You think I'm pissed off because you wrecked the shanking 'Rail?"

Devon blinked several times, totally baffled. "Well, if it's not that, then what?"

His only response to her was a judgmental stare, so she tried her hand at guessing the answer on her own. "This couldn't possibly be about me not talking to you on gear this afternoon," she speculated, basically taking a shot in the dark.

Danziger's shoulders dropped and he diverted his eyes to the ground, subtle but unmistakable confirmation to Devon that she'd unwittingly stumbled upon the root of his anger. Devon could feel her blood starting to boil with the thought that John's bearish behavior had been nothing more than an overreaction on his part to the notion that she'd slighted him.

"I don't believe it! That's what your mad about?" The words sounded almost resentful as they left her mouth.

Danziger's own voice became charged with bitterness as he remet her gaze. "Do you have any idea what you put me through today?" He harshly raked his hands through his damp curls. "My God, Devon, I was half out of my mind with worry! You wouldn't let me see you! You wouldn't speak to me on gear! I wasn't sure how badly you were hurt! I didn't know what to expect when I got here."

"I told everyone back at camp that I was okay," she exclaimed snippily.

John's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, and we all know how truthful you are when it comes to your health, don't we?" he snarled, his tone ripe with cynicism.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He began to speak, ready to give her a piece of his mind, but abruptly stopped himself. The fury that he'd exhibited only moments before melted away as he took several deep breaths. Then, to Devon's astonishment, he quietly stretched back out on the sleeping bag and interlocked his fingers behind his head.

"I'm not gonna fight with you about this," he said flatly. "This discussion is over."

Devon was incensed. "Oh, no it's not! Not by a long shot! You don't get to make an accusation like that and then think you can roll over and go to sleep!" She buried her fists into her sides. "And since when do you not want to fight with me?" she added huffily.

John leaned forward and propped himself up on his elbows. "Since now, okay?" he said, shaking his head. "Not about this."

The pain that was exhibited in his voice took her by surprise. Devon's stomach clenched in concern as she examined the sudden change in his features. The anger in his eyes had vanished and in its place was a sadness so intense that she found it jarring. Something was very wrong.

Her brow creased with worry. "What's going on? Why would you think I'd lie to you about being hurt?" she questioned softly.

He refused to answer, prompting her to lightly grasp his hand. "Please, John," she pleaded. "Something I've done has really upset you and I want you," she paused to rephrase her appeal, "I need you to tell me what it is."

With her fingers still laced with his, John sat up beside her with their knees touching. He remained quiet for several moments before finally speaking in a voice so hushed that it was difficult to hear him over the din of the thunderstorm raging outside.

"You never told us that you didn't have a bio-stat implant. You knew that you were dying from a different sickness, but you never said a word."

Devon's mouth fell open and she jerked back her hand from his, stunned, as he continued, his tone rising slightly, "I mean, what were you thinking? How could you do that to the group? How could you do that to Yale and Uly? How could you do that-"

Danziger halted mid-sentence, though it was obvious what he was going to say. How could you do that to me?

He let his unfinished question hang in the air for a number of seconds. "You put us through hell, lady," he stated hoarsely. "You should've said something. If you didn't feel that you could confide in me-- fine. But you should've told Julia or Yale or, or, I don't know, somebody. But no, you were just gonna let yourself die without even trying to fight. If I hadn't found you behind your tent, right now your son would be an orphan."

Devon had been completely unprepared for the turn in their conversation and was unsure how to respond. However, one thing that was becoming abundantly clear to her was that Danziger had been more profoundly affected by her near-death experience than he'd previously let on. And, unfortunately, the day's events had been the catalyst for reopening a painful wound that had never really begun to heal in the first place.

Devon's mind briefly flashed to the image of John when he'd placed her into the cryo-crypt after her collapse. Unable to look at her, he'd turned away, but not before she'd registered the grief reflected in his eyes. He'd appeared shattered, as though his heart was breaking into pieces.

And now, as Devon observed a similar expression of sorrow occupying Danziger's face, she decided that it was time for her to tell him the truth, even at the risk of making the situation worse than it already was.

She tentatively reached out and retook his hand. "You're right. I did hide my illness from you," she began. "In the beginning, I honestly didn't know that my sickness was different from yours. It wasn't until Elizabeth told us about the malfunction of the implants that I realized that I was suffering from something else."

She swallowed hard, a bit afraid to continue. "You see, I've always known about the existence of the bio-stat chips. I also knew that I didn't have one because, when I was a child, my father had used his clout to call in a favor from a high-ranking Council member to make sure that one wasn't implanted in me." She registered the look of astonishment on John's face at her disclosure. "It was one of the perks of being born an Adair, I guess," she acknowledged in a somewhat dispirited voice.

Despite how difficult it was for her to say the words aloud, Devon forced herself onward. "But if I'd told anyone about that then, Julia would have taken precious time away from trying to help the rest of you and worked on trying to find the source of my sickness. I couldn't let that happen. I had to think of the group."

She gazed downward at their joined hands and exhaled a sad sigh. "And after the virus had been purged and you were healthy again, I figured that it was too late to save me. So yes, I was going to let myself die. I didn't think that I had any other choice."

"Of course, you had a choice, Devon!" Danziger countered, his explosive reply causing her to jump in her seat. "You could've told us what was going on and let us try to help you! Jeez, you owed it to us to try your damnedest to stick around to see this thing through to New Pacifica. But what did you do, instead? You dumped your mission onto my shoulders. 'Keep going. Keep the group together. Take care of my kid.'"

He shook his head, gruffly adding, "You had no right to just give up like that. What you did was selfish, Adair, pure and simple."

The harshness of John's words cut her like a knife. But what hurt Devon even more was the realization of how much pain her actions had caused him. One of the reasons that she'd concealed her illness and impending death was to spare her friends and family from as much suffering as possible. But her fateful decision had had lasting consequences and, for the first time, she grasped the depth of the despair that Danziger had felt due to her sudden absence. And now, she also reevaluated the heavy burden that she'd placed on him when she'd extracted the promise from him to take command of Eden Project.

"Everything that you just said is true," Devon declared in a slightly quivering voice. "Hiding my sickness was selfish, although at the time I thought that I was doing the noble thing. What I did was unfair to everyone, especially to you. You didn't ask for any of this. You weren't even supposed to land on G889."

Danziger could see Devon's eyes begin to glisten with tears and he gently squeezed her hand in an effort to stop her confession. "Devon," he started, his tone subdued.

"Please. Let me finish," she implored, shaking her head. "I made you feel obligated to raise my son and to lead the group to New Pacifica. I also forced you into taking over the responsibility of building the colony in time for the arrival of the Syndrome families. It was wrong of me to put you in that position." Tears began to cascade down her cheeks. "I asked too much of you and I'm very sorry," she choked out.

Danziger was taken aback by Devon's words and her unusual display of emotion. This was the only time he'd ever witnessed her crying with the exception of when Uly had been abducted by the Terrians during their second day planetside. He didn't like seeing her this way, especially knowing that he had been the one who'd provoked her outburst. At that moment, John would have done anything to alleviate the pain that was clearly visible in her swollen eyes and heard in the heart-rending tone of her apology.

Great goin', Danziger bashed himself. You just had to go shooting your mouth off, again, didn't you? It's not like Devon doesn't have enough to worry about. And thanks to you and your stupid temper, she's crying. Worse than that, she's racked with guilt because you don't possess the ability to articulate your thoughts without your anger getting in the way. Now, you've turned this into a bigger misunderstanding than it already is.

John realized that he needed to set things straight, for both of their sakes. It was imperative that he make Devon understand once and for all how he felt about the decisions she'd made regarding her illness and her enormous expectations of him to carry on without her.

He eased his hand from hers and placed his arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. She didn't resist the soothing gesture and encircled her arm around his waist. He could feel the vibration of her soft sobs as she laid her head against his chest.

Danziger's voice was low and gravely serious. "I want you to listen to me, okay? I was wrong when I said that you'd acted selfishly. I was never angry with you for asking me to take over as leader if you didn't make it. And don't think that you made me feel obligated to do it, either, because you didn't. Hell, I was downright honored that, out of everyone in Eden Advance, you trusted me enough to take charge of the group and to raise Uly."

John paused for a few seconds and Devon lifted her head to observe his features, still remaining within his gentle hold. Her tears of remorse were eclipsed by wonderment as she stared up at him, captivated by every word.

He continued, "And after we put you in cryo-sleep, your dream became my dream, too. Maybe it was already my dream before that. I dunno. Anyway, I swore to myself that, if Julia wasn't able to find a cure for you, I would do everything in my power to make sure that the colony was up and running by the time the Syndrome families got here."

Danziger held her powerful gaze and he reached up with his free hand to wipe a lagging tear from her cheek with a calloused thumb.

"I would do anything for you, Devon. I think you know that," he whispered, his voice brimming with emotion.

Danziger's hand ventured upward over her temple and then to her bangs. Devon shut her eyes as he delicately ran his fingers over her scalp, threading the shorter strands of hair back in with the rest of her auburn tresses. He leaned forward and tenderly kissed her forehead, carefully avoiding the darkly hued bruise.

"Don't you get it?" he said softly, his mouth remaining close enough that his lips nearly grazed her skin as he spoke. "This was never about you sticking me with your responsibilities. This is about almost losing a woman that I care very deeply about just because she was too damn pigheaded to admit that she was sick."

Devon's eyes were now wide-open as Danziger tilted back, sporting an earnest expression along with a slightly crooked grin. "So, don't ever do anything stupid like that again, okay?"

She matched John's smile with one of her own and let out a small laugh. "Don't worry. I've learned my lesson," she assured. She added with a healthy dose of playfulness in her voice, "And I promise that, if I ever start dying again, you'll be the first one that I tell."

His grin broadened. "All right, then. Good," he nodded. He tightened his grip around her waist and she returned his hug, nestling against him and resetting her head near the crook of his shoulder.

"So, does this mean that you aren't mad at me?" she inquired.

Danziger snorted loudly. "Haven't you listened to a single word that I've said?" he chided. "Yes, I'm mad at you, but not because you're a lousy driver."

Devon craned her neck back to gawk at him. "I am not a lousy driver," she quibbled, her annoyance only partially fabricated.

She could feel the rumble in John's chest as he chuckled. "Oh, yeah. I bet that koba just zipped out of nowhere. After all, they're known for their lightning speed," he teased. "I'm sure you had no choice but to almost get yourself killed by driving the 'Rail off a cliff instead of just going around it."

Devon couldn't help but snicker at his sarcastic remark. A small part of her wondered how she could ever have allowed herself to fall for such a smart-ass.

Eventually Devon and John's laughter subsided and the tense silence between them returned. However, this time, the stillness was considerably more uncomfortable than it had been before they'd cleared the air. Minutes before, the pair had sought out one another's arms with the purpose of giving each other support as well as to seek comfort for themselves. But now, as they sat together in the near-darkness, their embrace was turning into something else entirely as each desperately struggled to suppress their urge to touch the other more intimately.

Danziger's will power finally crumbled and, almost by its own volition, his hand began to roam up and down Devon's back, lightly tracing the curvature of her spine. Devon successfully suppressed a moan, but was unable to hold back a shudder at the gentleness of his caress.

Their gazes were locked and neither of them breathed as John edged forward with the intention of kissing her. However, he somehow managed to find the strength within himself to put a halt to the proceeding at the last possible moment. He pulled back slightly, searching Devon's eyes to make absolutely sure that this was what she wanted, too (after all, he didn't want to be later accused of taking advantage of a woman with a possible head injury).

Danziger's silent question was quickly answered. "Seize the day," she whispered as she tilted in the final few inches to cover his mouth with hers.

Chapter Four: Opportunity Knocks

Meanwhile, not too far away, another struggle was taking place.

"Shouldn't we be checking on Devon and Danziger?" Julia asked, straining to get the words out between ever-quickening breaths.

Alonzo's attention was clearly focused on other matters and checking on his two crewmates had been moved way down on his list of 'Things To Do.' In fact, currently the only name appearing on his list at all was Julia.

"There's no way that anything's happened this soon," he insisted, wiping the perspiration from his dampened face with the back of his hand. "Right now, they're probably in the middle of bickering over something stupid," he panted before his lips descended again to ravish hers.

"Don't worry. We've got plenty of time."

_____________________________________________


"We probably shouldn't be doing this," John gasped as he and Devon kissed and groped each other with reckless abandon. They remained seated, locked in a crushing embrace, their bodies grinding into one another as if they were trying to make love through their clothing.

"Do you want to stop?" she asked in disbelief.

"Hell, no!" he mumbled, his mouth still firmly pressed against hers.

Almost dizzy with need, Danziger surged forward, pushing Devon back onto the sleeping bag with him laying on top of her. There was a myriad of activity as both feverishly began kicking off their shoes and squirming out of their clothes while, at the same time, fumbling to liberate their partner from their own attire.

Devon realized that her capacity for coherent thought was spiraling out of control and she valiantly tried to keep things in perspective.

"This is just another preview of New Pacifica, okay?" she relayed, not all that convincingly, as she ripped Danziger's shirt over his head and hurled it toward the far corner of the tent. She shivered from the sudden coolness of his metal dog-tags as they came into contact with her bare chest. "After tonight, we go back to our original plan. Nothing-" she stopped briefly to let out a moan as John began to nibble on her earlobe, "Nothing else happens between us until our lives are more stable."

Danziger could barely hear her words over the sound of his loudly thumping heart. "Uh-huh. Yep. No problem," he muttered indistinctly as his mouth continued to move over her skin. He could feel the rapid pace of Devon's own throbbing heart as his lips traveled over her jugular vein.

After several frenzied moments, Devon's proclamation finally managed to register in John's lust-clouded mind. He suspended his actions and brought his face back up to hers in order to respond to her directly.

"You do realize that our lives are never gonna be completely normal, don't you?" he felt it necessary to remind her, his eyebrow raised mischievously.

Yep, such an incredible smart-ass, Devon mused to herself. "Just humor me, John."

She could feel her skin flush with desire at the almost predatory look that overtook his features. "Oh, I'll do a lot more than that," he declared as he plastered his mouth over hers.

Devon returned his kiss with equal force, parting her lips and burying her fingers deep into his tangled curls. Danziger's hands migrated downward past her stomach until they reached the clasp of her pants. With a muffled grunt, he roughly tugged them open and Devon lifted her hips off the ground to enable him to slide them down her thighs. Her own questing hands left John's hair and extended down to hastily unfasten his pants. She shoved them down as far as her reach would allow and then hooked her toes into the belt loops to push them off the rest of the way, Danziger clumsily kicking the clothing aside when it reached his ankles.

Both of them were breathless with anticipation as John repositioned his large frame, placing his elbows on either side of Devon's head and resting most of his weight on her. She could see as well as feel how much Danziger wanted her as he shifted his hips to just below hers, poised at the ready.

Never veering her eyes from his, Devon reached up over her head to interlock her fingers with his before arching forward to share an urgent, sensual kiss. Time all but stood still for Devon and John and they were oblivious to everything but their passion for one another...

...That is, until they heard a loud, crashing sound coming from outside their tent. Both stopped dead in their tracks and Danziger disentangled one of his hands from Devon's to nervously raise the flap to investigate the source of the noise.

They were shocked by the sight that greeted them. The couple had been so absorbed by their overpowering desire that they hadn't bothered to notice that the storm had nearly doubled in intensity. The thunder and lightning were virtually constant and the ground was blanketed with chips of melting ice, alerting them that it had just finished hailing. Currently, the rain was coming down in sheets and the near hurricane force winds were fierce enough to give the illusion that it was raining sideways instead of downward. It was also flooding in several spots and John was grateful that Devon had chosen to place their tent on land that was slightly elevated, thus protecting them from being waterlogged.

Loud yelling brought both of their attentions to the opposite side of the rock formation. Apparently, Julia and Alonzo had not been as fortunate when it came to remaining safeguarded from the elements. A large body of shallow water had congregated around their dwelling which had resulted in the loosening of the tent pegs. The origin of the crashing sound had been the pair's shelter being uprooted over their heads as it was picked up by a strong gust and then smashed against a neighboring boulder with such force that the support poles had practically been bent into a pretzel. Correctly recognizing that the tent had sustained irreparable damage, the half-dressed couple was in the midst of scrambling for their clothes and possessions. And it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out where Julia and Alonzo planned to spend the rest of the evening.

Devon and John exchanged a horrified look before flying apart from each other. Devon started mumbling the words 'oh, no' over and over again while Danziger chose to repeat a more vulgar term which, coincidentally, was a crude description of the act the two had been moments away from engaging in. Clad only in the clothes they were born in, the two madly dashed to redress before they could be discovered in their very compromising position.

"Where's my shirt?" Devon asked in a panic as she reached behind her to clasp her bra.

Danziger, still buck naked, was obviously experiencing similar difficulties as he frantically searched the small enclosure for his own clothing.

"Hell, if I know!" he exclaimed. "Have you seen my underwear?"

She shook her head as she replaced her panties and pants which had somehow ended up tucked under the sleeping bag near where their heads had been. At the same time, John located Devon's blouse along with his shirt and pants in a rumpled heap in the corner of the tent. He roughly tossed her shirt in her direction and reinitiated his desperate quest.

"Where in the hell is my underwear?!"

Devon was nervously buttoning her blouse with shaky hands when she became aware of Julia and Alonzo's voices growing louder with each passing second. "Oh, God, they're coming!" she declared in alarm.

She turned to Danziger who was still wearing nothing more than an agitated expression and ordered, "For Heaven's sakes, John, forget the stupid underwear and get dressed!"

While Danziger rushed to put on his trousers, Devon peeked between the nylon crease to view their two future tent guests quickly making their way toward their shelter.

"Hurry up, John! Hurry up!" she hissed.

"You know, yelling won't make this go any faster!" he snapped back as he poked his head and arms through the holes in his shirt.

Devon knew that they'd run out of time when she heard the splashing sound of approaching footsteps. She quickly arranged herself on the far end of the bedding facing away from Danziger.

"This is not happening," she muttered under her breath.

Just as Alonzo lifted the tent flap, John threw himself onto his side at the other corner of the sleeping bag facing the opposite wall, his burly frame practically brushing up against the canvas.

Julia and Alonzo noisily spilled into the dwelling, looking as though they'd just gone for a swim without bothering to remove their clothes. The doctor and pilot fell to their knees and dropped their personal effects onto the blanket directly in between the other couple with a loud thud.

"Good Lord, it's hot in here!" Julia blurted out as she reopened the door, waving the fabric back and forth to increase the circulation of air.

Devon and John didn't react to any of the commotion going on around them. Both of them were far too engrossed in their apparent staring matches with the tent wall. Julia and Alonzo observed their peculiar behavior and exchanged a curious glance. Because of the excitement of their tent collapse, they'd forgotten all about their plan to catch Devon and Danziger in the act. Julia checked her chronometer with a small smile. The two leaders had only been alone for about forty-five minutes. Perhaps John hadn't been as angry with Devon as they'd first thought.

Solace was obviously considering the same theory as his mouth distorted itself into a smirk. "Wow, some night, huh?" he offered, pivoting his inquisitive gaze to Danziger. "Well, buddy, it looks like we're gonna be roommates after all."

"Yeah, looks like it," the mechanic rigidly responded, not bothering to turn around.

Julia and Alonzo bounced their gazes off of each other, again, this time wearing all-knowing looks. Yep, something went on all right.

Julia began to search the darkness for the luma-lantern and finally discovered it knocked on its side and partly obscured by one of Devon's socks. She also took notice that Devon and John's shoes and socks were haphazardly strewn around the tent. How interesting...

"Didn't you hear all of the racket we were causing out there?" she asked, still being forced to speak to Devon's back.

Alonzo stifled a snicker as he added, "You guys weren't asleep already, were you?"

Devon tried her best not to trip on her words. "No, uh, we weren't asleep, but, uh, we didn't hear you. The, um, storm must have drowned out the sound." Plus, it was hard to hear much of anything with John's tongue in my ear, she noted to herself.

"Well, since I'm here, I might as well check that bruise on your forehead," Julia said, donning her diaglove which had remained remarkably dry despite being housed in a soaking wet med-bag.

"No, that's not necessary," Devon expressed in an awkward tone.

"C'mon, what's the big deal?" Alonzo urged, unwilling to let it drop. "Why don't you just let the doctor do her job and then we can all get some rest."

Realizing that she wasn't going to be able to talk her way out of it, Devon reluctantly turned over to face Julia and Alonzo. The physician immediately began checking her vital signs and pretended to be unaware of the beads of sweat on Devon's brow and that, not only was her shirt extremely wrinkled, it was only partially buttoned.

The leader kept her eyes glued to the ground, only briefly checking Danziger to confirm that, thankfully, he had managed to get himself dressed in time. Perhaps she and John would get away with it after all.

Then, again, perhaps not.

"Hmm, I'm getting some strange readings here," Julia relayed as she lightly scanned Devon's neck with the diaglove. "Your blood pressure is pretty elevated. Are you feeling all right?"

Devon backed away from the equipment before it could be given the chance to tattle any other information. "I told you, I'm okay," she nervously insisted.

"But obviously there's something wrong. I'm certain that there's no history of coronary problems listed in your bio-stat file." Julia leaned in wearing a look of feigned concern. "Did something happen?"

"No!" came Devon and Danziger's voice in unison.

Devon's face quickly turned crimson with embarrassment. Could they possibly have sounded more guilty?

"I'm sure that I'm fine," she said as convincingly as possible. "Earlier, John and I had an argument. That could be why my heart rate is up."

"Then maybe I should check John's vitals, too, just in case," Julia suggested.

"Yeah, Danziger, you're not getting any younger," Alonzo added with a slanted grin. "Don't want Devon giving you a heart attack."

Still refusing to roll over to address them directly, the mechanic growled, "If you don't shut up, Solace, you're the one who's gonna be in need of medical attention!"

Alonzo smiled so widely that he almost reopened the cut on his lip. "Well, then I guess that Julia and I should get ourselves situated for the evening," he said cheerfully as he shoved aside their belongings and flopped himself back onto the sleeping bag between the two leaders.

"Come on, Doc," the pilot encouraged, tugging on her hand to persuade her to lie down next to him. "You might as well make yourself at home. Looks like we're in for the night."

Julia began to comply with her lover's request, but suddenly hesitated, pulling her fingers from his grasp.

"What's the matter?" he inquired.

The physician gave Alonzo a sly grin, clueing him in to the knowledge that she had yet another trick up her sleeve. She then coaxed her features into a humbled expression and turned toward Devon.

"Uh, I'd really rather sleep on the end. Devon, would you mind trading places with me?" she asked in a voice that was deceptively apologetic.

Devon let out an irritated sigh to show her unhappiness with Julia's request before nodding her agreement and moving to switch sides. No sooner had the leader repositioned herself into the tight space between Julia and Alonzo when the pilot started to clumsily climb over her.

"What are you doing?" Devon demanded in amazement.

Alonzo wedged himself in between the two women, practically propelling Devon against Danziger's tension-ridden form which remained facing the wall.

"I'm sleeping next to Julia," Solace said matter-of-factly as he straightened out his legs.

The four of them laid there in complete silence for several minutes, crammed together like a can of sardines into a tent that was only large enough to accommodate two people comfortably. And, at the moment, Devon and Danziger were feeling anything but comfortable.

Devon did everything she could to keep her body from pressing against John's, but it couldn't be helped. If she backed up even slightly, she ended up bumping into Alonzo who seemed to have no problem at all with taking up as much space as possible.

The pilot yawned loudly and extended his arms outward in a lazy stretch, forcing Devon even further into Danziger's back. Both of them could feel the heat of the other's skin radiating through their clothing and John was becoming almost lightheaded by her closeness. Not only could he feel the tickling sensation of her breath, he could smell the sweet scent of her hair which brushed against the back of his arm with each nervous exhalation that she took.

Meanwhile, Alonzo was doing whatever he could to further rattle the leaders' cages. "So, what were you two fighting about, anyway?" he asked jovially.

"I swear to God, Alonzo, if you don't shut that mouth of yours, I'm going to come over there and shut it for you permanently," came the overly belligerent reply from the corner.

"Jeez, Danz, I was just making conversation," Solace beamed, thoroughly enjoying himself. "You don't have to get testy."

"Not another word, do ya' hear me?" John snarled. Another menacing growl escaped his lips before he repeated in a slower, deeper baritone, "Not... another... word."

Alonzo wasn't the least bit intimidated by the mechanic's hostile warnings. In fact, he was having trouble holding back his howls of laughter.

"Okay, okay," he acquiesced. "Just let me say goodnight to Julia and then I'll be quiet." His face exhibited a decidedly roguish expression as he turned toward the physician and wrapped his arms around her.

"Goodnight, Querida," he whispered as he pulled her into an impassioned embrace, showering her with kisses that were so loud and lengthy in nature that they bordered on downright lewd.

"Will you two just go to sleep, already!?" Devon angrily demanded, trying to stop their public display before John decided to make good on his violent threats. Not that she blamed Danziger for wanting to exact revenge. Even Devon found that she was beginning to search the room for a blunt object to use to clobber the pair of spirited exhibitionists.

Although she wasn't able to locate an appropriate weapon, what her eyes did come across was a sliver of white fabric protruding from the end of the sleeping bag near her feet. Immediately recognizing it as John's missing underwear, she shuffled her feet back and forth to successfully slide the article of clothing back under the bedding until it could be retrieved later.

At the same time, the younger couple grudgingly parted and settled back to their original places on the blanket.

"Killjoy," Alonzo muttered under his breath with giddy delight.

He exchanged a wink and a diabolical smile with Julia. Yes, it seemed that their work was done. It had taken over a month of tormenting the leaders and closely observing their every move, but their efforts had finally paid off. Devon and Danziger were busted, there was no doubt about it.

And with any luck, tomorrow the fallout would begin.

Chapter Five: A Brand New Day

For Devon and Danziger, the following day was business as usual. And it was going to stay that way even if it ended up killing them (or Julia and Alonzo).

Both leaders spoke very little to one another or to their two traveling companions. Instead, John buried himself under the hood of the Dunerail to finalize some last minute repairs while Devon worked in solitude cleaning up and reorganizing the supplies which hadn't been destroyed by the storm.

In the late morning hours, the smaller group was rejoined by the rest of the members of Eden Advance. The children ran straight to their awaiting parents while the other Edenites went directly to Julia and Alonzo with the anxious hope that there was an update regarding Devon and Danziger's clandestine romance.

Though nearly a dozen voices spoke at once, Bess' was the most assertive. "So, were you able to catch them together?"

Solace grinned from ear to ear. "Oh, yeah. We caught 'em all right."

A loud cheer rose from the colonists causing Devon and John to briefly stop their separate conversations with Uly and True and look in the direction of the commotion. Unable to hear the specifics of what was being said, the two leaders could only shrug at each other before continuing their individual reunions with their kids.

"Tell us what happened!" Magus demanded in a hushed voice to keep from being overheard.

"And don't leave out anything," Baines added.

"I'll tell you every salacious detail," Alonzo pledged proudly, "tonight after we've camped."

There was an outburst of annoyed groans at the pilot's announcement.

"Aw, c'mon!" Walman exclaimed in a boisterous whisper. "We wanna know now!"

"You can't keep us in suspense like this!" Denner furthered.

Alonzo was determined to hold his ground. "Nope, you'll just have to wait," he stated firmly, folding his arms in front of him. "And I promise that this evening will be an enlightening experience for everyone." He broke into his best fly-boy smile. "Especially Devon and John when we confront them about their relationship in front of the whole group."

Julia stepped forward sporting a wicked grin not normally associated with someone whose chromosomes had been purposefully skewed to limit overt displays of emotion. "Tonight Devon and Danziger are going to face the music," she vowed with a resolute nod of her head.

_______________________________________________


Aside from a few stilted, very nonspecific conversations with their children, Devon and John walked by themselves in silence for most of their twenty click journey. Thanks to the roller-coaster chain of events of the prior evening, not only were both leaders more than slightly preoccupied, they were suffering the consequences of a lack of sleep. In Devon's case, her tried and true method of 'guided imagery' to battle her restlessness had proven to be more of a hindrance than a help. Every time she'd closed her eyes, her mind had immediately flashed to the very short-term memory of John and how incredibly good his bare skin had felt against her own. She recalled the almost desperate look in his eyes as he'd studied her face, waiting for her to make the final move to join them together into one. Even now, her flesh tingled with excitement at the prospect of the many things the two of them would have done had they been allowed to continue unfettered.

But as the sun languidly settled behind a distant mountain range, Devon's thoughts began to drift to the eye-opening discussion that had directly preceded their physical expressions of affection. She'd disclosed information to John which she'd never planned on sharing with anyone. More than that, she had actually cried. Even with her newer, more open attitude, impulsively letting out and acting on her feelings like that was still a bit foreign to Devon (although she'd been making great strides in that department in the four months since her release from cold-sleep).

She began to reflect back to her childhood, recalling how hard her parents had worked to instill within her the virtue that the expression of one's emotions was a sign of weakness; something which her adversaries could use against her. Spontaneous reactions could lead to carelessness. Furthermore, it could imply that Devon was no longer in control of her circumstances and, in many instances, that could be dangerous.

For the most part, the philosophy had served her well throughout the years, keeping her at the top of her game. Yet even with her parent's many warnings, Devon had been left unprepared for the vile deceptions perpetrated by Uly's biological father. He'd been as slick as they come, weaseling his way into her heart while he pulled the wool over her eyes as to his real intentions. Before she'd finally come to her senses, he'd nearly stolen her company right out from under her nose. Impregnating her had been his last ditch effort to remain in the luxurious lifestyle in which he'd grown accustomed to living.

And in its own twisted way, his strategy had succeeded. Devon was blackmailed into relinquishing control of several of her more lucrative holdings in exchange for him signing away his parental rights to Uly and agreeing to permanently stay out of their lives. Only later was she informed that he was a carrier of the gene that caused the Syndrome and had knowingly passed the condition on to her son.

Devon had learned a painful lesson, one that she'd sworn to herself that she would never allow to be repeated. In time, she'd successfully repaired her damaged ego and her shattered confidence. She'd also rebuilt her company, making it even more profitable than before Uly's father had entered the picture. And apart from Yale and Uly, she'd kept her social and business acquaintances at arms length to protect herself from being hurt. No matter what Devon showed on the outside, deep down, she'd never really bought into the idea that any of them were ever truly her friends. And without exception, she'd been right on the money.

Then came G889 and the members of Eden Advance and the world as she knew it was turned upside down.

Sometimes it was overwhelming for her. She had friends-- loyal, trustworthy, bona fide friends. People who cared for her just as much as she cared for them. For the first time in years, Devon could be herself without secretly harboring the worry of being stabbed in the back when she'd least expected it.

However, she was still a work in progress and some walls were taking longer to dismantle than others. Even after ten months of traveling together, it was often difficult for Devon to convey certain feelings or personal information to her newfound companions. Many of the more private details of her life also remained concealed. But as time passed, she was surprised to find that she was beginning to share her deepest thoughts and fears with one person in particular.

In a way, it made perfect sense to Devon that John Danziger possessed the ability to elicit such brutally candid responses from her. From the beginning, he'd reveled in his innate talent for knowing exactly which buttons to push to draw out her anger. It was only logical that, if he put his mind to it, it wouldn't be too difficult for him to extract other feelings as well.

"I would do anything for you, Devon. I think you know that."

The words made her heart beat faster every time she replayed them in her mind. John was different from any of her previous suitors. He had no interest in her pedigree or the size of her credit account. In fact, if anything, her upper class background and wealth were considered to be obstacles in their relationship. John probably would have preferred that Devon had been raised in the Quadrant as he had.

Was Danziger sometimes abrasive? Definitely. Antagonistic? You bet. Stubborn as a mule? Guilty as charged. Was he just as reluctant as Devon was to admit to certain emotions or to relay the particulars of his life before Eden Project? Without a doubt.

But were John's motives for wanting to be with her sincere? After their talk the prior evening, Devon was now fully convinced that the answer was a resounding yes.

She'd known for a while that she cared for John and enjoyed spending time with him. She was certainly attracted to him physically. But it was one thing to invite him into her bed; it was quite another to welcome him into her heart. Old habits die hard and, almost involuntarily, a part of her had kept Danziger at a safe distance, afraid that if she'd let her guard down completely, she would be left defenseless. For the first time, she wondered if her insistence on delaying their relationship until they'd reached New Pacifica had been chosen with the purpose of buying her some time; perhaps to postpone the inevitable hurt or betrayal that she'd subconsciously assumed awaited her down the road. She realized with a shock that, until yesterday, she was continuing to withhold her feelings from him out of her fear of history repeating itself.

But now the rules had changed yet again and Devon no longer wanted to hold back. She wanted John to see her in her most unprotected form-- emotional, fallible, human. And she understood that he would accept all of her qualities, good and bad, and never take advantage of her. She was sure that it would be safe to trust him. It would be safe to allow herself to love him.

As the vehicles ground to a halt in front of her, Devon found herself staring at Danziger's rough features and posturing as he began barking out various instructions to the crew. At that moment, there was barely a trace of the sensitive man whom she'd poured out her soul to the prior evening. Instead, he displayed the usual gruff facade that he wore like a shroud.

She was pleased to have been given the opportunity to view the caring, vulnerable person that John really was, but rarely permitted anyone else but the children to see. He was slowly beginning to allow Devon into his world, although it was obvious that he was also coming to terms with demons from his own past. Maybe Danziger's reluctance to start a relationship until New Pacifica had been a delay tactic on his part, too, Devon supposed to herself.

While still inwardly pondering her new theory, she made her way over to the Transrover where John was busy doling out their supplies for the night. As he placed a rolled up tent into her awaiting arms, his eyes quickly scanned the immediate area to ensure that they were out of earshot from the other colonists.

He leaned in slightly and met her gaze, his demeanor now much softer and more approachable than before. "I guess we need to talk," he offered with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

She nodded. "How about we meet tonight after the others fall asleep?"

"I'm scheduled for guard duty. We can talk then, if you want," he suggested, his tone a bit awkward.

Devon picked up on his uneasiness and gave him a small smile of encouragement. She didn't want him to think that she was angry with anything that had happened between them the previous night.

"That works for me," she warmly agreed. "See you later."

Reassured by Devon's words and disposition, Danziger returned her grin and whispered, "Yeah. See ya'."

Chapter Six: Hitting the Fan

Danziger couldn't put his finger on it but something very odd was going on. Although he'd kept to himself and spent most of his day deep in introspection, he'd detected the frequent sound of indistinct murmuring from the other crew members taking place around him. The mysterious whispers continued throughout the construction of their temporary campsite and then during their supper in the mess tent. Additionally, John had looked up several times from whatever he was doing only to discover that he was the unwanted subject of weird stares from the Edenites, most especially Bess.

Now, he was experiencing the same behavior from the majority of the group as they gathered around the evening campfire. Unsuccessfully fighting against his ever-mounting paranoia, Danziger seated himself on an empty crate between True and Uly. It was then that he realized that Devon was also on the receiving end of the crew's peculiar gazes.

Before John was given the chance to ponder the possible implications of their unusual conduct, Alonzo decided that it was time for the inquisition to begin. But there were two smaller matters to take care of first.

"It's getting pretty late. Don't you think that True and Uly should be heading off to bed?" the pilot suggested, directing his question toward the two parents.

Devon and Danziger exchanged a nervous glance, correctly deducing that some sort of trouble was brewing. They looked around them to examine the anxious, smirking faces of their friends. To Devon, the crew bore a resemblance to a group of sharks circling their tank. And it was feeding time.

Meanwhile, both children were busy grumbling in protest. True rolled her eyes and exhaled as dramatically as she could.

"But we just sat down," she griped.

Uly immediately looked to his mother to put a stop to Alonzo's idea. "And Mr. Danziger promised to tell us a story," he told her with pleading eyes.

Before Devon could reply, Yale offered, "Uly, the adults have something that they need to discuss right now. Perhaps John can come by your tent and tell you a story after we are finished."

There was obvious disapproval in Devon's eyes as she rotated her gaze to the tutor. Apparently, the cyborg was a willing participant in whatever was going on. Et tu, Yale?

"But I'm not even tired yet," Uly pouted, tugging on the sleeve of his mother's shirt. Sometimes he really hated being a kid.

"Tell you what. Why don't you go back to True's tent and you can both play in Virtual until we get there," Devon proposed, also concluding that it would be best if the children weren't involved in whatever was about to take place.

Instantly, True's whole attitude changed. "Can we, Dad?" she asked excitedly.

Danziger hesitated a moment before finally giving his permission. "Okay," he agreed as he sifted his fingers through his hair. He added as an afterthought, "You guys can play anything but that God-awful gladiator program."

"But, Dad," True whined, "that's our favorite."

Devon chimed in with her own objection. "No way. That one's much too violent for children, or for some adults for that matter," she noted. "In fact, I don't know how we got that VR chip in the first place."

The remark caused to Morgan uncomfortably clear his throat and avert his eyes toward the ground.

"But it's fun," Uly persisted. "Please, Mom?"

"Not a chance, kiddo," John stated. "Every time you play, you either end up butchering each other in a bloody sword fight or one of you sentences the other to death by tiger mauling."

True grinned. "Yeah," she said dreamily, recalling the cheers of the coliseum crowd as they witnessed Uly being pounced on by six ravenous wildcats. John folded his arms in front of him with a frown, quickly shaking the girl back to reality. "I mean, okay, we'll play something else," she acquiesced, her smile evaporating under his stern gaze.

She threw her arms around her dad and planted a kiss on his cheek before climbing to her feet. She gave a defiant toss of her head to the group. "Hmmpphh. Let's go, Uly. We know when we're not wanted."

There were a few snickers from the Edenites as True started on her way back to her quarters.

Uly rushed to catch up to her. "But what are we gonna play?" he asked.

True's mind searched their inventory of game chips for a program that was mild enough to appease their overprotective parents. It had to be something that would challenge their competitive spirit, but wasn't too combative or bloodthirsty or they'd get in big trouble with the adults. Something that included sportsmanship and civility as opposed to mindless aggression. Hmm, True thought to herself, maybe they could play a nice, friendly game of VR ice hockey.

Then she had an idea that might be even more enjoyable than high-sticking Uly. "I'll tell you what we're doing when we get to the tent," she said as a sly smile crept across her face.

After the two scurried off and disappeared into the Danziger tent located at the other end of camp, an unmistakably annoyed Devon pivoted back to the others. "Now, what's so important that we had to find a diversion for our kids to keep them from hearing us?"

The self-appointed master of ceremonies took his place center stage. "We think that it's high-time for you and Danz to come clean," Alonzo announced with a gleam in his eye.

Devon creased her brow. "Come clean about what?" she posed.

Bess gave the leaders a look that was somehow kindhearted and crafty at the same time. "You two can stop pretending, okay? Every one of us knows that you're sleeping together."

"WHAT?!" Devon and Danziger yelled incredulously.

Devon took several deep breaths to remain as composed as possible. She'd suspected that after last night's encounter, Julia and Alonzo might confront her and John regarding whether or not they'd become romantically involved. She just hadn't realized that it would happen this soon... and in the presence of the other members of Eden Advance.

She turned to Danziger, who clearly had no idea that this was coming. The blood had drained from his face and he wore a deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression.

"Oh, Christ," she heard him mutter under his breath.

Devon knew that it was up to her to keeps things from going completely haywire. Her mind raced as she decided upon the best way to respond to the allegation. She straightened up in her seat and forced out a small chuckle.

"You think that Danziger and I are having an affair?" She shook her head in amazement. "Where on earth would you ever come up with such a thing?"

Magus took great pleasure in revealing, "Baines saw you together in the lake about a month or so ago."

Okay, that one Devon hadn't counted on. She tried not to register her shock at the crew-woman's disclosure and, instead, concentrated her efforts on not looking guilty. At the same time, Danziger looked like he was about to fall over dead.

"Are you talking about the night that John and I went swimming?" Devon inquired innocently. She rationalized to herself that the couple had actually swum-- at least a little, so she wasn't really lying. Plus, there was no way in hell that she was handing over an admission on a silver platter.

Baines immediately felt the pressure of everyone's stares weighing him down. Danziger, in particular, had recovered enough to direct his most intimidating glare in his direction. He attempted to ignore the mechanic's piercing gaze and focused in on Devon, who appeared only slightly less-threatening.

"Well, uh, I know that it was really dark, but it sure looked like you and Danziger were, um, um," Baines backpedaled. "That is, I think that you were, um-"

Devon acted offended and tossed her hands skyward. "That's what your basing your suspicions on?" she challenged, hoping that no one noticed that neither she nor John was denying Baines' account. "All right, what else?" she pressed crossly.

"What do you mean?" Denner asked.

"I mean, what else would give you the impression that Danziger and I are together?"

"For one thing, Danziger has been acting really strangely," Mazatl offered.

Devon shrugged. "Well, Danziger is a strange man," she said, purposely sounding snide.

"Right back at ya', Adair," the mechanic countered, matching her tone. He was finally catching on to Devon's defense strategy to avoid directly answering any questions that could incriminate them. As mortified as he was by the crew's cross-examination, he was sort of curious to find out whether he and Devon could indeed pull off the near impossible task of keeping their affection for one another a secret and make a clean getaway.

"C'mon, even now he's acting weird," Cameron insisted. "Look at him. He's been sitting there quietly through this whole conversation."

"Yeah, he's obviously hiding something."

"Maybe I don't feel the need to dignify any of this with a response. Ever think of that?" Danziger said smugly as he refolded his arms in front of him.

Yep, the mechanic congratulated himself, that's me -- John Danziger, Master of Subterfuge.

Julia couldn't believe what she was hearing. Raking Devon and Danziger over the coals about their relationship was supposed to be a fun-filled evening for everyone (except Devon and Danziger, of course). But so far, it wasn't working out that way. Neither leader was flinching at their questions.

"Last night in your tent, you were both acting really guilty," she testified.

"When you and Alonzo came in, Danziger and I weren't even talking. We were facing opposite directions. How could that be considered acting guilty?" Devon responded, turning the tables on her accuser.

"Your blouse was only halfway buttoned," Julia reminded her, her voice becoming more irritated. "You can't deny that."

Devon was almost flippant in her reply. "I'm not denying that a few of the buttons were undone. You, yourself, complained how hot it was in the tent. And besides, I certainly wasn't exposed, was I?"

She turned to address the other Edenites, furthering, "And I'd also like to mention that, except for our shoes and socks, John and I were completely dressed. Am I right, Danziger?"

The mechanic nodded. "Right." Except for my missing underwear, he inwardly noted.

"And John, tell the truth, before Julia and Alonzo arrived, did we or did we not have an argument?"

"We did," he affirmed, proudly adding, "As usual, you royally pissed me off."

John noticed a smile briefly cross Devon's lips as he directed his attention to the colonists. "In fact, I tried to change the sleeping arrangements because I didn't want to share a tent with her," he divulged, motioning to Devon. "But fly-boy and his partner in crime didn't give me any other choice."

"Is that right, Alonzo?" Bess asked in a surprised voice. "Did Danziger tell you that he didn't want to stay with Devon?"

Now Solace was on the hot seat and not enjoying it one iota. "Not exactly," he stumbled. "I mean, um, not in so many words-"

John let out an exasperated sigh and told the group, "There were only two tents, so I suggested that Alonzo and I share one and Julia and Devon share the other. What does that tell you?"

At this point, the majority of the Edenites were becoming more than a little confused. A few started to wonder to themselves if Devon and Danziger's ongoing love affair was nothing more than a product of several misread signals and their own overactive imaginations.

Walman was getting so frustrated that he was about to yank the hair out of his skull. He shot to his feet and blurted out, "Oh, for cryin' out loud, I am so shankin' tired of this! Let's get an answer once and for all, okay?"

He spun to directly face the leaders. "Maybe it's true that you didn't want to be in the same tent with each other. There's certainly no doubt in any of our minds that you had a fight. But be honest with us, did the two of you have sex last night or not?"

Devon almost laughed out loud at the question. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see John stifle a grin as well. The pair traded an indescribable look with each other before slowly turning to give the colonists a truthful response.

"No," they declared with fortitude.

"You swear that you're not lovers," Magus persisted, shaking her head in disbelief.

Devon's eyes narrowed. "You know, even if Danziger and I were romantically involved, how is that any of your business, anyway?" she exclaimed indignantly.

John piped in, "Yeah, where do you get off cornering us and demanding answers about our personal lives, huh?" He shook his head in annoyance. "This looks to me like you guys sat around and planned out how to trap Devon and me into saying that we're having an affair. And if that's the case, then you all obviously have way too much free time on your hands."

As soon as the words left his mouth, both he and Devon had a burst of inspiration. They turned toward one another, each wearing a grin that was decidedly wicked.

"Well, we can fix that, can't we, Danziger?" she pointed out as the crew immediately began to shift uncomfortably in their seats.

"We sure can," the mechanic answered without hesitation. His expression hardened and he rocked back on the crate he was sitting on. "I would strongly suggest that all of you turn in for the night and get as much shuteye as possible," he instructed using his most uncompromising tone. "Because you're gonna be getting a very early start tomorrow morning."

"You mean, we're leaving even earlier than we normally do?" Morgan whined.

"No, we'll be moving out at the same time as always," Devon assured, her features just as serious as Danziger's. "But before that, there are some chores that will need to be done."

"Like what?" Cameron choked out as the rest of the Edenites braced themselves for the apparent punishment that the leaders were about to dispense.

Danziger arched forward and began pointing out his victims. "Walman, Magus, Mazatl, Denner, Baines and Solace. You're with me," he decreed in a loud, rough voice. "Before we leave, you're gonna do a complete overhaul on all three of those vehicles. That includes rotating the tires, checking and cleaning every coil, belt, hose and filter, inspecting all the fluid levels and battery terminals along with the ignition and suspension. I also want the crystal fuses dismantled and conductivity tests run on all the leads. In fact, every nut and bolt should be examined and cleaned from the engine right down to the screw used for the thermos-holder between the seats."

Staring into the horrified faces of the crew, John couldn't resist adding, "Oh, and I want the exterior washed, too. I expect to be able to see my reflection in the chrome when you're finished."

Devon didn't miss a beat and relayed her own laundry list of demands. "Bess, Morgan, Cameron, Julia and Yale. You'll be working with-" she paused with a raised eyebrow, "or should I say, for me."

She heard several of the aforementioned colonists let out nervous gulps as she continued, "While the others are busy with the vehicles, you'll be performing a complete inventory of all of our supplies including, but not limited to, the navigation, communication and medical equipment. I want everything counted, right down to the last spoon. Of course, after you're done adding up all the figures, you're going to wash and disinfect it all, too. It'll be like a spring cleaning."

"But- But it's the middle of the summer," Bess stammered out.

"Have it your way. We'll call it a summer cleaning," Devon said dryly.

Devon and Danziger were thoroughly enjoying themselves and the devilish smiles returned to their faces. As the couple simultaneously rose to their feet, Devon was struck by another idea as she looked beyond the shell-shocked stares of the crew and scanned the campsite.

"You know what? Speaking of summer cleaning, it just occurred to me that it's been a while since the tents were given a good scrubdown. Maybe both groups can work on that after they finish their other duties," she suggested to the mechanic in an overly cheerful voice.

God, I love this woman, was the first thought that entered Danziger's mind. "Hey, good thinkin', Adair," John encouraged, his grin widening.

She gave him a nod of appreciation. "Why thank you, Danziger," she replied jovially before refixing her gaze on the colonists. "Well, I guess that we'll be seeing you all in a few hours. Good night everyone."

Devon and John continued to chuckle and make small talk about the rare but enormously satisfying perks of being in charge as they promenaded off to rejoin their children. Once the pair was gone from view, there was a chorus of defeated groans from the Edenites.

"Oh... my... God," murmured Denner as her head sank into her hands.

Magus could only sit there baffled. "What the hell just happened here?"

"I'll tell you exactly what happened," Morgan scoffed. "Eden Project's own version of Captain Bligh and her overgrown ape of a first-mate just sentenced us to hours and hours of hard labor, that's what."

"Perfect," Walman exclaimed cynically while harshly tossing his almost-coffee into the fire. "What are we gonna do now?"

"Go to bed and pray that both of them oversleep," Bess shrugged as she poured the remaining contents of the coffee pot over the dwindling flames.

Yale shook his head. "I wouldn't hold your breath."

"Dammit, Baines, this is all your fault!" Mazatl snapped.

The crewman's head jerked backward. "Huh? Why me?" he hollered.

"You lied to us about seeing Devon and Danziger in the lake together."

"Baines didn't lie," Cameron corrected him. "He just screwed up."

"And screwed us in the process," Walman grumbled in a disgusted tone.

"Hey, if you're gonna blame anyone, blame Julia and Alonzo! This was all their cockamamie idea!" Baines spat defensively. "And I stand by what I saw last month," he added.

"You don't even know what you saw. You said yourself that they were too far away and it was too dark to be sure of anything," Magus countered as she and the others began kicking loose dirt into the campfire to smother the last of the embers.

"Well, Devon and Danz weren't swimming, I can tell you that much."

"And no matter what either of them say, something went on in that tent last night. I'm sure of it," Julia furthered as Alonzo nodded in agreement.

The rest of the group all but ignored them.

"I don't care anymore," Cameron called back over his shoulder as he and the colonists trudged toward their quarters to get some rest. Plus, they wanted to make sure that they were long gone before Danziger began his guard shift. The last thing they needed was for him to find more projects for them to do in the morning.

__________________________________________


After making their triumphant escape from the other Edenites at the campfire, Devon and John laughed harder than either of them had in ages as they made their way toward the Danziger tent. Both were nearly winded by the time they approached the dwelling's threshold.

The mechanic halted in his tracks a few feet from the entrance. "That was quite a rush, wasn't it?" he exclaimed in between chortles.

Devon stopped and turned toward him. "I can't believe that we actually talked our way out of that," she said, shaking her head in amusement.

Danziger inclined forward and lowered his voice, "You know, if Julia and 'Lonz's tent had collapsed two or three seconds later last night, we would've had to answer Walman's question a lot differently."

The leader thought about it for a moment before confidently raising her chin. "I would have worded our response very carefully," she beamed.

"Ever the politician," John chuckled. He briefly paused, his heart skipping a beat as he studied the look of happiness displayed on Devon's face. How he loved to see her beautiful smile, especially when it was directed at him.

Danziger was finally able to pull his gaze from hers and resettle it on the ground, deep in thought. It was obvious to him that they were being kept under surveillance by Alonzo and his cohorts and were going to have to be even more careful about openly showing any affection toward one another.

His tone became somber as he advised, "Under the circumstances, it might be wise for us to call off tonight's meeting."

Devon couldn't help but be a bit disappointed. She had desperately wanted to tell John about the realization she'd made regarding the depth of her feelings for him. She'd also planned to reopen the subject of postponing their relationship until they'd reached the shores of New Pacifica. That notwithstanding, after the three ring circus they'd just experienced with the other members of Eden Advance, she completely understood why John suggested canceling their scheduled rendezvous. Taking a night to allow things to cool down would probably be for the best. And her news could wait... at least a little while longer.

"Maybe we can talk tomorrow," she offered with a hopeful expression.

Danziger answered with a shrug, "Let's see how it goes, okay?"

Devon nodded back and fell into stride with the mechanic as he took the remaining steps toward his tent. At the same instant, both of them reached to lift the flap and John's large hand inadvertently covered Devon's smaller one. They remained frozen in place for several seconds with their hands gently pressed against the canvas. The sparks of energy between them was almost unbearable and it took nearly all of John's self-discipline to resist the temptation to pull Devon into an embrace. Instead, he settled for sliding his fingers in between hers and delicately caressing the top of her knuckle with his thumb. All the while, their gazes remained fixed on one another, their blue eyes effectively conveying the feelings which, at that moment, could not be put into words. Finally, Danziger slipped his hand from her grasp and he ever-so-slowly lowered his arm to his side, making sure to glide his fingertips down Devon's wrist and forearm just lightly enough to give her goose bumps.

Devon would have been perfectly happy to stare into Danziger's eyes for the rest of the night. However, even perfect moments like the one they were currently experiencing couldn't last forever, at least without attracting unwanted attention from the rest of their nosy crewmates. Therefore, Devon decided that it was time to break the stillness between them. She broke her gaze with the mechanic and raised the nylon crease to reveal their children seated next to each other on True's bunk.

"Come on, Uly. Time to go," she declared brightly.

The older pair entered the tent as Uly removed his gear and hopped off the cot.

"Did you guys have fun in VR?" Danziger asked as he took the newly vacated spot next to True. He drew his brows together as he took a closer look at his daughter. "You okay, True-girl? You look sorta out-of-breath."

She exchanged an awkward glance with Uly, who also appeared to be gulping for air, before relaying, "Yeah, uh, I just got really caught up in the action, that's all."

True breathed an inner sigh of relief when her father seemed satisfied with her answer and turned his attention toward Uly. "Do you mind if I skip tellin' you a story tonight, pal? It's getting pretty late and I've got guard duty." He briefly eyed Devon before adding, "But I promise that I'll make it up to you soon, all right?"

"M'kay," Uly replied as his mother started to guide him out of the tent.

Devon stole another quick look at John who winked back at her as she lowered the fabric behind them. She lovingly placed her arm around Uly as they ambled back to their quarters.

"So what did you and True play?" she asked.

The child was hesitant in his reply. "Uh, um, ice hockey?" he finally responded, carefully avoiding eye contact.

Chapter Seven: The Games We Play

Victory was sweet. But revenge was even sweeter.

It didn't matter to Danziger that he'd been awake half the night because of his stint as the camp's sentry. He'd enthusiastically rose hours before the sun was scheduled to make its initial appearance, marching straight to the mess tent to grab two large, metal pans. He then took great pleasure in rousing his fellow compatriots by going tent to tent, loudly banging the cookware together outside each of their doors and yelling various threats that they'd better be up and dressed within the next ten minutes or else.

Now, much later as the morning light was just beginning to sluggishly creep over the eastern hillside, the Edenites (with the exception of John, Devon and the children) were knee deep in the penalty phase of their sentence. Both groups of workers had located to the same area around the vehicles, thus enabling everyone to engage in one big complaint session instead of two smaller bitch-fests.

"I'm never gonna get this ammonia smell out of my hands," Magus grunted as she scrubbed the floor boards of the ATV.

A normally congenial Cameron was in full protest mode as he glared at the mechanic at the other end of camp. "Just look at him standing over there doing nothing while the rest of us slave away," he spat resentfully.

"It's abuse of power, I tell ya'," Mazatl carped from underneath the 'Rail.

True, who had been listening in on their discussion, appeared from behind the Transrover. "Hey, you brought this all on yourselves," she scolded as she sprang onto the rear bed of the vehicle. "Did you actually think that my dad and Devon were gonna let you get away with ambushing them like that?"

Denner's head arched back in surprise. "How did you find out about that?"

"After Uly and I got sent away, we snuck back and heard most of it," she answered nonchalantly, her legs loosely swinging back and forth from the cab. "Boy, you guys really messed up big time," she added with a slight giggle.

"Tell me about it," Baines groaned, rolling his eyes.

Alonzo stopped working when he noticed the girl's confident expression. "Wait a minute, True," he queried. "Do you know something that we don't?"

She folded her arms in front of her. "Well, I know that you didn't ask them the right questions, that's for sure."

Everyone quit what they were doing and gaped at her. "Hold on," Bess exclaimed in amazement. "Are you saying that there really is something going on between Devon and your father?"

Now it was True's turn to roll her eyes. She gave them her best 'I can't believe how dense you all are' look.

"How could there be? You never give them a chance to be alone together."

Realization slowly began to dawn on the crew. After grilling Devon and Danziger about their state of affairs, most of the Edenites had concluded that the couple was not romantically involved, either now or in the past. However, True might very well be on to something. Maybe Devon and John really were interested in each other after all, but had yet to act on their feelings only because the right opportunity hadn't presented itself.

Perhaps a change of strategy was in order.

"So you're suggesting that we should back off and see what happens," Yale proposed, thoughtfully scratching at his beard.

"Yeah, keep watching them but from more of a distance," Mazatl offered.

Julia still firmly held to the belief that Devon and Danziger were together, but somehow had been able to successfully cover their tracks. As such, she was liking this new scheme of theirs more and more. "Maybe if they think they're home free, they'll begin to relax," she remarked slyly.

"And they'll get sloppy," Alonzo declared.

"Ugh, I don't want to see 'sloppy,'" Morgan blurted out, cringing.

There were a few scattered snickers before the next question was posed.

"You know your dad better than anyone, True. If we all laid low for a while, do you think that he and Devon'll start shacking up-"

There was a sudden outpouring of coughs and throat-clearing by the rest of the colonists in an effort to drown out the rest of the sentence.

Magus shook her head and gave the offending crewman a reprimanding leer. "I think that what Walman meant to ask was, if Devon and your father were given the chance, do you think that they might start... seeing each other socially?" she clarified using language that was more appropriate for younger ears.

"You mean like dating?" True asked, cocking her head to the side.

"Exactly."

"Maybe," the girl shrugged. "I dunno if Devon likes my dad." She jumped down from the bed of the 'Rover, casually adding, "But I'm positive that Dad likes her though. I can tell by the way he yells at her."

After the chuckles finally receded over True's strange but undoubtedly reliable interpretation of her father's complicated disposition, Alonzo once again took charge of the festivities.

"Well, it looks to me like we have a new game plan," he told the others. "It's still basically gonna be Follow the Leaders but, as of now, we're gonna have to use more discretion. We can't look like we're tailing them or trying to listen in on their conversations."

Julia advised, "We should make sure that Devon and John spend as much time with each other as possible."

"And once they get more comfortable, one of them will eventually admit to the other how they feel."

"My money's on Danziger being the one who ends up spilling the beans to Devon," Magus speculated as she gave Cameron a warm smile and a friendly nudge with her elbow. "What do you think, Cam?"

The crewman grinned back at her, leaning in until their shoulders touched. "Yeah, Devon's way too uptight to make the first move," he agreed, furthering, "but I doubt that she'll reject his advances."

"And once the cat's out of the bag, they'll decide to start a relationship," Magus happily declared, seemingly oblivious to Walman who was staring daggers at her and Cameron's companionable behavior toward one another.

Alonzo added, "But for some ridiculous, totally unnecessary reason, they'll try to hide it from the rest of us."

"But knowing Devon and Danz as we do, there's no way that they'll be able to keep it under wraps for very long," Denner chimed in.

"And then we'll move in for the kill and expose them for our enjoyment," Bess gleefully proclaimed.

"Hmm, a chance to humiliate Danziger," mused Morgan whose face displayed a smile that managed to appear both delighted and spiteful at the same time. "Count me in."

"You know, getting the two of them together could have another advantage. If Devon and Danziger start to, um... see each other socially," Mazatl submitted, "maybe they'll go a little easier on us."

"Yeah, I think that every one of us would agree that both of them could certainly use a good f-"

There was another rash of coughing spells and Yale dove forward to cover up True's delicate ears.

"For Pete's sake, Walman, there's a kid here! Could you at least try to think before you speak?" Magus hollered, hurling a wet sponge at his head and missing him by mere inches. Walman answered by throwing up his hands in bewilderment and mouthing the word 'what.'

Magus and Cameron exchanged a glance and wagged their heads in obvious disapproval. Walman glared back and began to picture in his mind what Cameron would look like with two black eyes and missing front teeth.

Bess tried her best to ignore the outburst and, instead, rotated her gaze to the younger Danziger. "Would you like to help us, True?" she asked, her voice coated with sugar.

"Sure. If I see or hear anything good, I'll let you know," the newest conspirator eagerly replied. "Plus, I'll make sure that Uly doesn't rat us out."

The group broke into a collective grin at their good fortune. Having True as an ally would likely be extremely beneficial and provide them with a wealth of information.

"I don't care what any of you say. I still think that Devon and John are already a couple."

"Give it a rest, Baines," Cameron advised.

Baines looked toward Julia and Alonzo who shrugged back. Clearly, the three held the minority opinion regarding the current status of Devon and Danziger's romance. But, when it came down to it, none of that really mattered in the long run.

There was renewed excitement in the air as the colonists began to work out the details of their latest ploy to tamper with the love lives of their two temperamental leaders. Although there was little doubt in anyone's mind that Alonzo and the other scheming Edenites had suffered an embarrassing defeat at the hands of Devon and Danziger, the contest was far from over. And with their revised plan of attack along with the welcome addition of True to their team, times were about to change.

And round two was about to begin.

______________________________________________


It was highly unusual for Danziger not to be working. But sure enough, there he was standing alone outside of his quarters with no place in particular to be. Even his weathered toolbelt had been permitted a temporary leave of absence and was resting comfortably among his other few possessions under his cot.

It felt awkward for the mechanic not to have his schedule overflowing with various responsibilities that required his immediate attention. Of course, technically he was still supervising the members of Eden Advance from afar, but that was hardly much of a job. And besides, he'd noticed that True had shown up and looked as though she was in the midst of giving the group a good talking to. Although he was too far away to hear the actual conversation, he could clearly see his daughter's folded arms and determined expression. He smiled satisfactorily. Give 'em hell, True-girl, he inwardly praised.

John turned to see Devon and Uly duck into the meal tent, presumably for a small snack of fruit. Breakfast was still quite a while off yet, not only because everyone was too busy to eat, but because all of the pots and pans had been removed to be counted and cleaned. Danziger was deep in concentration and continued to stare intently at the lowered tent flap long after the leader had disappeared into the dwelling.

He'd been thinking a great deal about Devon, even more so during the past thirty-six hours. There was a war raging inside of him regarding whether or not there should be some changes made to their strange partnership. Of course, he was in love with her-- that was never a question in his mind nor would it ever be. As far as John was concerned, he was in it for the long haul. In fact, nothing could possibly make him happier than spending the rest of his life in New Pacifica living with Devon and raising their two children together as a real family. It was almost too much to hope for.

But currently, Danziger was having second thoughts about keeping their relationship on the back-burner until they'd reached the coast. Originally he'd agreed with Devon that mixing business with pleasure would very likely end up distracting them from their critical duties as the co-leaders of Eden Advance. But now, a large part of him wanted to throw caution to the wind and dive headfirst into a full-fledged courtship with her right then and there.

But unfortunately, based upon Danziger's observations of Devon, she wasn't quite as sure about their future together as he was. Although he was confident that she had feelings for him and was slowly becoming more comfortable with his presence in her life, there was a knot in John's gut telling him that something was preventing her from making an emotional commitment to him.

Devon was certainly one of the few people that he'd encountered who had more control issues than he did. John speculated that perhaps Uly's father or some other man from her distant past had hurt her deeply. And as much as he hated to admit it, the more recent memory of Shepard and his painful exit from her life so soon after she'd found him again could also be a factor. Maybe even John's own background, at least what little Devon knew about, might be considered a hurdle in her mind.

Well, apparently, it's just not meant to be-- at least, not yet, Danziger inwardly concluded. Devon had made it pretty clear to him that she wasn't ready for anything beyond the close friendship which they already shared until they'd arrived in New Pacifica. And although he was slightly hurt that she still harbored reservations about engaging in a more serious relationship with him, he would respect her wishes. If Devon needed some time and a bit of space to sort out -- well, whatever the hell she needed to sort out -- then time and space she shall have, he decided. In fact, he'd even support her stance on the matter. He loved her too much not to.

Danziger steered his attention back toward the group of belabored Edenites as Devon reemerged from the meal tent carrying two cups of coffee. After sending her son back to their quarters to begin packing, she strolled up to the mechanic and slipped one of the steaming mugs into his hand.

"You almost feel sorry for them, don't you?" she commented, gesturing to the overburdened and very unhappy crew as they toiled away at their forced contrition.

John took a healthy gulp of the liquid before firmly shaking his head. "Nope."

Devon grinned mischievously. "Me, neither," she confessed with a laugh, causing a smirk to form on Danziger's face.

Both quietly sipped at their drinks for a few moments until Devon inquired, "So are you up for that talk?"

John's smile vanished and his eyes plummeted to his boots. "Yeah, I need to tell you some things," he responded, suddenly looking uncomfortable.

"Me, too," she expressed, her own smile remaining. "Why don't you go first."

"Uh, okay," he said, a bit surprised by this new tactic of hers to actually listen to what he had to say. He was used to their old method of conversation in which he had to yell and interrupt her mid-sentence in order to get his point across.

"Well, first off, I wanted to apologize for gettin' so angry with you the other night." Even though you deserved it, he added to himself, but didn't say aloud. The last thing he wanted to do was start an argument.

"I'm glad that you did. Both of us said some things that needed to be said. And I think that I understand you a little better than I did before," Devon assured before acknowledging, "although sometimes I have trouble figuring out what's going on in that head of yours. You're still kind of a puzzle to me in a lot of ways."

Danziger began to awkwardly shuffle his feet back and forth in the dirt. "I have the same problem with you. I guess that communication isn't either of our strong suits-- at least when it comes to personal stuff," he softly admitted. He added in a low, earnest voice, "But I'm trying. I really am."

Devon's tone was equally sincere. "I know you are. And I'm trying, too." She shook her head, chuckling, "I suppose that we're both a little rusty when it comes to expressing certain feelings."

His gaze again fell to the ground. "Yeah, well, maybe it's for the best that we're holding off on a relationship until we get to New Pacifica," he said frankly, trying to be supportive of what he believed to be her point of view.

Devon's eyes went wide, completely blindsided by his declaration. "You really believe that?" she asked, attempting to keep her voice calm despite her shock. "I mean, is that what you want?"

John missed her reaction because his eyes were focused downward. He let out a small snort. "Hmm, what I want," he muttered under his breath. There were so many things that he wanted to tell her, but couldn't because he didn't think that she was ready to hear the words.

After a few seconds of stillness, he whispered, "What I want is to not screw this up. If we have to wait a few months so we can continue to get to know each other better, I'm willing to do that. This is too important to me." He slowly lifted his head to reinitiate eye-contact and softly relayed, "You're too important to me. I care about you, Devon, and I want you and Uly in my life."

Devon's eyes remained trained on the complexity of emotions which played themselves across John's features. She could also hear the honesty in his voice. And, although he was apparently unable to speak the actual words, Devon understood that John was telling her that he loved her.

She briefly considered how to respond. She had originally planned on professing her own love for him and suggesting that they move up the time table on going forward with a more permanent arrangement between them. But if Danziger was still having difficulty saying those three important words, he might have trouble hearing them as well. Moreover, he had reiterated that it was a good idea that they were waiting to get involved until they'd reached the coast. Evidently, Danziger was unable to take that next important step and needed some additional time, Devon surmised to herself. Therefore, she decided that it would be best if she postponed her proclamation for a while longer.

She chose her words carefully, hoping that he would read between the lines and know what was truly in her heart. "I want things to work out between us, too. And I want you and True in my life," she stated truthfully, holding his gaze. "So we'll wait. And until then, you and I can concentrate on our friendship."

John seemed satisfied with her answer. After all, it was what he'd expected to hear from her all along. "All right, then. So it's settled."

Devon took a step closer to him, lightly chortling, "I assume that means that there'll be no more previews, huh?"

Danziger's eyebrows shot skyward. "Hey, two nights ago you were the one reminding me that what we were doing was a one-time exception, remember?" he pointed out in an amused voice.

She gave him a half-smile. "I suppose that I was," she grudgingly admitted before taking another sip of coffee.

"You know, I never did find my underwear," the mechanic grumbled, flashing a brief scowl.

Devon shrugged her shoulders noncommittally in response. At that juncture, she certainly had no plans to reveal to Danziger that the aforementioned article of clothing was now in her possession, confiscated as payback for him dumping her in that puddle a few days before. In fact, maybe she should add that little tidbit of information to the list of things to tell him about when they arrived at New Pacifica, Devon thought with a smirk.

"So, um, what did you want to talk to me about?" John inquired. "Or did we cover it already?"

Devon's congenial demeanor shifted to one of uneasiness and there were a few moments of silence as she contemplated the best way to answer his question. Although, in her mind, it was too much of a risk to tell Danziger that she was in love with him, there was something else that she wanted him to know.

"I needed to talk to you a little more about what we discussed prior to our preview."

"There's no point in visiting that again, Devon," Danziger assured, shaking his head. "That's all water under the bridge as far as I'm concerned."

"Me, too, but just let me say this and then we'll be done with the whole issue."

John sighed deeply and nodded in agreement as Devon began to speak her peace.

"When I realized that I was dying, I did a lot of soul searching. There were so many decisions that had to be made. So many things still hanging in the balance. When it came to who I could trust to see to it that everything would be done, you were the first person that popped into my mind."

She edged a bit closer, telling him in a serious voice, "I don't know if you understand how momentous that realization was for me. Yale has been my friend and confidante since I was four years old. At the time, I'd known you for less than six months, yet you were my first choice when it came to seeing that my plans for New Pacifica were carried through. You were the one who I wanted to raise Uly. And I never questioned for a second that you would take care of him and love him as if he was your own son."

As she finished the sentence, she noticed that Danziger had forcibly bitten down on his lower lip, possibly to keep himself from speaking his own mind.

When Devon was certain that he wasn't going to respond to her declaration, she proceeded, "It's so hard to explain how scary and oddly comforting it was knowing that I could die without worrying about the safety of my child or whether or not my goals would be reached in my absence. I knew in my heart of hearts that you would keep all of your promises to me and that everything would be okay."

Danziger stared at her in amazement. Although a part of him was deeply moved by her words, another part of him wanted to grab her by the shoulders and scream at the top of his lungs. How could Devon possibly think that everything would have turned out fine if she had died? If he had lost her, he knew with absolute certainty that nothing in his life would have ever been okay, again.

He opened his mouth to tell her this, but reconsidered his actions and slowly reshut it, noting to himself that one day in the not too distant future, he would be sure to express his feelings on the subject along with much, much more.

Devon inched further toward him, telling him in a soft, resolute voice, "I guess that what I'm trying to say-- what I need to make sure that you understand-- is that my reasons for hiding my illness from you had nothing to do with not trusting you. I have faith in you, John. Never ever doubt that."

She allowed her free hand to briefly brush against his, adding in a whisper, "And for the record, I would do anything for you, too."

The couple stared at each other for many long moments. Danziger was paralyzed, afraid that if he spoke or moved, he wouldn't be able to resist the urge to throw his arms around Devon and blurt out his love for her in between passionate kisses. And that couldn't happen-- that is, not for a few more months, John inwardly rationalized. He quickly reassured himself that, when the two of them finally made it to the sandy shores of New Pacifica, all bets were off and Devon was going to sit there and listen to what he had to say whether she was ready to hear it or not.

At the same time, Devon attempted to read John's expression as he digested her heartfelt words. Although the look in his eyes was one of devotion, his continued silence reinforced to her that they were making the right decision by keeping their relationship on ice until they'd arrived at New Pacifica. And she could wait. After all, what was three months compared to the rest of their lives, anyway?

Danziger was finally able to regain enough control of his faculties to speak without possibly compromising their agreed upon rules of engagement. He took a deep cleansing breath and held out his half-filled mug to propose a toast.

"So," he offered, raising the cup slightly, "to growing friendships."

Devon lightly clinked her silver mug against his. "And to New Pacifica," she beamed before taking a sip.

He returned her heart-melting smile with one of his own. "To New Pacifica," he repeated warmly, bringing the brew to his own lips.

Devon and John drank the rest of their coffee in silence, never once taking their eyes off of each other.



THE END