Devon Alone V: The Dream, The Dark and The Light by Nicole Mayer

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DEVON, ALONE Part V
The Dream, the Dark, and the Light (6/11)
by Nicole Mayer

Devon took a deep breath. The time had come to begin repairing the damage she had done, and the obvious place to start was with Morgan and Bess. "Bess, I want to apologise. To you as well, Morgan."

The three sat in an awkward circle. Bess was still giving her husband the cold shoulder because of his accusations, and Morgan was upset because, he reasoned, Bess wouldn't have become so angry unless she had something to hide. He recalled the time she'd admitted to having thoughts about other men, and now believed that it was Danziger. Something that had been building under his nose all this time, and he never even noticed until Devon had the wisdom to point it out.

"I made it up."
"Sorry?" asked Bess, not understanding at all. "I told Morgan, well, that you and Danziger were...you know...together. I'm sorry."

Shocked outrage crossed Bess's face. "You *what*?!" Morgan was looking at Devon with equal distaste. "You made up something like that?"

Ducking her head, Devon felt intensely ashamed. But she had to face up to it sometime. "I guess I was acting a little crazy when I came out of cold sleep."

"A little?" repeated Morgan. "Devon, you could have ruined my marriage! What did we ever do to you?"

"Nothing, Morgan, and I am so, so sorry. I had the craziest dream where Danziger was married to Bess and I got confused over what was real and what wasn't. I was jealous of your happiness, and I - I'm sorry." Devon knew she was apologising over and over, but didn't expect the Martins to forgive her right away. Her own behaviour was inexcusable.

"It's not all your fault, Devon," said Bess, still annoyed with Morgan. "He didn't have to believe you."

"Well you didn't have to start yelling at me either," countered Morgan. Then he turned his attention back to Devon. "You made it up???"

"I'm really sorry."
Bess sighed. She wearily ran one hand through her curly locks and looked from Devon to Morgan and back again. "I know you had a rough time, Devon," she said slowly. "But I don't think I want to talk to you for a while."

Devon had expected this. Things wouldn't be entirely normal for some time to come yet.

"So you're okay now?" Bess asked, hoping for confirmation that Devon would no longer interfere in her life.

"Yes, I'm fine. Perfectly fine, perfectly normal..." She couldn't tell anyone about what she had seen in the Terrian cave. She couldn't even accept it herself. It was just one last nightmare, but they had all stopped now. There was nothing but an emptiness when she closed her eyes.

"Well, then, that's good," Morgan said. He watched Bess get up and walk away.

"Go talk to her," Devon urged. She couldn't stand to see them still fighting, especially when it was her fault. "You two belong together, and I know that she loves you. Tell her that."

Morgan looked at Devon, confused. He didn't know if he could trust her again, but there was truth in her words. He and Bess loved each other more than anything, and it would take a lot more than empty accusations to destroy that. He hoped. So he would go talk to her, and life would go on.

***

As Devon crossed the campsite, she became aware of a low rumbling beneath her feet. She stopped, and looked around. It was late at night, and while she hadn't had any nightmares since her experience in the Terrian cave, she still avoided sleep as much as possible. Besides, walking at night gave her a chance to clear her head.

Julia would certainly disapprove, Devon realised, smiling as she thought of her friend. But the night walks had become a ritual and Devon enjoyed them. It was a chance for her to be alone by choice, not out of some twisted conspiracy or threat of death. But never before had she heard this noise.

Devon cocked her head to the side. Most of Eden Advance were asleep, although the sound couldn't possibly be someone snoring. Terrains? Now that was a much more realistic possibility, even if they rarely visited this place. In actual fact, they hadn't seen much Terrian activity at all lately save for when Alonzo and Uly directly contacted them.

The noise grew louder, until it seemed to be echoing within Devon's own head. She looked down, and for one terrifying moment, the surface of G889 seemed to shimmer out of existence, and all she could see was cold, terrifying metal.

And a voice, amongst the rumbling, telling her, "You cannot hide from the truth forever..." Devon gasped as the world tilted crazily. Was it the Terrians? Had they shared her dream vision? Did they know the truth, that she did not belong here?

Devon squeezed her eyes shut and refused to look down anymore. She concentrated on her breathing, slowly, in and out, telling herself that she would not give in to fear and would not break down again. She was past all of that. She was okay. And finally, the noise stopped.

Cautiously, Devon looked around, but everything seemed to be normal. Except for a light moving behind the vehicles... Devon purposely strode towards it, determined to see what, or who else walked late at night.

Danziger. She almost berated herself for travelling over there, but stopped just in time. She had promised to give him a chance, and to quench the feelings of betrayal and...fear. She was scared of him. Scared of getting close to him, and scared of letting anyone past the barrier she had so carefully erected.

The first thing he said when he saw her was, "Did you hear it too?"

A smile broke over Devon's face. She wasn't alone, and she wasn't going crazy! "Yes," she answered happily. "The rumbling - it was like the noise Terrians make when they're moving underground."

"That's what I thought," responded Danziger, fully rounding the vehicle so that he was standing near, if not next to, Devon. This was the first time she'd spoken to him civilly in weeks, it seemed. He figured it was something to do with this place, where Elizabeth and Franklin's ship hovered over them like a demon from the past. A demon that had tried to take Devon's soul from all of them. He couldn't wait to get moving again.

But that all depended on Devon and when she was ready to travel, or more accurately, when Julia allowed Devon to retake the responsibility of leading the group. Everyone had been treading carefully since Devon got sick, no one really wanting to vote on a new leader out of a sense of loyalty. And then later, when Devon was back, everyone had been too confused to get anything done.

But from what Bess had told him, Devon was beginning to behave like herself again. If only she would renew her tentative relationship with him, Danziger decided, everything would be fine.

At least she wasn't running on sight. That was a definite good sign. "So what are you doing out so late, Devon?"

"I could ask you the same question," she returned speedily. He smiled, remembering a time at the winter camp when neither had been able to sleep. Somehow, they'd ended up talking for hours as the night wore on, and retired to their respective beds just before dawn. It had been a beautiful night, kind of like this one, with only one moon high above. But that one moon, so luminous and bright, caused more than enough beauty in the midnight hours.

Danziger studied Devon's face. She didn't look tired or nervous, she seemed to be a lot more relaxed than she had been of late. "I couldn't sleep," he finally said. "Thought I'd come take a look at the vehicles. We should get moving soon, you know."

Momentary worry passed across Devon's face at the thought of travelling again, but it was quickly replaced by a different expression, something that Danziger couldn't quite place. A sense of familiarity...

"You're right," Devon said. "I hadn't really thought about that yet, not with everything else..."

"Devon," Danziger said softly, "you know that I'm here for you. No matter what. And if you want me to stay away, then I can do that too. I just can't stand this...awkwardness."

Dropping her gaze briefly to the ground, Devon scuffed the dirt with one toe. "No," she said, responding to his words. "I don't want you to stay away. I don't want to lose your friendship. But it's going to take time - John, I can't explain why I don't trust you right now, but I'm going to ask you to trust me. Please."

Her blue eyes were begging him, and there was no way Danziger could tell her no. "I'm here for you, as long as it takes," he promised.

"Thank you," Devon said, and truly meant it. Her gaze to the heavens, she smiled as a meteorite streaked before her eyes. "Did you see that?" she asked in a voice full of child-like wonder at the awesome sight that had been part of the universe's history as long as anyone could remember.

Danziger nodded.
"We live in a beautiful place," Devon continued. "Such an incredible world - it's almost too good to be true."

Danziger stared around him, thinking of all the times he'd cursed this ball of dirt and the events that had trapped him here. But suddenly, he could see it all through Devon's eyes. It was a change that had been creeping up on him for a long time, and in that moment, John Danziger realised that G889 was his home. And it was hers as well.

"This *is* our home, Devon. We can take our lives wherever we want. Even if we don't get to New Pacifica like we always said."

"We'll get there," said Devon, and there was a serene yet enigmatic smile curving across her lips. "Everything will be fine." Suddenly, almost involuntarily, she yawned.

Danziger glanced at the time. "It's late," he said. "I don't want to tell you what to do, but..."

"But maybe I should get some sleep," Devon finished. "I guess I should. Goodnight, John. And thank you."

"Night, Devon," he said with a half-wave of one hand. Then he watched her retreat to her tent, happy in the knowledge that some progress had been made. He hadn't lost her forever.

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