Danziger looked at the unmoving form beside him and sighed. How did he keep getting into these messes, anyway? He had just gone on a simple scout with Devon. And now here they were, probably klicks away from camp with no idea what direction to go in to get back, and Devon was unconscious. He tenderly smoothed back the hair from her cheek and then he caught himself and jerked his hand away. //Behave,// he told himself yet again. Turning his worried thoughts away from Devon, he cursed himself again for not seeing this mess they had gotten themselves into.
Danziger could see the storm clouds in the distance. "Devon, I don't like the look of that sky." After over a year on this planet, the whole group had come to recognize the signs of an approaching storm.
Devon looked at the storm clouds. "They're far off, we can scout for a few hours longer and still avoid the storm. Don't worry so much, John," she said, pausing only a second before continuing along the riverside.
Danziger scowled at her back. She always had to do things her way. He let it go for a while, until he looked up and saw that the black clouds were almost on top of them. He grabbed Devon's arm. "We're going back *now*," he said. Devon looked up at the storm clouds and offered no argument. Taking her hand, Danziger started to run in the direction of camp. They had not even gone ten meters before the storm began in earnest. Keeping a firm grip on Devon's hand, Danziger trudged forward against the wind. It started to pour down rain, and they were both drenched in seconds.
John didn't know what happened after that. One or both of them slipped and they fell into the river and were swept away by the current. He blacked out for awhile, and when he came to, the storm was over and he had washed up with Devon on the bank of a section of the river that he had never seen before. His heart stopped when he saw Devon lying there unconscious, and Danziger rushed over and breathed a huge sigh of relief when he saw that her breathing and pulse were normal. John glanced at her unmoving form to verify that this was still the case, but he restrained himself from reaching out to her again. Until she woke up, there wasn't much he could do but sit by the river and let the sun gradually dry their clothes.
He heard Devon stirring and was by her side in less than a moment. John couldn't help himself; he took her hand in one of his own and with the other, he brushed her cheek. "Devon?" he asked softly.
She blinked her eyes open. "John?" He nodded and helped her to sit up. "What happened?" she asked, looking around at the unfamiliar surroundings.
"We fell in the river," he said. "I blacked out for awhile and when I woke up, we were here and you were unconscious." He looked at her in concern. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Devon said, "just a headache." She noted that he was hovering fairly close to her, but she decided not to comment on it. "Gear?" she asked hopefully
John shook his head. "Both gone," he replied.
Devon looked around at their surroundings again, hoping for a glimpse of something familiar, but she found nothing. "What are we going to do?" she asked. John didn't answer, he didn't need to.
They spent the night at the bank where they washed ashore, luckily finding the same variety of fruit trees that were abundant in the area they were traveling through. The next day, they followed the river upstream, reasoning that they were washed downriver in the storm. They walked most of the day, talking as they went, as good friends are apt to do. Both were determined to get back to the group as soon as possible. As the sun was beginning to set, John reluctantly called for Devon to stop.
"We can't stop," she replied. "Camp could be just an hour away."
"Devon," he sighed, "does anything seem familiar?" he asked, hoping he had just missed something, but not really expecting it.
Devon hesitated, and then shook her head. "No," she admitted, "but we can't stop, we've already been missing for over a day." She pleaded to him with her eyes.
John shook his head. He wanted to get back to True and the group as much as she did, but they had to face facts. The river had carried them a lot farther than either of them had thought. It was a miracle they hadn't drowned. "Devon, we have no lights, so we can't travel in the dark. Plus, you were unconscious for a long time," he said, eyes flashing with worry. "You could probably use the rest."
Devon fumed. Why did he pick now to start being right? And what was with the sudden concern for her? She could take care of herself. "Fine," was all she said, though, and they settled down for the night.
A little past midday of the next day, they ran into a problem. A big one.
Danziger glowered at the river that had now decided to branch off. "Great, just great," he said sarcastically. "What are we supposed to do now?"
Devon glared at the river as if she could change its form just by staring at it. She realized that was impossible and she sighed. "Why don't we follow this one," she said, pointing to the right branch. "At least we won't have to cross to the other side," Devon offered as an explanation when he turned his glare on her.
After a moment of glaring at Devon he agreed. What else could they do? They started traveling down the river, talking about inconsequential things to avoid thinking about the fact that they had been missing without any contact for over 48 hours now and in the three days since the storm, their friends were most likely coming to the conclusion that they were dead.
John woke up slowly on the fourth morning of this little adventure he and Devon found themselves in. His arms and legs were stiff from sleeping on the hard ground, and he got up and stretched. John went over to where Devon was still sleeping just a few feet away and paused to admire her for a moment before he woke her. She looked so peaceful when she slept, not a trace of worry or fear was evident on her face, in spite of the predicament they were in. True was the same way, John remembered. His face fell at the thought of his daughter. //Don't give up hope, True-girl,// he thought. //I'm coming.//
Devon chose that moment to wake up. She saw Danziger looking at her with a downcast expression on his face. "What is it, John?"
He shook his head. "Just thinking about camp," he said.
"Oh," Devon replied. She didn't want to think about camp, and Uly, Yale, or the rest of the group. She hoped they hadn't given up on John and her yet. Devon firmly pushed those thoughts out of her mind. "Come on," she said, managing a small smile, "we've got some kids and a group to get back to."
He smiled back and held out her hand to her as he rose to help her to her feet, welcoming the shock of awareness that shot through him when she placed her hand in his. They began another day of traveling along the river.
The morning of the second day traveling along the right branch of the river, the fifth day since the storm, they encountered a sure sign that they picked the wrong branch. The river turned into a lake.
"Dammit!" Danziger yelled. "We picked the wrong branch!"
"I picked the wrong branch," Devon corrected softly. She looked up at John with tears in her eyes. She knew this lessened the chances of finding the group considerably. "I'm sorry, John."
"Devon, this is not your fault," John said gently but firmly. She opened her mouth to protest but he cut her off. "Come on, we can argue about it on the way," he said, taking her hand and leading her back the way they came. He didn't think to release her hand until much later.
Danziger spent the next day and a half convincing Devon that it wasn't her fault the branch they followed turned into a lake. She seemed determined to blame herself, and John simply could not stand to let her do that to herself. By sunset of the sixth day since the storm, they had made their way back to the point where the river branched off.
John watched Devon shiver as the last rays of sun slipped away. They had crossed the river at a point where the current was still pretty rough but the water was fairly shallow. At its highest, the water level only came up to his waist. They didn't have any problems fording the river except when Devon had stumbled and fell under for a moment. Danziger held his ground, though, and he didn't loosen his grip on Devon's hand for an instant. He helped her back to her feet and they crossed the rest of the river without any more problems. They had eaten dinner in silence, finding some more of the tangy fruit they were living on now. They had just now lain down to sleep. John watched Devon shiver again. Their clothes had dried off some, but not nearly enough. And Devon had gotten soaked in the river. "Devon," he said, and she brought her eyes to meet his. "You're freezing," John continued against his better judgement. "Why don't you come over here?" he asked, lifting his arm in an invitation.
Devon didn't respond right away. She searched his eyes, trying to learn his thoughts. She knew John was attracted to her, she had known that for a long time. Thinking about John's tall, broad-shouldered form and his mop of golden curls that she had to suppress the urge to run her hands through every time she saw him, Devon knew she couldn't deny that the feeling was mutual. But ever since she had been reawakened from cold sleep, there was something else in his eyes when he looked at her. Or maybe she was imagining that look there. It might just be a reflection of Devon's own feelings, and that terrified her. She didn't want to get close to John, didn't want to let him through her walls. Letting him hold her would be dangerous. She would be one step closer to letting him inside for good. And that was something she didn't want... or did she? In the end, though, the cold wind made the decision for her and she lay down next to him, facing away from him, and let him wrap his arms around her. Right away, she felt warmer, and more comfortable, and safer. She wasn't listening to the sensible half of her mind that told her to move away from him.
John wrapped his arms around Devon and he knew he was asking for trouble, holding her this close. //You should be trying to stay away from her,// a voice in his mind told him, but he ignored it. He had been trying to keep his distance from Devon for a long time now, and he couldn't keep it up anymore. Especially now, when there was no one else to distract him from the graceful way she carried herself, the softness and fire in her eyes, the way her hair shone when it caught the sunlight just right... He mentally shook himself to rid himself of those thoughts, and he ordered himself to go to sleep. It wasn't that hard, he really was very tired, and holding Devon in his arms, feeling her heart beat, was quite soothing. "Goodnight, Devon," he murmured as he drifted off into sleep.
Story Notes:
Okay, I think I got the idea for this story when I was reading my old fanfic - It Happened One Night, to be specific. I suddenly thought that it would be a good idea if I wrote a story that got Dev & Danz together without it sounding like a romance novel. (Talk about temporary insanity... :) Anyway, if that sounds like a good idea to any of you, um, I'm sorry. I failed miserably. It just ain't happening, guys. This story has much sappiness and much romance. So if you don't like either of those, well, you probably won't like this story very much.
I'm actually quite happy with this story (amazingly enough). This was, I think, the first story I actually fought with characters to get them to do what I needed them to do. If you think I'm crazy at this point, don't worry about it. I'm sure some people share that opinion already. If you know what I'm talking about and have argued with a few characters before yourselves, I sympathize.
Okay, none of these characters or the planet belong to me. Not that you guys didn't know that already...
And now, the story.
I'm actually quite happy with this story (amazingly enough). This was, I think, the first story I actually fought with characters to get them to do what I needed them to do. If you think I'm crazy at this point, don't worry about it. I'm sure some people share that opinion already. If you know what I'm talking about and have argued with a few characters before yourselves, I sympathize.
Okay, none of these characters or the planet belong to me. Not that you guys didn't know that already...
And now, the story.