Do you know my shadow? by Lisa04

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Do You Know My Shadow? (12/17)
by Lisa 04

Sheppard opened his eyes and stepped back from the sleeping Terrian. He sighed, rubbing his forehead. Using the dreamplane in this manner had always been very taxing but not as much as this time. Before with Devon, it was easier because she was more vulnerable. Though , her will was stronger now and much harder to manipulate. Sheppard, however, knew the right buttons to push. He always excelled at finding and exploiting the weaknesses of others. That, in his mind, is what made him a natural leader. "Well, one mission accomplished," he thought, "but I have one more thing to attend to." He took a deep breath and again approached the sleeping Terrian. Placing his hands on the alien being, he began to concentrate.

Uly sat up suddenly. Something had awakened him. He looked around the room until his eyes settled on his mother. She was sleeping soundly in her cot, facing him. She appeared to be sleeping quietly but occasionally she would frown and stir. He watched her for a moment, unsure of why he felt uneasy. Something wasn't right but he couldn't quite figure it out. He felt as if he should know what was wrong but the pieces weren't falling into place. He'd had problems before when the Terrians' would try and communicate with him on the dreamplane. His young mind was not quite developed enough to grasp many of the messages they tried to convey. That's why most of the dreamplane communication between their group and the Terrians occurred through Alonzo. The young boy just wasn't mature enough to take on that role. He tried to remember what he had dreamed, but the images simply wouldn't come. Though he couldn't recall the contents of the dream, he did remember feeling a sense of urgency from the Terrians. They seemed very concerned and upset. He watched his mother for awhile longer, feeling as if the message had something to do with her but not knowing for certain. She continued to sleep with an undefinable look on her face. He yawned as sleep began to creep up on him. Snuggling under the covers, he resolved to ask Alonzo in the morning if he'd had any contact with the Terrians.

This time Devon found herself in a white room. Somehow it seemed familiar, like she had been here many times before. She looked around the room. White clouds billowed around her, obscuring any objects that were more than a few feet away. Glancing down at herself, she found that she was clothed only in a white robe. She began to wonder why she was there, when two arms encircled her. She smiled. This was wonderfully familiar. She turned toward her embracer and returned the hug. She looked up into his face but, as always, couldn't make out who it was. He bent to whisper something in her ear and she smiled, pulling him into a kiss.

Sheppard watched the scene from the fringe. After all these years, Devon was still dreaming of love. Though she wouldn't allow herself to experience it in her conscious life, she continually searched for it in her subconscious one. He smiled. It was this exact, recurring dream that had allowed him to reach her back on the stations, and it would be this dream that would allowed him to reach her here on G889.

When Sheppard first started dreaming to the stations, he didn't grasp the enormity of the power that it afforded him. As he observed the different dreams of many people, he began to understand the symbolism behind them. This understanding allowed him to realize the strengths, weaknesses, fears, and desires of the people who were experiencing the dreams. He soon became cognizant of his ability to manipulate the dreams. This was much easier with people who were vulnerable. He was getting quite good at it too... until Katarina, the Elder, and the Terrians interfered. Their meddling cost him the chance to exact revenge on those people that had banished him to this planet. Her agreement with the Terrians had robbed him of his soul, just like his shadow had said. He was whole now, and nothing would stop him from getting what he wanted.

He thought back to the first time he met Devon. Things were different for him then. Katarina had made her deal with the Terrians and he was a different man. Half a man as he now believed. When he entered Devon's dreams, he had felt differently than he did with the others. It was the first time in his life he didn't feel the hunger or the rage. He shook off the memories of that time. "I was weak then," he convinced himself. "I am now who I should be." Moving closer to the entangled pair, he stood behind the faceless man that embraced Devon. In one swift motion, he stepped into the man. Devon sensed something was different and pulled back, looking up into the face of her lover. Sheppard smiled at her. She frowned, confused at the change. He leaned down and whispered in her ear, "You can trust me Devon. Trust me, and all your dreams will come true." She smiled. To her subconscious mind, this was still her recurring dream of finding love, regardless of the fact that her lover now had a face.

Sheppard could feel the Terrian stir. He knew he only had a short time before it woke up. He had to work fast to complete what he set out to do. "Devon," he said, lifting her face toward him. "Remember the things that you feel here...the warmth, love, and security. Remember how safe you feel. Remember who's face you see here....who you feel those things with. He broke the embrace and moved away. He had to get off of the dream plane before the Terrian woke up. As he drifted away, his voice echoed around her, "Remember....".

He released his grip on the Terrian and quickly left the cavern before it woke. Sheppard stepped out into the night. The air was cold making his breath visible as he smiled. Things would be going his way now. He was taking control of the situation. It was fortunate for him that Devon still had her recurring dream. It made things easier for him. After the vision his shadow showed him, Sheppard knew that the ‘faceless' man in Devon's would become Danziger if he didn't take steps to prevent it. It was obvious that the mechanic was in love with her, even if he didn't realize it. Devon also seemed to be denying her growing feelings for him. "No matter," Sheppard thought as he made his way back to camp, "I will have taken care of that soon enough."

Still feeling the effects of the sedative, Devon yawned as she climbed out of bed. Usually she was well rested after using a sedaderm to help her sleep but this morning she felt like she hadn't slept at all. Uly had already gone to breakfast. She dressed quickly and went through the doors into where the morning meal was being served. Uly and Yale were eating at a table with True and John Danziger. Devon looked around and saw Sheppard eating at a table in the back of the room. He smiled and waved at her. She smiled back and walked over to join him.
"Did you sleep well," he asked, offering a her a hand to help her sit down. "Umm, not really," she sighed as she accepted his hand and sat down. "How about you?"
"Oh, just fine," he answered, continuing to hold her hand, "just fine." "That's good," she smiled.
Sheppard took note of the fact that Devon didn't draw her hand away from him like she did yesterday. Others in the room took note of this also. Danziger and Yale had watched as Devon walked past their table and joined Sheppard. Danziger stared at the pair, not happy at what he was seeing. "What is going on?" he frowned to himself. Yale apparently wasn't too pleased either. The tutor got up and walked over to where Devon and Sheppard were busy talking to each other.
"Good morning, Devon...Sheppard," Yale nodded as he approached the pair. "Morning, Yale," Devon returned.
"Good morning to you," Sheppard answered. "Won't you join us?" Yale nodded then sat down beside Devon. "Devon," he began, "maybe we should start putting together some search teams to look for a pass for the vehicles today."
"I've changed my mind about that," she answered, turning towards Yale. "Sheppard's right. We should concentrate on finding the Grendler's den and wait until we know the weather is going to stay nice before we send people out on longer scouts for the pass."
Yale looked at her. Devon didn't change her mind very easily. The group had discussed the matter very thoroughly yesterday and he thought that the decision that they had finally made was a sound one. He realized that Devon had been a little wary of sending people on long scouts to look for a pass because of the mishap that Danziger had, but he thought she trusted his analysis of the weather trend. Before he could question her about her change of mind, she stood up and addressed the group. "Everyone," she started, "I've been thinking about the decision to go ahead scouting for a pass and I think we should hold off for now. Sheppard is right, we don't have much experience with the weather here and I think we should stick to shorter scouts, looking for the Grendler's den until we're certain the weather will stay warm."
She looked around the room meeting each person's eyes, a tactic she used to use in board meetings. She had found that this helped her emphasize that her decision was final and wasn't up for debate. As she looked around the room, her eyes locked with John Danziger's. She could tell he wasn't happy about her change of heart. She decided to cut him off before he could challenge her decision. Holding his gaze without wavering, she continued, "We don't want what happened to Danziger to happen to anyone else. We shouldn't let cabinfever rush us into making a foolish decision." Her last statement brought a few nods from the group.
"Now, let's team up in two-man parties and start looking for our missing supplies. We'll plan on searching most of the morning, regroup at lunch, then go for a couple more hours in the afternoon if we need to. I want to make sure everyone's back in camp before it gets dark. Morgan, I want you to monitor communications with the teams, and Walman, I'd like you to put together three search teams," she finished. Though she wasn't aware of it, she had left Danziger and Yale out of the plans.

Everyone started to get up to attend to their assigned tasks. Walman had gathered most of the group and started pairing the teams. He and Denner would search to the north, Baines and Magus would search to the south, and Cameron and Alonzo would look to the west. They would search to the east in the afternoon if necessary. Devon was in the corner talking to Julia when Danziger approached.

"Devon, could I talk to you a minute?" he asked. "What is it Danziger? I'm a little busy right now," she said, a look of annoyance on her face.
Julia knew that a storm was brewing between the two most stubborn people of Eden Advance and wasn't about to be any anywhere nearby when it hit. "Well, I'll excuse myself," she said quickly, "I've got some work to do."

Danziger waited until Julia was out of hearing range before he started. "What the hell is going on, Adair? I thought we decided to go ahead and take advantage of the warmer weather to look for a pass so we could get out of this god-forsaken area."
Devon looked at the mechanic. She didn't know why, but for some reason, she was angry with him. "Maybe I'm just tired of fighting with him over every little thing," she told herself. A voice in the back of her mind told her that wasn't the reason but she didn't have time to think about why John Danziger had ruffled her feathers...she was too tired and there was too much that needed to be done. "Why couldn't he just be supportive like Sheppard," she thought.
"Look Danziger, I have thought about this long and hard and I believe that it is the best thing to do."
"What about what the rest of us think is the *best thing to do*?" he retorted, starting to get angry at her tone of voice and lone decision making. "I thought we made decisions together around here?" "Well, if I thought you were using your head to think things through instead of just jumping into it like you usually do, I might consider your opinion," she said coolly.
Danziger started to fume, but he held himself in check. He had learned that Devon Adair didn't allow herself to get emotional in arguments which is usually why she won them. He took a deep breath and stepped back to regroup. He realized that he wasn't going to change her mind and he wasn't about to stage a mutiny over a simple change of plans. He decided to abandon this fight and move onto the next question he had. "Maybe you're right," he began, slipping back into his previously forgotten employee-employer mode. Agreeing that the boss was right was a method he used to smooth things over and throw them off balance. This allowed him to move on to the next issue without the negative baggage of the last one. Most of his bosses would feel so good about their small victory they would forget to keep their guard up.
"Sheppard sure seemed in a good mood this morning," he said casually, changing the subject.
"Yes, I suppose he was... Is there a point to this?" she asked. "I have a lot of things to do."
Not letting her obvious annoyance deter him, Danziger continued. "I was just wondering if you had a chance to ask him about his past like you decided to do last night."
"I don't remember saying that I was definitely going to grill him about his past like you've wanted me to do since he joined us," she said, visibly angry. "I think that you and everyone else are just going to have to get over your paranoia and accept him as part of this group. He is going with us to New Pacifica and the sooner you accept that, the better off we'll all be." Before he could say anything, she turned and walked away, leaving him standing there, stunned. He watched her walk over to Sheppard who welcomed her with a hug. The older man looked past her towards Danziger. A slow smile appeared on his lips as the two men locked gazes. "Round two is mine," Sheppard laughed to himself as he walked out of the Biodome with Devon, leaving a bewildered Danziger to stare after them.

"Where are you going, John?" The tutor asked, approaching the mechanic who was busy throwing a pack into the dunerail. "Look Yale, I've had enough of this guy's dancing around questions about his past. Yesterday, Devon's ready to believe that he's not all he seems and today she's done a complete turnaround. Something's up and I'm going to get to the bottom of it. I'm going to talk to the Elder and find out the truth," Danziger answered gruffly while sliding behind the steering wheel of the vehicle. "Not without me you're not," Yale stated as he climbed into the passenger's seat. Danziger studied the teacher for a moment then nodded his head. "Buckle up, then" he said as they sped out of camp, leaving a few bewildered stares behind them.

When they were well away from camp, Yale turned to Danziger, "I didn't want to say anything until we were out of earshot, but I saw something strange last night."
"What are you talking about?" The mechanic looked over at the man in the passenger's seat.
"I woke up last night and Sheppard wasn't in his cot. At first, I thought he had just stepped out for a minute so I started to go back to sleep...then I heard something." Yale hesitated for a minute and Danziger stopped the dunerail to give his full attention to the man beside him. "What did you hear?"
"I heard a noise outside of the tent and so I got up to see what it was. As I walked to the tent flap, I could tell it was a voice...It was Sheppard." "Sheppard? Who was he talking to?" Danziger asked. "I don't know. I could only hear him, and even that wasn't too clear," Yale answered.
"Well, what was he saying?"
"I didn't catch all of it, but he sounded agitated. I could only make out a few words. I thought I heard him say ,*don't push me* and *maybe you're right*, but that was all I could make out. I tried to get closer so I could hear better, but he moved away from the tent. I was going to follow him, but by the time I got out of the tent he was gone." "Where'd he go?" Danziger asked, his brow furrowing. "I don't know, but he was gone for quite some time. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew it was morning and he hadn't returned," Yale said, shaking his head. "When I saw him at breakfast, he seemed fine. I don't think he realized that I knew he had left the tent. When I went over to where he and Devon were sitting, he was very pleasant, almost jovial." "I certainly didn't see or hear anyone last night on my shift. I wonder if Cameron saw him? I'll have to remember to ask him about it when we get back," Danziger resolved. Yale nodded in agreement. "You know," Danziger added, "last night Devon and I talked, and she actually admitted she was having some doubts. I thought that we'd agreed she wouldd ask him for more details about his past. Then, this morning they're acting all chummy and she's forgotten everything she'd said last night. When I tried to ask her about it, she basically told me to mind my own business and just accept that he was now a part of the group." Danziger put the dunerail back into gear and continued driving.
"He gave me some kinda look when Devon went over to him after we argued this morning....I think the bastard even smiled at me," he growled. "You know the thing I really don't get, Yale?" Danziger continued, looking over at the tutor, "Is why Devon was so angry at me this morning. I mean, I know there's been some tension between us since she let that that guy come back with us, but I thought we had resolved all of that last night. She actually came to me to talk about some of the doubts she was having about him and we had a civil conversation about it. I thought our talk ended on a very friendly note. She was even smiling and joking when she went back to bed." "I don't understand it any more than you do," Yale said. "It's very unlike Devon to change her emotions so quickly." "Well, I think the Elder can give us some answers," Danziger remarked. "He seemed to be a little worried when Sheppard came with us and I'm betting that he knows more than he let on."
"Let's hope so," Yale murmured, gripping the sidebar to keep from pitching out of the vehicle as Danziger gunned it.

End part 12

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