NOTE: Anyone looking for a 'serious' E2 story, or even a good one,
this is not it. Okay? :)
Midnight Toes
By Twisted Nic (destiny@wwdg.com)
1 April 1999 (Oh look, it's April Fools Day. I wonder if that
makes this story any more appropriate. ::thinking:: I guess not.)
INTRO:
Be afraid. Be very afraid. This is the sequel to *both* "Midnight
Vigil" and "Big Toe". "How?" you might wonder. "Those 2 stories
were totally different!"
Let me tell you this. Nic is quite good at merging non-related
universes (remember G889 WARS? And just you wait for the mega
Babylon 5 crossover...if I ever get it finished.)
So. Here we go: "Midnight Vigil 3" or "Big Toe 2" or...let's just
call this one...
MIDNIGHT TOES
-------------
There was no nice way to put it. Julia was pissed. She stormed
around the camp, practically pacing a circle deep into the dirt.
And all the while the terrible noise kept echoing in her ears,
reinforcing over and over the truth she didn't want to face.
"Argh, won't they ever *stop*!" she exploded under her breath. It
was bad enough that she knew what they were doing, but hearing that
noise just ground the knife into the wound.
He was breaking her heart. Julia loved him more than anyone else
she'd ever loved. Her relationship with Alonzo meant nothing
compared to this. Sure, some might call her a two-timing bitch and
maybe that's what she was, but at this moment, Julia didn't care.
She wanted Danziger and she wanted him bad.
Only Danziger was, at this moment, sitting in a tree with Devon
Adair and singing to her. What was worse, Devon was singing back.
They probably thought they were making the most beautiful music
ever but Julia wanted to hurl as she heard them.
And the others! Bess was sitting with True by the campfire and
both had big, sappy grins on their faces. Like they thought it was
*right* for Devon and Danziger to be together. Like they didn't
care that Julia's heart was breaking.
Julia wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. But she wouldn't give
in to that. Instead, she kept storming around the campsite,
kicking things when she could. No one went near her. They didn't
suspect the reason for her bad mood, because no one knew about the
brief relationship that Julia and Danziger had secretly possessed
some months ago.
Months before *Devon* came back, Julia thought bitterly. And it
was all Julia's own fault. One of her long-running experiments
left to fend for itself had actually produced some results. Julia,
like the fool she was, had immediately reported to the group that
she'd found something that might cure Devon.
That was it. Despite the fact that they were *practically* at New
Pacifica, Danziger just went on and turned the group around on a
mad race back to Devon. Julia should have known then, but it
wasn't until this night, the night before Christmas, geeze!, that
Danziger decided once and for all that it was Devon he loved.
Julia found herself most unceremoniously dumped. And if she wasn't
so mad (keep on building up that rage, Julia) she would have burst
into tears. But she *wasn't* going to cry, no, she wasn't, not
over some stupid man who didn't realise what he had right in front
of him, a stupid man with the most amazing blue eyes and incredible
physique and voice that gave her chills....
Horrified, Julia felt a tear trickle down her cheek and angrily
wiped it away. She'd never felt so strongly about anyone as she
did about John Danziger. It wasn't fair that he didn't feel the
same way about her. What more did he want? She loved him, they
talked easily and for hours and hours on end. Julia knew she
wasn't ugly, and thought she was a pretty fun person to be with.
Still, Danziger wanted Devon. It was a cosmic injustice. What
part of the universe decreed that Devon and Danziger belonged
together? Who made the great law? Needing to get away, Julia
stormed out of camp in the opposite direction in a desperate
attempt to escape that awful singing. When she was finally far
enough, she let out a scream.
And another. And then she let rip with a string of very un-
ladylike words, cursing into the night until Julia could pretend
she felt better.
But she didn't. Her heart was broken. The only thing that would
ever fix it would be the love of a man she couldn't have.
***
Morgan was lying in bed, looking at the ceiling of the tent. The
singing had died down for the moment and of that Morgan was glad.
He wished there was such romance in his own life. Sure, he loved
Bess, and sure, she was his one true love, but sometimes...well...
Where was the spice? Where was the excitement?
Ever since Bess had revealed that she was pregnant and made Morgan
a very happy man, the couple had been...less close. It was almost
as if Bess were hiding something from him, but Morgan couldn't
think what it could be. Maybe she was upset because his
suppressors hadn't worked properly. Morgan didn't care. He was
looking forward to being a father. Unfortunately, he and Bess
still had some months to wait.
Geeze, but it was a hot night. Morgan kicked off his blanket and
stared down at his toes. They were itching. In fact, his whole
body was itching. No, not itching. Restless. He realised he had
no hope of getting to sleep for a while yet, so Morgan got out of
bed and decided to go for a walk.
He didn't bother pulling on a shirt or shoes. After all, it was
dark and the moons weren't even full. The ground in this area was
grassy and a tad mushy from the recent rain, but Morgan relished
the thought of mud between his toes. It could almost be fun.
***
Danziger stared at Devon with an awed kind of rapture. He couldn't
believe it - he actually had Devon Adair in his arms. Devon Adair,
the station princess who would never have looked at him if they
hadn't crashed on G889. Devon Adair, his dream woman. Who was
actually in love with him.
He felt like the luckiest man in the universe. He couldn't wait to
share this with Julia! And then a tiny, tiny pang shot through his
heart. Julia would be upset to know that he was finally with
Devon. Danziger and Julia'd had some good times in the past and
she was probably his best friend. Nothing would change.
However, Danziger rationalised to himself, Julia had always known
how he'd felt about Devon. Devon - well, she was a goddess. A
part of Danziger had put her on a pedestal the moment they'd met,
and that part of him was still having a hard time believing that
she was here with him now.
Even better than that, she had agreed to marry him! A big, goofy
grin spread out across Danziger's face as he listened to Devon tell
him why she loved him.
"...Oh John, I love your eyes and your nose..."
Marriage. Children. It was so frightening and exhilarating.
*He*, a poor drone, would be marrying a princess!
"Oh John, I love your left big toe."
And now she was kissing his feet. Danziger laughed. Life was
beautiful.
***
Julia was still mad as she stomped through the long grass. It had
been raining recently and the ground made a satisfying squelch
beneath her toes. But beneath that squelching was...another noise.
Julia felt her heart catch for a moment. Could it be him? Could
he have realised that it was *Julia* he loved and come out after
her?
She turned, and saw...Alonzo. And sighed. "What do you want?"
He was smiling as he approached her and Julia could see traces of
the personality that had tried to capture her heart. However, it
had taken a serious change of Alonzo's heart to attract Julia's
interest. A change that didn't last, unfortunately. As the times
between Alonzo's terrian dreaming became longer, the length of his
personality change became shorter. He reverted back to the old
charmer and Julia fell out of love with him.
Kind of. In actual fact, Julia had realised she loved Danziger
better and moved out of Alonzo's tent for that very reason. Of
course, Alonzo never knew why. Come to think of it, he hadn't
protested that much either. There was just too much behind them
and neither had had the energy to go through all of that again.
They never officially ended the relationship and Julia still found
solace in Alonzo's arms when she was feeling particularly down.
Alonzo, in turn, liked to look out for Julia. Which was probably
what he was doing now. Unfortunately, Julia wasn't in the mood for
that tonight.
"Hey," he called, trying to break the ice.
"Drop dead," she shot back, enjoying the childish insult.
Alonzo took a mock stagger backwards. "You wound me, beautiful
lady, with your cruel words."
"Go to hell," she replied.
Beginning to realise she was serious, Alonzo tried a different
tactic. "Julia, are you okay? It seems like-"
Julia pulled off her shoe and threw it at him. "Go away, Alonzo!"
she shouted.
"No, Julia, you're hurting and you need a friend. Let me help."
His words seemed deep and sincere and for a moment, Julia wished
that she still loved him. However, her relationship with Alonzo
had been nothing but a big mistake from the start.
"No, Alonzo," she hissed, "I do *not* need a friend. What I do
need is PEACE AND QUIET so I can WORK THINGS OUT ON MY OWN!" She
tore off her other shoe and hurled it viciously.
Backing off, Alonzo said, "Woah, Doc, it doesn't look like you're
working things out."
"I'm expressing my anger," Julia shot back. "What, you think I
have my emotions suppressed all the time? Let me tell you, fly-
boy, you can only hold them in for so long. After a while you just
have to let them out."
"Oh," Alonzo said. He held his hands up, offering a truce. "I
guess I understand. But Jul, I still care about you. Maybe it's
not romantic love but you are one of my best friends."
She looked at him coolly.
"Here," Alonzo offered, and bent down.
"What are you doing?" Julia asked as she watched Alonzo remove one
shoe, and then the other.
"Peace offering?" He held out the shoes to her. "Here're a couple
more to throw. Hope they help."
Julia took the shoes with a bemused look upon her face. "Thanks,
I guess."
"Don't stay out too long," Alonzo cautioned. "It's almost midnight
and who knows what might be around?"
"I won't," Julia said sadly. She seemed on the verge of tears
before she caught hold of herself and kicked the ground savagely.
Alonzo noticed that her mood was back.
"You take care, okay?"
Julia nodded.
Alonzo turned and left the doctor to work through her problems
alone. On the way back, his toes squelched through the mud.
***
"Bess?" True asked as they sat watching the fire.
"Yes, True?" The pair had been having a good discussion, well,
gossip, about Devon and Danziger.
"Isn't that Alonzo's jacket you've got wrapped around your waist?"
Bess gave True a very strange look. "Why yes, honey, I guess it
is."
***
Devon held Danziger's foot in her lap, gently caressing his toes.
Sitting in the tree wasn't the most comfortable position, but she
certainly loved his big toe and would do anything to be able to
look at it. It was so cute, with the lovely toenail perfectly in
the centre in dire need of clipping.
Across the moors she heard an animal baying and it sent momentary
shivers down her spine, until she remembered that she was safely in
Danziger's arms. "Oh John, what time do you think it is?" Devon
asked softly, remembering her son and wondering if he was safely in
bed.
"Round about midnight, I guess," he replied lazily. "It's not that
late."
"Oh John, I know, but I'm just thinking of Uly."
"I'm sure Bess or Yale is taking care of him. Or True. I saw them
playing together earlier. Isn't it great how they've become such
good friends?"
Devon nodded, again focussing her attention on his toe. His voice
was a little distracting.
Another noise reached their ears. "Oh John, there it is again."
Devon sighed. Their tranquillity was broken.
Danziger swivelled his head and squinted into the night. "It
almost sounded like a person," he mused. "You don't think anyone's
hurt, do you?"
"Oh John, on a night like this?" Devon stared hard at Danziger,
knowing full well the power she had over him. She twisted the gold
ring on her finger and, as she'd suspected, his gaze dropped to it
and then back to her. He pulled her close and kissed her deeply,
again.
"I guess you're right. It's probably just a wild animal."
"Mmm-hmm," Devon mumbled, wriggling herself closer for another
kiss. Bad idea. The branch creaked ominously, Danziger slipped
backwards, and Devon fell out of the tree.
Well, almost. She found herself clinging to Danziger's foot,
swinging all of two centimetres above the ground, while Danziger
himself was hung like a monkey from the branch with his legs hooked
over one side, his body hanging down the other. Devon stifled an
impulse to giggle as she lowered herself to the ground.
"Uh - Dev?" Danziger's voice was almost hesitant. "Love?" She
stood there with her hands on her hips. "Could you -uh- help me
out here?"
"Oh John, what seems to be the matter?" Devon was definitely
enjoying herself. The last few hours she'd been under Danziger's
spell, and while that wasn't a bad thing considering how much she
adored him, it was still a little upsetting to have lost her true
self so easily. And to a man, of all things! Where was the old
Adair spirit? Where was the woman who would let *nothing* stand in
the way of her career?
She'd gone all sappy over a man with sexy toes, she realised,
momentarily disgusted with herself until she caught sight of those
toes swaying in front of her and fell in love all over again.
"I'm" -grunt- "a little stuck," Danziger managed, "and if I try and
swing myself up I might fall on my head."
Unable to come up with an appropriate response, Devon finally tore
her gaze away from Danziger's feet and wandered behind him (she fit
under the branch so neatly) and supported his head while he reached
up with his arms and grabbed the tree. He was safe.
Danziger skilfully jumped out of the tree and landed - not so
gracefully - in a pile of mud. Fascinated, Devon watched the mud
ooze between his toes. This gave her an idea.
She took his arm and pressed herself close to him. "Oh John, it's
such a beautiful night. Why don't we go for a walk?"
He grimaced as he looked down at his feet. "I don't know, I kinda
want to go wash this off...."
Devon put a gentle finger to his lips and bent down to remove her
own shoes. "Oh John, I don't think we need shoes tonight. Let's
run free through the wild grass and laugh and dance and be like
children!"
Seeing the childlike glint in her eyes, Danziger answered, "Okay."
They hadn't gone far before they came across footprints in the mud.
Devon stopped dead. "Look," she whispered, her voice hushed with
awe. She was so intrigued with the prints that she forgot to begin
her sentence in her characteristic way for the night.
"So?" Danziger idly traced the footprint with his toes and Devon
tugged on his arm in annoyance. "Seems like we're not the only
ones out here tonight."
"But John, *look*," Devon insisted. The imprints, why, they were
almost worth worshipping. "Let's follow them."
Shrugging in a 'why me?' gesture, Danziger allowed himself to be
pulled along. Devon was completely focussed on the trail, her
heart beating wildly. She didn't know what she would find but it
was almost as if the footprints were calling her, pulling her
forwards to find her destiny.
Suddenly, Danziger's toes didn't seem so attractive anymore.
Devon followed the trail through the mud until finally, she came
face to face with the most amazing big toe she had ever seen and
fell madly in love.
"Morgan!" Devon breathed, her voice filled with excitement. She
looked him up and down, seeing the most amazing specimen of a man
in front of her. "I never realised...."
Totally ignoring Danziger, Devon trailed one finger down Morgan's
bare chest. Morgan shivered and caught her hand before it drifted
too low. But he was staring at Devon with the same kind of
fascination that she held for him.
"Oh Morgan, I-" Devon didn't know what to say. She could only
stare at Morgan and wonder why the hell hadn't she ever noticed him
before?
"Devon," Morgan managed, "would you like to take a walk?"
"Oh Morgan, yes," she breathed.
Danziger un-subtly cleared his throat.
Turning momentarily, Devon caught sight of him standing awkwardly
behind them. "Oh Morgan, one second." She walked over to
Danziger. "I'm sorry it didn't work out, John. Different worlds,
I guess." She pulled the ring from her finger and dropped it into
his hand. "It was fun while it lasted."
Then Devon spun back to Morgan and gently touched his hair with
breathless excitement. "Oh Morgan..."
"Oh Devon..."
***
Bess stared around the campsite. It was empty. It seemed
practically everyone had gone out walking this night. Bess,
however, was in no mood to get her feet dirty. She felt tired, in
need of a warm bed and a warm body to snuggle against.
She decided to go find one.
***
Danziger wandered, confused, through the night. It was well past
midnight now and True would be up at the crack of dawn to see what
Santa-Dad had brought, but for now, Danziger didn't care about the
amount of sleep he wasn't getting.
He needed to think.
He was shocked at himself. Devon Adair, the woman he'd loved for
so long, had just run off with another man. And he didn't even
really care. Which made Danziger very worried. If he'd *really*
loved Devon for so long then shouldn't he be heartbroken?
Shouldn't he be crying beneath the moons and raging at cosmic
injustices?
Maybe his heart was just too broken and he'd never feel anything
again. Or maybe he'd never even loved Devon in the first place.
As he walked, his mind began to trace back over his relationship
with Devon. She had infuriated him from the beginning. And
challenged him. And a part of him had wondered what it would be
like to have the princess to himself.
They'd become friends, good friends, and then came the time that
changed everything. Devon was put into cold sleep.
Things had never been the same since then. Danziger slowly
realised that he'd obsessed over Devon the whole time she was gone.
He had put her memory on a pedestal, tried to make her into
something she wasn't. In Danziger's mind, Devon Adair was the
perfect woman for him to love. And since she wasn't ever
attainable, then he was perfectly justified in his falling in love
with Julia.
Julia. Danziger suddenly remembered the howling noise from
earlier. It couldn't have been his Julia, could it? He shook his
head, according it as an impossibility, yet a part of him wasn't
convinced.
Was it possible she was out there, as confused as he was? Thinking
back over his actions of the past few months, Danziger was suddenly
horrified. The moment he'd realised that Devon could be returned,
he'd completely ignored Julia in favour of a memory. How could he
have been so cruel?
And look where it had gotten him. Wandering through the mud,
following another random set of footprints.
Over the moors drifted a peal of girlish laughter. Devon's, he
supposed. She had changed so much. Now that he was over his
infatuation, Danziger realised that Devon had never been quite
right since she'd been taken out of cold sleep. Something had gone
wrong in her mind, she'd become almost...shallow and silly. And
he'd been too head-over-heels in love with a memory to notice.
Danziger decided to ask Julia to perform tests on Devon, quietly if
possible. Maybe she could be helped. Maybe not. Whatever the
result, Danziger was over her. But it would be nice to have her
friendship again.
Julia, his thoughts were always drifting back to Julia. And like
an apparition from a dream, she suddenly appeared in front of him.
She was sitting on a log with her head buried in her hands, her
long hair falling forwards over her shoulders. It looked like she
was crying.
"Julia?" he began softly.
She visibly jumped. "John!" Julia kept her head carefully turned
away from him, presumably while she composed herself. "What are
you doing out here?" Her voice was casual, friendly, nothing more.
Danziger settled himself down beside Julia. "Just walking.
Thinking."
"Where's Devon?" Julia asked.
"Somewhere with Morgan..." Danziger gestured vaguely. "I don't
really know. It doesn't matter. We had fun tonight and got a lot
of things out in the open." He took a deep breath, gently reaching
out to take one of Julia's hands.
"Julia, I'm over her."
Julia snatched her hand back quickly. "What?"
Danziger was confused. Had he misread her signals? Did Julia
really not care about him anymore? Did she *want* him to be with
Devon?
"Julia, listen to me. I want to apologise, from the bottom of my
heart. I did a terrible, terrible thing to you and I am *so*
sorry. Will you ever forgive me?"
Staring straight ahead, Julia's struggle was only betrayed by the
trembling of her hands. "Do you know," she began, fighting to keep
her voice even, "how many nights I've dreamed of hearing you say
that?" She paused, suppressing a sob. "But now that you have said
it, I don't know if I can believe it. I don't know if I can trust
you again. Who says you won't go running back to Devon the minute
she beckons?"
"No, Julia," Danziger protested, "it's not like that. I thought I
loved Devon but I was in love with a fantasy. *You're* the one I
loved all along. *You're* the one I still love. I was just too
stupid to realise that for a long time."
"John, you could never be stupid to me," Julia replied sadly.
"Annoying, selfish, but never stupid."
"Then will you forgive me?"
"I already did, the moment you left me," admitted Julia. "Damn, I
wasn't going to tell you that. But I - I care for you so much I
can't even be mad at you."
She finally looked at him, her eyes now full of hope. "Do you
remember the night in the clouds?"
Smiling warmly, Danziger said, "I could never forget it. That was
the night you told me you loved me."
Nodding, Julia whispered, "I still do. I think I always will."
Danziger's heart skipped a beat and a magical feeling swept through
him like a roaring river. It was the most amazing feeling, far
beyond anything else he'd felt this night. For the beautiful woman
in front of him, Julia, was his true love.
He pulled the ring from his pocket. It wasn't Devon's ring any
more. Danziger had made it for the woman he loved and that was
Julia.
"Julia, will you marry me?"
"Oh John, yes!" she said happily, her eyes sparkling with more
unshed tears, but this time they were tears of happiness.
Hesitantly, she allowed herself to be enfolded into Danziger's
embrace.
"I love you, Julia."
"I love you, John."
They stayed like that until the sun rose.
---
END.
Okay, my apologies for wreaking havoc on G889, but given the status
of my own dismal love life, I felt entitled to take out my wrath on
someone. Our beloved characters just happened to get in the way.
Besides, I had a lot of fun writing this and it turned out a lot
better than I thought it would.
I'm going to blame this on Manu, who suggested the Morgan-toe
thing, and Jen, who wanted a J&J sequel. And as always, this story
is for someone who persists in traumatising not only me, but D&Ders
everywhere. :P
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(You know I'm only kidding. *S* Right? Um, Maggie, put that mag-
pro down...!)
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