Un-Remarkable Timing
Maggie C.
Disclaimer: Earth 2 and the characters do not belong to me.
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Danziger glanced over at Devon, who was sitting beside him. In the driver's seat. John sighed.
Devon looked over at him and grinned. "It's really bothering you, isn't it?" she asked, obviously amused.
"No, it's not," John said stubbornly. Devon bit back a laugh. "Alright, it is bothering me," he said. "I'm just used to driving, okay? It's not like I'm sitting here criticizing the way you drive," he grumbled.
"What's wrong with the way I drive?" Devon protested.
"I didn't say anything!"
"You must have been thinking it or you wouldn't have mentioned it at all," Devon said.
"Well, maybe I just brought it up because I'm bored and I wanted to annoy you," John returned.
Devon didn't even take her eyes off the road as she reached over and swatted him. "Very funny," she said. "So is there any special reason you want to irritate me today?"
"You irritated me first," John said.
"How?" Devon asked.
"You wouldn't let me drive," John said, "among other things."
Devon sighed. "Well, then if I'm so irritating, why do you always volunteer to go on scouts with me?"
The answer was on the tip of John's tongue, but he held it back. Then he wondered why he did. //Am I ever gonna tell her? It's not like anyone's going to tell her for me, and now is as good a time as any.// John took a deep breath and answered Devon matter-of-factly. "Because I'm in love with you."
Devon's head whirled around and she just stared at him. John was amused by the expression on her face until he realized she was no longer paying attention to where she was going. "Vehicle stop!" he said quickly. "See, this is why I should be driving," he said. He turned back to Devon, who was still staring at him. John's amusement faded and nervousness began to set in. What would her reaction be?
Devon barely noticed the vehicle slow to a halt. "What… what did you say?" she asked quietly.
John swallowed. "I'm in love with you. I have been for awhile, I just… couldn't decide what to do about it."
"And now you've decided?"
"No," John said, shaking his head. "I just figured I'd let you decide."
"Oh," Devon said. It was about all she could manage at the moment. Silence stretched between them, until Devon asked, "So do you want to drive?"
"Um, sure," John said, confused at the change of subject. They switched seats and continued on their way. John figured Devon just needed time to think, and he gave that to her. They reached the grove of fruit trees and John stopped the rail.
"Are these the kind that Julia needed?" John asked, holding up a piece of fruit. Devon nodded and they gathered the fruit and stored it in the rail. Danziger was becoming very worried at Devon's continued silence on his little announcement. //Does she want to forget it? Is she mad, does she think what I said is funny?// John thought. God, he prayed she wasn't silently laughing at him. That would be hell. It was ridiculous to think she would laugh, John knew Devon, she wouldn't do that. But her continued silence… John just wasn't sure how to take it.
As they were about to leave, Devon spoke. "John? I'm having some trouble… deciding myself." Her voice was quiet, unsure, and John didn't quite catch onto what she was talking about. He turned and looked at her quizzically. She met his gaze nervously. "I was wondering… would you decide for me if I decide for you?"
It took a few moments, but John finally figured out what she was talking about. It took a few more moments to convince himself that she meant what he thought she meant. And then he had to figure out what to do about it. He settled for taking a few steps toward her. "Devon?" he asked hopefully. She nodded and smiled.
"So, what have you decided?" Devon asked, reaching out and grasping his hand.
Danziger smiled back and raised his free hand to the side of Devon's face. "How about this?" he asked quietly, and John stepped even closer, lowering his face to hers.
Devon's hand went to rest against John's chest and as their lips met, she could have felt his heart rate increase. She would have, except she was too involved in her own reactions to John's sensuous lips moving slowly, gently, tenderly against hers… her mouth parting in a half-sigh, and then the sensation of his hot tongue twisting with hers in her mouth and then his… their joined hands releasing, Devon's going to the curls at the nape of John's neck, drawing him deeper into the kiss, and John's hand going to the small of her back, pulling Devon tight against his firm, muscled body… his hand brushing her hair aside and his warm mouth leaving Devon's to trail down her neck and nip at her earlobe… John's strong arms encircling her as she dragged his lips back to her own…
After the kiss ended, they still clung to each other, both breathless. Devon rested her forehead against John's shoulder. "Good decision," she said, smiling.
John grinned. "So what about you? What have you decided?"
Devon pulled back to look at him. "I think we should have dinner together. Since we can't stay out here much longer without being missed. What do you think?"
John's eyes flashed with amusement. "I think I liked my decision better." Devon laughed and shook her head. "But yours is good. Very good," he said. Devon reached up and kissed him quickly and then they got into the rail and returned to New Pacifica.
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John sat on the beach, waiting and wondering where Devon could be. Did she have second thoughts? Did she regret what happened this morning? //Get a grip, John, think positively,// he told himself. She could have just been delayed, had someone corner her at the last minute. She could have just lost track of time. God knows that happened often enough with Devon when she was working. Or something could have happened to her. She could be in the hospital right now, or lying somewhere, hurt, unable to get help… John grimaced. //Oh, yeah, that's positive thinking, // he thought sarcastically.
Danziger got up and brushed the sand off his pants. //Might as well find out where Devon is, why she couldn't make it.// It was better than sitting and letting his thoughts run away with him. John went home and grabbed his gear. He knew he should carry it with him, but he kept forgetting the damn thing. John tried reaching Devon but there was no answer. He tried Yale next. The tutor didn't know where she was either. John walked over to the cafeteria and ran into True and Uly, who were leaving with some friends for the valley. They hadn't seen Devon either. And there was no sign of her in the cafeteria. John checked with Bess in the kitchen, but she hadn't seen Devon since breakfast. He tried Devon's office next, but it was deserted. Frustrated and starting to worry, John called Julia.
"Dr. Solace here," she greeted him.
"Hey Julia, it's me. Have you seen Devon?"
"Devon? No, not recently, John, why?"
"I was supposed to meet her for dinner and she didn't show. I've checked around, no one's seen her."
"Hmm, hold on, I'll check, maybe she stopped by while I had a patient." Julia walked over to the nurse at the admitting desk. "Linda, have you seen Devon?"
Linda looked at Julia strangely. "Dr. Vasquez brought her in, unconscious, almost an hour ago. You didn't know?"
Julia was shocked. "No, I didn't know!" she exclaimed. In her worry, she forgot about the open gear channel. "What room?"
"Five nineteen," Linda replied. Julia immediately took off.
She entered Devon's room quickly and saw Vasquez looking at a chart while Devon lay asleep or unconscious on the bed. Julia walked over to Vasquez and snatched the chart away from him. "Why wasn't I told Devon had been admitted?" she asked through clenched teeth. Julia glanced over the chart. "Why weren't any of her family or friends notified?" Julia was incensed.
"I didn't feel it was necessary," Vasquez said coolly.
"Not necessary?" Julia exclaimed. "Her own son doesn't deserve to be told when his mother is in the hospital?"
"I felt it would be better to assess her condition before scaring the boy needlessly," he said.
Vasquez was saved from another biting retort of Julia's by the arrival of Danziger.
"Julia, what happened, is she okay?" John asked, slightly out-of-breath.
"I don't know, it looks like she hit her head," Julia said.
"She did," Vasquez interrupted, annoyed. "She tripped and hit her head against a rock. It was lucky that I was with her at the time."
Danziger spared a moment to look at Vasquez with narrowed eyes and then he looked back to Julia. "Will she be okay? When will she wake up?"
Vasquez cut Julia off before she could say anything. "*My* patient should be waking up anytime now, so if you'll just wait outside…"
Julia and Danziger both glared at him. Neither one of them was going anywhere. Danziger sat by Devon's bed and ignored Vasquez. "Yale's going to get Uly and then head over here," John told Julia. "It shouldn't take them long."
"Good," Julia said. She glared at Vasquez. "They should have already known," she said. She proceeded to start a quiet argument with Vasquez on when people should be notified of a loved one's injury… Vasquez was not doing well. Danziger, however, wasn't paying much attention to it. He just looked at Devon and tried to resist the urge to take her hand. He was doing a pretty good job of it until he saw her eyes flutter. Then he couldn't resist, and he took her hand in one of his own.
"Dev?" he asked quietly. "Devon, can you hear me?" Julia and Vasquez continued arguing and didn't notice anything. John silently prayed that Devon was going to be okay. "Come on, Dev," John whispered, "don't do this to me, not now." He breathed a sigh of relief and smiled when she opened her eyes and looked at him. "Hey, Dev, are you okay?" he asked.
Devon's eyes narrowed slightly in confusion. "Who… who are you?" she asked.
The simple question was like a sucker punch to the gut for John. She didn't *remember* him? "Julia," John said, interrupting the argument. Both doctors, upon seeing that Devon was awake, immediately came over.
"Devon?" Julia asked, "How are you feeling?"
Devon looked from Julia to Danziger. "I'm… not sure…"
"She doesn't know who I am," Danziger explained.
Julia frowned. "Devon, do you know who I am?"
"You look vaguely familiar, but…" Devon shook her head.
"What about me?" Vasquez asked.
Devon nodded. "Dr. Vasquez," she said, obviously relieved to find someone she recognized. Vasquez smirked and Danziger scowled at the man.
"What's the last thing you remember?" Vasquez asked.
Devon thought for a moment. "I… the Eden project, getting everyone to leave for G889," she finally replied.
Julia and Danziger looked at each other, stunned. Devon had lost over two years of memories.
Vasquez spoke again. "That was awhile ago, Devon. We're on G889 now. Two years have passed, we're in New Pacifica."
"Two years?" Devon's eyes grew wide.
John saw Devon take in the news, looking at each of them – him, Julia, and Vasquez - in turn. He saw fear form in her eyes and knew what she was thinking. "Uly's been healed," John told her. He saw the relief shine through her eyes. "He and Yale should be here any minute now."
John's words were prophetic. Uly burst through the door to the room and threw his arms around his mom. "Mom!" he said. "Are you okay?"
Devon could only look at her strong, healthy son in amazement. "Uly?"
Uly looked at her quizzically. "Mom?" he asked, then Uly looked to John for an explanation.
"Your mom's having some trouble remembering, champ," John said. "Since before the…" he was about to say, 'before the crash,' but he didn't want to shock Devon too much at once. She had enough to deal with. "Since before we got here," he finished.
"Is she going to remember, Julia?" Uly asked.
//God, I hope she remembers,// Danziger thought. //It would be just my luck if…// he laughed silently at himself. Who was he kidding? This was rotten luck already. He finally tells her how he feels and she promptly forgets all about it, and all about him. John shook off his thoughts and noticed that Yale had caught up to Uly. Vasquez was explaining something or other. "… no reason she can't go home," he was saying, "but I think it would be best if Uly stayed with Yale."
Devon looked unhappy about that, but she didn't argue. Uly glanced at Yale, who nodded, and then looked back to his mom and asked, "Mom, can I stay with John instead?"
Devon had a blank look on her face. "Who?"
Uly looked to the other adults, a worried expression on his face. "John… Mr. Danziger…" he said uncertainly.
"That'd be me," John said. Devon didn't even recognize his name. He tried to hide how much that hurt. "If it's okay with you, I'd be happy to have him."
Devon glanced at Yale and the tutor nodded. "It's alright with me," she said.
"Cool," Uly said, excited. "Me and True can…" he broke off. "I guess you don't remember True either. Or the Terrians."
Devon looked hopelessly confused. "Hey, that's enough for now, champ," John said. "Your mom will hear all about everything, let's just give her some time."
"Okay," Uly said.
"Come on, let's go get your stuff together," John said. "You can see your mom later." Uly agreed immediately to leave with the promise that he would see his mom later. John got up and looked at Devon, feeling very awkward. "I'll… I guess I'll talk to you later, Dev," he said. Devon simply nodded, and John and Uly left the room.
Julia and Vasquez took their leave next. "You get some rest, Devon," Julia said, "and we'll see about getting you out of here." Vasquez reluctantly followed Julia out of the room, leaving Devon alone with Yale.
Yale took a seat next to Devon's bed. "How are you feeling?"
Devon smiled wryly. "Didn't we just cover that?" she asked. Yale chuckled and she answered his question as honestly as possible. "It's… overwhelming, Yale. I mean, everything I wanted… Uly is *healed*." Yale squeezed her hand and smiled at her. She smiled back, and then it faded again as she tried to absorb all that had just been revealed to her. "Yale?" she asked hesitantly after a moment. "When did I start going by 'Dev'?" She looked at Yale, waiting for an answer.
"You haven't," Yale said. "John's the only one who calls you that." He left it at that. If Devon wanted more information about Danziger, she would have to ask outright.
"Why? I mean, I don't… Yale, I don't remember him," she said, confused and unsure what exactly she wanted to ask.
Yale considered what to say for a moment. "You're good friends with him, Devon. As for not remembering him, he was part of Eden Advance. The head of the ops crew?"
"Ops crew?" Devon racked her memory. This got more and more confusing. She seemed to remember the name, but… "Why is he here instead of back on the stations?"
Yale sighed. "It's a long story, Devon. Why don't I tell you all about it when we get you home?" As Yale suspected, Devon didn't like being made to wait, but she agreed. She needed time to get her thoughts in order, to try and figure out what to ask Yale about the last two years. For some reason, it didn't strike her as odd that finding out about Danziger was at the top of her list. Who was he? Why was her son so used to obeying him, when did he and her son establish that easy closeness she had seen? Why had he been sitting by her bedside, holding her hand when she woke up? And who was True, and why was Devon hoping it wasn't a girlfriend or a wife?
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Devon hadn't seen Danziger for more than five minutes at a time since he left her hospital room with her son a few days ago. She got the sneaking suspicion he was avoiding her, but she couldn't imagine why. All of her other friends were talking to her, telling her about the past two years. Devon wondered why he, supposedly her best friend, was the one avoiding her. Of course, that could be the reason why he was avoiding her. His best friend had pretty much been lost along with Devon's memory. This didn't stop Devon from wanting to talk to Danziger, though. She saw him in the cafeteria, eating lunch alone, and she went over and sat down with him. "Hi," she said, smiling at his surprised expression.
"Um, hi, Devon, how are you doing?" John said, recovering quickly.
Devon shrugged. "I'm okay, I still don't remember, but everyone's been telling me about the past two years on G889."
"Mmn. It must be strange, hearing stories from people you don't know," John said. "Even people you knew beforehand must be different enough that it seems sorta odd."
Devon just looked at him for a moment. How the hell did he know *exactly* what she had been thinking? "Yeah, it is," she agreed. "Even Yale and Uly have changed." Devon smiled. "Uly's actually changed a lot."
John smiled back. "Yeah, he has. One good thing about him staying with me," John said, his smile widening into a grin, "at least you won't go through that huge over-protective stage you went through when he was first cured."
Devon blinked. "I was really that bad?"
John snorted. "You were really that bad. I think you nearly had a heart attack when you saw me teaching him how to run."
Devon laughed at that. John grinned at her, and then he seemed to suddenly remember that she didn't remember. His smile faded and he looked down at his food. Devon was disappointed that he felt so uncomfortable talking to her. But she wasn't going to give up, not by a long shot. She really wanted to get to know him. "I do remember you, you know," she said. His head shot up and he looked at her. "From reading your file, and from the ship. I don't think we ever talked, though."
"Yeah, you were always poking around. It took us awhile to get used to that," John said. "I never really knew why you did that. Of course, then we crashed here and I figured out that you had to know exactly what was going on at all times."
He did it again. Devon tilted her head to one side, studying the man who seemed to be able to read her like a book. She hesitated before asking the next question. "So how did we…"
"Become friends?" John finished for her. "Well, it took awhile, because the first thing I did was pick a fight with you."
"You did?" Devon asked. "Sounds like fun," she joked.
"Oh, it was," he returned. "That's why we kept it up after we became friends. Kept things interesting." He smiled. "I think we fight more than the kids, sometimes."
"How is Uly doing?" Devon asked.
"He's okay. True's keeping him pretty distracted," he said.
"I really appreciate you doing this," Devon started, but John interrupted her.
"It's no problem, Dev, really. We do it all the time," John said. Devon smiled, there was that nickname again. John studied her for a minute. "Does it… does it bother you that your son is staying with a virtual stranger?"
Devon was surprised. She considered the question, and realized that the situation probably should bother her, but it didn't. Why did she feel so comfortable with this man, why did she trust him so much, why did he know her so well? She couldn't tell him that, he would think it was silly… wouldn't he? He was still waiting for an answer. "Well…" she said. "It doesn't, actually. I… trust you. I don't remember you at all, really, but I just know I can trust you." He was silent for a moment, and she was terrified that he would laugh at her 'feeling'. "It's strange, I know, you probably think it's silly…"
"God, no, Dev, I don't think it's silly at all," John interrupted her. "It makes me feel a lot better, actually," he said. She smiled at him then and he held her gaze for a moment before looking away.
Devon picked up her tray and rose. "I have to go meet Dr. Vasquez now," Danziger grimaced at the mention of his name. "Can we talk later?" Devon asked. "Would you tell me about our times here? Uly told me you were a good storyteller," she pressed on, hoping he wouldn't decline.
He didn't think about his reply for even a moment. "I would be honored," John said. "Tonight?"
Devon smiled at him gratefully. "That would be perfect. I'll see you then."
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"Well, you check out fine, Devon," Vasquez said. "We're all finished here."
"Thank you, Doctor," Devon said as she got up.
"Please, Devon, call me Miguel," he said with a smile. "I'm getting off now, would you like to have dinner with me?"
"Actually, I already have plans to meet someone," Devon said.
"Oh," Miguel said. "Who? If you don't mind me asking."
"With John," Devon said. "I won't keep you any longer, you must be eager to get off work, but can I talk to you tomorrow about my memory?"
Miguel was annoyed at the mention of John's name, but didn't let Devon see that. He took advantage of the opportunity presented to him. "I do have a full schedule tomorrow, but join me for breakfast at my apartment and I'll answer your questions then."
"I don't want to impose, Dr. Vas-"
"Miguel, please," he interrupted. He smiled at her. "And it's no trouble, really."
"Well, alright then," Devon agreed. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."
"Wonderful," Vasquez said. He smiled.
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After a long, companionable dinner filled with good conversation, Devon and John took a walk down by the beach. They fell into silence, Devon looking out at the water, and John looking at Devon.
Devon stopped and looked out at the ocean and up at the sky. "So beautiful," she murmured.
John, looking at Devon, couldn't help but agree with the sentiment. He did manage to keep from saying it out loud, though. John forced himself to look out at the ocean as well. He sat down and leaned back, looking up at the sky. "You know, the first time we saw this beach was just as winter was coming. Julia had warned us for weeks that the water would be too cold to swim in so we had better all stay out." John chuckled. "Of course, when we finally saw it, she was the first one in the water, followed by just about everyone."
Devon sat down next to him and laughed. "Just about? Who stayed dry?"
"You and me. You I think were just in shock that we had made it, and I didn't really want to get wet." John grinned. "Good thing, too, because everyone ended up getting sick. Nothing serious, but they were pretty miserable for a couple days."
Devon laughed. "Oh, Julia must not have been happy with herself over that one."
John laughed too. "No, she wasn't."
Devon smiled. They sat in silence, looking out at the water and at the night sky. After a time, Devon said, "It's late, I should probably go back."
"Yeah, I guess," John said. He smiled but he didn't want her to go. He missed Devon. John had never realized how well Devon really knew him until tonight, when he realized a thousand little things that she would have noticed a week ago, before she forgot him. Why did she lose her memory right after he had told her he loved her? Why then, before either of them really had a chance to embrace the new turn their relationship had taken? He felt like the cosmos was playing a huge joke on him. The timing of this whole thing was downright funny, but John wasn't laughing. She forgot everything right after he told her he loved her. Before she even had a chance to say 'I love you' in return. She hadn't needed to say it, John could see it in her eyes, feel it in her kiss… but now he wondered if he really saw the love in her eyes or just imagined it there. He didn't imagine it, he knew Devon loved him. Maybe. No, she did, but still… he wouldn't be able to dismiss the words so easily if he had heard them. Maybe she…
His thoughts broke off when he saw a hand wave in front of his face. "John?" Devon asked, an amused expression on her face.
John looked to Devon and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I… wandered off there for a second."
"What were you thinking about that you didn't hear me?" Devon said.
John shook his head. "Nothing important, what were you saying?"
Devon tilted her head, but allowed the change in subject. "I was just saying I had a lot of fun tonight and I was wondering if you'd want to do lunch or dinner again sometime."
"I'd love to, Dev," John said. "How about lunch tomorrow?"
"Perfect," Devon smiled.
//Okay, John, you have until tomorrow to get your emotions under control,// John thought to himself. //You can't let her know how you feel.// He got up and brushed the sand off his hands on his pants. "Come on, Dev, I'll walk you home," he said, holding out a hand to her. "It is getting pretty late."
Devon took his hand and pulled herself up, and ended up standing a bit too close to John for his comfort. Her closeness impacted on John like a mag-pro blast. John quickly drew in a breath and looked away before his eyes revealed his feelings. After a few breaths, he realized he was still gripping Devon's hand. He released it and a 'sorry' stuck in his throat. They started walking back in the direction of Devon's place, John not daring to look at her to see her reaction. He needed to get his emotions under control before he risked even looking at her.
Devon, oblivious to John's turmoil, broke the silence. "John, why do you call me 'Dev'? Where did you get it from?"
He had almost had it. Almost, and then she had to ask that question. His emotions slipped away from his control, wanting to be let out, to be shown. He shoved them back and answered Devon. "I… don't know, really, I guess it just slipped out one day," he finally said. John risked looking at Devon. "I can stop calling you that, if you'd like."
"No, please don't," Devon said. "I sort of like it." She smiled, and John had to look away again.
They arrived at Devon's door. "Well, goodnight," John said.
"Goodnight, John," Devon said. "Thank you." Impulsively, she stretched up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "See you tomorrow," she said, and entered her apartment.
John stood there at her door for a few minutes, in shock from the kiss. //It was just a friendly kiss, do not read into it, do not read into it!//
//Devon doesn't do that for friends, why did she do that, why?? Maybe she remembers?//
//No! If she remembered anything she would have said something! It was completely innocent, I'm just reaching for a sign she's still in love with me. Ignore it, just forget it!//
John groaned aloud and finally moved from Devon's doorway and started walking to his own place. //I can't keep this to myself anymore, I have to tell her. No, I can't tell her, I'll talk to someone else first, Yale. No, Julia, Julia can tell me what the hell to do.//
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John went over to Julia's early the next morning, as early as he could. He caught Alonzo and Julia just leaving, probably on the way to breakfast. "Julia, could I talk to you?"
"Sure, John," she said. Julia must have picked up that he wanted to talk to her alone, because she turned to Alonzo and said, "I'll meet you at breakfast in a bit." Alonzo gave her a kiss goodbye and then Julia and John went back into Julia and Alonzo's flat. "What's wrong, John?"
John shook his head. "I need some advice, Julia, I don't know what to do." He looked up at Julia. "It's about Devon. How much should we tell her about things she doesn't remember?"
Julia shrugged. "As much as you feel comfortable with, there's always the hope that talking about it will bring back one particular memory, and that one might break the dam and bring all her memories back." She looked at John closely, wondering what would make him this nervous. "Did she ask about when she was in cold sleep?"
"No," John said, pacing across the room. He stopped and ran his hands through his unruly hair. He sighed. "You remember I was supposed to meet Dev for dinner that night?" Julia nodded. "Well, earlier in the day – and Julia, you have got to swear to keep this to yourself, please, you can't tell a soul," John pleaded.
"Of course, John, I promise," she said. "What happened?"
John paced once more across the room before continuing. "Earlier in the day, on the scout we were on, I… I told her that I loved her." Julia's eyes went wide. John continued nervously, "And she reciprocated, but we had to get back so we were going to meet for dinner to… but then…" he trailed off.
"You guys…?" Julia started to smile and then John shot her a look that said, 'if you dare to be happy for me I'll wring your neck', and her smile faded as she realized the situation. "Oh, John, what rotten timing, I'm so sorry," she said.
"What do I do, Julia?" John asked. "I was going to keep it a secret, but I don't know if I can, I nearly slipped last night and it wasn't anything even remotely… dangerous."
"Do you want to tell her?"
"I don't _know_," John said. "I don't know if it'd be easier if I told her or harder, and I don't want to put her in an uncomfortable position, but…" John ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "Damn it, I finally tell her and within hours she *forgets* me."
"John, I don't know what to tell you," Julia said after a moment. "I wish I could tell you if her memory's even likely to return soon, but since Vasquez won't let me even look at her charts, much less examine her…"
Danziger nodded in understanding, Vasquez had been a pain since this whole thing began, he wouldn't let any other doctor examine Devon, he wouldn't give straight answers to anyone except Yale, and even he had to badger Vasquez for hours just to get a simple update on Devon's progress.
"Wait a minute…" Julia said. "John, you were going to meet Devon for dinner."
Danziger nodded, "Yeah, I was. So?"
"Vasquez, he told me was on his way to dinner with Devon when she hit her head," Julia said.
Danziger just looked at her. "He lied? But why…?" Danziger sighed in frustration. "That's it, I'm going to go and get some answers from that man."
"John, wait, what are you going to do about Devon?" Julia asked.
John paused and looked back to Julia. "I don't know yet. I'll figure something out, eventually. Thanks for listening, Julia."
"Anytime, John," Julia said. They both left then, Danziger in the direction of Vasquez's place and Julia to the cafeteria.
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Julia went and got her breakfast and sat down across from Alonzo, who was facing the windows and door. "Hey love," she said.
"Hey, what did John need?" Alonzo asked.
Julia shook her head. "Just needed to ask something about Devon. He decided to go pull a few answers out of Vasquez," she said. Alonzo smiled and nodded, and let the subject drop. Julia started on her breakfast while Alonzo sipped his coffee. Alonzo's eyebrows raised at something behind her, and Julia paused. "What is it?"
"Danz, he just rushed by in a hurry, towards the beach," Alonzo said.
"Hmm, he must need to blow off some steam after talking with Vasquez," Julia said, and resumed eating. Alonzo nodded in agreement, and then a half a minute later, his eyebrows raised again.
"Devon just rushed off in the same direction as Danziger did," Alonzo said.
"Really?" Julia asked, turning around in her seat, but Devon was already out of sight. "I wonder what happened?" She made a mental note to ask John about it later and went back to her breakfast.
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John never went as far as the beach, he turned around the corner of the last building before the beach and leaned against the side, covering his face with his hands. //Oh, man, this can't be happening, I've gotta be dreaming, this has got to be a nightmare, I fell asleep on the beach waiting for Devon and this has all been some damn *nightmare*.// He tried to forget what he had seen, but he couldn't, it was burned into his memory. He had went over to Vasquez's, but when he got there… Devon… god, she was standing with him in the doorway and he was _kissing_ her. They were _kissing_. He sank down to the ground, sitting with his back against the wall. //Oh, God, why me, why me?// John felt like someone had reached in and was squeezing his heart. He buried his face in trembling hands and tried to keep from falling apart.
He nearly jumped out of his skin when someone put a hand on his arm, and nearly fainted in surprise when he saw that it was Devon who interrupted his breakdown. She was crouched in front of him, looking at him in concern. "Devon? What are you doing here?" he got out in a strangled voice.
"I wanted to make sure you were okay, John, you ran off so quickly, and you looked…" she shook her head, she didn't know how to complete the thought.
"You were *kissing* him," John said, accusation and a touch of anger creeping into his voice. How could she do this to him? //She doesn't remember, she doesn't remember,// he repeated to himself, //it's not her fault.//
Devon looked at him curiously. "You don't even know? Miguel said we were keeping it quiet, but I thought that at least you would know about it."
"Keeping what quiet?" John asked, staring at Devon.
"Our relationship," she answered, and John exploded.
"What!?" John exclaimed. "Devon, you have never, ever, *ever*, had a relationship with Vasquez. Never like that!"
"You mean… he lied?" Devon said. "But…"
"Yes, he lied, Devon, and I don't know why, but I sure as hell intend to find out," Danziger said through clenched teeth. He rose to his feet and Devon did the same. John started to walk away but Devon stumbled and he reached out to steady her. "Are you okay?" he asked, his voice softening.
She shook her head, holding on to John for support. "I don't feel so good," she said.
"Do you want me to take you to the hospital?" John asked, all thoughts of confronting Vasquez leaving his mind for the moment.
"No, I just need to sit for a minute," Devon said. John helped her lower herself down to the ground. Devon took several deep breaths, trying very hard not to throw up.
"Better?" John asked after a few moments.
"A little," Devon said. "Not much."
"I'm gonna call Julia, do you have your gear with you?"
"It's in my pocket," Devon said. He retrieved the gear and called Julia. Even though she was sitting, she began to feel very dizzy and closed her eyes to try and ward it off. She focused on John's hand, solid and reassuring on her shoulder.
"Dev? Julia wants to check you over. Can you make it to the hospital if I help you?"
His voice was calming, soothing, and she nodded. "I think so," she said. John put his arm around her shoulders and started to help her up. She was halfway up and Devon felt a wave of blackness wash over her. "No," she said, lowering herself back to the ground, "no, I can't, I'm sorry," she said, blinking back tears.
"It's okay," he soothed, his arm still comfortingly around her shoulders. "If I pick you up, do you think you'll be okay?" Devon, leaning against him, just nodded. "Alright," John said, "here we go." He slid his other arm under her legs and lifted her as gently as possible. He carried her to the hospital where he was meeting Julia, talking quietly to Devon as they went along. Devon tried hard to concentrate on what he was saying, but his voice seemed to be getting farther and farther away… until finally everything went black.
-----------------
By the time Julia had finished examining Devon, a good portion of the original Eden Advance had gathered in the waiting room. Danziger was there, of course, along with Yale, Uly, True, Alonzo, Morgan, Baines, and Magus. The others couldn't get away from duties they had to complete, and all of them had made one or more of the people there promise to call them as soon as there was any news. It had been about 2 hours since Danziger brought Devon in when Julia finally came in the waiting room with some news. She went straight to Uly. "Your mom's going to be just fine, Uly," she said, and the entire room breathed a sigh of relief. "She'll even recover her memory soon," Julia said. This statement caused muffled sounds of shock and some confusion from everyone in the room.
Uly's eyes lit up. "She will?"
Julia nodded. "Yep, she will. She's asleep now, but why don't you and True go check on her? Nurse Ross will show you the room."
Danziger and Yale exchanged a glance at Julia's obvious ploy to get the kids out of the room. True and Uly looked to Danziger, who nodded, and the kids left with Nurse Ross, who had been standing in the doorway.
"What happened this morning, Julia?" Yale asked.
Julia went over and closed the door. She turned back to the group waiting for her answer and everyone saw the anger in her eyes. "What happened this morning was that Devon had a bad reaction to the combination of sumacycline and anajansen in her system."
"What are they? Drugs of some kind?" Morgan asked.
Julia nodded. "Oh, yes, they're drugs, and I'm damn sure Devon didn't know she was taking them. Anajansen is a drug that suppresses memory."
"What? You mean, someone *erased* Devon's memory?" Magus exclaimed after the implications had sunk in.
Danziger clenched his fists in anger. "Not someone," he said through gritted teeth. "Vasquez."
Julia nodded, fury written across her face. "Yes, he did. That whole story about Devon tripping and hitting her head was just that, a story. He must have sedated her and then drugged her."
"Julia, what was the other drug?" Alonzo asked.
"Sumacycline?" Julia said. Her face grew even angrier, if that was possible. "It's a drug that increases suggestibility. If one of you took it, you'd do whatever I told you to do." There were various gasps and exclamations of surprise and anger at this announcement. Julia was positively seething with anger now. "Vasquez didn't even bother to check if the two drugs would react negatively together. They did, and that's why she passed out this morning."
The room was silent for a minute while the people inside held a sort of contest to see who's face could show the greatest anger. Morgan and Yale had tight-lipped expressions in place that didn't show much emotion at all. Magus, Baines, and Alonzo's faces were a mixture of anger and shock. Julia and Danziger were fury personified. Julia stood by the doorway; her teeth were gritted tightly together, her arms were folded across her chest, and her eyes were pure steel. Danziger was standing in one corner; his teeth were gritted together just as tightly together, his hands were at his sides, his fists clenched so tightly together his knuckles were white, and his eyes showed clearly the fury and anger he felt.
"What are we going to do with Vasquez?" Magus raised the question.
Danziger stayed quiet. His only suggestion was to kill the bastard, and unfortunately that just wasn't possible.
"I'm going to find a way to take away his medical license," Julia said with determination. "No matter what other punishment he receives, he should not be allowed to practice medicine ever again."
"We can always decide what to do with him later," Morgan said. "Until then, we should put him under guard."
Everyone agreed with that suggestion. "I'll go get him," Danziger volunteered, almost eagerly, in a dark sort of way. Morgan, Alonzo, and Baines quickly volunteered to come with him. "Julia, he's off today, right?" Danziger asked. She nodded an affirmative. "Fine, we'll try his place first, if he's not there, then we'll split up and find him." The four men left the hospital and headed for Vasquez's place.
Danziger led the way and Morgan fell into step beside him. "You can't kill him, you know," Morgan said.
"I'm not going to kill him, Morgan," Danziger said, not even glancing at the other man.
Morgan nodded. "Good. You can't beat him up either."
Danziger breathed a sigh of exasperation and stopped, glaring at Morgan. "Look, Martin, I'm not going to kill him. I won't beat him up. I'd like to, but I won't, because I know that it'll only make things worse. Okay?" Danziger turned and started walking again. Morgan stayed quiet, not wanting to press his luck.
They continued on and arrived at Vasquez's. Danziger tried the door, but it was locked. He pounded on it and Vasquez opened the door. When he saw the four men standing there and the look on Danziger's face, he tried to shut the door, but Danziger shoved it open. Vasquez retreated and Danziger and Morgan stepped inside, while Baines and Alonzo stayed in the doorway. "Come on, Vasquez, let's go," Danziger said, reaching for him.
Vasquez retreated away from Danziger's outstretched arm. "What's this about?" he asked, feigning innocence.
Danziger narrowed his eyes and glared at Vasquez. "You know what this is about," he said through gritted teeth. He stepped forward and grabbed Vasquez before he could dodge out of the way again. He shoved him roughly toward Martin and the door. Vasquez stumbled right into Alonzo and Baines, who each took one of his arms, holding Vasquez securely. Vasquez struggled against their hold while Morgan and Danziger left the flat, Morgan locking the door behind him. Alonzo and Baines started to drag him towards the supply rooms, there were a few empty rooms and the doors had locks on them. Morgan and Danziger followed behind them.
"You can't do this," Vasquez protested.
"The hell we can't," Danziger said.
"Look, just because I kissed Devon doesn't mean that,"
Before Baines, Morgan, and Alonzo could even register that statement and show their surprise, Danziger had grabbed Vasquez by his collar and yanked him backwards. He spun Vasquez around, took hold of the front of his shirt, and took a menacing step towards him. "Get this straight, this is because you _drugged_ her and were planning to do God knows what else to her." Danziger tightened his grip. "And we can do this because we are making damn sure that you can *never* hurt Devon or anyone else like this again." Danziger released Vasquez's shirt and shoved him backwards. Then he turned and stalked off.
Morgan, Alonzo, and Baines watched Danziger go. "Well, that was interesting," Baines murmured.
Morgan could see Vasquez open his mouth to say something and cut him off. "Not one more word or I'll knock you out myself," he threatened. "Come on." The three of them took Vasquez to the supply room and locked him in. The doctor wisely did not offer any more resistance.
------------------
Julia walked into the room and looked at the three men sitting quietly there by Devon's bedside. "Okay, all of you, out," she said.
John, Yale, and Uly all looked up at Julia, startled. Uly spoke up first. "Julia, can't we stay, please? I'll be quiet, we all will," he said.
Julia shook her head. "I'm sorry, you're all going to have to leave. Look, there aren't supposed to be any visitors here after hours, and I can't break the rules for you right now. I can't spare any of my influence right now to let you guys stay. So please," Julia said.
"Alright, Julia," Yale said. "Come along, Uly, we'll see your mother tomorrow morning." Uly looked disappointed, but he left the room with Yale.
John stood from his chair in the corner. "You'll call if there's any change?" he asked.
Julia nodded. "Of course I will, John. I'm sorry, I wish I could let you stay, but…"
John shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Julia, I understand." He smiled at Julia. "Good luck tomorrow, by the way."
"Thanks, I'll need it," she said. Julia rubbed her eyes as she walked John out. "I know that most of the other doctors agree with me that we have to take away Vasquez's license, but there are just a couple that I'm really worried about. They'll say we don't have the authority to do that here."
"Julia, it'll be okay, you'll do fine. Remember, you have the facts on your side," John said.
"I know," Julia said, smiling half-heartedly. "I'll see you tomorrow, John."
"'Night, Julia."
-------------------
Denner looked up as Yale entered the waiting room and sat down. "No change?" she asked.
Yale closed his eyes and shook his head. "No, no change. Julia did estimate three days."
Denner reached out and squeezed his hand. "Then she'll be up and around by tomorrow. She'll be fine."
Yale smiled at her, but try as it might the smile couldn't reach his eyes. "Thank you, Elizabeth."
"Hey, aren't you hungry?" Denner asked after she withdrew her hand. "You can go grab some lunch, I'm staying here in case there's any news."
"I'm not hungry." Yale smiled. "And you needn't wait for news, John's still sitting with her."
Denner looked at Yale in confusion. "But I thought…"
"Bess and True tried their best, but they only managed to snag Uly," Yale said.
Denner shook her head and sighed. "It's a wonder he manages to pull himself away every night."
"He doesn't want to case any problems for Julia."
"Any more than she already has, you mean," Denner said with a wry smile.
Speak of the devil…
Julia walked into the waiting room and closed the door. Denner and Yale stood up, wondering what news she brought with her, and whether that news was good or bad.
The door clicked shut and Julia turned and bounded across the room, throwing her arms around Yale. "It's done, it's over," she said, smiling widely. "It was unanimous, Vasquez can no longer practice medicine on G889."
"That's great!" Denner exclaimed, and Yale hugged Julia back.
"Everyone finally agreed once we got a set of rules hammered out," Julia said. "I don't think anyone really had any doubts about Vasquez, they just wanted to make sure that there were guidelines in place in case this sort of thing happens again."
"Julia, that is wonderful news," Yale said.
Her smile faded and she tried to look sternly at Yale. "This doesn't mean that you can stay with Devon after hours, you know." Yale nodded in agreement and suppressed an amused smile. "Good," Julia said, her smile returning full force. "I'm going to go to the cafeteria, that's where everyone is, right?" Denner nodded and Julia went over to the door, opening it and calmly walking towards the cafeteria.
---------------------
In the middle of the night, after Uly and True were asleep, John was sitting on the beach, trying to keep Devon's continued unconsciousness out of his mind. His gear beeped and interrupted his thoughts. He sighed in resignation and answered. It was Julia, she told him to get down to the hospital as quick as he could, and then she signed off, before he could even start to ask a question. John immediately feared the worst and rushed over. He told himself that everything was probably fine, that Julia had just called him because Devon had woken up, but in truth, that possibility scared him more than the alternative. He hurried to Devon's room and Julia was standing outside, waiting for him. She was smiling, and John instantly knew that Devon was awake. Still, he asked her, "Julia, what is it?"
"Devon's awake, her memory has completely returned," Julia said. Her happy smile turned into a smile of confusion after a moment. Instead of being elated, John was just looking at Julia with an expression of nervousness and fear on his face. She shook her head. "John, she's asking for you, now go in there."
John resisted Julia's efforts to shove him in the door. "What… what about Uly and the others, shouldn't you let them know Devon's awake?"
"It's after hours, I can't sneak everyone in," she said. Julia was amused by his reluctance. She opened the door and planted a hand on his back, pushing forward. She caught him off balance and he stumbled into the room. Julia closed the door on his glare, and then smiled in satisfaction and walked away.
---------------------
Devon sat up expectantly when the door opened. When she saw Julia shove John into the room, she was confused, and when John stood facing the door and wouldn't look at her, she was worried. Devon watched the way he stood there. He was clenching and unclenching his fists, a sure sign he was nervous. She watched him for a moment longer and then decided to approach him. She slid out of bed and padded across the room, barefoot. When she laid a hand on his shoulder, he jumped and whirled around to face her. "John?" she asked, pulling her hand away.
Their gazes remained locked on each other for a moment longer, and then John reached out and grabbed Devon, pulling her into a fierce embrace. Devon closed her eyes and wound her arms around his neck, tangling her fingers in his curls.
"You remember everything?" John said. He wanted to pull back, to look at her, but his arms wouldn't let her go.
Devon nodded, "Everything," she said, her cheek still pressed against John's shoulder. "Before and after Vasquez…" she fell silent and tightened her grip.
"I'm so sorry, Devon," he said. "I should have been there, I should have stopped him."
Devon loosened her grip and pulled back to look at John out of surprise. "Oh, John," she said, hugging him tightly again. "You couldn't have known, it's not your fault. I wasn't even thinking of myself. I didn't remember, but you did, and I couldn't remember you… I can't imagine…" she closed her eyes and swallowed, not wanting to contemplate John ever forgetting her. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she said, her voice no louder than their heartbeats.
John's arms held Devon tightly to him. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep, shuddering breath. "I love you so much, Devon," he said.
A weight settled against Devon's throat when she heard the intense emotion in his words and voice. She didn't think she could make her voice work, but she opened her mouth and formed the words anyway. "I love you." It was so soft that Devon could barely hear herself, there was no way John could have heard her. She grew frustrated. She had to tell him, John had to know how she felt. Devon took a breath to try again, but John rested his cheek against the side of her head and she smiled and relaxed in his embrace. He knew.
Maggie C.
Disclaimer: Earth 2 and the characters do not belong to me.
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Danziger glanced over at Devon, who was sitting beside him. In the driver's seat. John sighed.
Devon looked over at him and grinned. "It's really bothering you, isn't it?" she asked, obviously amused.
"No, it's not," John said stubbornly. Devon bit back a laugh. "Alright, it is bothering me," he said. "I'm just used to driving, okay? It's not like I'm sitting here criticizing the way you drive," he grumbled.
"What's wrong with the way I drive?" Devon protested.
"I didn't say anything!"
"You must have been thinking it or you wouldn't have mentioned it at all," Devon said.
"Well, maybe I just brought it up because I'm bored and I wanted to annoy you," John returned.
Devon didn't even take her eyes off the road as she reached over and swatted him. "Very funny," she said. "So is there any special reason you want to irritate me today?"
"You irritated me first," John said.
"How?" Devon asked.
"You wouldn't let me drive," John said, "among other things."
Devon sighed. "Well, then if I'm so irritating, why do you always volunteer to go on scouts with me?"
The answer was on the tip of John's tongue, but he held it back. Then he wondered why he did. //Am I ever gonna tell her? It's not like anyone's going to tell her for me, and now is as good a time as any.// John took a deep breath and answered Devon matter-of-factly. "Because I'm in love with you."
Devon's head whirled around and she just stared at him. John was amused by the expression on her face until he realized she was no longer paying attention to where she was going. "Vehicle stop!" he said quickly. "See, this is why I should be driving," he said. He turned back to Devon, who was still staring at him. John's amusement faded and nervousness began to set in. What would her reaction be?
Devon barely noticed the vehicle slow to a halt. "What… what did you say?" she asked quietly.
John swallowed. "I'm in love with you. I have been for awhile, I just… couldn't decide what to do about it."
"And now you've decided?"
"No," John said, shaking his head. "I just figured I'd let you decide."
"Oh," Devon said. It was about all she could manage at the moment. Silence stretched between them, until Devon asked, "So do you want to drive?"
"Um, sure," John said, confused at the change of subject. They switched seats and continued on their way. John figured Devon just needed time to think, and he gave that to her. They reached the grove of fruit trees and John stopped the rail.
"Are these the kind that Julia needed?" John asked, holding up a piece of fruit. Devon nodded and they gathered the fruit and stored it in the rail. Danziger was becoming very worried at Devon's continued silence on his little announcement. //Does she want to forget it? Is she mad, does she think what I said is funny?// John thought. God, he prayed she wasn't silently laughing at him. That would be hell. It was ridiculous to think she would laugh, John knew Devon, she wouldn't do that. But her continued silence… John just wasn't sure how to take it.
As they were about to leave, Devon spoke. "John? I'm having some trouble… deciding myself." Her voice was quiet, unsure, and John didn't quite catch onto what she was talking about. He turned and looked at her quizzically. She met his gaze nervously. "I was wondering… would you decide for me if I decide for you?"
It took a few moments, but John finally figured out what she was talking about. It took a few more moments to convince himself that she meant what he thought she meant. And then he had to figure out what to do about it. He settled for taking a few steps toward her. "Devon?" he asked hopefully. She nodded and smiled.
"So, what have you decided?" Devon asked, reaching out and grasping his hand.
Danziger smiled back and raised his free hand to the side of Devon's face. "How about this?" he asked quietly, and John stepped even closer, lowering his face to hers.
Devon's hand went to rest against John's chest and as their lips met, she could have felt his heart rate increase. She would have, except she was too involved in her own reactions to John's sensuous lips moving slowly, gently, tenderly against hers… her mouth parting in a half-sigh, and then the sensation of his hot tongue twisting with hers in her mouth and then his… their joined hands releasing, Devon's going to the curls at the nape of John's neck, drawing him deeper into the kiss, and John's hand going to the small of her back, pulling Devon tight against his firm, muscled body… his hand brushing her hair aside and his warm mouth leaving Devon's to trail down her neck and nip at her earlobe… John's strong arms encircling her as she dragged his lips back to her own…
After the kiss ended, they still clung to each other, both breathless. Devon rested her forehead against John's shoulder. "Good decision," she said, smiling.
John grinned. "So what about you? What have you decided?"
Devon pulled back to look at him. "I think we should have dinner together. Since we can't stay out here much longer without being missed. What do you think?"
John's eyes flashed with amusement. "I think I liked my decision better." Devon laughed and shook her head. "But yours is good. Very good," he said. Devon reached up and kissed him quickly and then they got into the rail and returned to New Pacifica.
------------
John sat on the beach, waiting and wondering where Devon could be. Did she have second thoughts? Did she regret what happened this morning? //Get a grip, John, think positively,// he told himself. She could have just been delayed, had someone corner her at the last minute. She could have just lost track of time. God knows that happened often enough with Devon when she was working. Or something could have happened to her. She could be in the hospital right now, or lying somewhere, hurt, unable to get help… John grimaced. //Oh, yeah, that's positive thinking, // he thought sarcastically.
Danziger got up and brushed the sand off his pants. //Might as well find out where Devon is, why she couldn't make it.// It was better than sitting and letting his thoughts run away with him. John went home and grabbed his gear. He knew he should carry it with him, but he kept forgetting the damn thing. John tried reaching Devon but there was no answer. He tried Yale next. The tutor didn't know where she was either. John walked over to the cafeteria and ran into True and Uly, who were leaving with some friends for the valley. They hadn't seen Devon either. And there was no sign of her in the cafeteria. John checked with Bess in the kitchen, but she hadn't seen Devon since breakfast. He tried Devon's office next, but it was deserted. Frustrated and starting to worry, John called Julia.
"Dr. Solace here," she greeted him.
"Hey Julia, it's me. Have you seen Devon?"
"Devon? No, not recently, John, why?"
"I was supposed to meet her for dinner and she didn't show. I've checked around, no one's seen her."
"Hmm, hold on, I'll check, maybe she stopped by while I had a patient." Julia walked over to the nurse at the admitting desk. "Linda, have you seen Devon?"
Linda looked at Julia strangely. "Dr. Vasquez brought her in, unconscious, almost an hour ago. You didn't know?"
Julia was shocked. "No, I didn't know!" she exclaimed. In her worry, she forgot about the open gear channel. "What room?"
"Five nineteen," Linda replied. Julia immediately took off.
She entered Devon's room quickly and saw Vasquez looking at a chart while Devon lay asleep or unconscious on the bed. Julia walked over to Vasquez and snatched the chart away from him. "Why wasn't I told Devon had been admitted?" she asked through clenched teeth. Julia glanced over the chart. "Why weren't any of her family or friends notified?" Julia was incensed.
"I didn't feel it was necessary," Vasquez said coolly.
"Not necessary?" Julia exclaimed. "Her own son doesn't deserve to be told when his mother is in the hospital?"
"I felt it would be better to assess her condition before scaring the boy needlessly," he said.
Vasquez was saved from another biting retort of Julia's by the arrival of Danziger.
"Julia, what happened, is she okay?" John asked, slightly out-of-breath.
"I don't know, it looks like she hit her head," Julia said.
"She did," Vasquez interrupted, annoyed. "She tripped and hit her head against a rock. It was lucky that I was with her at the time."
Danziger spared a moment to look at Vasquez with narrowed eyes and then he looked back to Julia. "Will she be okay? When will she wake up?"
Vasquez cut Julia off before she could say anything. "*My* patient should be waking up anytime now, so if you'll just wait outside…"
Julia and Danziger both glared at him. Neither one of them was going anywhere. Danziger sat by Devon's bed and ignored Vasquez. "Yale's going to get Uly and then head over here," John told Julia. "It shouldn't take them long."
"Good," Julia said. She glared at Vasquez. "They should have already known," she said. She proceeded to start a quiet argument with Vasquez on when people should be notified of a loved one's injury… Vasquez was not doing well. Danziger, however, wasn't paying much attention to it. He just looked at Devon and tried to resist the urge to take her hand. He was doing a pretty good job of it until he saw her eyes flutter. Then he couldn't resist, and he took her hand in one of his own.
"Dev?" he asked quietly. "Devon, can you hear me?" Julia and Vasquez continued arguing and didn't notice anything. John silently prayed that Devon was going to be okay. "Come on, Dev," John whispered, "don't do this to me, not now." He breathed a sigh of relief and smiled when she opened her eyes and looked at him. "Hey, Dev, are you okay?" he asked.
Devon's eyes narrowed slightly in confusion. "Who… who are you?" she asked.
The simple question was like a sucker punch to the gut for John. She didn't *remember* him? "Julia," John said, interrupting the argument. Both doctors, upon seeing that Devon was awake, immediately came over.
"Devon?" Julia asked, "How are you feeling?"
Devon looked from Julia to Danziger. "I'm… not sure…"
"She doesn't know who I am," Danziger explained.
Julia frowned. "Devon, do you know who I am?"
"You look vaguely familiar, but…" Devon shook her head.
"What about me?" Vasquez asked.
Devon nodded. "Dr. Vasquez," she said, obviously relieved to find someone she recognized. Vasquez smirked and Danziger scowled at the man.
"What's the last thing you remember?" Vasquez asked.
Devon thought for a moment. "I… the Eden project, getting everyone to leave for G889," she finally replied.
Julia and Danziger looked at each other, stunned. Devon had lost over two years of memories.
Vasquez spoke again. "That was awhile ago, Devon. We're on G889 now. Two years have passed, we're in New Pacifica."
"Two years?" Devon's eyes grew wide.
John saw Devon take in the news, looking at each of them – him, Julia, and Vasquez - in turn. He saw fear form in her eyes and knew what she was thinking. "Uly's been healed," John told her. He saw the relief shine through her eyes. "He and Yale should be here any minute now."
John's words were prophetic. Uly burst through the door to the room and threw his arms around his mom. "Mom!" he said. "Are you okay?"
Devon could only look at her strong, healthy son in amazement. "Uly?"
Uly looked at her quizzically. "Mom?" he asked, then Uly looked to John for an explanation.
"Your mom's having some trouble remembering, champ," John said. "Since before the…" he was about to say, 'before the crash,' but he didn't want to shock Devon too much at once. She had enough to deal with. "Since before we got here," he finished.
"Is she going to remember, Julia?" Uly asked.
//God, I hope she remembers,// Danziger thought. //It would be just my luck if…// he laughed silently at himself. Who was he kidding? This was rotten luck already. He finally tells her how he feels and she promptly forgets all about it, and all about him. John shook off his thoughts and noticed that Yale had caught up to Uly. Vasquez was explaining something or other. "… no reason she can't go home," he was saying, "but I think it would be best if Uly stayed with Yale."
Devon looked unhappy about that, but she didn't argue. Uly glanced at Yale, who nodded, and then looked back to his mom and asked, "Mom, can I stay with John instead?"
Devon had a blank look on her face. "Who?"
Uly looked to the other adults, a worried expression on his face. "John… Mr. Danziger…" he said uncertainly.
"That'd be me," John said. Devon didn't even recognize his name. He tried to hide how much that hurt. "If it's okay with you, I'd be happy to have him."
Devon glanced at Yale and the tutor nodded. "It's alright with me," she said.
"Cool," Uly said, excited. "Me and True can…" he broke off. "I guess you don't remember True either. Or the Terrians."
Devon looked hopelessly confused. "Hey, that's enough for now, champ," John said. "Your mom will hear all about everything, let's just give her some time."
"Okay," Uly said.
"Come on, let's go get your stuff together," John said. "You can see your mom later." Uly agreed immediately to leave with the promise that he would see his mom later. John got up and looked at Devon, feeling very awkward. "I'll… I guess I'll talk to you later, Dev," he said. Devon simply nodded, and John and Uly left the room.
Julia and Vasquez took their leave next. "You get some rest, Devon," Julia said, "and we'll see about getting you out of here." Vasquez reluctantly followed Julia out of the room, leaving Devon alone with Yale.
Yale took a seat next to Devon's bed. "How are you feeling?"
Devon smiled wryly. "Didn't we just cover that?" she asked. Yale chuckled and she answered his question as honestly as possible. "It's… overwhelming, Yale. I mean, everything I wanted… Uly is *healed*." Yale squeezed her hand and smiled at her. She smiled back, and then it faded again as she tried to absorb all that had just been revealed to her. "Yale?" she asked hesitantly after a moment. "When did I start going by 'Dev'?" She looked at Yale, waiting for an answer.
"You haven't," Yale said. "John's the only one who calls you that." He left it at that. If Devon wanted more information about Danziger, she would have to ask outright.
"Why? I mean, I don't… Yale, I don't remember him," she said, confused and unsure what exactly she wanted to ask.
Yale considered what to say for a moment. "You're good friends with him, Devon. As for not remembering him, he was part of Eden Advance. The head of the ops crew?"
"Ops crew?" Devon racked her memory. This got more and more confusing. She seemed to remember the name, but… "Why is he here instead of back on the stations?"
Yale sighed. "It's a long story, Devon. Why don't I tell you all about it when we get you home?" As Yale suspected, Devon didn't like being made to wait, but she agreed. She needed time to get her thoughts in order, to try and figure out what to ask Yale about the last two years. For some reason, it didn't strike her as odd that finding out about Danziger was at the top of her list. Who was he? Why was her son so used to obeying him, when did he and her son establish that easy closeness she had seen? Why had he been sitting by her bedside, holding her hand when she woke up? And who was True, and why was Devon hoping it wasn't a girlfriend or a wife?
------------
Devon hadn't seen Danziger for more than five minutes at a time since he left her hospital room with her son a few days ago. She got the sneaking suspicion he was avoiding her, but she couldn't imagine why. All of her other friends were talking to her, telling her about the past two years. Devon wondered why he, supposedly her best friend, was the one avoiding her. Of course, that could be the reason why he was avoiding her. His best friend had pretty much been lost along with Devon's memory. This didn't stop Devon from wanting to talk to Danziger, though. She saw him in the cafeteria, eating lunch alone, and she went over and sat down with him. "Hi," she said, smiling at his surprised expression.
"Um, hi, Devon, how are you doing?" John said, recovering quickly.
Devon shrugged. "I'm okay, I still don't remember, but everyone's been telling me about the past two years on G889."
"Mmn. It must be strange, hearing stories from people you don't know," John said. "Even people you knew beforehand must be different enough that it seems sorta odd."
Devon just looked at him for a moment. How the hell did he know *exactly* what she had been thinking? "Yeah, it is," she agreed. "Even Yale and Uly have changed." Devon smiled. "Uly's actually changed a lot."
John smiled back. "Yeah, he has. One good thing about him staying with me," John said, his smile widening into a grin, "at least you won't go through that huge over-protective stage you went through when he was first cured."
Devon blinked. "I was really that bad?"
John snorted. "You were really that bad. I think you nearly had a heart attack when you saw me teaching him how to run."
Devon laughed at that. John grinned at her, and then he seemed to suddenly remember that she didn't remember. His smile faded and he looked down at his food. Devon was disappointed that he felt so uncomfortable talking to her. But she wasn't going to give up, not by a long shot. She really wanted to get to know him. "I do remember you, you know," she said. His head shot up and he looked at her. "From reading your file, and from the ship. I don't think we ever talked, though."
"Yeah, you were always poking around. It took us awhile to get used to that," John said. "I never really knew why you did that. Of course, then we crashed here and I figured out that you had to know exactly what was going on at all times."
He did it again. Devon tilted her head to one side, studying the man who seemed to be able to read her like a book. She hesitated before asking the next question. "So how did we…"
"Become friends?" John finished for her. "Well, it took awhile, because the first thing I did was pick a fight with you."
"You did?" Devon asked. "Sounds like fun," she joked.
"Oh, it was," he returned. "That's why we kept it up after we became friends. Kept things interesting." He smiled. "I think we fight more than the kids, sometimes."
"How is Uly doing?" Devon asked.
"He's okay. True's keeping him pretty distracted," he said.
"I really appreciate you doing this," Devon started, but John interrupted her.
"It's no problem, Dev, really. We do it all the time," John said. Devon smiled, there was that nickname again. John studied her for a minute. "Does it… does it bother you that your son is staying with a virtual stranger?"
Devon was surprised. She considered the question, and realized that the situation probably should bother her, but it didn't. Why did she feel so comfortable with this man, why did she trust him so much, why did he know her so well? She couldn't tell him that, he would think it was silly… wouldn't he? He was still waiting for an answer. "Well…" she said. "It doesn't, actually. I… trust you. I don't remember you at all, really, but I just know I can trust you." He was silent for a moment, and she was terrified that he would laugh at her 'feeling'. "It's strange, I know, you probably think it's silly…"
"God, no, Dev, I don't think it's silly at all," John interrupted her. "It makes me feel a lot better, actually," he said. She smiled at him then and he held her gaze for a moment before looking away.
Devon picked up her tray and rose. "I have to go meet Dr. Vasquez now," Danziger grimaced at the mention of his name. "Can we talk later?" Devon asked. "Would you tell me about our times here? Uly told me you were a good storyteller," she pressed on, hoping he wouldn't decline.
He didn't think about his reply for even a moment. "I would be honored," John said. "Tonight?"
Devon smiled at him gratefully. "That would be perfect. I'll see you then."
-------------------
"Well, you check out fine, Devon," Vasquez said. "We're all finished here."
"Thank you, Doctor," Devon said as she got up.
"Please, Devon, call me Miguel," he said with a smile. "I'm getting off now, would you like to have dinner with me?"
"Actually, I already have plans to meet someone," Devon said.
"Oh," Miguel said. "Who? If you don't mind me asking."
"With John," Devon said. "I won't keep you any longer, you must be eager to get off work, but can I talk to you tomorrow about my memory?"
Miguel was annoyed at the mention of John's name, but didn't let Devon see that. He took advantage of the opportunity presented to him. "I do have a full schedule tomorrow, but join me for breakfast at my apartment and I'll answer your questions then."
"I don't want to impose, Dr. Vas-"
"Miguel, please," he interrupted. He smiled at her. "And it's no trouble, really."
"Well, alright then," Devon agreed. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."
"Wonderful," Vasquez said. He smiled.
------------------
After a long, companionable dinner filled with good conversation, Devon and John took a walk down by the beach. They fell into silence, Devon looking out at the water, and John looking at Devon.
Devon stopped and looked out at the ocean and up at the sky. "So beautiful," she murmured.
John, looking at Devon, couldn't help but agree with the sentiment. He did manage to keep from saying it out loud, though. John forced himself to look out at the ocean as well. He sat down and leaned back, looking up at the sky. "You know, the first time we saw this beach was just as winter was coming. Julia had warned us for weeks that the water would be too cold to swim in so we had better all stay out." John chuckled. "Of course, when we finally saw it, she was the first one in the water, followed by just about everyone."
Devon sat down next to him and laughed. "Just about? Who stayed dry?"
"You and me. You I think were just in shock that we had made it, and I didn't really want to get wet." John grinned. "Good thing, too, because everyone ended up getting sick. Nothing serious, but they were pretty miserable for a couple days."
Devon laughed. "Oh, Julia must not have been happy with herself over that one."
John laughed too. "No, she wasn't."
Devon smiled. They sat in silence, looking out at the water and at the night sky. After a time, Devon said, "It's late, I should probably go back."
"Yeah, I guess," John said. He smiled but he didn't want her to go. He missed Devon. John had never realized how well Devon really knew him until tonight, when he realized a thousand little things that she would have noticed a week ago, before she forgot him. Why did she lose her memory right after he had told her he loved her? Why then, before either of them really had a chance to embrace the new turn their relationship had taken? He felt like the cosmos was playing a huge joke on him. The timing of this whole thing was downright funny, but John wasn't laughing. She forgot everything right after he told her he loved her. Before she even had a chance to say 'I love you' in return. She hadn't needed to say it, John could see it in her eyes, feel it in her kiss… but now he wondered if he really saw the love in her eyes or just imagined it there. He didn't imagine it, he knew Devon loved him. Maybe. No, she did, but still… he wouldn't be able to dismiss the words so easily if he had heard them. Maybe she…
His thoughts broke off when he saw a hand wave in front of his face. "John?" Devon asked, an amused expression on her face.
John looked to Devon and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I… wandered off there for a second."
"What were you thinking about that you didn't hear me?" Devon said.
John shook his head. "Nothing important, what were you saying?"
Devon tilted her head, but allowed the change in subject. "I was just saying I had a lot of fun tonight and I was wondering if you'd want to do lunch or dinner again sometime."
"I'd love to, Dev," John said. "How about lunch tomorrow?"
"Perfect," Devon smiled.
//Okay, John, you have until tomorrow to get your emotions under control,// John thought to himself. //You can't let her know how you feel.// He got up and brushed the sand off his hands on his pants. "Come on, Dev, I'll walk you home," he said, holding out a hand to her. "It is getting pretty late."
Devon took his hand and pulled herself up, and ended up standing a bit too close to John for his comfort. Her closeness impacted on John like a mag-pro blast. John quickly drew in a breath and looked away before his eyes revealed his feelings. After a few breaths, he realized he was still gripping Devon's hand. He released it and a 'sorry' stuck in his throat. They started walking back in the direction of Devon's place, John not daring to look at her to see her reaction. He needed to get his emotions under control before he risked even looking at her.
Devon, oblivious to John's turmoil, broke the silence. "John, why do you call me 'Dev'? Where did you get it from?"
He had almost had it. Almost, and then she had to ask that question. His emotions slipped away from his control, wanting to be let out, to be shown. He shoved them back and answered Devon. "I… don't know, really, I guess it just slipped out one day," he finally said. John risked looking at Devon. "I can stop calling you that, if you'd like."
"No, please don't," Devon said. "I sort of like it." She smiled, and John had to look away again.
They arrived at Devon's door. "Well, goodnight," John said.
"Goodnight, John," Devon said. "Thank you." Impulsively, she stretched up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "See you tomorrow," she said, and entered her apartment.
John stood there at her door for a few minutes, in shock from the kiss. //It was just a friendly kiss, do not read into it, do not read into it!//
//Devon doesn't do that for friends, why did she do that, why?? Maybe she remembers?//
//No! If she remembered anything she would have said something! It was completely innocent, I'm just reaching for a sign she's still in love with me. Ignore it, just forget it!//
John groaned aloud and finally moved from Devon's doorway and started walking to his own place. //I can't keep this to myself anymore, I have to tell her. No, I can't tell her, I'll talk to someone else first, Yale. No, Julia, Julia can tell me what the hell to do.//
---------------------
John went over to Julia's early the next morning, as early as he could. He caught Alonzo and Julia just leaving, probably on the way to breakfast. "Julia, could I talk to you?"
"Sure, John," she said. Julia must have picked up that he wanted to talk to her alone, because she turned to Alonzo and said, "I'll meet you at breakfast in a bit." Alonzo gave her a kiss goodbye and then Julia and John went back into Julia and Alonzo's flat. "What's wrong, John?"
John shook his head. "I need some advice, Julia, I don't know what to do." He looked up at Julia. "It's about Devon. How much should we tell her about things she doesn't remember?"
Julia shrugged. "As much as you feel comfortable with, there's always the hope that talking about it will bring back one particular memory, and that one might break the dam and bring all her memories back." She looked at John closely, wondering what would make him this nervous. "Did she ask about when she was in cold sleep?"
"No," John said, pacing across the room. He stopped and ran his hands through his unruly hair. He sighed. "You remember I was supposed to meet Dev for dinner that night?" Julia nodded. "Well, earlier in the day – and Julia, you have got to swear to keep this to yourself, please, you can't tell a soul," John pleaded.
"Of course, John, I promise," she said. "What happened?"
John paced once more across the room before continuing. "Earlier in the day, on the scout we were on, I… I told her that I loved her." Julia's eyes went wide. John continued nervously, "And she reciprocated, but we had to get back so we were going to meet for dinner to… but then…" he trailed off.
"You guys…?" Julia started to smile and then John shot her a look that said, 'if you dare to be happy for me I'll wring your neck', and her smile faded as she realized the situation. "Oh, John, what rotten timing, I'm so sorry," she said.
"What do I do, Julia?" John asked. "I was going to keep it a secret, but I don't know if I can, I nearly slipped last night and it wasn't anything even remotely… dangerous."
"Do you want to tell her?"
"I don't _know_," John said. "I don't know if it'd be easier if I told her or harder, and I don't want to put her in an uncomfortable position, but…" John ran his hands through his hair in frustration. "Damn it, I finally tell her and within hours she *forgets* me."
"John, I don't know what to tell you," Julia said after a moment. "I wish I could tell you if her memory's even likely to return soon, but since Vasquez won't let me even look at her charts, much less examine her…"
Danziger nodded in understanding, Vasquez had been a pain since this whole thing began, he wouldn't let any other doctor examine Devon, he wouldn't give straight answers to anyone except Yale, and even he had to badger Vasquez for hours just to get a simple update on Devon's progress.
"Wait a minute…" Julia said. "John, you were going to meet Devon for dinner."
Danziger nodded, "Yeah, I was. So?"
"Vasquez, he told me was on his way to dinner with Devon when she hit her head," Julia said.
Danziger just looked at her. "He lied? But why…?" Danziger sighed in frustration. "That's it, I'm going to go and get some answers from that man."
"John, wait, what are you going to do about Devon?" Julia asked.
John paused and looked back to Julia. "I don't know yet. I'll figure something out, eventually. Thanks for listening, Julia."
"Anytime, John," Julia said. They both left then, Danziger in the direction of Vasquez's place and Julia to the cafeteria.
----------------------
Julia went and got her breakfast and sat down across from Alonzo, who was facing the windows and door. "Hey love," she said.
"Hey, what did John need?" Alonzo asked.
Julia shook her head. "Just needed to ask something about Devon. He decided to go pull a few answers out of Vasquez," she said. Alonzo smiled and nodded, and let the subject drop. Julia started on her breakfast while Alonzo sipped his coffee. Alonzo's eyebrows raised at something behind her, and Julia paused. "What is it?"
"Danz, he just rushed by in a hurry, towards the beach," Alonzo said.
"Hmm, he must need to blow off some steam after talking with Vasquez," Julia said, and resumed eating. Alonzo nodded in agreement, and then a half a minute later, his eyebrows raised again.
"Devon just rushed off in the same direction as Danziger did," Alonzo said.
"Really?" Julia asked, turning around in her seat, but Devon was already out of sight. "I wonder what happened?" She made a mental note to ask John about it later and went back to her breakfast.
---------------------
John never went as far as the beach, he turned around the corner of the last building before the beach and leaned against the side, covering his face with his hands. //Oh, man, this can't be happening, I've gotta be dreaming, this has got to be a nightmare, I fell asleep on the beach waiting for Devon and this has all been some damn *nightmare*.// He tried to forget what he had seen, but he couldn't, it was burned into his memory. He had went over to Vasquez's, but when he got there… Devon… god, she was standing with him in the doorway and he was _kissing_ her. They were _kissing_. He sank down to the ground, sitting with his back against the wall. //Oh, God, why me, why me?// John felt like someone had reached in and was squeezing his heart. He buried his face in trembling hands and tried to keep from falling apart.
He nearly jumped out of his skin when someone put a hand on his arm, and nearly fainted in surprise when he saw that it was Devon who interrupted his breakdown. She was crouched in front of him, looking at him in concern. "Devon? What are you doing here?" he got out in a strangled voice.
"I wanted to make sure you were okay, John, you ran off so quickly, and you looked…" she shook her head, she didn't know how to complete the thought.
"You were *kissing* him," John said, accusation and a touch of anger creeping into his voice. How could she do this to him? //She doesn't remember, she doesn't remember,// he repeated to himself, //it's not her fault.//
Devon looked at him curiously. "You don't even know? Miguel said we were keeping it quiet, but I thought that at least you would know about it."
"Keeping what quiet?" John asked, staring at Devon.
"Our relationship," she answered, and John exploded.
"What!?" John exclaimed. "Devon, you have never, ever, *ever*, had a relationship with Vasquez. Never like that!"
"You mean… he lied?" Devon said. "But…"
"Yes, he lied, Devon, and I don't know why, but I sure as hell intend to find out," Danziger said through clenched teeth. He rose to his feet and Devon did the same. John started to walk away but Devon stumbled and he reached out to steady her. "Are you okay?" he asked, his voice softening.
She shook her head, holding on to John for support. "I don't feel so good," she said.
"Do you want me to take you to the hospital?" John asked, all thoughts of confronting Vasquez leaving his mind for the moment.
"No, I just need to sit for a minute," Devon said. John helped her lower herself down to the ground. Devon took several deep breaths, trying very hard not to throw up.
"Better?" John asked after a few moments.
"A little," Devon said. "Not much."
"I'm gonna call Julia, do you have your gear with you?"
"It's in my pocket," Devon said. He retrieved the gear and called Julia. Even though she was sitting, she began to feel very dizzy and closed her eyes to try and ward it off. She focused on John's hand, solid and reassuring on her shoulder.
"Dev? Julia wants to check you over. Can you make it to the hospital if I help you?"
His voice was calming, soothing, and she nodded. "I think so," she said. John put his arm around her shoulders and started to help her up. She was halfway up and Devon felt a wave of blackness wash over her. "No," she said, lowering herself back to the ground, "no, I can't, I'm sorry," she said, blinking back tears.
"It's okay," he soothed, his arm still comfortingly around her shoulders. "If I pick you up, do you think you'll be okay?" Devon, leaning against him, just nodded. "Alright," John said, "here we go." He slid his other arm under her legs and lifted her as gently as possible. He carried her to the hospital where he was meeting Julia, talking quietly to Devon as they went along. Devon tried hard to concentrate on what he was saying, but his voice seemed to be getting farther and farther away… until finally everything went black.
-----------------
By the time Julia had finished examining Devon, a good portion of the original Eden Advance had gathered in the waiting room. Danziger was there, of course, along with Yale, Uly, True, Alonzo, Morgan, Baines, and Magus. The others couldn't get away from duties they had to complete, and all of them had made one or more of the people there promise to call them as soon as there was any news. It had been about 2 hours since Danziger brought Devon in when Julia finally came in the waiting room with some news. She went straight to Uly. "Your mom's going to be just fine, Uly," she said, and the entire room breathed a sigh of relief. "She'll even recover her memory soon," Julia said. This statement caused muffled sounds of shock and some confusion from everyone in the room.
Uly's eyes lit up. "She will?"
Julia nodded. "Yep, she will. She's asleep now, but why don't you and True go check on her? Nurse Ross will show you the room."
Danziger and Yale exchanged a glance at Julia's obvious ploy to get the kids out of the room. True and Uly looked to Danziger, who nodded, and the kids left with Nurse Ross, who had been standing in the doorway.
"What happened this morning, Julia?" Yale asked.
Julia went over and closed the door. She turned back to the group waiting for her answer and everyone saw the anger in her eyes. "What happened this morning was that Devon had a bad reaction to the combination of sumacycline and anajansen in her system."
"What are they? Drugs of some kind?" Morgan asked.
Julia nodded. "Oh, yes, they're drugs, and I'm damn sure Devon didn't know she was taking them. Anajansen is a drug that suppresses memory."
"What? You mean, someone *erased* Devon's memory?" Magus exclaimed after the implications had sunk in.
Danziger clenched his fists in anger. "Not someone," he said through gritted teeth. "Vasquez."
Julia nodded, fury written across her face. "Yes, he did. That whole story about Devon tripping and hitting her head was just that, a story. He must have sedated her and then drugged her."
"Julia, what was the other drug?" Alonzo asked.
"Sumacycline?" Julia said. Her face grew even angrier, if that was possible. "It's a drug that increases suggestibility. If one of you took it, you'd do whatever I told you to do." There were various gasps and exclamations of surprise and anger at this announcement. Julia was positively seething with anger now. "Vasquez didn't even bother to check if the two drugs would react negatively together. They did, and that's why she passed out this morning."
The room was silent for a minute while the people inside held a sort of contest to see who's face could show the greatest anger. Morgan and Yale had tight-lipped expressions in place that didn't show much emotion at all. Magus, Baines, and Alonzo's faces were a mixture of anger and shock. Julia and Danziger were fury personified. Julia stood by the doorway; her teeth were gritted tightly together, her arms were folded across her chest, and her eyes were pure steel. Danziger was standing in one corner; his teeth were gritted together just as tightly together, his hands were at his sides, his fists clenched so tightly together his knuckles were white, and his eyes showed clearly the fury and anger he felt.
"What are we going to do with Vasquez?" Magus raised the question.
Danziger stayed quiet. His only suggestion was to kill the bastard, and unfortunately that just wasn't possible.
"I'm going to find a way to take away his medical license," Julia said with determination. "No matter what other punishment he receives, he should not be allowed to practice medicine ever again."
"We can always decide what to do with him later," Morgan said. "Until then, we should put him under guard."
Everyone agreed with that suggestion. "I'll go get him," Danziger volunteered, almost eagerly, in a dark sort of way. Morgan, Alonzo, and Baines quickly volunteered to come with him. "Julia, he's off today, right?" Danziger asked. She nodded an affirmative. "Fine, we'll try his place first, if he's not there, then we'll split up and find him." The four men left the hospital and headed for Vasquez's place.
Danziger led the way and Morgan fell into step beside him. "You can't kill him, you know," Morgan said.
"I'm not going to kill him, Morgan," Danziger said, not even glancing at the other man.
Morgan nodded. "Good. You can't beat him up either."
Danziger breathed a sigh of exasperation and stopped, glaring at Morgan. "Look, Martin, I'm not going to kill him. I won't beat him up. I'd like to, but I won't, because I know that it'll only make things worse. Okay?" Danziger turned and started walking again. Morgan stayed quiet, not wanting to press his luck.
They continued on and arrived at Vasquez's. Danziger tried the door, but it was locked. He pounded on it and Vasquez opened the door. When he saw the four men standing there and the look on Danziger's face, he tried to shut the door, but Danziger shoved it open. Vasquez retreated and Danziger and Morgan stepped inside, while Baines and Alonzo stayed in the doorway. "Come on, Vasquez, let's go," Danziger said, reaching for him.
Vasquez retreated away from Danziger's outstretched arm. "What's this about?" he asked, feigning innocence.
Danziger narrowed his eyes and glared at Vasquez. "You know what this is about," he said through gritted teeth. He stepped forward and grabbed Vasquez before he could dodge out of the way again. He shoved him roughly toward Martin and the door. Vasquez stumbled right into Alonzo and Baines, who each took one of his arms, holding Vasquez securely. Vasquez struggled against their hold while Morgan and Danziger left the flat, Morgan locking the door behind him. Alonzo and Baines started to drag him towards the supply rooms, there were a few empty rooms and the doors had locks on them. Morgan and Danziger followed behind them.
"You can't do this," Vasquez protested.
"The hell we can't," Danziger said.
"Look, just because I kissed Devon doesn't mean that,"
Before Baines, Morgan, and Alonzo could even register that statement and show their surprise, Danziger had grabbed Vasquez by his collar and yanked him backwards. He spun Vasquez around, took hold of the front of his shirt, and took a menacing step towards him. "Get this straight, this is because you _drugged_ her and were planning to do God knows what else to her." Danziger tightened his grip. "And we can do this because we are making damn sure that you can *never* hurt Devon or anyone else like this again." Danziger released Vasquez's shirt and shoved him backwards. Then he turned and stalked off.
Morgan, Alonzo, and Baines watched Danziger go. "Well, that was interesting," Baines murmured.
Morgan could see Vasquez open his mouth to say something and cut him off. "Not one more word or I'll knock you out myself," he threatened. "Come on." The three of them took Vasquez to the supply room and locked him in. The doctor wisely did not offer any more resistance.
------------------
Julia walked into the room and looked at the three men sitting quietly there by Devon's bedside. "Okay, all of you, out," she said.
John, Yale, and Uly all looked up at Julia, startled. Uly spoke up first. "Julia, can't we stay, please? I'll be quiet, we all will," he said.
Julia shook her head. "I'm sorry, you're all going to have to leave. Look, there aren't supposed to be any visitors here after hours, and I can't break the rules for you right now. I can't spare any of my influence right now to let you guys stay. So please," Julia said.
"Alright, Julia," Yale said. "Come along, Uly, we'll see your mother tomorrow morning." Uly looked disappointed, but he left the room with Yale.
John stood from his chair in the corner. "You'll call if there's any change?" he asked.
Julia nodded. "Of course I will, John. I'm sorry, I wish I could let you stay, but…"
John shook his head. "Don't worry about it, Julia, I understand." He smiled at Julia. "Good luck tomorrow, by the way."
"Thanks, I'll need it," she said. Julia rubbed her eyes as she walked John out. "I know that most of the other doctors agree with me that we have to take away Vasquez's license, but there are just a couple that I'm really worried about. They'll say we don't have the authority to do that here."
"Julia, it'll be okay, you'll do fine. Remember, you have the facts on your side," John said.
"I know," Julia said, smiling half-heartedly. "I'll see you tomorrow, John."
"'Night, Julia."
-------------------
Denner looked up as Yale entered the waiting room and sat down. "No change?" she asked.
Yale closed his eyes and shook his head. "No, no change. Julia did estimate three days."
Denner reached out and squeezed his hand. "Then she'll be up and around by tomorrow. She'll be fine."
Yale smiled at her, but try as it might the smile couldn't reach his eyes. "Thank you, Elizabeth."
"Hey, aren't you hungry?" Denner asked after she withdrew her hand. "You can go grab some lunch, I'm staying here in case there's any news."
"I'm not hungry." Yale smiled. "And you needn't wait for news, John's still sitting with her."
Denner looked at Yale in confusion. "But I thought…"
"Bess and True tried their best, but they only managed to snag Uly," Yale said.
Denner shook her head and sighed. "It's a wonder he manages to pull himself away every night."
"He doesn't want to case any problems for Julia."
"Any more than she already has, you mean," Denner said with a wry smile.
Speak of the devil…
Julia walked into the waiting room and closed the door. Denner and Yale stood up, wondering what news she brought with her, and whether that news was good or bad.
The door clicked shut and Julia turned and bounded across the room, throwing her arms around Yale. "It's done, it's over," she said, smiling widely. "It was unanimous, Vasquez can no longer practice medicine on G889."
"That's great!" Denner exclaimed, and Yale hugged Julia back.
"Everyone finally agreed once we got a set of rules hammered out," Julia said. "I don't think anyone really had any doubts about Vasquez, they just wanted to make sure that there were guidelines in place in case this sort of thing happens again."
"Julia, that is wonderful news," Yale said.
Her smile faded and she tried to look sternly at Yale. "This doesn't mean that you can stay with Devon after hours, you know." Yale nodded in agreement and suppressed an amused smile. "Good," Julia said, her smile returning full force. "I'm going to go to the cafeteria, that's where everyone is, right?" Denner nodded and Julia went over to the door, opening it and calmly walking towards the cafeteria.
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In the middle of the night, after Uly and True were asleep, John was sitting on the beach, trying to keep Devon's continued unconsciousness out of his mind. His gear beeped and interrupted his thoughts. He sighed in resignation and answered. It was Julia, she told him to get down to the hospital as quick as he could, and then she signed off, before he could even start to ask a question. John immediately feared the worst and rushed over. He told himself that everything was probably fine, that Julia had just called him because Devon had woken up, but in truth, that possibility scared him more than the alternative. He hurried to Devon's room and Julia was standing outside, waiting for him. She was smiling, and John instantly knew that Devon was awake. Still, he asked her, "Julia, what is it?"
"Devon's awake, her memory has completely returned," Julia said. Her happy smile turned into a smile of confusion after a moment. Instead of being elated, John was just looking at Julia with an expression of nervousness and fear on his face. She shook her head. "John, she's asking for you, now go in there."
John resisted Julia's efforts to shove him in the door. "What… what about Uly and the others, shouldn't you let them know Devon's awake?"
"It's after hours, I can't sneak everyone in," she said. Julia was amused by his reluctance. She opened the door and planted a hand on his back, pushing forward. She caught him off balance and he stumbled into the room. Julia closed the door on his glare, and then smiled in satisfaction and walked away.
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Devon sat up expectantly when the door opened. When she saw Julia shove John into the room, she was confused, and when John stood facing the door and wouldn't look at her, she was worried. Devon watched the way he stood there. He was clenching and unclenching his fists, a sure sign he was nervous. She watched him for a moment longer and then decided to approach him. She slid out of bed and padded across the room, barefoot. When she laid a hand on his shoulder, he jumped and whirled around to face her. "John?" she asked, pulling her hand away.
Their gazes remained locked on each other for a moment longer, and then John reached out and grabbed Devon, pulling her into a fierce embrace. Devon closed her eyes and wound her arms around his neck, tangling her fingers in his curls.
"You remember everything?" John said. He wanted to pull back, to look at her, but his arms wouldn't let her go.
Devon nodded, "Everything," she said, her cheek still pressed against John's shoulder. "Before and after Vasquez…" she fell silent and tightened her grip.
"I'm so sorry, Devon," he said. "I should have been there, I should have stopped him."
Devon loosened her grip and pulled back to look at John out of surprise. "Oh, John," she said, hugging him tightly again. "You couldn't have known, it's not your fault. I wasn't even thinking of myself. I didn't remember, but you did, and I couldn't remember you… I can't imagine…" she closed her eyes and swallowed, not wanting to contemplate John ever forgetting her. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she said, her voice no louder than their heartbeats.
John's arms held Devon tightly to him. He squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep, shuddering breath. "I love you so much, Devon," he said.
A weight settled against Devon's throat when she heard the intense emotion in his words and voice. She didn't think she could make her voice work, but she opened her mouth and formed the words anyway. "I love you." It was so soft that Devon could barely hear herself, there was no way John could have heard her. She grew frustrated. She had to tell him, John had to know how she felt. Devon took a breath to try again, but John rested his cheek against the side of her head and she smiled and relaxed in his embrace. He knew.