Disclaimer: This is by no means an attempt to steal characters from Glen Gordon Caron or from Picturemaker Productions and ABC Circle Films. This is an attempt to fulfill a personal obsession and craze.

Thanks to Jen for her generous beta services. While she cracked the whip when needed, any and all mistakes are simply mine!

I can only hope that my first attempt at fan fiction is simply a respectful salute to the best television show ever written.

***

Familiar voice#1: Hello…Hello…Bert, did you turn it on? I can't hear anything…I don't see anyone

Familiar voice #2: Push the button, sugar plum!

Agnes: Hello…Oh, hi everyone…Bert---they're back!

Bert: Sure looks and sounds that way, doesn't it!? See, I told you they would come back. I have searched high and low with these superior detective skills and I have sharpened to the utmost professionalism our—

Agnes: Bert!

Bert: Yes sweetums!

Agnes: We have no time for this. We have to get busy right away! We have so much to tell them!

Bert: You mean we have to do that? Awe…I thought O'Neil and MacGillicuddy were doing that part. Besides, they will be glad to know that MacGillicuddy—

Agnes: Bert! This is no time to whine your little smarty boots off!! We're supposed to be the ones to tell them. Don't you remember? We were always the ones to tell them what was going on at Blue Moon. So, quit your griping and let's get on with it!!

Bert: Oh all right Agnes, but how in the world do we begin? This is not exactly your everyday case of mystery and murder-

Agnes: Bert! They don't want to know all about the case. I mean we will get to that. Right now, all they want to know about is them.

Bert: Them?

Agnes: Yes, them. It was always about them. It's all that really matters. (Big sigh) Love is a wonderful thing, isn't Bert?

Bert: (scowling) Yes honeybunches, but why do WE have to tell about all of that stuff? Why don't THEY come out here and face the masses? We never did anything------

Agnes: Because Bert!! They're busy shooting other scenes right now and Mr. Caron asked us to do it.

Bert: Mr. Caron!! Well Agnes, why didn't you say so in the first place!! You go first!

Agnes: Ok. Well, to start off … maybe the best way… (Big sigh) How do I…?

Bert: Come on Agnes, we don't have all day. I have to—

Agnes: You know if those two could have just stopped nitwitting around to figure out how much they meant to each other we wouldn't be here doing this...

(Another big sigh and Bert puts his arm around her)

Reconciling their nitwit issues was not a battle to be fought and won by the time Blue Moon closed its doors.

Bert: Yeah, but that did not last very long. We re-opened----

Agnes: Bert!! Shhhush it! You are going to spoil everything. I will get to that!

(Rolls eyes and sighs again)

Anyway, Blue Moon ceased to exist in the spring of 1989 because the plug was pulled from all operations. And, unlike what a lot of people hoped, David and Maddie didn't get married and live happily ever….things were different…

Eclipse of the Heart

SPRING 1989—Blue Moon hallway

The elevator ride seemed to get slower and stuffier as David finally reached the 22nd floor. He was in no real hurry anyway, but why was it so damned hot!? He loosened his tie and took his jacket off, wondering why he bothered to do his usual morning grooming. It wasn't like he and Maddie were going to see clients today…or tomorrow for that matter. He still couldn't believe Blue Moon was closing operations. They had a month to get things squared away, financially, legally, and from what he could tell from Maddie's attitude lately, emotionally as well. He still didn't know where he stood with her. At times he thought maybe he was doing things right for a change. God knows he was trying. And at times he felt like Maddie was too. She'd give him that look that only she could give but then the next thing he knew she was…just not there; like a disconnection. He was feeling more and more like they were two people standing on two different marooned islands, looking across the vast waters at each other with no way to connect…or was that in his dreams?

The elevator doors opened as he stood there, lost in thought. The doors started to close again and realizing he should be getting off, he stuck a foot and a hand in the doors and made them open again. Stepping out he headed down the hallway he had once chased an icy blonde some 5 years ago.

He rounded the corner and stopped at the Blue Moon window. The office was quiet, wobblies moving around packing boxes with this and that. Agnes had her desk packed and ready and he was pretty sure she had already taken care of his office as well. Only she knew what closing Blue Moon was doing to him. Agnes knew all about tough acts in the office. No pulling the wool over Ms. Dipesto. She was too damned smart for her own good.

David could almost hear the slamming doors, the bantering. Memories flooded his mind. Then he saw Maddie step out of her office. Still as beautiful as that day she slapped him in front of the elevator. He snapped out of his little trance and entered the Blue Moon office for the last time.

The eyes of the wobblies turned to him as he waltzed in like this was just any ordinary day. David Addison…on top of the world.

"Agnes, where is the party music??!! Aren't we having a party? Let's get this party rollin' gang o' mine!! Where are the refreshments? Let's drink up folks!!"

And with that, the office had new life.

***

Maddie looked up in time to see David round up the troops one last time, thankful he had changed the atmosphere. Everyone seemed so…sad. The place was like a funeral parlor when she had arrived earlier. And she got the feeling everyone was mad at her for the demise of Blue Moon. Well, it wasn't her fault…at least not entirely. She had given the business everything she had, certainly by financial means. Yet, she had a lingering feeling that she could've done more. She hoped the staff didn't feel that way, especially after she gave them what she could of a severance package, if you could call it that.

David clinked cups with a few of the men. Everyone was glad that MacGillicuddy hadn't really died. He and Bert were still laughing at that part of the script from last month. No one knew that once Bert had carried him down the hallway that day, limp and dead, he dumped him on the floor and knocked over half of the set. They had watched the outtake on that scene on Bert's handheld TV more than once while pretending to be looking at casework at their desks. Maddie just let them have their fun. She was too tired to worry about their office antics anymore.

Exhaustion from the last month made her ache to the bone.

The sale of Blue Moon was official. Lou LaSalle had bought it for much more than Maddie ever thought she would get. Doing business with him again felt a little like a betrayal of sorts, but he made an offer that she couldn't refuse. She handled all of the legal work for the sale with her lawyer and on her desk sat the paperwork with two checks attached made out to Madolyn Hayes and David Addison. She hadn't told David how much the business sold for; he just never wanted to talk about it when she brought it up. It was like he didn't care. As if he didn't think she would actually go through with it. Well, at least she could walk out the doors knowing he had 6 months of paychecks and his check for half of the profits from the sale would be mailed to him once his part of the contract was signed and delivered. She was proud that Blue Moon had actually grown and was worth much more than what it was when she first took the reins. Her half was going to be used to move on.

Moving on had never been harder.

***

Maddie went into her office and closed the door. David thought she would at least have a few drinks with the office crew, and maybe say a few words. How could she be so…what's the word…ambivalent!

Well, fine! He'd had about all he could take of being the hero in the office place. He made his way into his office, closed the door and turned, putting both hands on it. He felt like slamming it to hell and back.

David went in search of something stronger to drink. A good stiff scotch would have done it; only Agnes had already packed the bottles of courage. He looked around the rest of the office and saw that Agnes had indeed read him quite well. Boxes were on top of his desk, along with his briefcase and a file folder sitting on the corner by itself. He picked the folder up, wondering why Agnes had left it out. Maybe she had overlooked it. Opening the folder he found the picture of him and Maddie on top of the clock tower. They had solved their very first mystery and she had impressed him with her courage. More than he was showing at the moment. The picture froze him. Earlier he was hot and sweating in the elevator, now he had frozen lump in his gut.

There was a knock on the door. "Enter." he said, with very little enthusiasm.

Agnes came into the office and quietly closed the door. "Mr. Addison, I hope you didn't mind me packing your office. We have to have everything out by this afternoon and well, I know you've been busy, busy, busy, what with you and Ms. Hayes…I mean I know you have a lot of…well…"

David opened the refrigerator and noticed 2 plastic cups from the party sitting on top. He looked inside and found a lone carton of chocolate milk.

"Mr. Addison, I was waiting to unplug the fridge until---"

"Agnes, let's make a toast," David interrupted. He knew she was only trying to be nice, but she was starting to sound too sympathetic and that in turn made him feel pathetic, so he had to stop her. He took the 2 cups and poured the last of his chocolate milk and gave a cup to Agnes.

"Here's to you, Ms. Dipesto," he said. David clinked her cup and gulped his milk down. Agnes took a sip, looking at him over her cup.

David mustered up a smile the best he could. "Agnes, thank you. You've been a really good friend. And I think Ms. Hayes would agree." Her eyes turned misty and she smiled back at him.

"Hiding the good stuff, huh?" Maddie stood in the office doorway. How many times had she come through those doors ready to take another swing at him? She was beautiful mad and she was beautiful just the way she was that day, simply standing in the doorway.

"Oh, Ms. Hayes, I was just telling Mr. Addison that I packed his stuff. I would've packed yours, but you beat me to it."

"Thank you Agnes. And yes, I would agree with Mr. Addison," she said. "You have been a wonderful friend and terrific office manager. I don't know what we would have done without you…with all of your rhyming rhymes and…all the other stuff you managed to…manage."

"Oh, Ms. Hayes." Agnes reached out and engulfed Maddie in a big hug, letting her off the hook to verbalize how important she had been to all of them. Maddie looked over her shoulder at David with a look of surprise at such a huge show of affection. David looked on and wished he could trade places with Agnes.

"Well, I should be going now. Bert has taken the party to our house. You're both welcome to join us, that is, if you are not busy doing business…or something…"

Agnes looked at David who was looking at Maddie.

"Well, I should be going…" she said again.

She gave David a hug and he kissed her cheek. With one last hug to Maddie, she hesitated slightly, like she wanted to say something that was probably none of her business, and then walked out of Blue Moon.

The office was quiet as Maddie took one last look around. "Well," she said quietly.

"Well," David answered softly.

"I guess we should be going too," sounding uncomfortable. "The movers have been instructed to take my things to my house and yours to your apartment. I hope that's okay, David. You never told me exactly where you wanted your stuff."

How could she seem so…ambivalent? It was like she had no regrets for how Blue Moon was ending. How could she not? He knew she had battled the tough times, both with the responsibility of running a company, her own personal demons with their on and off again relationship, the loss of the baby. Actually, he could say that the latter was not really dealt with from either of them. But couldn't she see how much she had changed in the 5 years she had taken over Blue Moon? Or maybe it was just him that had changed. Or maybe he just knew her better than he realized. Better than she realized.

"That's fine Maddie." He turned to throw his cup away in the trash can, shooting it like a basketball, banking off the wall and in. If she wanted nonchalant, nonchalant would be what she would get. No big deal; he'd just shoot hoops with a cup like that day had no meaning. Did she know it meant that they wouldn't be seeing each other every morning, like usual? Was she not sure what that would do to their relationship? Did she care?

He could be ambivalent, too.

***

David picked up the folder he had been looking through earlier and put it in his briefcase. Taking another look around, he motioned that the time had come. Maddie went to her office to get the last of her belongings. She still needed David's signature on the thick stack of documents. She hadn't been able to bring herself to ask him to sign it. Maddie had signed her part, thinking her signature would bring her closer to what she thought she needed in her life…a fresh start.

She picked up her briefcase and turned to see David standing in the doorway. Did the man know how to stand in doorways, or what? She knew she would miss certain parts of Blue Moon. Maybe those parts were David standing in the doorway, eyes sparkling. It certainly wasn't the parts where she had to worry about caseloads, or the lack thereof, and employee paychecks. She'd given it her best shot, hadn't she? Then what was missing? She thought this was the moment she had been looking forward to the last month.

"You ready?" They both said together. Grinning and shaking his head he kept his gaze upon her.

"Mediocre minds," they said together again.

They both walked through the outer office, turning off lights as they passed through. David unplugged the answering machine on Agnes's desk and wound the cord up.

"You know, Maddie, I think I'm gonna miss ol' Agnes's rhymes."

"Me too David, but let's not tell her. She might start calling us at home!" They both smiled at the thought and turned to go. The last of the lights were turned off and only the hallway lights shone on their silhouette. They stood in the doorway a moment, looking into each other's eyes, neither wanting to be the first to step out of Blue Moon. Maddie made the first move out the door and David followed, stopping briefly to salute the window of Blue Moon.

***

Maddie made it to the elevator and had already pushed the button for the parking garage. She held the door for David as he gave her an inquisitive look. She seemed preoccupied with her thoughts. Something was definitely on her mind, but he wasn't about to ask. No telling where that would lead. It was still hot in the elevator, although he could argue that the heat was from being in the elevator with his co-rider. He dismissed that thought from his mind, but started sweating anyway. Looking at Maddie, he took his tie off and stuffed it in his coat pocket hanging over his arm. The doors opened and David waited for Maddie to exit. She just stood there, lost in a trance. What was it with the elevator, anyway?

"Maddie?"

"Oh, sorry," she said, cheeks flushing. "Let's get out of here. Why is it so hot?"

"You really want me to answer that?" he said with a smirk, holding the doors as they tried to close.

They stopped in front of the BMW as David became lost in a back flash: The memory of their first kiss. He could almost taste it and smell her scent from that day. God, he was a mess then. Kind of like right now.

"David, I still need one last thing from you," she said, interrupting his thoughts. "I would have asked earlier, before we packed up, but you've been kind of hard to pin down the last few days and--"

"What is it Maddie?"

Putting down her briefcase she looked at David and handed him a thick packet of papers.

"Maddie, you know I am not going to read all of this, if that's what you want."

"It's the final papers on the--"

"I know what it is Maddie!" he said crossly.

In reality, he had actually been avoiding her because he knew what she needed to finalize the bill for Blue Moon. Agnes had been telling him for weeks that Maddie needed to see him regarding legal issues. Somehow he thought if he didn't touch or lay his eyes on anything that resembled something legal that she would somehow change her mind and this whole idea would just go away. He knew better.

"You know Maddie, all of this doesn't mean you and I--"

"There are actually two copies, one for you to keep and the other one I need to send to the lawyers with your signature."

He just looked at her. There it was again; that quick change in attitude he had seen during the last month. What happened to that moment they shared in their last few minutes in the office? He had felt a connection, like she did care about what was happening that day. And now it was gone. Saying nothing he looked down at the pages and thumbed them. It was that or send them flying through the garage.

"Gotta pen?" he said without looking up.

"Huh, oh, yes, I think so." Maddie, looking surprised that he was going to agree to the last issue so easily, searched through her huge handbag for a pen. "Here ya go."

He took the pen, not taking his eyes off of her, and held her hand with the pen in it for a little longer than he intended. Maddie was the first to look away. Shaking his head and managing a smirk, he let go of her hand.

He separated the mountain of paper, searching for the X that marked the spot. Placing the stack on the car, he hesitated a moment and then turned and looked at her again. "Is this what you want Maddie? I mean, when I sign this it doesn't mean that you and I—"

"Once your part is sent to the lawyers, you should be receiving a check for your share of the profits of sale," she said calmly.

David was not sure how to interpret her tone. He knew she'd been trying to get this last bit of work done. He just wanted to avoid it and the conversation that would lead to the future of their relationship. And now that she had him cornered in the garage, he was ready to talk and all she could seem to do is be blunt… and cold. That was not the woman he knew who liked to talk everything to death.

He knew he needed to speed this little scene up and get the hell out of the garage.

So he signed.

"David, I do hope—"

"That I take my share and make good sound investments. I know Maddie. Put a little bit away for when I grow up," he said with a little edge. He hoped she felt the sharpness of his voice.

"Well, that isn't what I was going to say, but--"

"I think I've made a huge investment over the last 5 years. But hey, you lose some, you win some. Time to move on to other things and let bygones be bygones."

The garage grew quiet but for a few people clicking their heels across the pavement. Maddie looked as if she wanted to say something more.

"Do you want a ride home?" she asked coolly.

Hell, no!! "No, thanks. I told Pete from my bowling league we would meet up tonight for a few drinks. In fact, I really need to get going," he said, his heart pounding.

He supposed his last ditch effort of delaying the inevitable overflowed with a little too much glibness. She wasn't even going to mount a counterattack.

Maddie opened the door and climbed into her car. "Okay, well, I guess I will talk to you later, okay?"

"Okay". Just go.

David closed her door. She started the engine and was on her way. He stood in the garage as she pulled out, papers still in his hand. Once the BMW was no longer in sight he looked down at what he was holding, as if he had forgotten what it was. Once the realization hit him, he took the check that was attached and put it in his pocket. It would buy him six months of something. Just what, he wasn't sure.

With slow even pulls he began tearing up the packet of papers into strips and then the strips into smaller pieces. He meandered slowly across the garage and stuffed the remnants of Blue Moon hard into a trashcan. David stood a few seconds and then he stepped back and kicked the can as hard as he could. Pain shot through his foot and up his leg. He let out a gasp, picked up the garbage can and heaved it as hard as he could across the parking garage. Its contents exploded with a crash and it rattled and rolled until it stopped in front of a big concrete pylon.

A beer bottle and a couple of cans rolled out on the concrete. And among the garbage were flying bits of Blue Moon.

***

Maddie made it around the corner. "Let bygones be bygones," she told herself through the tears on her face.

Right.

Bert: Agnes, this is really depressing. And I hate to tell this story without confirming the details of…

Agnes: Bert, if you don't get on with this I'm gonna give you…

Overlapping dialogue….

Bert: their story with … Agnes: confirmed details…

I mean how do we really know… that will cause more than a

depression…

if this is really what happened… We are the ones that have to…

without confirming the facts? Tell the details because we're supposed to.

How can that be good? Because it's what we do good!

Well, maybe it could be okay. It will be okay.

It could be fine. It will be fine.

They both look at each other and a silly grin starts to spread on Bert's face that matches the face of Agnes. This reminds them of all of the "Goods" and "Fines" and door slamming they had overheard so many times at Blue Moon. Bert forgets that he has an audience and starts to lean in and give Agnes a kiss.

Agnes: Ahem…Bert!

(Points to audience)

Bert (stops abruptly and blushes): Ok, so where were we….

Agnes: I think you were going to give the details on Mr. Addison.

Bert: Right. Okay, so…Mr. Addison, in an attempt to just keep beer and chocolate milk in the fridge and to escape having to actually think about what he was going to do, lived the fast life until one day…