A Caroline in the City/Northern Exposure Crossover
by Ann Fox and Sarah Stella
1998
Winner of 1998 CitC fanfic mailing list contest: "Best Crossover fanfic"
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Part Ten
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Caroline awoke with a painful start and glanced at the clock: 4 AM. She groaned a little and tried to burrow deeper into her pile of blankets, but it was no use; once she was up she was up. Casting a suspicious glance around the room for any flitterings of pink or green (and finding none), Caroline swung her feet to the floor.
The sweats she'd put on for PJs were rumpled with sleep. The hardwood floor felt shockingly icy under her bare toes and she gasped softly. Vaguely, she wondered what'd awakened her. The moon was bright through her window; she'd forgotten to draw the curtains. Outside, the forest of evergreens surrounding the house spread darkly and mysteriously away as far as she could see. Living in New York for so long, Caroline had almost forgotten the magic of the deep woods by night. She was nearly knocked flat by an impulse to go outside and just walk.
Maybe Richard would like to.... She turned toward the connecting door and there she was: Meekness with a sly little smile on her tiny porcelain face. Caroline cast an anxious eye at the door and then looked back to the demon.
"I just want to walk. It'd be nice."
"He wouldn't want to go with you," Meekness replied. Her voice sounded like the faraway tinkle of wind chimes.
"He might. He's my friend after all. I got him to Alaska, didn't I?"
"He needed to come," the demon said, "to exorcise his own demon; Self Doubt, damn him and his arrogance. Richard was looking out for number one." Caroline tried to block out the voice by pressing the heels of her hands against her ears but it was no use. "What do you have that he'd want? Do you think he'd even be your friend if you didn't pay him to be?"
Staggering a little, Caroline whirled, blindly shoved her bare feet into a pair of flat-soled clogs, and raced out of the room. Meekness's high, piping laughter followed her.
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Richard awoke with a painful start and glanced at the clock: 4:20 AM. The voices from Caroline's room had disturbed him and he lay still, listening to the angry sounds floating through the bathroom. One of the voices was becoming weaker as the other one rose in shrill anger. Finally there was the sound of a door closing on the soft side of a slam and the patter of running feet on carpet. Richard carefully crept out of bed, pulled a sweater over his pajamas, and slipped into a pair of shoes. Grabbing a coat, he followed the argument's loser.
Suddenly he realized why Shelly had made such an awkward impression on him. He stopped in mid-stride and sighed. Memories of one of his many failed romances drifted back into his head as he thought about the ditzy brunette named Shelly who he'd tried so desperately to rid himself of one Christmas a few years earlier. Even then he'd been in love with Caroline, but denial had forced him into the arms of the first willing female. Was this tension and tug-of-war between he and Caroline finally going to reach a turning point?
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The front door squeaked a little when Caroline opened it and fled out into the welcoming arms of the Alaska night. She had gotten about fifty paces from the house when a pair of hands settled on her shoulders. Caroline cried out but her voice was muffled when one of the hands snaked around and clapped over her lips.
"Shhhh!"
"Richard? What are you doing here?"
"I might ask you the same thing."
"I...I just wanted some fresh air. The woods are so nice."
"Lovely, dark and deep," he agreed. "Maybe less so at 4:30 in the morning."
She smiled sheepishly at him and he returned the expression shyly. "Anyway," she cleared her throat and replaced the smile with an expression she hoped was a little more businesslike, "I was just going for a walk. There aren't any woods in New York, at least none that you won't get mugged in."
"Very true," Richard agreed. He held his jacket out in her direction. "You look like you could use this."
"Oh, Richard, I don't want to...you'll be cold then."
"I've got a sweater. I'll be fine. Pain is good for art, remember?"
Gratefully, Caroline accepted the jacket, zipping it up to her chin and then tucking her hands into the long sleeves. "Much better. Thank you, Richard."
He raised a hand towards her face and for a breathless minute Caroline thought he was going to touch her but at the last second he pulled away. No sooner had he done so than a voice floated towards them over the quicksilvered lawn.
"Richie!!"
"Oh God." Richard clapped a hand to his forehead and shook his head slowly. Moments later, the Green Man came puffing up to the pair.
"Whaddya tryin' ta ditch me? I ain't just chopped liva heah!"
"What about me? You enormous, conceited thing?" demanded another voice.
"This isn't happening," Caroline moaned, edging away from Meekness and towards Richard.
"'Fraid so, Sweetcheeks," Meekness chirped happily. "I thought you two would try to sneak away."
"I thot," Self Doubt broke in.
Meekness stamped her tiny foot, sparks falling from under her shoe where it hit the ground. "No, if I had meant you I would have said it."
The Green Man flexed his fist. "If I weren't a gen'leman and you weren't two inches high..."
"Is that a threat, you odious thing?"
Caroline felt Richard tug gently on her elbow. "I think we'd better go," he whispered urgently, his breath a warm thrill in her ear.
The two artists slipped quietly away into the woods while their demons argued loudly on the front lawn. Once they were inside the protective covering of the trees, Caroline turned breathlessly to Richard.
"Maybe we can just outrun them," she gasped slightly.
Richard looked at her critically as he continued to lead her deeper into the forest. "Outrun them? Are you serious?"
"Maybe," she ventured noncommittally. "Can you think of a better way?"
"Have a seat," Richard said, gesturing to a moss-covered log.
Caroline sat. "We can't just ignore them. We've got to do something."
"We do," Richard agreed, sitting beside her. He tucked his arm through hers and she clasped his hand, rubbing it to warm him.
"Can I make a confession, Richard?" Caroline asked timidly.
He turned to face her, his eyes brilliant in the splashes of moonlight that made their way to the forest floor. "What is it?" his voice was a strained whisper.
"I don't know what we're going to do."
Richard's bated breath came out in a gigantic whoosh that waved Caroline's hair. "I don't know either, Caroline. I hope Ed comes up with something good." He disentangled his arm from Caroline's and put it around her waist, squeezing encouragingly. She returned the gesture and they sat there for a long while in the dappled shadows. Richard took a deep breath and turned once more to Caroline. "Say, do you really think..."
"Think what?"
"About what Ed said, about our demons, hating each other and that being the reason why we couldn't..."
Their faces were inches apart. Caroline's tongue darted out of her mouth to moisten her suddenly dry lips.
Suddenly there was a crashing and crackling from a clump of nearby bushes. Caroline half jumped off of the log, taking Richard with her. Fifty yards in front of them, Maggie O'Connell and Joel Fleischman emerged from the bushes. They too had their arms around each other. They were laughing and whispering with each other. When they caught sight of Richard and Caroline they sprang apart as if they'd been stung, with a general look of sheepishness about them.
"Hey," Maggie offered, breaking the silence.
"Top of the morning to ya," Richard replied, elegantly raising one eyebrow.
"Where are you two coming from?" Caroline added, surveying their rumpled, leaf-strewn clothes.
"We were...out, um, walking," Maggie said breathlessly. Joel put his face into her shoulder and started laughing hysterically.
"O-kay," Caroline said.
"Sorry," Joel said, clearing his throat. His face was still dangerously red. "We're just..."
"Mutually Attractive Opposites," Maggie finished. She turned to Joel and shook her finger at him sternly. "Now we're not going to repeat The Brick incident again, are we?" Joel shook his head so vigorously that Caroline was half-afraid it would fall off. Maggie jerked on Joel's collar and he made a small choking sound. "We were just going that way," she pointed. "We'll catch you two later."
"Later," Caroline echoed as the couple drifted off into the darkness.
"We've got to get out of this town," Richard muttered.
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Continued in Part Eleven
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