Circumstances (part 6 – Homecoming): Devon has been out of cold-sleep for 2 months. Danziger has been banished for 8 months.

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Voice of Devon: "It has been two months since I was healed. I am amazed at how much the Advance team has accomplished and endured.  I spent less then a year with them before I got sick, yet they are the closest friends I ever had. In the contrast, I spent 6 years with some of the colonists and yet they are strangers. I am amazed at their bullying attitudes, I never saw this behavior while we were on the stations but then again, I am of their class.  I didn't understand Danziger's attitude towards the upper class, thinking he was over sensitive but from what I've seen since arriving in the colony, I now understand it. I am told that the committee's attitude was even worst before Burton's conviction.

So far we've been unable to prove who killed Harper. We doubt the theory that a penal colonist was involved but the area was carefully cleared and no clues could be found.  The colonists are mostly decent people but lack the ability or desire to take a stand or call attention to themselves. I cannot blame them; they have come so far to have their children cured and are not prepared for living planet side. I have to take responsibility for that, I selected families because they had a sick child and for no other reasons. Each family did undergo training to give them skills that would benefit the colony but I left the overseeing of the training to others and now have discovered that it was often skipped. The colonists just didn't seem to understand that we would be on our own here and there wouldn't be a multitude of people to fulfill their every need. They must take on the tasks themselves. It seems like some on the committee believe that the Advance team would take care of all the menial tasks. I have of course put them straight on this.

I have been hoping that Danziger would contact me again on the Dream Plane but so far he has not. Something has been building between us almost since we met. I've kept him at arm's reach and tried to put aside my feelings for him, something I have been doing since Uly was born. I was so nervous when Uly was born, like any new mother I imagine, that I refused to get involved with any man, instead focusing my time and energy on my son and my career. Of course when Uly was diagnosed, I had to focus time and energy on finding a cure. It wasn't that difficult to avoid romantic feelings. Then G889 and John Danziger come along. Here, perhaps even more then back on the stations, I had to worry about my son and now a group, not to mention a planet to traverse and a colony to set up. I should have been able to put thoughts of John Danziger from my mind but no such luck. I kept telling myself that there would be time for my personal life when the colony was set up; then it became when we reached New Pacifica, I would have time to pursue a personal life but right prior to falling ill, I began to doubt my resolve. Julia and Alonzo have a personal relationship that didn't interfere with her ability to be a doctor, why couldn't I have a personal life? When John returns we'll have that talk, I for one will no longer put my life on hold until a more convenient time."

It was a hot day in the New Pacifica; the great hall of the government building was full as a committee meeting was in progress. All items on the agenda had been wrapped up and the meeting was winding down.

"OK, is there anything else to discuss before this meeting adjourns?" Taggert asked.

"Yeah, what the hell happened to my vehicles" a familiar husky voice from the back called out.

The man that stood at the back bore little resemblance to the colonists. His hair and beard were much longer and more unruly. There were several harsh scars visible and most alarming was the sunken eyes and skeletal appearance. Despite his haggard appearance, Danizger stood tall with his head held high.

"Well, what the hell happened to the dunerail? We can't easily replace that carriage."

That shocked the group from their stunned silence; soon his friends from the Advance team were surrounding him. Devon was standing on the podium and made her way through the crowd.

"Devon, you're looking better then last time I saw you?" Danziger commented, his voice huskier and not as loud as before.

"Sorry, I can't say the same. " Devon returned. "So, I imagine that you want Julia as your doctor?" when Danziger nodded, she continued. "Taggert, is there a doctor that you would care to examine Danziger?" 

"What? I just said I want Julia."

"Yes, and Julia will examine you. I just want an impartial doctor present so that they can't say Julia exaggerated your condition."

Just then True and Uly rushed into the hall. "Dad, dad..." True shouted as she pushed her way through the crowd.

Danziger also rushed towards his daughter; the force of True's embrace nearly knocked him down. Father and daughter held each other tight seeking comfort in being together. After a moment, Danziger asked, "Where's Uly?" Spotting the boy standing next to his mother, he extended his arm and Uly rushed into his embrace.

Devon gave John a few moments with the children and then said, "Taggert, is there someone you wish to examine Danziger?"

"Yes, Mitchell Forbes." Forbes was around Julia's age and also an intern of Dr. Vasquez.

"John, when you're ready we should probably get you over to the hospital to get you checked out." Devon suggested. Then to the children, "Come on, we'll need to get your Dad some clean clothes and get some sort of meal started."

Danziger reluctantly let the children go. "Sooner I go, the sooner it's over." Then to Julia, "Do you think there's a chance that I could shower and shave before the exam begins?"

"I can arrange for that at the hospital. Come on let's get this started."

As they walked to the hospital, Danziger received many curious stares. He whispered to Julia, "Just how bad do I look, I think I've frightened those kids over there."

"Well, I would like to say I've seen worst, but that would be a lie. Don't worry, we'll get you cleaned up and take care of the scars in no time."

Julia led Danziger to the intern's shower room and left to get him a shaving kit and hospital pants. In the mirror in the bathroom, Danziger had the first clear look at himself for 8 months. He now understood why the children wore scared expressions; he looked like a deranged mountain man from vids he saw as a kid, except he was probably a little scarier. 

Danziger stripped out of his clothes and threw them in the trash bin as they were beyond repair. When he finished showering, he found the hospital clothes and shaving kit. He quickly shaved the beard off and cut this hair into a crew cut. Uncertain what to do, he opened the door and found Julia and Forbes standing outside.

As they lead him to an examination room, Julia began to fill in Danziger on some of the happenings since he had been gone. Forbes remained quiet.

Once they reached the room, Danziger was instructed to have a seat on the examination table, Forbes asked "Anything particularly bothering you."

"Anything in particular? No, there isn't anything that stands out." Danziger sarcastically replied.

Forbes looked surprised at Danziger's tone but Julia being used to him, ignored him. "How about a report on what's happened since you where last in New Pacifica."

"Well, in no particular order. I've nearly starved, been dehydrated, dislocated my left shoulder in a fall over a cliff, got shot in the right leg by a ZED, had both legs and some ribs broken in an encounter with some wild creature, it's possible I had a concussion or two, as well as miscellaneous cuts, bruises and sprains. I think that's a pretty complete list. I was actually doing not half bad until I broke both my legs a couple months back, that's when things got really bad."

Julia, who was running a scan over him as he spoke, said, "You forgot to mention breaking your arm. There is evidence of a recent break."

"Oh yeah, I think that happened when I fell into a river and got washed downstream. Next time before the colony banishes a person, they should really make sure that they've had a bone healer vaccination first."

"I don't think that we would banishing anyone again. At least I hope we won't. You did a good job with setting the bones, so I don't think we'll need to rebreak them. Do you agree Dr. Forbes?"

Forbes had been running his own scan over Danziger. "The bones look fine, I am mainly concerned about the malnutrition. We can give you some supplements to take care of that as well as treatment to remove those scars. Taggert wants a full report, so we'll take all the pictures we need before starting the medication. It shouldn't take long."

"I'm in no rush, although I would like to be done in time for dinner. I'm kind of hungry."

True to Forbes' word, they were finished documenting the extent of Danziger's injuries in a short period of time. Forbes appeared to be very fussy to Danziger.

"OK, you're going to need multiple treatments for both the malnutrition and scars. I'll set up follow up appointments." Julia stated.

"Dr. Heller, why don't you see if anyone has arrived with the change of clothes", Forbes suggested.

Julia was hesitant to go, but Danziger told her it would be ok. Julia took her research with her and went to search for someone from the Advance team. She found the whole group anxiously pacing in the waiting area.

"Is my dad OK?", True asked Julia.

"He's been through a lot and is very malnourished but he'll be fine in no time."

Meanwhile in the examine room, Danziger watched Forbes fidget with some equipment.

"Uh, Mr. Danziger, I just wanted to say that I am sorry for what happened. I don't know why I didn't say anything. You know we're not a bad group of people, we just made some really bad decisions."

Danziger wasn't sure how to react. A simple apology wasn't going to make the last 8-months go away but then again nothing would. He nodded noncommittally and hoped for Julia to return. When the door opened, Devon was with Julia.

"Here, I don't think that these are still going to fit but they'll do for now." Devon said as she handed Danziger the clothes. Then to Forbes, "Please be sure to send a copy of your report to everyone on the committee."

Forbes and Julia left with Devon. Danziger dressed in his own clothes and as predicted, the fit was not good. Leaving the room he wandered to the waiting area where he saw the whole advance team waiting. "Hey, who's cooking dinner? I'm not joking, I am starved."

"Don't worry John, we've got it covered." The group made it's way from the waiting room all-talking at once. Julia promised that she would be along as soon as she finished the report.

On the way back to his unit, Danziger encountered several people; each was unwilling to look him in the eye. His friends and family spoke nonstop all the way back. As promised, a meal had been prepared. The group decided to eat indoors instead of on the deck to spare Danziger the prying eyes. Several wondered how he would react to the community that had banished him. They themselves had trouble accepting the punishment and now that Danziger was returned and they saw his condition, their anger grew.

True and Uly prepared a huge plate for Danziger. Each sat as close to him as they could get. Danziger looking at the plate stated, "Kids, put some of this back. I am never going to eat it all."

"But Dad, you need to regain your strength. You need to eat up", his daughter admonished.

"Honey, please take some of it away. I'll have seconds or thirds even if I'm still hungry." The smell of the food actually caused Danziger to feel nauseous. 

Danziger slowly ate some of the food on his much reduced plate. His friends carefully watched him. He questioned the group on what had gone on in his absence but answered their questions with short, almost monosyllable responses. To divert some of the questions from himself, Danziger asked Bess and Morgan about the upcoming baby. Upon hearing that that child was going to be a girl, he extolled the virtues of baby daughters, sharing some stories of True as an infant. When that topic was exhausted he switched to the vehicles, anything to avoid discussing the last 8 months from his point of view. Devon noticed his reluctance to discuss his experiences and tried to help steer the conversation to other areas.

Julia arrived within the hour, she watched as True, Uly and Bess urged Danziger to eat more. "It's actually better for John to eat lots of small, light meals then to eat a large amount at any seating." She noticed Danziger's grateful smile. Throughout the evening she carefully monitored him, he was quiet, quieter then she had ever seen him. The others in the group also noticed and some shot Danziger concerned looks, although many tried to keep their concern from showing.

Danziger caught their looks and stated, "Hey guys don't worry. I am just not used to people. In the past 8 months, I spoke to the elder and his group for about a day, I just out of practice talking to people. " When they didn't look convinced he added, "Don't worry, I didn't eat anybody while I was out there. Trust me, all I ate was grains and fruits."  This caused some of his friends to laugh and others to look ashamed.

Julia shortly ordered everyone out. Soon all that was left was Danziger, Devon, the kids and Yale, as well as the doctor and Alonzo.  When the kids had left the room to get some of their projects to saw their father, Julia commented, "John, I know that you're not ready to discuss what happened out there but you have to. Don't worry; we won't judge you, we're just happy to have you back with us. Nothing you say will be repeated to anybody"

"Honest Julia, I'm just tried and unused to company. I didn't do anything out there to be ashamed of."

"John, no one said, no one thinks that you did any wrong; either here or out there. But you have to be furious. We were here, we were safe and we are furious." Devon declared.

Danziger was saved from replying by the children's return. They clambered to fill him in on what had happened since he left. And for his part, Danziger listened intently to all they had to say. He often reached out to touch or embrace the children, reassuring himself that he was really with them and it wasn't a dream. 

It was getting late and Devon noticed that Danziger was tried. She informed the children that it was time for bed. When they protested, she reminded them that they had a busy day ahead the next day showing their father the new foals. The children reluctantly went to bed; Julia and Alonzo left shortly after they had a promise that they would be called if anything came up. Yale elected to stay the night; he had his own unit but had a room here as well to be on hand should he be needed. For tonight, he wanted to ensure that he was there in case some colonists decided to stop by.

As Danziger and Devon headed upstairs, he noticed the unit. Devon's possessions had been unpacked and arranged through out the place. He had not bothered unpacking any of them, at first he pretended it was to spare Uly the pain of seeing her things without her but he now acknowledged, he wasn't prepared to have her things scattered about the place while she was still ill. At the top of the stairs, Danziger turned to the spare bedroom.

"John, your stuff is still in the master bedroom."

"Devon, I don't expect you to give up your room."

"You said we'd talk when we were together again."

"I'm not in the mood to talk." Danziger firmly stated.

"Don't shut me out John."

"Devon," Danziger began to speak but Devon cut him off by walking up to him and kissing him.

When they finally separated, Danziger said, "Do you think this is such a good idea. I mean don't people always say not to start things at traumatic times?"

"You've never thought about the two of us? You're not interested?" Devon tried to keep the hurt from her voice.

Danziger stared at Devon, somewhat confused. "I'm dreaming" he whispered. Believing it was a dream; he reached for Devon.  Danziger led Devon into the master bedroom. Kissing, they fell onto the bed.

"John, this isn't a dream." Devon breathless stated.

"To be honest, right now I don't care either way. Just as long as it doesn't stop." Danziger kissed Devon passionately. Soon nothing matter other then they were together. Their clothes were discarded and Devon kissed all Danziger's scars. Their coming together was so beautiful that Devon thought for a moment that it might be a dream; but Devon would never imagine Danziger in such a state. Both drifted off to sleep in each other's arms.

Several hours later, Danziger woke from a nightmare; a shadowy figure was trying to get the kids. He was disoriented and then realized that he was home. Slipping out the bed, he pulled on his pants and quietly left the room.  In silence he entered in daughter's room. He crouched by the bed just watching her sleep; reassuring himself she was ok. Next he went in Uly's room, again to reassure himself. He walked out in the hallway and sat with his back against the wall, watching the kid's as the slept. He felt the terror begin to subside.

Devon fought against the persistent nagging that was trying to force her to wakefulness. She was having a wonderful dream that John was home and everything was fine. Unable to resist any longer she woke. At first she was dismayed; John was not there.  Glancing around the room, last night's memories came flooding back. She quickly rose and pulled on a robe and went to search for John. She didn't have far to look, she found him watching the children. The look of sorrow on his face was heartbreaking and she quickly rushed to his side. 

At first he didn't acknowledge her but when he did, his voice was full of sadness. "Devon, if I ever think that either of the kids is in danger, I am grabbing them and taking them from here."

"John, the kids are fine. No one will harm them; they would need to get through you and I first."

"I can't tell you how many nights I had nightmares that someone was trying to hurt them and I wasn't there to protect them. It was the worst part of my banishment; not being there when my kids needed me."

"John, you're here now. Nothing happened to the kids. They know that you would never intentionally leave them." Devon continued to speak smoothing words to him. Gradually she felt him relax.

The two of them were still sitting in the hall when True woke. Seeing her father she let out a joyful shout and rushed to this side. Devon had just enough time to get out of the way before Uly came bounding out.  Devon went to change and prepare breakfast while the children cosseted Danziger. He had just opened up a little to her; she hoped that she would open up more in the near future.

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END OF PART 6