KAIMONI (demon)

CHAPTER 21

Two weeks later everything was weirdly normal.

Danny and Steve were sitting together on the chairs by Steve's beach, watching Grace play in the sea with Kono. Lou and Chin were busy arguing over the finer points of grilling meat up on the lanai.

It was good to be home.

Steve turned to Danny, looking at him with an appraising eye. He was still a little pale, but his face was filling out again. He looked better. There was still a light dressing on his thigh and the shadows of bruises on his face. Steve's own bruises were worse, he realised, thanks to the battle on the cliff-top.

Danny's psyche still worried him. It was hard to accept that he had gone from being apparently borderline insane to essentially fine.

Danny was still a touch withdrawn and pretty emotional. That was understandable. He knew his partner was still deeply shaken by everything that had happened. He was troubled with illogical guilt over Selena's death and over hurting Steve, no matter how much Steve told him it wasn't his fault. Steve got it though- he was still plagued by his own guilt too. Nothing but time could really help them there.

However, Danny no longer needed tranquillisers and he was certainly not demanding to be thrown in a padded cell. He was no longer completely introverted and evasive. He was talking, smiling, laughing and complaining. He was well on his way to being Danny again.

Steve still didn't really understand what had happened on that cliff top- his memories were messed up and vague. Danny was pretty keen to avoid talking about it.

Steve didn't want to push him. He knew it had seemed completely real to his partner and he didn't want Danny to feel that his judgement was being questioned again, especially when he was still so fragile. But, on the other hand, he hated the idea of Danny living in fear of something which could never have existed. For once, he just wasn't sure of the best way to protect him.

But what had really happened? Steve was certain that Danny had been confused, had had a breakdown after the utter hell he had been through, most likely because of the pressure Steve had laid on him himself. His partner had probably thought it was the demon itself he was fighting on the cliff, not Steve at all. Then he had simply found the strength to face the controlling voice in his head, just as the psychiatrist had suggested. Somehow, he had vanquished it. Somehow.

Although there was the blood that had flowed from Danny's ears and nose, of course. That was weird. He didn't think he had seen Danny hit his head on anything. But it must have happened, maybe after Steve had passed out. That was a reasonable explanation.

The nagging doubts re-emerged, never far from the surface. He recalled a face, red eyed. He could almost feel the fury it had radiated. He remembered Danny's incredible strength.

But he didn't quite trust his own memories. And he so didn't want to believe the demon had been real because that would be nothing short of terrifying. But if time travel was possible, who was he to say demons couldn't exist?

The chain of disturbing thoughts continued down their inevitable, well-worn path. If it was real, where had it gone? Worse still, could it come back…?

Steve took a deep breath, inhaling slowly through his mouth. The whole thing was too terrifying and too pointless to keep speculating about. He pushed his thoughts back, suppressing them before he could fixate on them yet again.

Real demon or not, it seemed it was gone. Danny was back. Nothing else really mattered.

He glanced again at Danny. "You good?" the question came out involuntarily. He'd asked it a lot, he knew. Fortunately Danny was being uncharacteristically patient.

Danny nodded, watching his daughter. "Still good, Steven. I'll tell you something, though, I am so done with archaeology."

Steve shook his head, smiling. "Can't blame the archaeology, Danny. You were enjoying yourself before it all went to crap. Remember?"

Danny didn't reply. He gazed off into the distance, his face suddenly blank.

"Danny? What's on your mind?" Steve asked, after letting a few long seconds go by. He tried to sound casual but didn't quite pull it off, his still ever-present concern showing through.

Steve almost held his breath, waiting to see which way the Williams mental rollercoaster was going to go.

Danny shook his head and looked down at his hands. "Nothing. Just, thank you. For everything. You did so much…."

Steve reached over and put a hand on his arm. He squeezed it gently. "Danny stop. You'd have done the same for me. Partners, right."

Danny snorted softly and smiled. He looked over at Steve, met his eyes. His smile dropped and his gaze became intense. In that moment, their eyes conveyed a thousand silent messages. Because they had both been through hell. A hell they would never discuss with family, with friends. It was theirs to keep safe. And it still haunted them, they had a long way to go before they felt right...but they were together in that. They would help each other through it. As always, they had each other's backs.

Danny smiled softly. "Yeah. Partners." He looked away again, gaze returning to his precious daughter.

Steve patted his arm then sat back.

A broad smile came to Danny's face after a moment. "You know, I think Professor Roy had kind of a thing for me."

Steve barked out a laugh. "Had a thing for you? Danny, she told me she wanted to bite your ass!"

Danny's eyebrows shot up and his smile broadened to downright cheesy. "Seriously?"

Steve turned round to face him again, his expression earnest. "Yeah, and you realise that's an image I'm gonna be stuck with till the day I die thank you very much."

Danny's cheesy smile grew even wider. "You're gonna be thinking about my ass till the day you die? I had no idea you felt like that, Steven."

Steve looked at him incredulously. "Not funny, Daniel."

Danny flapped a dismissive hand at him, smiling smugly. "What can I say, my friend, I'm a babe magnet. If you ever want any tips, you know where to come."

Steve's jaw dropped. "You have to be kidding me! 90% of the time you have the sex life of a monk!"

Danny's face fell. "At least I'm not too constipated to call my girlfriend 'my girlfriend'. When I have one." He snapped.

"That's ridiculous!" said Steve, indignantly. "She wasn't my girlfriend. We had an arrangement."

"Oh come on! What, like an arrangement that you'd see each other and no one else? Like she was your girlfriend? You even lived together. Well, until she saw sense and abandoned you in favour of life in a wartorn country, of course." Danny was almost shouting, pointed finger stabbing the air aggressively to emphasise his irritation.

Steve glared at him. "Shut up, Daniel."

Danny glared right back. "Great comeback, Steven."

They stared each other down for long seconds, then broke at the same moment, both grinning helplessly.

Steve bent down and picked up two beers from the cooler at his feet, passing one to Danny. They leant towards each other and clinked bottles, then sat back to watch as Gracie shrieked with laughter in the waves.

"You know there's one thing I would still like to know." said Steve, with a soft sigh.

"Oh yeah?" Danny's tone was cautious.

"What happened to that boy. What happened to Blue Eyes. We owe him…everything really."

Danny nodded in agreement, then shrugged. "I guess we'll never know."

…

The youth with the bright blue eyes stood, bloody and battle-weary but triumphant, still sporting the tunic denoting leadership that had belonged to his father before him. He looked at the strange weapon in his hand that had held the power of the Gods. Its power had gone now, he didn't know why. The thunder that had spewed from it had made the usurpers scatter in terror. Some fell and never rose again. It only served to confirm his belief that the strangers should have been worshipped, not held up for sacrifice.

He scanned the area around the bushes, looking for anything, any sign of them. He saw only the cube. He stared at it in wonder.

Plucking up courage, he reached for it and picked it up. It felt warm. He fingered the carefully incised symbols he had seen the strangers touch and he wondered. He remembered the strange words the tall one had recited.

It was a special thing. Magical. He knew he should place it on the altar with the other special things.

But he looked out to sea, to the unknown world beyond, and he wondered. He wondered where the beardless man with the hard, shining image of the sun, of Tana, in his pocket had come from.

From the Gods himself, that's what he believed. That's why he had tried to protect them once his courage had finally come to the fore, even though few wanted to follow him. For all he held rank and was permitted to lead the ceremonies, he was young. His opinion had not swayed the elders even after his father's death.

His father had believed the man should be offered up on the Solstice as a rich, worthy sacrifice once he had been submitted to the cleansing rituals- the isolation from corruption in the hills, the opening of his mind with the ha-lu drink, the invocation of the Demon God to carry him to the other side.

He disagreed. To sacrifice those sent by Tana to Tana- surely it would have been an insult to the Gods themselves. He was certain his father's death at the hands of the very man he meant to offer up was proof that his belief was truth.

He thought of the girl who had arrived before the others, who was to be offered up as all strangers who dared show their faces had been offered up before her. She had held no sign of the God, but she arrived the same way as the others- the flash of light on the hill delivering a sleeping human to them. And the others had grieved for her.

Perhaps Tana would punish them for her death, destroy their crops and leave their women sterile and dry. But she had landed badly when she had arrived, her head striking the rocks. She had never awoken, had faded away quietly tied to the post.

Perhaps that alone would save them from Tana's wrath.

He looked at the cube- the portal to another world- and he wondered just how brave he might really be.

THE END….?

Sorry, mind melt made me dispense with serialisation and just post the last 5 chapters in a oner. Don't know how you all do it, I can't take the tension!

Thank you as ever to everyone who has given me help and encouragement with this, especially IreneClaire (despite the last minute re-write of virtually an entire chapter she made me do. Blah. But she was right enough!) and the lovely people who review virtually every chapter. It's sooooo appreciated! Anyhoo, must be about time for a glass of wine now. Byeee!