Tales Of Tok'ra Flats: Christmas Gunslinging
Tales Of Tok'ra Flats: Christmas Gunslinging
by Athene
Summary: There's Gould in them thar hills!
Category: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Challenge, Holiday, Hurt/Comfort
Holiday: Christmas
Season: any Season
Pairing: Daniel/Share, none
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: minor character death, minor language, violence
Disclaimer: Stargate SG-1 and its characters are the property of Showtime/Viacom, MGM/UA, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Productions. I have written this story for entertainment purposes only and no money whatsoever has exchanged hands. No copyright infringement is intended. The original characters, situations, and story are the property of the author(s).
Archived on: 03/13/04
CONTENT WARNINGS: Danny whumping, mention of minor character deaths, guns, bloody injuries, oh and a nekkid Danny oh yeah! SUMMARY: There's Goulds in them thar hills! SPOILERS: Not really - but then, any episode in the show could be drawn as a parallel... AUTHOR'S NOTE: This started out as my response to the Mayor's Christmas Challenge, but then (way too much champagne over Christmas methinks) a very wicked plot bunny took my mind hostage, and wouldn't let me sleep till I wrote this. Many thanks to Debi for reading it through and letting me know that I hadn't infringed too many of the town rules, and not ticking me off for blatant self-indulgence!! I actually researched the Civil War medical practices, and decided to clean things up a little - can't see Janet not sterilizing instruments - other than that - tis all genuine.
"Come on girls! We'll be late!" Ms Athene yelled at her two daughters. The two girls appeared in the shop, dressed in their best clothes, and giggling. This aroused her suspicions immediately. "What have you two been up to?"
"Nothing," replied the eldest, smirking slightly.
"Deputy Danny just fell off his horse!" giggled the younger child. "It was really funny!"
"Is he alright?" asked Ms Athene. If her best customer was out of commission for any length of time she would be in dire financial straits.
"He's fine. The horse wouldn't stand still and Danny got his foot caught in the stirrup. It was really funny. He was hopping about yelling at the horse to stand still!" The girls started giggling again.
"Well anyway, we have to get this ice-cream over to the Emerald City for Ms Debi's Christmas party. Here..." Ms Athene handed each girl an ice cream pail, and then picked up the remaining ones from the counter. The ice cream parlour was in darkness apart from one lamp, which cast strange shadows from the paper garlands that the three of them had strung across the ceiling.
The three of them trudged down the main street, carrying their frozen offerings. As they drew closer, the sound of people enjoying themselves filled the night air. Ms Athene shifted one of the pails, carrying three in each hand, they were becoming heavy.
A quiet voice beside her made her jump. "Can I help you with those?"
She looked up to find Deputy Danny smiling at her. "Sorry?"
"Can I help you carry something? You look a bit laden." He took four of the ice cream pails from her.
"You fell off the horse!" giggled Lizzy. "We saw you!"
"Are you okay?" Ms Athene asked.
Danny flushed slightly. "I'm fine. He just wouldn't stand still, and I had trouble with him. He's a bit nervous tonight. I've no idea why."
"I know how he feels. I feel a little uneasy myself, no idea why."
The four of them had now reached the door to the saloon. Danny held the door open, and the two girls rushed in, taking their offerings to Ms Debi. Ms Athene paused slightly, and glanced back down the street. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, but it was empty.
Taking a deep breath, she went in to the warmth and noise of the Emerald City. Everyone was there, enjoying Ms Debi's infamous hospitality. All the citizens and the Riders had turned out, each dressed in their finest clothes.
Children were playing a game of tag, running between the legs and skirts of the adults. Ms Athene realised that her two had already gone to join in. She walked over to the counter and handed over the ice cream to her hostess, who stood at one end of the counter, a huge beaming grin on her face.
"Thank you, Ms Athene. I'm sure I only asked you for four pails - you've brought six."
"Well, it's a slack time of year for ice-cream - I thought it was better it got eaten now than thrown out at New Year." Ms Athene shrugged and took the proffered glass of mulled wine. Despite her earlier reluctance to attend, she soon settled into the rhythm of the party, one of Ms Debi's finest, and was actually disappointed when the girls started to complain about feeling tired.
Picking Lizzy up on one arm, she took Rachel by the hand and bid their farewells and thank yous. They opened the door to return home. As she did so, Deputies Danny and Sam rushed over.
"Here, let us carry the kids for you," smiled Sam.
"It's okay, you stay and enjoy the fun. The party's anything but over."
"We were on our way out to check on the horses anyway - we might as well see you home." Danny gave one of those rare, fleeting smiles.
The group headed out into Main Street. They walked along, mostly silent, but occasionally sharing a moment from the party.
As they drew close to Snugbury's, Sam suddenly stopped. She listened into the darkness for a moment, and then glanced sharply at her companions. "Do you hear that?"
Danny hoisted the sleeping child higher on his shoulder and listened as well. "Yes - horses and riders."
They exchanged a knowing look, and then Sam handed a sleeping Lizzy back to Ms Athene, speaking to her fellow Deputy as she did so. "Get them safe inside and I'll go get the Sheriff and Teal'c. Find a good watch point around here, and we'll meet you back here as quick as we can."
Danny nodded. Sensing the urgency, Ms Athene was already mounting the steps outside Snugbury's. The two adults slipped inside the shop and deposited the sleeping children on one of the benches. She turned to the young man beside her. "What's going on Danny?"
"I'm not sure, but I think it could be the Gould brothers. Get the children safe upstairs, in a back room. Lock the door after me, and stay away from the windows." He tipped his hat and disappeared back into the night. Years of living with the Indians meant he could disappear as quickly and silently as melting snow.
Ms Athene locked the door behind him, turned out the lamps and put the children to bed, her hands shaking. Everyone in the Flats had heard of the Gould brothers. They, and their extensive family lived up in the hills near the Flats, making a living from robbing innocent travellers passing through the valleys. They entertained themselves doing unspeakably cruel things to the tribes of Indians in the area. Long and short of it, these guys were trouble.
Rumour had it that following an especially nasty episode involving the tribe that Danny was living with at the time; he and the Sheriff had killed the father - Ray Gould - a drunken bully with a particularly mean streak in him. Since then, the story went, his sons were out for revenge on the Riders. It looked like they'd decided tonight was the night to exact that revenge.
*
Out on Main Street, Danny was hunkered down in the shadows, well out of sight. He was watching out for the intruders. Despite Jack's almost silent approach, Danny heard the Sheriff as he joined his Deputy. His years spent learning to track with the Indians had left him with acutely honed senses.
"Seen anything yet?" whispered the greying Sheriff.
"Not yet, but they're out there. I can hear the tack jingling. I reckon they're just round the corner up there, waiting for us to commit ourselves, then they'll spring their trap," replied Danny, equally quietly.
"Not if we poke a stick into it and spring it for them." Jack grinned at his young friend in the darkness. "I got a few of the Riders going out of town the other way, circling round, trying to trap these pesky Goulds between us. The four of us will meet them head-on. The only thing is that it'll take a while for the others to get right round town. You on?" He handed his deputy a holster and gun, which he had just taken from the armoury. In line with the rules of Tokra Flats, neither the Sheriff nor his deputies carried guns unless they had to.
Danny took the weapon and nodded as he strapped it on. "What back-up we got?"
"I got Siler and a couple of the others up on the roofs with shotguns. Should be enough."
Moments later, three riders appeared at the top end of Main Street, accompanied by six men on foot. The riders were Arthur, Harry and Seth Gould. Arthur was the eldest brother, and the one said to have benefited most from his father's death. He now headed the clan, and it was evident that he thoroughly enjoyed this position.
Harry went along with Arthur most of the time, but there was known to be bad blood between the two brothers, and they would frequently fight amongst themselves.
Seth was actually a cousin of Arthur and Harry's. He and his brother Oswald were constantly falling out, and it appeared that following their latest disagreement, Seth had now allied himself with Arthur.
The men on foot were actually another family who were close associates of the Gould clan - the Jeffers. No individual was known by name, but they were a mean bunch, who would do just about anything to stay in favour with the Goulds.
The intruders paused less than 100 feet away from where O'Neill and Danny were waiting. "O'Neill!" yelled Arthur, both his voice and posture laden with arrogance. "O'Neill! Come and face me, if you dare!"
The Sheriff and his three deputies appeared silently out of the shadows. A brief expression of surprise flitted across Arthur's face. They were much closer than he would have thought possible without detection.
The four of them spread across the street, blocking the way through. Jack and Teal'c were in the middle of the street, Sam and Danny flanked them on either side. Each stood in the classic gunfighter pose, legs spread, hands at hips, ready to draw.
The three Goulds dismounted, and pushed past the gaggle of Jeffers. Moving to stand in front of them, they adopted the same pose as the Tokra Flats Riders.
"I hope those aren't guns you got there, Arthur," growled Jack. "You know guns aren't allowed here." He glowered at the six men accompanying the Goulds. "Why bring them? You know this is between us and your family."
"Worried about the numbers O'Neill? I'm sure you've got your own back-up. I'm just making sure that we're not unfairly out-numbered here." Arthur lifted his chin defiantly and glared back. His eyes positively flashed with arrogance. He now turned his attention to Teal'c. "I see you welcome traitors here. I hope you're really happy with these...people, Teal'c. You will regret leaving my employ, I can assure you, traitor."
"And I can assure you that I have no regrets at all," replied Teal'c calmly. His decision to stop working as henchman and professional bully for the Gould family had been the best he'd ever made.
Arthur shot a venomous look at him in response. He stared at Sam briefly for a moment, before sneering, "Women, O'Neill? You have women fighting with you? Are you reduced to using girls to protect yourself?"
"I can assure you, Arthur, she's a better shot than you or your brothers will ever be."
"That remains to be seen." Arthur now turned his attentions on Danny. "Ah, the Indian-lover. Found yourself a replacement squaw yet?"
Danny didn't respond, but he visibly tensed. He had never forgiven himself for allowing his Indian bride, Shawnee, to have been taken by the Goulds, even though he had been away hunting at the time. Arthur had tortured her, raped her and then killed her.
Arthur sneered at Danny again. "You know, she begged me to spare her life - offered me anything if I let her live. And for just a moment, I considered it. She was so beautiful, and so eager to please - if you know what I mean..."
"Shawnee never would have begged. She was stronger than that - she had dignity!" Danny spat the words out.
"Oh no, Danny. She knelt before me and offered me her body in exchange for her life. And I took her. And then I took her life. And her last words were how much better I was than you."
"You lie!" Danny went for his gun. Before he fired it, a shot rang out, and Danny was down on the floor. At that moment, all hell broke loose, bullets flying in every direction. Jack, Sam and Teal'c ran for cover, shooting as they went. Jack dragged Danny off to one side, taking refuge with him behind the horse trough outside Snugbury's.
"Where did you get hit?" He asked, between shots.
"Shoulder. I'll live," winced Danny in reply. "Can't shoot now - it's my right shoulder."
"You can re-load though, can't you?" asked the Sheriff, grabbing Danny's gun, and tossing his own down to his injured friend.
The Riders on the rooftops had successfully picked off most of the Jeffers, when Sam suddenly realised that she had a clear shot. Seth was distracted, trying to work out where the shooters in the roofs were. She stood up from her hiding place and took aim. One shot, and Seth lay dead on the floor.
Staring at the carnage around them, Arthur and Harry ran for their horses, and rode off at top speed. The last Jeffer standing tried to mount Seth's horse and follow, but was felled by a shotgun blast from Siler on the roof. Teal'c went to go after them, when O'Neill stood up behind the horse trough. "Leave `em for now. We'll get a posse together and go after them in a minute. Danny's hurt."
The two deputies joined the Sheriff. Danny was starting to look a little the worse for wear. His shirt was soaked with blood. "He's taken a bullet to the shoulder. Sam - go get Doc Frasier. I think she's still up at the Emerald City. Teal'c - didn't Ms Athene go home?"
"I believe you are correct, O'Neill."
"Right, let's get him in there out of the cold."
Jack hoisted Danny up to his feet, and supported him as Teal'c went and hammered on the door. "Open the door, Mistress Athene. It is Teal'c and O'Neill. Daniel Jackson is hurt."
After a brief pause, a lamp appeared in the depths of the ice cream parlour, and Ms Athene opened the door, somewhat cautiously at first. Jack and Teal'c helped the injured deputy to sit on one of the benches.
"I think it's a bit warmer upstairs in the parlour," suggested Ms Athene. "I never keep the shop heated when I'm closed - it helps to keep the ice cream frozen."
Jack hauled Danny to his feet by his uninjured arm. The younger man was pale, sweaty and his eyes looked somewhat glazed. Swaying slightly despite Jack's support, Danny still tried to protest against the fuss. "Really Jack, I'm fine. You don't need to..."
"Danny, you're not fine. You took a bullet to the shoulder. You're going upstairs to Ms Athene's parlour, where Doc Frasier will look at you and you will do whatever she says. That is an order. Understand?"
"Jaaack..."
"Understand?"
"Yes sir."
Jack, Teal'c and Ms Athene had just got him upstairs and settled on the couch in front of the fire, when Janet and Sam arrived. They were accompanied by Mayor Debi, Ms Angel and General Hammond. Everyone crowded into the small parlour. Ms Athene had already helped Danny out of his bloodied shirt, and was holding a pad to the wound to try to stop the bleeding. Jack had placed a blanket over his shoulders to keep him warm. He was shivering visibly now.
Janet gave his shoulder a cursory examination, then the diminutive doctor opened her bag. "The bullet's lodged in the shoulder, and he's going into shock. We're going to have to cut it out, but only once everyone gets out of the way." She looked up at the crowd. "Ms Athene, can you boil up some water for me, and do you have any clean towels or sheets?"
"Of course," Ms Athene left the room to get the required items.
"Right," said Janet, glaring at everyone else. "I need room to work. Don't you have a criminal to catch, Sheriff?"
"But..." Jack started to protest.
"Jack... just go..." Danny managed to gasp out. "I'm fine... go get those pesky Gould." He fixed Jack with an intense blue stare. "Please.."
"If you're sure he's okay...Doc?" Jack looked at Janet.
"He'll live, Sheriff. Now just you go get the man that did this." Janet smiled reassuringly at the Sheriff's expression of uncertainty.
After a few more protestations, Jack left with Sam, Teal'c and General Hammond to round up the posse, shortly followed by Ms Athene returning with clean linen and a kettle of boiling water, which she placed on a hook over the fire to keep it at boiling point.
"If yer gonna be digging a bullet out, yer gonna be needing this," said Ms Debi, holding up a bottle of whisky.
"You're going to be drinking?" asked Danny, face aghast.
The women in the room laughed. "It's not fer the Doc," laughed Ms Debi, "it's fer you."
"But I don't drink..." protested the young man.
Janet sat down next to him and fixed him with one of her most intimidating looks. "Danny, you can do this drunk or you can do this the hard way. I don't have any opiate or morphine, so you are going to have to be awake. Believe me, if you drink enough it won't hurt nearly as much." She unscrewed the top, and handed him the bottle. "Drink this - Doctor's orders."
Reluctantly, he took the bottle and took a tentative swig. Pulling a disgusted face, he held it out to give it back. "It's foul. I'll manage..." Janet looked at him, and just pressed gently beside the wound. Danny yelled in pain. "Okay. I get the message..." he took a bigger swig.
While Danny attempted to drink himself into a stupor, Janet placed a number of instruments from her bag into a bowl, and poured the boiling water over them. Once she was satisfied that the instruments were as sterile as they could be, she turned her attentions back to her patient.
Danny, not being much of a drinker, was quite drunk already. Janet decided to test whether he was drunk enough by once again touching the edge of the wound. This time the only reaction was a somewhat petulant "ow!"
Janet was satisfied. "Okay, let's do it." Ms Athene grabbed his left arm, Ms Debi his right, while Ms Angel held his legs down. Being drunk, all Danny did was get a fit of the giggles. Janet gave him a stern look. "Stop laughing deputy, and put this between your teeth." She held out a folded up cloth.
"Wassatfor?" asked Danny, eyes glazed.
"It's for you to bite on. We don't want to wake the children up now do we?" Meekly, the young man grabbed the cloth between his teeth.
It took Janet much longer to get the bullet out that she had originally thought. It was wedged between the collarbone and the shoulder joint, making it hard for her to remove without causing further damage. Fortunately, she managed it with minimal additional injury. At some point, Danny passed out, whether through pain, drink or blood loss it was impossible to know. Janet hoped for Danny's sake it was the drink. She packed the wound with lint soaked in water and dressed the wound.
"Ms Athene, can he stay here for the night? I really don't want to move him all the way back to the Emerald City. He could do with the peace and quiet and uninterrupted rest."
"Of course." The women carried the unconscious man to Ms Athene's bedroom, and put him in the bed. Janet, being the doctor, removed his boots and pants, and covered him over.
"I need to go and take Cassie home - I'll check back later tonight. Are you okay keeping an eye on him?" The three women nodded.
"Don't worry Doctor, someone will sit with him the entire time," Ms Angel smiled. Ms Athene volunteered to take the first shift, so the others all left together, heading back to the Emerald City to collect the things they'd left behind - in Janet's case, her daughter.
*
The next morning, Ms Athene bid Ms Debi farewell, and resumed her watch over the sleeping deputy. She was due to be relieved later by either Ms Angel or Ms Devra, so she could open up the shop. In the meantime, she was waiting for Janet to come and change the dressings.
Ms Debi had told her that Danny had started to show signs of fever already, which was a little worrying, as infection didn't normally set in for a couple of days. The only explanation was that there was still something in the wound. Ms Athene placed a damp cloth on the man's forehead. He was definitely hot. In fact, he was burning up.
She opened all the windows wide and called the children to her. "Girls. I want you to go to Doctor Frasier's house. Tell her that Deputy Danny is sick, and can she come now? Then I want you to stay with Cassie, and if that's not possible, go and ask Ms Babs if you can sit with her for a while instead."
The girls nodded and ran off. Ms Athene went and fetched the iron hipbath from the scullery downstairs. She started to boil some water. Danny was going to need cooling down, fast, and the best way to do that was to put him into a tepid bath, and then add ice.
She was just pouring the water into the bath when Janet appeared. The Doctor raised her eyebrows at the sight of the bath. "That bad?"
"He's really feverish. I thought this would be the best way to cool him down."
Janet nodded, and then the two women prepared to lift the man into the bath. This proved to be more difficult than initially thought. Both women were short, and Danny was at least ten inches taller than either of them. His skin was slick with sweat, and he was struggling slightly. It made lifting him into the bath almost impossible.
Suddenly Ms Athene got an attack of the giggles. "I wonder what my husband would say if he came home right now? How would I explain having a naked man in my bedroom?"
Janet started to giggle as well, as she struggled to lift Danny up off the bed.
"What's all this giggling?" Ms Devra opened the door to the bedroom and stuck her head in. "I thought this was a sick room?"
"We having trouble getting him in the bath," giggled Janet.
With three of them, they managed to get the man into the lukewarm water, then Ms Athene ran downstairs to the freezer boxes to get as much ice as she could. Pouring it into the bath, Danny started to shiver. After about twenty minutes, Janet proclaimed him to be cooled down sufficiently.
The three of them lifted him out and wrapped him in a clean sheet. Janet then took the bandages off his shoulder. The edges of the wound were red and raised, but there was no pus as yet. Janet pursed her lips as she studied the wound closely. "Can you pass me my bag please?"
Ms Devra handed over the bag. Janet took out a scalpel and tweezers, and began to probe the wound, looking for the cause of the infection. After about five minutes of concentrated effort, Janet straightened up, a small splinter of metal held in her tweezers. "Got it. Things should improve now. Can you hold this on the wound please?" Ms Athene held the pressure pad over the wound to stop the bleeding.
There was a quiet knock on the bedroom door, followed by Cassie's voice. "Mom? I got the stuff you asked for."
Ms Devra opened the door. Cassie stood on the landing holding a small paper bag. Rachel and Lizzy were standing behind her trying to peek into the bedroom. "I went to Ms Majel's saw mill like you asked - you were right - she did have some red oak. She gave me as much bark as she could, but there wasn't much."
Janet smiled and took the bag. "Thanks girls. Now, you three go and sit downstairs out of the way while we take care of Deputy Danny."
"Tell you what, why don't you go and help yourselves to ice cream," suggested Ms Athene.
"What - whatever we want?" squeaked Rachel in disbelief.
"Whatever you want," smiled Ms Athene.
"Goody!" yelled three girls in unison, and three pairs of feet thundered down the stairs to the ice cream parlour.
"Red oak bark? What's this for?" asked Ms Devra.
"It's a pretty good antiseptic," replied Janet. "Can I have some boiling water, please? I'll steep the bark in the water and then soak the lint in the solution before I re-dress the wound." Ms Devra took over applying pressure to the wound and Ms Athene disappeared to put the water on to boil, and Janet started to prepare the bark, cutting it as finely as she could. As she worked, she asked Devra whether there was any news from the posse.
"Not yet. General Hammond thought that the Goulds will have gone to ground, and there's a heck of a lot of ground to cover out in those hills...he wasn't expecting them back before tomorrow."
The day passed with people taking their turn to watch over the injured deputy, others dropping into Snugbury's to enquire after him or pass on any other news. At one point, Ms Kelly turned up with a whole fresh batch of cookies for the carers, then towards suppertime Ms Debi arrived to take her turn sitting with Danny, armed with a dish of Louigi's stew. "Didn't think you'd have much time for cooking," she explained.
*
Ms Debi was still on duty when the Riders came home. She watched them riding up Main Street, and tie the horses up outside the Emerald City, before disappearing inside. A quiet voice from the bed drew her attention back to her patient.
"Jack?" Danny was awake, looking slightly confused.
"He's not here at the moment. It won't be long. Here," Ms Debi helped him to sit up slightly and take a sip of water. "How are you feeling?"
Danny winced slightly. "Like a herd of buffalo just ran over me." He flopped back down onto the pillows, eyes closed.
Voices outside the door alerted Ms Debi to the impending invasion. Jack, Sam and Teal'c entered the room, concern on all their faces. Ms Athene waited in the doorway, unable to get into what was normally her bedroom. Ms Debi moved to join her, and they left the four friends alone, closing the door behind them.
"So, how are you doing?" asked Jack, sitting on the side of the bed. He scrutinised his young friend carefully. Danny looked tired, and he was so pale, he almost blended with the heavy bandage on his shoulder. The slight brownish splotch on the bandage did not go unnoticed. The wound was obviously still bleeding slightly.
"I'm fine. How did you get on?" Danny evaded any further questioning.
"We got Harry. Unfortunately, Arthur vanished as only he can, but we'll get him. We only got Harry cos they'd obviously been fighting again and he'd been stabbed in the thigh. Doc's sorting him out at the moment. He's currently in the jail - he was the one who shot you - we'll have to be happy with that I guess." Jack frowned at Danny, who had winced as he tried to sit up. "Soooo how are you really? You're obviously not fine."
"Really, I am fine. I'll be great just as soon as I've had a good night's sleep."
"I spoke with Doc... she told me you're anything but fine. She told me that you'll be holed up here for at least another day, and then you won't be working for quite a while.... So, how are you really?"
Danny looked up at Jack. "Why are you asking me when you know already?"
"Just wanted to see how bad you were - if you said you were fine then you weren't actually dying..." Jack smiled at the younger man.
"Do you think they'll try to spring Harry out of the jail?" asked Sam.
"Dunno. They might. Hatty was mighty annoyed that we'd taken her precious son and clapped him in irons. She might be rattled enough to get the rest if the clan to launch a rescue mission...." Jack shrugged. "You know these guys better than the rest of us, Teal'c - what do you think?"
"They will not launch an immediate attack, O'Neill. They will believe their chances of success to be better if we are not in a state of heightened alert, as we are likely to be at the moment."
Jack pondered the big man's words for a moment. "Right - we try and convict him tomorrow morning, and send him to the State Penitentiary as soon as possible - that way we'll keep trouble out of town as much as possible. I think there's been enough shooting round here to last us for quite a while."
"I agree O'Neill, " intoned Teal'c.
"Alright with me," agreed Sam.
"Sounds...good...to me Jack..." mumbled Danny round a yawn.
Unfortunately, this was the moment that Janet chose to make her evening visit. "Right, you're keeping my patient from his much needed rest. I want you all out of here. You can visit in the morning."
Jack opened his mouth to protest, and got a stern look from Janet in return. "Okay Doc. Night night Danny - we'll see you in the morning." The three of them trooped out, leaving Danny in Janet's tender care.
*
A week later, Danny strolled down Main Street, his arm in a sling. He had been well enough to return to his room at the Emerald City three days ago, and he'd spent his time sleeping, reading and trying desperately not to listen to Jack's interminable jokes and anecdotes.
Right now, it was 2:29, and he had an appointment to keep - one that he hadn't kept in a little while.
Opening the door to Snugbury's at 2:30 on the dot, he was a bit taken aback to see not only Ms Athene, but everyone else who had taken care of him while he'd been laid up. Ms Debi, Ms Angel, Ms Devra, Doc Fraiser were all sat at the counter, drinking coffee.
Sitting in his customary stool at the end of the counter, he picked up the menu. He read it a while, and then laid it back down on the counter.
Ms Athene wandered up and placed a cup of coffee in front of him. "What'll it be?" she smiled.
"Chocolate fudge sundae, no nuts, please." Danny blushed - he'd suddenly remembered that all of these women had recently seen him naked. "Oh, and get everyone here whatever they'd like, on me."
While Ms Athene busied herself preparing umpteen ice cream sundaes, Danny sipped his coffee. He caught the Mayor's eyes on him, and he met her gaze. She gave him a warm smile, which he returned. "How's the shoulder?" she asked.
"Much better, thanks." He sipped his coffee again. He stared at the sundae that Ms Athene placed in front of him. "I think I owe everyone here thanks - for looking after me, for letting me steal their bed, for... well, for everything really." He picked up the spoon somewhat awkwardly in his left hand, and scooped up some of the cream and chocolate fudge sauce. "Thanks."
There was a silent pause as the assembled ladies watched him take his first mouthful in that slow, deliberate, almost sexual way that he had. Ms Devra was the one to break the silence that had descended on the group, when she spoke for them all. "The pleasure was all ours Danny, all ours."
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