Disclaimer: I do not in ANY WAY own Haven.
A/N: So, I watched the finale last night (not really…this was written a long time ago but I decided to keep this A/N and write this little edit in…), and after crying (I really did cry!), I thought of this because I just didn't feel right about Audrey being gone. So, I made this...I hope you all like it.
Here it is:
Not Just An Overlay
How…how am I seeing this? This is…what Mara described when I was…me.
I can see Nathan through my eyes, and I can hear Paige's thoughts. But I'm not Paige…I'm still Audrey. Audrey Prudence Parker. I'm…trapped in here, just like how Mara was every time the Barn gave her a new overlay.
Howard recognized me as no longer an overlay and that I was Charlotte's daughter. When Mara died and Charlotte merged me with my body again, I became dominant – no overlay. Paige…must be an overlay if I am the dominant like Mara was.
Vince never told me this would happen. I knew what I was giving up – I was giving up my life and memories with Nathan so he could have love again with whatever I would become when the Barn sent me back. But Vince never told me that I would be trapped here, left to watch as Nathan slowly falls in love with Paige, loving our son…
…James.
This is the same James Cogan, the Colorado Kid. Mine and Nathan's son…and now he's also Paige's son, like how he was Sarah's and Lucy's son. We've all loved him, and I still love him. Now, I get to watch him grow up, with two loving parents.
After Nathan shot Agent Howard, the Barn fell into the Void. The Barn kept James alive, and because he was a Halfling like Jennifer and Dave were, he was able to survive in the Void until we made the new Bard and Croatoan did me one last favor and brought James to us like he did when we controlled Dave.
Croatoan used an old Crocker-ended trouble (one from before the Crockers kept journals on the troubles they ended) that didn't just turn people into infants, but actually reversed time for them. Croatoan reversed time on James, healing him after Croatoan was the one who killed him initially. Croatoan saved his grandson for his daughter...for me, Audrey. Gloria even confirmed he's the same James when Nathan asked the next day with old samples from the Colorado Kid case.
I see it in Nathans eyes…he really loves James. And he really loves Paige. I know he hasn't forgotten me; he keeps the drawing Vickie gave him next to pictures of him with Paige and James – Paige believes it's her with a hairstyle imagined from the artist.
I know he wants to tell Paige about me, about the troubles, about Haven and what the town used to be. I can see it in his eyes…he feels like he's betraying me, his second love (I know he still thinks about Jess on the occasion – she left on such bad circumstances, yet another victim of the troubles…) and the one that he said made him alive again.
He, and everyone else, I can see in them that they are struggling to hide Haven's history from Paige. Everyone except for Gloria, Dwight, McHugh, Stan, Laverne, and a few others in the Guard and/or Haven Police look at me…Paige…with a look that I know for a fact upsets her. I know they still see me when they see her, but it's making Paige feel judged. Not only are those people at risk of revealing our history, she's also starting to feel sad – none of which is good. I don't want Paige to feel sad – she's just trying to raise her son here.
It wasn't long after I…we…came back to Haven that I had to remember that Paige isn't just an overlay that isn't real – she's as real as me, even though I was just a "copy" of the real Audrey Prudence Parker who visited Haven and lost her memory on Kick'Em Jenny Neck when she entered the original Barn (she eventually did regain all of her memory – the Barn's effect was truly temporary and her boyfriend called months after and confirmed it all suddenly came back).
Paige is a real person, just like I was. And I never want her to feel bad from these looks the Haven citizens give her and her son. Paige is real – she has a life and memories!
Paige had a childhood. She has an Associate's degree in Philosophy from a college in her home state of Wyoming. James (in her memories – from a real Paige identity who's infant was only named James that Vince was able to make the Barn give her) is the son of a verbally- and physically-abusive ex-husband who left her with nothing except her car that she bought herself.
Paige doesn't have any family left. Her mother died giving birth to her, and her dad died a short time after she married her ex-husband. She has no siblings, and she had no friends before she came to Haven.
She "came" to Haven because it sounded like a nice town. And she was right – it is a nice town. She loves the people here – she loves it here with Nathan, Dwight, and Gloria. She's visited Duke and Jennifer's memorial, and she's been on the Cape Rouge.
After everything she's been through – death of her family, hurt by the one she loved the most, and being homeless while still trying to keep her son healthy – she still manages to smile and find the joys in life. She loves life, and she can understand like's jokes. "Boke-down Paige" she called herself when she first met Nathan – she's dealing the best she can and she is thankful for every day she has James and that they're with each other.
Currently, Paige is working at the Grey Gull. Duke's old friend Bill McShaw – the one that used to have the food-rotting trouble, had returned and now runs the Grey Gull (I think Nathan had something to do with that…) – which he kept the name out of respect for Duke - and he's hired Paige. She's working as a waitress and as a bartender.
I know I'll be stuck here forever, at least until she will be able to live, and I am able to see James and Nathan live and be happy and grow. As it looks right now, Nathan is going to ask Paige to go out soon – and I know Paige will say yes. She is crazy about him, just like I was. And even though it won't be me, I will still be with them as a family.
The End
A/N: Well, this is an old story I had lying around that I started right after the series finale aired. I decided to just write the last paragraph and upload it because I was never able to think of a plot, but I wanted to keep what I had. I hope you all enjoyed this short story. Also, don't forget to review!