Black It Out
It was Day 6, and Nathan was losing his mind.
He approached Audrey's desk, ready for a fight. She remained relaxed, leaning back in her chair with her feet up on her desk. Her eyes flicked briefly to him, then she turned to the next page of her book. One of the myriad awful teenage vampire novels that had popped up in the wake of Twilight. Normally he would tease her about her reading habits.
But then normally she didn't bring a book to work. On the odd slow day, she wasn't reading because they were talking.
"Parker-" Nathan started.
Audrey's eyes met his for a second, then traveled to the place under his sleeve where the tattoo was. It itched under her glare. "Do we have a case, Chief Wuornos?" she asked politely, the picture of professionalism. Except for her feet on her desk, the book, and the fact that she only ever called him that when she was mad. No, not mad. Enraged. Pissed, even.
"No, but-"
"Then I'd move right along, unless you have something to tell me."
Nathan sighed. He had plenty to tell her, but as for what she wanted to hear, he had nothing. He went back to his office, knowing she would come to understand his logic if he gave her a few more days.
She did not come to understand his logic given a few more days.
She was still amazing on the job. Against the Troubled or for them, there was no one else on the planet he'd rather have by his side. But that camaraderie and warmth he'd gotten used to, had come to rely on, were gone. It had been two weeks since she'd seen his tattoo, and she had not thawed since.
Nathan sat down in front of her desk, determined to talk it out this time. She glared at him from behind her book. She'd moved on to the next in whatever series she was on. Well, he thought, at least she's getting some reading done.
"I got it to protect you," he said.
Audrey scoffed. "From Duke?"
"Yes, from Duke."
"Okay, one, I can protect myself just fine, thanks, and two, Duke has never done anything to indicate he'd hurt me. Since I've met him, he's only ever hurt people to protect other people, and even that's rare."
"You don't know him like I do, Parker. He could turn on you."
"And the way to stop him from turning on me is to be constantly threatening his life? To alienate him even more than you do every time he tries to help and you send him packing?" Audrey shook her head, glanced at the clock, and stood up. "Duke needs to be brought closer and reminded that we're his friends. What you're doing is...the opposite of that."
"Look, Duke knows he can only be killed by someone with this tattoo. If neither of us have it, that means he is the only guy in this town that is totally safe from us, the people meant to keep everyone else safe from criminals. Like him."
Audrey rolled her eyes. "Duke knows he's safe from us because we're his friends. He helps us out, and we look the other way on the less legal aspects of his life, so long as nobody gets hurt. That system was working just fine until you decided to get inked."
"I just want things back to normal," he said quietly, frustrated. Nothing had changed, and they were still at an impasse. He wouldn't get rid of the tattoo, and she wouldn't see reason and figure out that their pet criminal would eventually remember he had teeth and turn them on her.
"That's not out of the question yet," she said, putting her book in her purse and then slinging it over her shoulder. It was 5:00. She'd never left on time before the last two weeks, but now she was out the door as soon as she heard the bells chime the hour, unless they were on a case. She used to stay late just to help him doctor the paperwork, but that had stopped too. "But as long as you're threatening to kill my friend just for the hell of it, it's not looking likely."
"You could stay." There was no hope in his voice, but he had to reach out. "Vince and Dave need to know what to write about what happened today. You're so much better with them than I am."
Audrey paused, thinking about what they'd dealt with earlier. Kids putting on a play at one of the local schools had suddenly turned into tiny versions of their characters. They'd solved it quickly, but half the town had still witnessed the miniature flying monkeys. She wanted to help. Nathan could see it in her face that pulling away from him was hurting her too, but she steeled herself. "I'm sure you'll be fine. I can't stay. I have dinner with a friend who needs to be reminded, a lot more than he used to, that the people he cares about still care about him."
She was gone before Nathan could argue further.
"He's an idiot," Duke grumbled, making Audrey smile. Duke wasn't drunk, not really, but he was a far cry from sober, and that made him talkative. "If he thinks I'd hurt either one of you, he's such an idiot."
"I know," Audrey said affectionately.
He corrected himself anyway. "I mean, I'd punch him in the face. Maybe a few times. But that would hurt my fist more than his face. And I wouldn't go any further than that."
She grimaced. "If he keeps this up much longer, I might punch him in the face for you. He'd feel that."
He grinned at her, his eyes warm. They'd had dinner almost every night since her abduction. Every night a case didn't keep her away. Normally she'd steer them away from the topic of Nathan. The only times she didn't were when he tried to convince her his having that awful tattoo was for the best. Then she needed to vent about him just as much as Duke. They both drank more on those nights.
"See? This is what I'm saying," Duke said, leaning back in his chair and gesturing vaguely to her. "You're shutting him out for my benefit. If I wasn't already ridiculously fond of you, that would do it all by itself. I'd never hurt you. So he's an idiot."
"I'll drink to that," Audrey said, raising her glass of red wine.
He clinked his whiskey against it, but didn't drink right away, growing serious as he stared at her. "You do know that, right Audrey? That I'd throw myself off a cliff before I let myself hurt you?"
In the weeks since his trouble had been revealed, since the ghost of his father had told him to kill her, and since Nathan had gotten his stupid tattoo, they hadn't really talked about it. Any of it. Even when they did talk about Nathan, like tonight, they weren't really letting everything out. Duke was angry, which was understandable, but he was also hurt, and he wasn't going to admit that in a million years.
Audrey put her glass down and settled her both her hands over one of his. "Hey. I know that. I trust you. That's why I haven't brought it up. I've never thought for a second that you'd hurt me."
Duke finally took a sip of his drink as he curled the fingers of his other hand around hers. "This is such a fucking mess, Audrey."
"Yeah, I know," she said with a sigh. "Nathan trying to protect me from you. Me trying to protect you from him. You wanna complete the triangle? Find some reason to protect Nathan from me?"
Oddly, Duke blushed, and she could almost hear his thoughts because they mirrored her own. That was not the triangular relationship either of them wanted.
It had been almost a month, and Nathan was almost willing to cut the damn thing off of his arm himself. It's not like he could feel it. However, out of health concerns, he was looking into other options. They weren't promising, but he was looking, so he felt it was time to get Audrey's input.
"You know we don't have a place in Haven that does laser tattoo removal?" he said casually.
For the first time since this started, she actually put down her book to talk to him. "Oh?"
"Yeah, I'd have to go to Bangor. Which is fine, but it also doesn't just come off. They said six to ten sessions is standard, but the internet tells me it might be more."
"And how long between sessions?"
"Eight weeks. Even then, the damn thing might not even come out all the way."
Audrey rubbed at her temples. "So what you're telling me is you might be stuck with your stupid decision forever, and even if you're not, it'll probably be over a year until I can stop looking at the damn thing. If then. Because, again, it might not fade entirely. Ever."
"Once it fades, I can get something else to cover it up," he offered, but he wasn't enthusiastic about that plan. He hadn't ever really wanted a tattoo. The only reason he'd gotten this one is because it served some other function than looking cool.
"In a year. Who knows what damage you could do with that thing in a year?" She looked at him for a long moment, measuring his regret and what he would be willing to do to get back in her good graces. "You said you can cover it up? Do it. Have them black it out. No more tattoo, and things can go back to normal. After you apologize to Duke."
Nathan wasn't a fan of the idea of having an ugly black circle on his arm for the rest of his life, but he could accept that, if it meant setting things right with Audrey. However, her second condition was a problem. "You want me to apologize? To Duke?"
"Yes," she said, picking up her book again. She was clearly trying her best to look bored, but he saw right through her. This mattered to her, which meant he'd cave and apologize, but he had to know why first.
"Because?"
"Because you got yourself a tattoo just so you could have dibs on killing him. Not only that, but you made sure he knew you had it. That's considered rude in most polite societies."
Nathan groaned but nodded his acquiescence. He went back to his desk and called the local tattoo parlor, requesting their first available appointment.
Behind her book, Audrey hid a smile. She'd finish her chapter, then text Duke to let him know they'd won and he could stop worrying, at least about Nathan. As for anyone else with the tattoo, they'd have to get through her if they wanted Duke. If she could protect him from Nathan, no one else stood a chance.