I don't own Haven or any great bands.

Song for this story is 'Holding Out For a Hero' by Bonnie Tyler.


Running into the Barn reminded Duke of an experience he'd had surfing.

He'd been riding a beautiful wave, flying on top of the world when the tide turned and he slammed into a wall of water. Everything around him changed, the light flickering into a kaleidoscope of color, sound drowned out by the roar of water around him.

Now, like then, there was no air and he couldn't tell up from down. Colors swirled crazily against the white around him like he was being held in the arms of a prism.

It felt like either a moment or a lifetime- same thing, really- when he thumped hard into a flat, dusty wooden surface. It knocked what was left of his breath out of him, and it took a few minutes to recover.

"...the fuck?" Duke muttered, pushing himself up to look around. Crates, bottles, the familiar smell; he was in a bar somewhere, back room if he were to bet. How the hell did he jump into a barn and exit into a bar? Maybe the fact that it was some extra-dimensional supernatural Barn with a capital 'B' should have tipped him off.

It hadn't. It really fucking hadn't.

He stood, taking a moment to get his balance. This place... it was weird, it didn't look at all familiar, yet it felt more welcoming- more like home- than anywhere he could think of. His clothes hadn't changed. Everything felt normal. Calm. Comfortable.

Too comfortable. God, what was happening in Haven? Was Nathan alright? Please, please let him be okay. He hoped he'd managed to kill Jordan. The bitch.

He walked into the main bar, looking around and taking everything in. He was especially struck by the unlit neon letter that changed 'barn' to 'bar'. It gave him a chill. Bonnie Tyler played from an old jukebox.

They sure as hell weren't in Kansas anymore.

"Hey there. What can I get you, Captain Jack?"

His body went rigid with excitement and his heart restarted, though he hadn't known it had stopped. He knew that voice. Would know it anywhere. He dreamed about that voice every night. That throaty, warm, beautiful voice and his eyes pricked painfully with tears that begged for release, turning to see her face.

Different, yes. Makeup screamed 'vixen', hair was longer, darker and streaked. She had a nose ring! She looked like bits of all the personalities had cobbled together in a hurry to make someone knew. Maybe too much of a hurry.

Maybe Audrey wasn't totally gone yet.

He had to fight the instinct to grab her and hug her. But she didn't remember him, didn't know him. This wasn't Audrey any more or less than Audrey had been Lucy. The same, but different.

He stared only a moment too long before slipping into an easy smile. "Whatever you're having..." he cajoled, trying to draw out her name.

"Lexie. I'm a scotch girl myself, but I never turn down a good Screaming Orgasm or Sex on the Beach." She smirked at him.

"Lexie. Scotch it is. For now." Duke couldn't help the teasing grin that was on his face or the warmth in his chest. She looked so beautiful, the little changes were just so... naughty. Like they were made for Duke. She was alive, healthy and he'd managed to go with her.

This was way better than his old plan to just sail away from Haven alone.

She poured for both of them, tapping glasses with him before she drank. "And you are?"

"Duke Crocker."

"Seriously?"

He chuckled. "My parents weren't big fans."

She tilted her head, eyes narrowed as she stared at him. She was playing with her hair where it cascaded over her breast.

"It suits you. Y'know, it's funny. My line of work, usually it's a patron saying this to me, but... You look familiar. Have we met before?"

He leaned back with a smirk, his faded denim button-up open at the top to show the cotton shirt underneath. He looked good.

"Long time ago. Another life. I can tell you about it sometime. Right now," he said, looking into her eyes with a scorching intensity, "I'm more interested in the present."

She raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "And what's in the present, Duke Crocker?" She leaned toward him over the bar, and he had to be very careful to look at her eyes and not down her top. He sipped his scotch, looking Audrey- Lexie, he reminded himself- up and down slowly.

"A bar, good booze and good company."

She smiled, pouring them each another drink. "To other lives then." She said with a wink.

"To other lives... and to this one." Duke drank, watching the enigma in front of him.

She had a wicked grin, her brilliant azure eyes sparkled with wit and good humor. She was relaxed and happy, young and carefree in a way Audrey had never let herself be. Her smile wasn't the forced grimace of the last few weeks. No guns, no Troubles, no threats or curses or deadlines.

No Haven.

The peace suited her, and she was so beautiful and graceful as she moved, a smile always playing on her lips, that his chest ached. He wanted to touch her.

Duke stood and went to the jukebox, flipping through the lists until he found something appropriate. As the first strains of 'I Would do Anything for Love' played, he closed his eyes and smiled. As the opening instrumental played, he came back to Lexie.

"Dance with me." Duke urged, hand out in invitation. She paused a moment, but came around the bar to take his hand.

He pulled her against him, dancing with her. She smelled the same, felt the same. She fit into his arms like she'd been born for him, and he could tell she was interested in him. There was a thrill- not a spark, nothing so trite and Hollywood as that- but when their skin touched even the smallest bit, the feeling that passed between them was undeniable. Attraction and something deeper, older than the universe.

They danced, spinning faster as the song picked up, and before he realized, he was singing. "And I'll never stop dreaming of you every night of my life, no way." How true this song was. She owned him.

His heart skipped when her voice sounded, rich as warm honey. He'd never heard Audrey sing.

"Will you raise me up? Will you help me down?

Will you get me right out of this godforsaken town?

Will you make it all a little less cold?" Her eyes didn't leave his as she sang.

He stared back, the hand on her lower back rubbing tiny circles as he sang back to her.

"I can do that.

I can do that."

"Will you hold me sacred? Will you hold me tight?

Can you colorize my life? I'm so sick of black and white.

Can you make it all a little less old?"

"I can do that. Oh, I can do that."

Her voice rose, she sang with her soul, and the air around them felt heavy, pressurized. The sound was beautiful, but it was more than just having a good voice. He didn't just hear the words, he felt them around and inside him. Her soul was speaking to his.

"Will you make me some magic with your own two hands?

Will you build and emerald city with these grains of sand?

Can you give me something I can take home?"

"I can do that.

I can do that."

She pressed closer, her body flush against his.

"Will you cater to every fantasy I got?

Will you hose me down with holy water if I get too hot?

Will you take me places I've never known?"

"I can do that.

Oh, I can do that."

"After a while you'll forget everything.

It was a brief interlude and a midsummer night's fling

And you'll see that it's time to move on."

Her voice held a trace of melancholy, and he didn't think she was pretending or just singing now. He gazed intently, pouring his heart into the words.

"I won't do that.

I won't do that."

Lexie's eyes showed real, heart-rending pain for a moment. Duke ached to know what she was thinking.

"I know the territory, I've been around.

It'll all turn to dust and we'll all fall down.

Sooner or later you'll be screwing around."

"I won't do that.

No, I won't do that.

Anything for love

Oh, I would do anything for love

I would do anything for love, but I won't do that.

No, I won't do that."

They'd stopped dancing, but stayed in the same position as they sang; her right hand raised in his left, her left hand squeezing his shoulder and his right hand spread across her low back, their bodies pressed together.

Lexie's face was tilted up, lips parted just a fraction. She was flushed, cheeks and lips pink. God, he wanted to kiss her. Duke felt her breath against his face, the faint smell of scotch and spice.

He should back up, explain. He knew he should be telling her everything immediately, that she needed the truth.

But he'd spent so long being good, doing what was right; stepping back to make room for Nathan even though Nathan had been so very busy making friends with the Guard and screwing Jordan- all for Audrey, as he liked to point out to make it seem less disgusting- and Duke was with Lexie. Not Audrey.

He debated internally as they stood pressed together, and then his thoughts were interrupted when Lexie suddenly moved, raising her arms to wrap them around his neck, pulling him down and pressing her lips to his.