Chapter 1- Something in the Air


A/N: I don't own Haven, Emily, Lucas and Eric do. Nor do I own Serenity. No copyright infringement intended

Song for this chapter is Something in the Air by David Bowie. I don't own him, either... yet.


In the 2 months since the detonation of Duke's trouble-bomb, all their time had been spent trying to find, catalogue and help the newly troubled. Audrey had spent as much time trying to nurse Duke as possible, but there just weren't enough hours in the day.

He was healthy physically, but no matter how she talked to him, the guilt was eating him alive. Sometimes he looked at her and the pain in his eyes was so overwhelming she couldn't even speak. There was a secret there, something Audrey didn't know but she was sure it was about Mara.

Everything was.

Mara would be tickled pink to know they hadn't been able to forget her.

Audrey had been out of her body so long- first being crushed and trapped under Mara's consciousness, then in a deteriorating husk while she'd been separated from Mara, that she barely remembered the way it felt before- before William.

She didn't like the taste of her old favorites. Coffee made her nauseous. She wasn't sleeping soundly when she did sleep, and her dreams were strange things that she no longer understood. Songs she used to hate were suddenly making her toes tap, while some beloved standards were impossible for her to listen to. The frustration was making her irritable. Nathan and Charlotte tried getting her into therapy, which she had flatly refused. She was the victor here, not the victim.

She just didn't always feel like it.

She dropped her head down on her desk, a muted "thump" reverberating through the stack of files she was looking through. Nathan shot her a quizzical glance.

"Okay, partner?" he asked quietly. He was trying not to smother her; no matter what incarnation, the woman he loved treasured her independence. He loved it about her, but he wanted to take care of her to soothe himself, to verify that she really was present, whole and herself. He couldn't explain it to her because he barely understood it himself. He'd simply lost her too many times already.

She managed a smile. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Just really tired. I talked to the Mullin family- it looks like Scott has finally managed to get a handle on his Trouble." The 10 year old boy had been bringing his action figures to life all week. As humorous as it was to watch the tiny Incredible Hulk duking it out with G.I. Joe and a dozen cowboys, they knew it would become a serious problem if he didn't fix it now. Batman and the Flash had already teamed up to cut a chunk out of his sister Amy's hair.

She wondered idly why Mara had chosen the Troubles she had. Some were obviously devastating- the woman who destroyed everything she touched like some twisted version of Jordan's Trouble on steroids; the previously blind man that could now see, but every person he stared at suffered severe hypothermia within minutes. Others seemed innocuous, like a girl who could make flowers bloom by blowing on them.

They'd had reports on everything from rabid seagulls to Bigfoot. (Though that may have been a prank call by Duke at Dwight's expense.) Many were just the product of panicked citizens, but they didn't have the luxury of ignoring the crazy calls- it was Haven. Anything could happen.

"I'm just finishing some paperwork, why don't you go home and take a nap? I think you deserve it."

"No, Nathan. We've been this busy because of ME. I have to fix what I can." she argued, stubborn unto death.

" Not you, Audrey. Mara. SHE caused these troubles."

"It's the same thing!" she shouted furiously, but immediately dropped to a whisper as she continued. "Charlotte made it clear, I was a part of Mara. I WAS Mara! I knew what she was doing and I. Couldn't. Stop. Her." She was panting, out of breath from her hissed tirade. She hated thinking about all the damage that they had to deal with, it always made her stomach hurt.

He was nonplussed. "Part of Mara. The good part. The part I know. The part your mother saved."

"She's not my mother, Nathan. I was hatched. Created as a punishment." She swallowed hard and clenched her fists, determined not to vomit.

"Does it need to be an official order, Parker? I'm pretty sure I could make that happen. You're probably over the limit on sick and annual leave." Nathan said calmly, leaning his chair back. He knew when she wasn't going to be reasonable.

She grabbed her coat, glaring as she collected her keys. "Fine. I'm sure I'll just get called in two hours from now because someone turned into a mutant goat, but you enjoy your paperwork 'til then." She left the office, slamming the door, and Nathan sighed.


Audrey really was tired, but she refused to nap, getting a little childish satisfaction. She decided to clean her apartment. She hadn't had the time or energy to reset her personal space. Honestly, she didn't have the inclination either, but the idea of sleeping on command was worse.

She had the trash out, the disturbingly bare kitchen scrubbed and she was working on the bathroom cabinets when she realized that she hadn't had her period since... well, she hadn't. Mara had been driving her body up until the last two months. Audrey had been taking the pill, though Mara probably hadn't. But who would sleep with Public Enemy Number One?

She recalled the look she'd seen in Duke's eyes. Pain, grief, guilt, betrayal... She had assumed that look was directed at her. God knows she had hurt enough people while Mara was in control.

What if it wasn't?

The sun had disappeared with her mood, it seemed, and it was pouring by the time she'd been to the store and back. She was wringing water from her hair as she headed for her bathroom. She was a woman on a mission. She'd prove Duke hadn't... that no one had done anything to her, and yes, she'd feel silly and a little more guilty than she already was, but it would be okay. It would always be okay.

Then that plus sign showed up, gleaming up at her through the plastic window. Mocking her. Gotcha again, Audrey.


She didn't know how long she stood on her balcony as the rain fell on her, as if the sky itself was grieving for her.

What were the chances this was Nathan's baby? She let out a watery gasp of a laugh as she asked herself.

Slim and none. Slim just left town

She'd made love with Nathan since she'd gotten the body back, of course she had. But not for weeks after the joining. He'd been afraid to break her. All those weeks without sex also passed without a period. Not Nathan's.

Eventually she turned toward the stairs.


When Duke looked up from drying a cocktail glass, he had to laugh. Audrey stood at the end of the bar, soaked as thoroughly as she had been the first time he saw her. "What, did you decide to take another swim, because I gotta say, by this point you can't really pull off the whole 'new in town' story." He made air quotes as he shelved the glass.

When she spoke, her voice sounded rough, as though she'd been in a fire, or coughing or (and he had a funny twinge in his gut that things were heading south) crying. "I have to ask you something, Duke. Not as a cop, just... I need you to promise to tell me the truth, no matter what."

She hesitated, and Duke could only nod. She looked small and frail suddenly, the way she was when she'd been... but that wasn't possible. He was there when they fused, he knew Audrey was whole. Healthy. Absolutely not dying. Categorically.

Right?

His stomach knotted as Audrey held the stick out. His heart did a weird double-thud, as if it stopped and restarted simultaneously. She was ok, she wasn't dying or disappearing. Oh thank god. He heaved a great breath, relieved.

"Congratulations! Does Nate know? Of course Nate knows. Jeez. So, uh, can I get you anything? On the house. If you're worried about the booze, don't be." He clapped his hands together, smiling as he leaned in to whisper conspiratorially, "it's all watered down."

Audrey stared at him as he fidgeted. There was his Tell. The Babbling only hit when he was especially anxious. He didn't need to say anything. She could read him like a trashy romance novel. He knew he was made.

"Fuck it, if we're going to chat, we may as well sit down." He groused as he kicked out a chair for her and another for himself, swinging his around so he could rest his chin on the chair he grabbed a tumbler of whiskey for himself, passing Audrey a bottle of water. "What's going on?"

She sat silent for a moment, trying to look impassive. She toyed with the water cap as she spoke quietly. The bar was empty, quiet in the post-lunch, pre-dinner rush.

"I had these dreams after Charlotte whammied me. When I got the body. Whatever you want to call it." She looked at his whiskey enviously and drank from her water. Karma was really being a bitch lately. "They were me, but not me. You know, like watching a movie of yourself.

"There were several dreams. Weird stuff about toes and cards. Fire and steam. This one particular dream, I was naked, in your lap." She finally looked at him directly, flipping her hair a little as if the bravado would hide her pain.

He took a long drink from his glass, feeling the last vestiges of pride floating off of him like aether. He stayed silent. He tried not to feel like a coward, but his life had taught him one lesson: If you speak unprompted, you'll screw yourself. She hadn't asked him a question, and he wasn't about to offer anything he didn't have to.

He'd wondered idly if Audrey had all ten toes, or if she took the body as it was.

Maybe he'd get his answer. Careful what you wish for.

"I remember pressing my hands against you. I remember the feel of your skin and the aether." She shuddered with cold or disgust, but Duke was afraid to move and offer a towel or blanket. Afraid she'd stop talking, afraid she'd continue. Afraid of everything. He looked down.

"I could feel you." Now her eyes were gazing at him intently, accusing and questioning in measures. His stomach rolled, and he wasn't sure if he needed more booze or less.

"I'm sorry, Audrey! She knew how to manipulate me and she knew I wanted you. I got played and rained a plague on the entire city! Yes, I slept with her. She whammied me pretty good in return, I think." He gestured grandly, hands fluttering everywhere.

"Am I her?" The plea was barely a whisper.

"Of course not! What do you mean? You're absolutely NOT like her. Why would you ask that?" He stuttered in his shock.

Audrey rubbed her temple. He was a moron. A complete moron.

"I ask because you just said. She knew you and I had been... connected. Was she the placeholder, or was I?" Her eyes were red-rimmed, her cheeks pale. Oh, he knew her tells too. But how to answer while saving as much pride as possible?

He did what he could. Honesty she requested, honesty she gets. "Neither. Both. You chose Nathan and I respect that. I was lonely and depressed. I saw her every day. She made me think you were my enemies. She helped me forget, for awhile." He shrugged, lost for words.

"She was convenient, or she was me, Duke?" Audrey snapped, eyes cold.

He dropped his forhead against the chair back.

"I don't know, Audrey. She seemed so much like you, for a bit. Like she cared about me, like we were kindred spirits or something. I was weak. She could never really take your place, but at least it didn't hurt so damn bad." The honesty was brutal, and it exhausted them both.

"We've got plenty of pain to go around now. I'm pregnant with your baby. Nathan doesn't know... yet, because I'm not lying to him. All the crap we've gone through stems from people keeping too many secrets. If I have to tell him myself, fine, but I think you should be there." She declared it so emphatically that Duke wondered if she'd lost her mind.

"Oh, so he doesn't drive 10 miles to beat my ass?"

"No. Because you're this child's father. You two need to quit the pigtail-pulling right now, because guess what? It's not about you, or him, or me- not anymore. There's someone else involved who's completely innocent, unlike the three of us." She looked weary, wet and bedraggled from too little sleep. "Nathan will be here in an hour, and I have to explain all of this-" she gestured between them - " to him."

"Do we have to?"

"Yes." Uh-oh. She had her stern face on.

"You gonna let him hurt me?" he asked, only half joking.

"No. No one is getting hurt again, no matter what."

He wished he could believe her.