Fandom: Haven
Characters: Jordan McKee
Rating: T
Summary: A complication.
Notes: Pairing is a SPOILER for s4, so won't be filled in until the premiere.
"What can I get'cha?" a voice drawled, and Jordan looked up in shock to see Audrey Parker.
...not Audrey. Clearly not Audrey, judging by the clothes and hair and attitude. But the face, God, her face was the same.
"Something on my face?" the bartender said with a sneer, the kind of expression Audrey never would've worn. "Gotta say, I'm gettin' tired of everyone staring at me."
No surprise on that count. It'd been six months since Audrey vanished into the barn, six months of hell trying to recover from the meteor storm while the Troubles raged on. But no one could've expected seeing Audrey reborn, reincarnated into a new existence twenty-six and a half years early.
...and apparently, complete ignorant of the entire situation. Jordan's thoughts raced as she raised her gloved hand to brush her over-long bangs out of her face. "Sorry. Jordan McKee."
Not-Audrey raised her eyebrows at the glove. "I'm Lexi DeWitt. Didn't think 'goth' was the usual Maine fashion."
"I'm not your usual Maine girl." Jordan cocked her head, taking a closer look. The streaked hair extensions, the nose ring, the black tank top— "Neither are you."
Lexi snorted. "Got that in one. I rode the bus 'til my cash ran out, saw the Help Wanted sign, figured this was as good a place as any to stop. Was I wrong about that?"
"Haven's a special place," Jordan managed. "So you just arrived...?"
"Day or so ago. Maybe you can tell me what's up with this town? With all the staring, and the whispering, and the—" Lexi waved her hand in frustration. "General air of creepy."
"It's complicated," Jordan said slowly. She needed time to think about what she should tell Lexi, and how. Sooner or later someone would; she was frankly shocked that the Guard hadn't swooped in already. Audrey's vanishing hadn't stopped the Troubles, so maybe this was a second chance, an opportunity to put things right. Maybe Lexi was meant as a reset button on the whole mess.
Lexi snapped her fingers in front of Jordan's face. "You're doing it again. Zoning out. Listen, I get small towns have secrets, I just thought maybe..."
"Maybe what?"
"You're the first person I've seen who doesn't look like either a hick or a fisherman." Lexi shook her head. "Nevermind. You want something to drink?"
"Kamikaze," Jordan said, the first thing that came to mind. And then on impulse, "One for you, too. To toast to creepy towns and those who find them."
"Already tryin' to get me fired," Lexi said, but she was grinning. "Why not."
Jordan watched as Lexi put together the shots, heavy on the vodka. She poured them out and slid one across the bar.
"To staying single, seeing double, and getting in trouble." Lexi tapped her glass against Jordan's, not spilling a drop, and downed the shot with a smooth swallow.
"Words to live by," Jordan said, and threw back her own.
Lexi reached out, brushing Jordan's unruly bangs away from her eyes before Jordan could stop her. "You're all right, Jordan McKee." Her fingers grazed Jordan's cheek, the touch lingering a moment too long to be anything but deliberate.
Jordan felt her heart stop, stutter, start again. She'd— how'd she forget? Audrey Parker had been immune to the Troubles. This new...incarnation...apparently was too. And that touch, Jesus, she never thought she'd be able to touch anyone again—
"I work over at the Gun & Rose café," she said through a mouth that felt filled with cotton. "Come by tomorrow. I'll feed you and tell you what I can."
"Not in a position to turn down a free meal," Lexi said, but a knowing smile was playing on the corner of her mouth. "Alright, I better see to the other patrons of this fine establishment. See you soon, Jordan."
Jordan nodded, still stunned, and watched as Lexi moved to attend to her customers. She would've bet that Audrey Parker could never have been that smooth, that flirty, that—
That damn sexy. Jordan breathed in, still feeling Lexi's fingers against her cheek. The temptation didn't...change things, not really, not if Lexi's time in Haven was as limited as any of her other lives. But while she was here...
Complicated, she'd said. Jordan hadn't known the half of it. Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, I walked into hers.
There might be more of this once we actually see Lexi onscreen. Mostly because no one wrote Audrey/Jordan that I can find and that makes me sad. And it won't happen, but I love the idea that Audrey reincarnates elsewhere along the sexuality spectrum.