Set after 2.02 'Fear and Loathing' of Haven, after Audrey has walked out of The Gull, Nathan and Duke start talking. Nathan tells him too much and Duke gives him some advice.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Some Very Good Advice
Nathan watched as she walked away, his brain was telling him that his skin was still tingling from where she had touched him. He of course couldn't feel it anymore. He toyed with the rose petal between his fingers; he lifted his gaze slightly as someone sat across from him. Duke's eyes were fixed on Nathan's fingers and the pair sat in silence for a moment before Nathan sat up properly and looked him in the eyes.
"Was there something you wanted?" he asked, his tone was cold but if he was honest to himself Duke's behaviour over the past few days had surprised him and he found himself counting Duke as a friend.
Duke smirked at Nathan's tone; "What did you see?" he asked leaning back in his chair his eyes never leaving Nathan's, he watched as the other man shifted uncomfortably in his seat; "I know you looked into her eyes, Audrey told me. She also told me that you wouldn't tell her what you saw, which leads me to believe that it was something to do with her...am I right?" he asked already knowing the answer as he watched Nathan flush bright red.
"No." He replied much too fast and Duke simply quirked an eyebrow at him before Nathan continued; "Yes. She was dead or dying and...I couldn't help her. It felt awful; she has helped me so much." Nathan trailed off and glanced up at Duke again and to Nathan's surprise the smirk had gone, he had been expecting to see the other man really enjoying his confession, he decided to continue; "I can feel Audrey."
The shocked look on Duke's face was priceless, Nathan smiled to himself and secretly wished he had taken a picture as he watched the other man splutter and cough, he had been mid sip when Nathan decided to impart that piece of information; "What? Really?" Nathan nodded; "So when you were talking about finding a woman whose skin you can feel...and fate. Does she know?" Nathan nodded once more; "This is big...I mean not only did the fear thing not affect her but your affliction doesn't affect her either. What does that mean?" he asked, Nathan clenched his jaw, the cogs in Duke's head were turning much too fast for his liking, he was making links and seeing things that Nathan hadn't thought of yet.
"Maybe it has something to do with Lucy." Nathan shrugged; he wouldn't tell Duke that Audrey had she that she had been Lucy, that wasn't his secret to tell.
Duke was nodding; "That would make sense." Duke paused for a moment as he watched Nathan shift in his seat again; "You know more, but you don't want to tell me."
"It isn't mine to tell. Just leave it Duke." Nathan asked, and was pleased to find that the man obliged.
There was a short lull as the two of them looked around The Gull both trying to collect their thoughts, it had been a tough case and both of them had seen things that had shaken them to their core; "What about other Audrey then?" he asked. Nathan rolled his eyes, Duke was being told about two many things for his liking.
"What about her?" he asked, he knew that humouring Duke was dangerous but in all honesty he was enjoying the conversation.
Duke smiled; "Well she is called Audrey and she's and FBI agent and the two of them do have a few similar habits. Which one of them is the fraud?" he asked getting straight to the point that was one thing that you could say about Duke, he wasn't one to beat around the bush.
Nathan gritted his teeth; "We don't know. Why am I telling you all this, it is confidential police business." He grumbled.
"My winning smile, people just can't resist telling me things once they have seen it." Duke laughed as Nathan's eyes rose to the heavens; "But seriously, is Audrey...our Audrey, is she ok? When the other Audrey arrived she seemed a little shaky." Nathan exhaled heavily, he had noticed it too but Audrey had said she would deal with it so he'd left her alone. He was beginning to wonder if that had been the correct decision.
"She is strong enough to deal with it, whatever it is, on her own." Nathan argued.
Duke raised an eyebrow at him; "I think we both know that, while Audrey is strong, no one is strong enough to deal with someone possibly stealing their identity on their own."
Nathan hated the fact that he was right; "Identity and memories." He muttered to himself before getting to his feet.
"Where are you going?" Duke asked looking up at him as Nathan pulled on his jacket.
Nathan smiled; "I am going to go and do what you told me to. I'm going to help my partner deal with this...situation."
The look on Duke's face was once again priceless; "You're taking my advice, can I have that it writing?" he asked laughing as Nathan brushed past him; "Say hello to Audrey for me." He called, Nathan did not reply and Duke knew that he wouldn't be saying hello to Audrey for him. Nathan would never admit to Audrey that he had asked Duke for help.
0o0o0
Moments later when Nathan was standing on the porch of Audrey's house he wondered what exactly he was going to say to her and before he had the chance to knock the door was already being pulled open, Audrey looked vaguely amused as Nathan opened his mouth to explain; "Come in." She said pulling the door open wider for him to enter. He did as he was told and stepped inside.
"I came to make sure you were ok. You know with the whole other Audrey thing. We haven't really talked about it, and from what I have seen you two clearly have each other's memories. Do you want me to call you Lucy now?" he asked, he was trying to be funny but the scowl he received from Audrey told him that she either didn't like, or didn't understand his joke.
"Not funny Nathan." She bit out as she handed him a beer before sipping her own.
"Sorry." He said taking a seat beside her on the couch, the silence that hung in the air between them was somewhere between awkward and comfortable, Nathan broke it with a sigh; "You need to start talking to me."
Audrey laughed, it wasn't the reaction he had been expecting, but it was better than nothing; "This coming from the guy who refused to even accept that his father was dead until the memorial service." Her words stung but Nathan couldn't argue against them, he knew that when it came to his feelings Nathan wasn't the most expressive person in the world, but perhaps that was normal for a person who couldn't feel pain.
"I won't miss being able to feel as much because I have lived most of my life without it..." Audrey was looking at him strangely, she was probably wondering where he was going with this; "but you have been Audrey Parker for what you think is your whole life. Having that taken away from you is a big deal Audrey, one that you cannot handle on your own." He watched as she bit her lip and clenched her jaw.
"When did you get so smart?" she asked smirking slightly.
"I may not have been able to accept the Chief's- my father's death at first but I have now. You need to accept that there is a woman here whose life you may have thought you led and that I am here to help you deal with that." Nathan stopped for a moment to run over in his head what he had just said, it made no sense but it was all true. Any normal person would have run a mile by now, Duke was right about what he had said about people's natural reactions to fear, Nathan had decided that his was fight. He wasn't about to go anywhere, he wouldn't do that to Audrey, not when she needed him the most.
Audrey smiled and took his hand; "I guess we'll just have to be here for each other then." She didn't miss the way he flinched slightly at the contact of her skin, he still hadn't gotten used to her touch, but he would, eventually.
A/N: So this is the second of my 'missing Haven scenes' that I have done (the other one is called 'Hysterics at The Gull' if you wanted to go have a look) I will probably do another one when the 3rd episode airs. This is rather a lot of fun. Anyway reviews make it even more fun, no flames thanks. Sorry if there are grammatical errors and spelling mistakes I'm a bit rubbish like that. I hope you have enjoyed this.