When I had the idea of this story, I thought it would be one for my Hearts of Haven fic but as it kept growing in words(!), I realised that it would be better suited for a chaptered fic, and that way I could write more in. So, in regards to that, I hope you guys enjoy! :)
(Also, none of these characters mine (in this chapter at least, anyway) and are all rightfully Syfy's and co.)
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James heard the story on the one of the many nights the four of them were the only people left in the Gull, the time when Duke had a baby and couldn't be near her unless he wanted to rapidly age until he was no longer. They'd gotten onto the topic of the times Nathan and Duke had been affected by a different kind of Trouble than their own and James had found this one was the most difficult for them to talk about. All three of them, despite Duke's jokes, Nathan's little laughs and Audrey's roll of the eyes, were struggling to get through the story.
"I've, uh, I've still got the photo of her on my phone," Duke said quietly, taking a gulp of his drink.
Nathan looked at him for a moment before focusing in on his beer. "It was one of the weirdest one's we'd dealt with at that point, that's for sure."
"Those were the days," Duke said, his tone a mixture of mournfulness and sadness. They'd left that night with forced smiles and the clinking of glasses ringing in their ears.
It's two days later and there's a reason James is sitting in front of his parents at his kitchen table with an eager look on his face. "I've got an idea."
Nathan meets Audrey's eyes and Audrey meets his. "You do?" he says slowly.
James nods. "The Troubles are over, right?" He pauses for effect. "So why can't we bring baby Jean here so Duke can see her?"
His parents don't say anything for a moment, and James is sure they're telepathically deliberating with each other. "That sounds like a wonderful thing to do," Audrey says eventually. She turns to Nathan. "The family in Nebraska that adopted her, they knew that her real parents couldn't look after her, but maybe if we tell them that he'd like to see her, they might say yes?" It sounds weak coming out of her mouth.
Nathan's eyebrows crease and he takes a swig of the coffee James had already placed before they'd gotten there. "They can't make a 25 hour trip for that only," he starts once he's swallowed. "What if we call them up and ask if we can visit them?"
"We're going on a road trip with Duke Crocker?" Audrey and James ask simultaneously.
Nathan shakes his head in amusement, but he's smiling. "It looks like."
Audrey manages to find the phone number of the couple who took in Jean and the phone call goes without a hiccup, and she almost thinks it's too good to be true. She also books them a motel in Lincoln, because with the drive being more than a day without stops, she knows they're going to be wrecked once they arrive. She told Jean's family that they'd be there on the 16th, which gives them plenty of time to make it there. They decide to tell Duke the basics; they're going a road trip and he can't ask questions.
"You know my birthday isn't for a few months, right?" he says, his eyes sparkling. Nathan's come in on his lunch break to tell him and he's beginning to wonder why he didn't bring Audrey with him.
"As if we'd give you a road trip with us for your birthday," Nathan retorts. "Can you manage to take a few days off?"
"I'm the boss, Nathan. I can do whatever the hell I want."
Nathan rolls his eyes. "We leave tomorrow. Pack light."
Duke pauses the wiping down of one of the benches in the Gull. The bartender he paid to bartend had called in sick. For the third day in a row. "We're not taking the Death Machine, are we?"
"If by Death Machine, you mean the Bronco, no, we're not taking it."
"Thank all that is holy," Duke says, earning a glare from that Nathan he knows all too well. "What?" he asks, managing to shrug and continue the wiping down in one fluid movement. "I'd actually like to live to my next birthday."
"The Bronco would make it," Nathan says defiantly, though he's unsure as to whether he's trying to persuade Duke or himself.
"Where?"
"No questions, Crocker." Nathan knows Duke is taking a dig at the Bronco again while also trying to trick him. He's been around him for a long time, and knows all of his ways. Unfortunately, at times.
Duke smirks and holds up his hands in surrender. "Sorry, sorry." He throws the dishcloth in the sink behind him. "Am I meeting you two at your house or are you picking me up from the 'Rouge'?"
"Three," Nathan corrects. "James is coming, too."
"Whose car are we taking?"
"James'."
"Tell me he's not driving."
"You're complaining a lot for someone who's being asked to come on this trip."
Duke rolls his eyes. "You wouldn't have asked me if you didn't want me there. Suffice to say, you wouldn't be going without me."
Nathan's face twitches. "Right. Self-importance has always been one of your qualities."
"Someone needs to care." Duke shrugs again. "I'll meet you at your house at 9?"
He nods slowly and turns, heading towards the door. "You're not the only one who cares about you!" he throws over his shoulder.
"Don't I know it," Duke mutters to no one in particular.
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"I told you to pack light," Nathan grumbles when Duke rocks up on their porch the following morning with two bags. He gestures to them. "This is the opposite."
Duke holds up a matching finger for each number he states. "One; I have no idea where we're going. I needed to come prepared. Two; one of these bags is mostly filled with snacks. Three; I lied. One of them is completely filled with snacks." He snatches the bag when Nathan goes to take it. "Mine, Nathan. These are mine."
"I was going to put them in the car for you," Nathan tells him, somewhat exasperated already.
"Can I trust you with my bag of snacks?"
"Do I really want to rot my teeth and have them fall out before I turn 40?" he counters.
"Good point." Duke hands Nathan the bags. "Go for it." He steps passed him and enters the house. "I'll annoy your family while you do that."
Duke finds James first, who's dressed in his signature flannelette shirt, jeans, and boots, with a smile on his face. He's also got what looks to be a bomber jacket draped across his arm. "You know where we're going, don't you?"
"My idea."
"So, if it all goes to hell, you're to blame?"
James crinkles his eyes. "Don't be a downer, Duke. This is going to be good."
"What is?"
He shrugs. "Not telling."
"And that's the way it's staying until we get there, Duke," Audrey says from behind him. She's coming down the stairs with a suitcase filled with enough to fit in two. James takes it from his mom and heads out towards the door to give it to his father.
"You must have missed the memo to pack light," he tells her.
"From what I heard, you did, too," she replies with a grin, heading into the kitchen. Duke follows her, pulling out a bottle of water from the fridge as she rearranges the contents of the cooler sitting on the table.
"Who doesn't need snacks?" he says around a mouthful of liquid.
"Who doesn't need diabetes?"
"You and Nathan have been hanging around each other too much."
"It would be weird if we didn't," Audrey says. "Considering, you know, we're married and we work together."
"Isn't that a conflict of interest or whatever?"
"No, a conflict of interest would be one of us arresting you."
"But that would never happen, would it?"
"Because you're an angel, right?" Nathan asks rhetorically, coming into the kitchen with James right behind him.
"You said it, not me."
James rolls his eyes and his father shakes his head. "We ready to go?"
"Where?" Duke asks.
"Not telling," three voices say at once.
"I'll get at least one of you eventually." Duke waggles his eyebrows. "I have at least a few hours."
"I'm driving first," James says, grabbing the cooler on his way past them and Duke's comments.
Duke groans as he follows him out. "Nathan, control your kid. He can't drive," he throws over his shoulder.
"It's my car!" James exclaims as they take the porch steps. "What do even have against my driving? You've never been in a car with me!"
"By deliberate choice!" Duke returns. "You spent 30 years in a Barn, cars have changed a lot since then."
James rolls his eyes, placing the cooler in the back of the car and closing the door. "Just watch me," he snarks, grinning.
"You two should really act your age." Audrey and Nathan stand on their porch. They have identical looks on their faces and are both crossing their arms.
"If James did that, he'd need a cane." Duke laughs to himself.
The insulted punches Duke in the arm. "Just because you're jealous you won't look this good at 60."
"Get in the car, children," Nathan calls out.
"I'm calling shotgun," Duke says, pulling open the car door and sliding into the passenger seat. He changes the radio station to one he listens to. "Parents are relegated to the back seat."
James joins him in the front while Nathan and Audrey take the back. "You know which way to go?" Audrey asks her son.
He nods. "Yeah, I looked it up on the interwebs before I came here." He holds up a piece of paper in his hand. "I also have a map."
Duke snorts. "Who calls it the 'interwebs'?" He doesn't let anybody answer. "Oh, right. People born in the '50's."
James doesn't humour him, because he knows he did it on purpose but Duke doesn't. He just rolls his eyes and pulls out of the driveway. They pass by the Welcome to Haven sign a few minutes later and then they're off to Nebraska.
Their first pit stop is in Concord, New Hampshire for numerous reasons. It's around four hours away from Haven so James pulls into a gas station to check his map while Audrey goes for a toilet break. Nathan asks James if they want to swap which James agrees to. He subtly shows his father the way he mapped out on the map itself, away from Duke's prying eyes. Putting it in his back pocket, James takes the seat his mother had been sitting in while Nathan takes the driver's seat just as Audrey comes back. Another reason is because it's one o'clock in the afternoon, they're all hungry. Audrey delves into the cooler and pulls out four sandwiches. She made them the night before but they're as fresh as anything. She even made them all their favourites, even Duke who most of the time complains about the fact that she used the wrong lettuce. The last reason is in Duke's rush to pack a bag filled with snacks, he didn't bring drinks. And he refuses to drink anything that's in the Wuornos' cooler. He comes out of the gas station with a multitude of different concoctions, the most normal one being green tea.
"Don't drink it all at once," Audrey warns, amusement written in her eyes, when he slides into the back seat.
"I'm sure if I need to go, I'll use one of the empty bottles," he returns.
James groans from beside Duke. "You'll leave the car to do your business, please."
Duke shrugs. "I'll let you know."
The next town on James' marked map is Syracuse in New York, a solid five and a bit hours from Concord, though Duke needed a toilet break in Albany when he was halfway through his collection of drinks. The bag of snacks had been touched by everyone, with Duke decreeing that he couldn't finish it all by himself.
"Big of you to admit that, Duke," Nathan says from the front seat while James puts some more gas in the car. He has a self-satisfied smirk on his face that's visible despite the pop tart in his mouth.
"I thought I should share the rotting teeth around," Duke replies. "Sharing is caring and all that."
Audrey's in the passenger seat still, a muesli bar half eaten in her hand. She had a minor nap from Albany but woke up 20 minutes out from Syracuse. Her cheek is red from where she rested her head on the seatbelt, and Duke's already told her it looks funny. It's why there's now a mark on Duke's uncovered knee in the shape of handprint.
"Where did you hear that saying?" Nathan asks. "I had no idea it was in your vocabulary."
"Guess hanging out with you at a young age made me hear stupid things."
Nathan rolls his eyes. "Right."
James is back in the car a few seconds later, having replaced Audrey in the passenger seat while she went to the driver's seat. It leaves Duke and Nathan in the back together, which is probably the stupid idea they've had yet.
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If you enjoyed, be sure to let me know! (:
