Author's notes: Set after the events of episode 03X13. I just needed to write something as we wait for Season 4. This fic revolves around Nathan. Right now I'm planning for this to be a multi-chapter fic; we'll see how it goes. Feedback is appreciated.
Sorry for the delay – life got in the way. I'm hoping to get the next chapter out within the next week
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Chapter 2
Clean up begins
Dwight drives Nathan over to the Grey Gull to pick up the Bronco. He'd left it there with everything happening while they were trying to keep Audrey out of the barn.
On the drive there, Dwight fills Nathan in on some of the things that have happened over the last few days. "Dave and Vince haven't had to do too much cover up on the "Troubles" in the newspaper, since right now everything can be blamed on the meteor storm. They included an article about Audrey and Duke being MIA so you shouldn't get too many questions about where they are." Nathan nods at this information, as his throat clenches with the ache that goes along with reminding him again that they are gone. "The troubles didn't go away after the barn disappeared, well actually, it did for some, but not for others and with all the anxiety from the meteor storm looks like even more are being triggered."
Nathan asks "Did yours go away?"
"No, bullets still love me just as much as always. From the way you reacted earlier, I'm assuming yours did though."
"Yes." Nathan didn't know what else to say – it was a lot to take in – some people kept their troubles, others went away and still more were being triggered. Why did his go away? If Audrey going into the barn was to make the troubles go away why didn't they all disappear? There was something there he just wasn't seeing it right now, so he filed it away to think about it when he had more time to think and fewer distractions.
"Nathan, there were some other things that happened outside of the barn when you were inside that you probably need to know." Dwight hesitated before continuing, with information he knew Nathan wouldn't be happy about. "Dave wanted to help figure out how to solve the troubles for good, how not to continually use Audrey for the sake of the town and Vince locked him in the trunk of his car to stop him. Vince wanted to leave things as they are, to at least rid the town of the troubles for 27 years. Turns out, Vince is the leader of the Guard."
"What?!" Nathan could feel the anger rising within him as his mind went in a million directions at once. All the time wasted trying to find out about the Guard and Vince could have just told Audrey and him what they needed to know. They knew about the barn long before Audrey did, if he had known they would have had more time to try and figure out how to keep her here not going down rabbit holes trying to get answers. Vince had even sent him to see Jordan rather than admit one of their precious secrets.
"Did Vince send Jordan to kill me so that Audrey stayed in the barn?" Nathan growled as he tried to keep his anger under control.
"No, Vince told the Guard members, including Jordan to leave when he showed up. He told them it was Audrey's choice if she would go into the barn. Vince and Dave were with me after we left you and Duke with Audrey. I'm pretty sure Jordan acted on her own accord; she was desperate to get rid of her trouble."
By then they had reached the Grey Gull. It was still standing, but most, if not all, of the windows were blown out in the restaurant. It looked like there was more significant damage upstairs where Audrey's apartment was/used to be. One wall had completely fallen in and the roof had a gaping hole. Nathan was torn, he wanted to take care of Audrey's place since she wasn't there to look after it, he wanted to get as far away from there as quickly as he could, away from the memories he would find here. He also needed to take care of Haven. After seeing the damage to the town on the drive over, the decision was really made for him, he knew he was needed elsewhere and had to get to the station, everything else was going to have to wait.
"Dwight, can you see about getting some wood to board up the windows on the Grey Gull and about doing something to protect Audrey's apartment until I can get back over to deal with it? And can you check Duke's boat?
"I'll take care of it. I'll check in with you later."
Nathan hops into the bronco and heads to the station. He tries to reconcile the information Dwight gave him about Vince being the head of the guard with the memories of Sarah's; memories of Vince and Dave trying to keep her out of the barn. If they cared about her as Sarah, how could they let her continue to sacrifice herself for the town? Couldn't they see what it did to her? And what about Lucy? Jordan had said that they had to force her into the barn. How did they do that?
The windows of the Police station were all broken or missing, but miraculously, it too is standing. The first thing Nathan does is grab Stan to get a status report. As they head to Nathan's office the few other police officers in the building acknowledge Nathan and tell him they're glad to have him back.
Stan does a rundown of where things are at. "Fire and rescue is working full out around town, putting out fires and rescuing injured or trapped residents. Luckily, the hospital wasn't severely damaged so serious cases can be handled there. If people are able to travel, they are being taken to Bangor or Portland. An emergency shelter has been set up in the high school for people whose homes were badly damaged or destroyed. Emergency supplies have been sent in by the State to ensure everyone has adequate drinking water and other necessities; that is being co-ordinated out of the high school as well. Work is underway to restore power in parts of the city and the water treatment plant just came back online, so the boil water advisory should be lifted shortly. Luckily there hasn't been too much looting, I think people are still in shock."
Nathan's impressed by everything that has been done while he was out of commission. "You've got a good handle on everything Stan, Thank you. Have you had any rest?" Nathan feels guilty for not being there to help but now is not the time to dwell on it.
"We've been taking breaks in the back room when we're able."
Nathan steers Stan back out into the bullpen, and as uncomfortable as he is speaking in public, he speaks to the officers that are there.
"Can I have everyone's attention?" Everyone stops talking in the bullpen and pays attention to Nathan.
"I know you all have had a very difficult few days and I want to thank you for all your efforts so far, it is truly appreciated. It looks like things are starting to calm down a bit so I want you all to start taking longer breaks. Go home, see your family, get some rest. We'll try and do 16 hour shifts so that you don't all end up collapsing from exhaustion."
And then to Stan, "Stan, can you set up the roster and make sure you're one of the first people to take a break."
"Yes, Chief".
Nathan heads back into his office and starts making calls to the Fire chief, the building planners and others to see what support they need in their efforts so he can dispatch the police force accordingly.
Dwight shows up at the station and Nathan waves him into his office.
"I checked on Duke's boat, no issues, boarded up the windows at the Grey Gull and did what I could for Audrey's place. I also checked on your Dad's place. There were a couple of windows that needed to be boarded up, and a tree hit the side of the house, so you'll have to arrange to get that repaired at some point. Overall though, pretty minor damage. Oh, and I brought you some food. I figured you probably haven't had anything to eat."
"Thanks, I haven't even thought about food. And thanks for checking on everything. Do you mind sticking around for a bit? I have a meeting with the city planners and your services could be useful for the clean up."
"No problem".
Nathan quickly gulps down the food Dwight supplied.
During the meeting, Nathan learns that Haven didn't fare off as badly as he originally thought. Yes, there is a lot of structural damage, but only 10 people were killed, one of them being Thornton Aarons who was killed when a meteorite struck his house, and 300 injured. 7 people were listed as missing and presumed dead, but four of the names on the list were Audrey, Claire, Duke, and Jordan, so three of them were in the barn and Claire had been killed by Arla prior to the meteor storm. Between the city chiefs, resources are reallocated and Nathan sends Dwight off to see if he can help get power restored in parts of town that the city hadn't sent crews to yet and to keep and eye out for the "Troubles".
There was a constant stream of immediate policing issues for Nathan to deal with for the rest of the day, and finally when he sits back down at his desk it is well past 3 am, he is exhausted, his back and gunshot wounds hurt. There has been so much going on he hasn't really had time to notice until now. He rubs his eyes, leans back in his chair and closes his eyes for just a second.
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There is a little boy playing with some toy cars on a kitchen floor, a woman has her back to the little boy, she is at the kitchen counter preparing dinner. She looks familiar. Somewhere else in the house, a door slams, the woman stiffens at the sound and the little boy looks up with a scared look on his face. The woman turns around quickly and tells the little boy to be a very good boy and be quiet. The woman looking down at the little boy is his mother.
A knock at the office door Nathan jerks awake the vestiges of the dream still in his mind. He sits up and initially he doesn't feel stiff or sore from sleeping on his desk, but moments later he notices is he stands up he starts to feel stiff and sore. Great...it seems as if his trouble is short circuiting but he doesn't have time to dwell on that or the dream that seems more like a memory, but isn't one of his memories.
"Come in"
Dwight's comes in bringing with him breakfast "I figured you'd be here all night. Oh, and I brought a couple of friends with me too"
"Thanks again, better be careful, I could get used to dinner service." Since no one had directly followed Dwight into the office, Nathan asked "Who'd you bring with you?"
Vince and Dave walk tentatively into the office, both with their heads bowed and both look like they are ready to run just in case. They ask how Nathan is feeling, to which Nathan responds with his typical non-committal response.
"Why don't you guys have a seat?" Once the Teagues get settled, Nathan leans forward on his desk, towering over the two and with all the restraint he can muster starts in on Vince and Dave.
"Is there anything you two would like to share with me?"
Vince and Dave look at each other before looking at Nathan, which just winds Nathan up.
He looks directly at Vince. "Like the fact that you're the leader of the Guard. That all this time you could have shared information with Audrey that could have helped her figure out who she was and maybe even how she could stay out of the barn, but instead you kept secrets. Did you enjoy watching everyone run around in circles trying to find answers that you already knew?" Nathan was just getting warmed up. "You tried to control me with Ginger Danvers so that I would make sure Audrey went into the barn. When that didn't work did you send Jordan to kill me, just to make sure you would have 27 years without the troubles to hell with the consequences for Audrey or anyone else that doesn't fit in with your game plan?"
Nathan doesn't stop, he can't, the frustration has built up in him and needs an outlet. No one stops him either.
"And you Dave are you part of the Guard too? Is this all a big joke to you two, that you can sit back and watch as people's lives are torn apart? That I won't see Audrey and my son for 27 years, and even then they won't even know who I am." Dave and Vince looked stunned at this news and again glance at each other. "That's right, James Cogan, the Colorado kid, is my son, I barely got to meet him and then he was gone. I never got to be his dad". And with that, Nathan's anger turns to grief.
He sits down in his chair and puts his hands over his eyes as if the light is too much. He continues to talk, much more controlled now. "I know you two cared about Sarah, that you tried to keep her from going into the barn, we saw her memories when we were in that damn barn. And what about Lucy? Jordan said that the Guard forced her into the barn. Why would you do this, if you knew she was Sarah? Why didn't you keep trying to help her? You knew none of them wanted to go into the barn; you knew Audrey didn't want to go but she would sacrifice herself for this town."
Nathan has run out of steam at this point. Everyone just sits there for a moment, and then finally, Dave says "I'm sorry". And Vince continues "we both are. I promise you that Jordan acted alone, I would not have allowed anyone to hurt you, just as I made sure none of the Guard went after Duke." Dave picks up at this point, "We cared about Sarah, and we did try to keep her out of the barn." He pauses for a moment before continuing. "I don't begin to understand how you are James' father, but Sarah loved you. She always talked about how you swept her off her feet and how despite everything she trusted you. We tried not to be too involved this time - it gets complicated trying to tell people something before they are ready to hear it, that's what happened with Lucy, we knew right away that she was Sarah and told her about the barn and we tried to help her and James, but we still couldn't figure out how to stop it."
Vince picks up where Dave finished. "Lucy didn't have the connection to Haven that Sarah had. When the Colorado Kid was killed she wanted to hurt Haven for taking her son away and she was going to do that by running away. I'm sorry Nathan if you think this is cold, but this town means more to us than any one person, we couldn't allow the town to be destroyed because of one person's indiscretion."
Nathan stops him there. "An indiscretion? Someone apparently kills my son and it's an indiscretion?"
Dave leaned forward in his seat. "But this time it's different, the troubles aren't all disappearing, the meteors didn't stop right away, and with what happened at the barn, maybe we can find another way to bring them back sooner. Maybe the fact that you are James' father changes things. Maybe we can figure out a way to bring James and Audrey home to you."
Nathan didn't know if Dave was just telling him what he wanted to hear, but it didn't matter. If there was any way he could get Audrey back, get them all back he would take whatever lifeline was thrown his way.
"If the troubles didn't completely disappear when Audrey went into the barn and if the stress of the meteor storm is triggering all these new troubles, then Audrey is going to have to come back, isn't she? How troubled is Haven going to get before she would need to come back?"
Nathan stops his musings. Dave and Vince stand up, "we'll go back to our office and check through our files and try and see if there is a pattern to the troubles when both Sarah and Lucy were here.
Dwight stands up as well. "I'll check around town and keep an eye out for any trouble."
With that everyone disperses. Nathan quickly eats the breakfast Dwight brought for him and finds an extra shirt in the drawer of his filing cabinet to change into since he slept in his current clothes all night. While he doubts that Dave and Vince will be completely forthcoming, at least they seemed willing to help and he's feeling a bit better now that he has a lead to follow to try and get Audrey, Duke, and James back sooner.
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Vince and Dave head back to The Haven Herald right after meeting with Nathan.
"So what do you think about Nathan being the Colorado Kid's father?" Vince asks tentatively.
"You mean that he was with Sarah. It certainly explains some of her comments back when she was here. Maybe it does mean there is a chance of stopping this cycle forever."
Dave avoided what Vince was really asking, and continued.
"I think we have a more immediate problem than that anyway" Dave replies. Vince looked at his quizzically.
"He went into the barn again, he's going to remember."
Vince registers what Dave is telling him "oh, no, that's bad. Do we tell him?"
"No, he'll find out soon enough."
