Mara was anxious, staring around vigilantly as she stepped onto the boat. She was half-afraid Charlotte would show up. But Nathan was fairly predictable when it came to Audrey. He knew he couldn't trust Charlotte, but he didn't know why, which in his mind made Mara the lesser of two evils. He'd do what she asked him, if only to save Audrey. He wouldn't give her Aether just to help his 'best friend', but the second Blondie needed help, he was willing to do anything.

He didn't deserve the faith Duke had in him. The things Duke had done for him. And Audrey was every bit as cutthroat at Mara herself. She hadn't hesitated tp get Duke to kill for her- repeatedly. Mara hadn't done anything that the little Saint hadn't done herself, the difference was, Mara had the decency to be honest about it.

"Duke, you need to sit down before you fall down. Let go of my arm, damn it. It was my idea to come here."

"Yeah, that's exactly why I'm not letting go."

She let her irritation drip into her words. "If you wanted to hold me, Duke, you should have just asked."

He dropped her arm like it had burned him. She stepped away a bit, shaking her hand to get the feeling back. She leaned against the wall, arms crossed as they waited, glaring at each other as he finally flopped down in a seat. He looked rough, but they had some time. She could fix him before he had to vent another Trouble.

They heard footsteps and she straightened up, schooling her features into careful impassivity. She wasn't going to get emotionally involved, no matter what. She wasn't.

Her breath caught as she saw Audrey walk in with Nathan, arms crossed and face blank; exactly like Mara herself. But that wasn't what made Mara's stomach twist and heart race.

Audrey looked bad- almost transparent, and though she tried to hide it, a dry, rasping cough burst from her. It was exactly what Mara had thought.

But she hadn't expected to care.

Centuries of old habit from before the Barn took over, and she just couldn't help it. She approached Audrey immediately, hands up in a submissive gesture. Audrey flinched as Mara reached out to lay a hand against her forehead. "Damn it, how long have you been sick?"

Audrey was staring at her like she was a rattlesnake about to strike. "Since the contagion. Why?"

"You need to lie down. Now." She rolled her neck, stretching before she added, "Please."

Always so stubborn, Audrey sat on the couch, arms still crossed defensively.

"Did you bring the Aether, Nathan?"

"I'm not giving you anything until you fix Audrey."

"Well that's just great, Captain Underpants, but I need some to do it."

"No! Why? You want me to let you give her a Trouble?"

Mara clenched her jaw. Idiots.

"Aether is used for a lot more than giving Troubles. She's sick because she's dependent on Aether, and there is none in that body."

"What do you mean?" Audrey finally asked.

Mara pulled a chair over so she could sit near Audrey, trying not to show any emotion as she spoke.

"This body, my body, is full of Aether. It's what-" she barely stopped herself before she could say, 'keeps me alive'.

"Nevermind. But you started out in this body, so you're dependent on it as well. None of the Aether transferred over when we split. Your body is falling apart because there's no Aether holding it together. If you don't let me fix it, you'll get worse, and you'll be dead in a week. Let me help you."

"Why would you want to help me?"

Mara met her gaze evenly. "Because Duke asked me."

Audrey couldn't cover her next coughing fit. It was like Mara could see her double getting paler every moment. The desperation finally crept into her voice as she asked, "What do you have to lose?"

Nathan pulled the vial from his pocket and Mara had to blink repeatedly. Her Aether.

"How many are left?"

She gritted her teeth as Nathan carelessly shook the vial, counting. "Please try to to be more gentle with it."

"Seven blobs."

She stretched her neck again. "Not 'blobs'. 'Orbs'. Show some respect. It's enough for both of them, but barely. Audrey, let me do this. I don't want anything from you. I just want to help."

Duke scoffed quietly, and Mara stood, rounding on him. "Shut up! You know nothing, absolutely nothing about me. I used to be a healer, you idiot. Fucking people, I swear. So obsessed with your old books and journals and legends, and none of you know what the hell you're talking about! You weren't there. I was. So let me do my fucking job."

She held her hand out for the vial, waiting with her mouth pressed tightly closed. She was already berating herself for letting Duke needle her into a reaction. They didn't deserve answers until they asked the right questions. If they were too dim to do that, they didn't deserve answers.

"You can have one. One to fix Audrey, and then whatever you need to fix Duke, and I'm taking the rest back."

Mara spoke through gritted teeth. "One isn't enough. Did you not hear what I said? She needs the Aether in her body to keep her alive. The absolute least I need for her is three, and even that's cutting it close. Duke absolutely requires the other four. If you're so afraid, you can stay and watch. You can do basic mathematics, right? 7-3=4. 4-4=0. Do you want me to count along like they do on Sesame Street?"

Audrey was staring at Mara. "Give them to her, Nathan."

Mara glanced at Audrey, surprised. Shit. She knew that look. Audrey had heard the truth in her words, even when the others couldn't. She could tell when Mara was lying or being honest.

Mara hated her for that, a little.

Nathan handed over the vial and Mara's muscles relaxed. Seven orbs in one day, after so long with hardly any at all- it was going to tax her system. She'd live, but she'd hate life for a few days. That should at least keep Duke entertained. Maybe he'd get really lucky and she'd go into full-blown withdrawal.

Hell with it. At least he'd be alive.

Audrey was starting to unbutton her shirt, and Mara stopped her. "No, it's not like that this time. Just relax."

She knelt on the floor in front of Audrey, trying not to feel unsettled. She took a cleansing breath, focusing as she took out two orbs, holding them reverently as she concentrated. She gently crushed them, letting them cling lovingly to her hands.

"Give me your hands, Audrey."

As Mara took the offered hands, she closed her eyes and exhaled, pushing the Aether, directing it. It spread out inside Audrey, binding to her cells, making her better. Curing her.

She released Audrey's hands, taking one last, precious orb and recapping the vial. She activated it and reached her hand to Audrey's forehead, letting the Aether bond to her central nervous system.

When she pulled back, her hands were shaking and she felt nauseous.

"How do you feel, Audrey?"

She looked better. She had color, at least. Audrey took a deep breath, testing, but the cough was gone. "I feel better. Much better. Thank you."

Mara nodded. She watched expectantly as Nathan reached out to stroke Audrey's hair, almost smiling when he gasped loudly.

Almost.

"Parker... I can feel you." Nathan grabbed Audrey in a hug as Mara reached for the chair, carefully pulling herself up. She closed her eyes for a moment as the room spun.

"You can feel her because she's... whole, for lack of a better word. Immune again. The Aether is where it's supposed to be, inside her." She just wished she'd been able to give Audrey all the memories of those lifetimes that were coursing through Mara like poison.

Nathan didn't thank Mara, and she was glad.

"I'm going to go fix Duke. Stay or go, doesn't matter to me."

She walked slowly to Duke, trying to look stronger than she felt. "You do need to take your shirt off." She reached for his buttons and he slapped her hands away. Idiot.

"Fine, do it yourself. You don't exactly need your rape whistle out, your friends are right there." Her stomach rolled as he glared at her, and she wished she had some water. She wasn't going to ask, though. Once she fixed Duke, he'd toss her away until she was needed again- and she would be, that's one thing she knew for certain.

Especially with Charlotte's return.

Duke finished pulling his button-up and undershirt off. "Go ahead."

Mara smiled sweetly. "Why thank you. How kind."

She crushed the orbs, focusing her intent. This was a repair, a boost. She could do this. This meant something to her, she wouldn't screw it up. Not a second time.

She pressed her hands to his chest, pushing. She searched his body with her mind linked to the Aether, searching for the translation error. Translation and purge. These were what she was fixing. She tilted her head, eyes still closed as she pushed harder, smoothing the barrier.

Not quite enough. She was breathing deeply, chest rising and falling as she took the last two orbs in her trembling hands. Duke was going to hate this.

Crushing them, she leapt forward to wrap her arms around Duke, pressing her hands against his back and pushing with every ounce of her will. She held on tightly as he tried to shake her off, and she pushed one last time, forcing the repair before Duke shoved her and she fell backwards, cracking her head on the table.

Fucking humans. No manners at all. She lay still where she had fallen, breath coming in shallow gasps. Her eyes snapped open when she felt a hand on her arm, and she saw Audrey leaning over her. Mara rolled away quickly, scrambling for the bathroom where she vomited, kicking the door closed behind her. She felt wetness dripping down her head and realized she was bleeding.

She heaved and retched even after her stomach was empty, finally crawling to the sink to rinse her mouth and splash water on her face. She pulled herself up using the sink, trying to still her quaking extremities. She looked like shit, but she'd had worse.

There was a knock at the bathroom door. Wow, an actual knock.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm done, you can shackle me in a damn second." She turned to open the door and Duke was standing in front of it. She fisted her hands to try to hide the shaking, then held them out, ready for the cuffs.

She was surprised when he wrapped his hands around her wrists instead of the cold steel. "Did it fix me?"

A shiver crawled up her spine and she stretched, trying not to grimace. "Yes, it fixed you. Your body still needs to expel what's stored up, though. I can help."

"What do you mean, 'expel'? If I still have to vent the Troubles, what's the fucking point?"

"I didn't say 'vent Troubles'. I said 'expel'. You need to expel the Aether that's stored in your body. When you do, they won't manifest as Troubles. Unless you kill me first. I'm guessing you won't want the Troubles, though, so you'll just have to wait to finish me off." A drop of blood slid down her nack, making her shudder. She couldn't keep the pained look off her face for a moment.

Duke spoke hesitantly, still holding her wrists.

"Thank you for fixing Audrey."

She shrugged.

"I mean it."

"It's nothing, Duke. I told you I'd do it if you wanted me to. Fuck, can you give me a towel or something before this shirt gets completely ruined?"

He look confused, and she tried to roll her eyes, but the pain in her head stopped her.

"I'm bleeding all over it, Duke. My head."

He had the nerve to look concerned as he turned her, finally looking at the back of her head, where she could feel the blood flowing. Head wounds always bled a lot, and she honestly didn't care, except for her poor shirt and how much it would suck to wash out of her hair later.

"Shit, Mara. I'm sorry." he released her wrists, grabbing a towel and pressing it to her head. She hissed in pain despite herself. If she'd been at full strength, she'd have never allowed that sound to escape. Unfortunately, her body was focused on the overload of Aether, and her control was stretched thin.

"It's nothing. A papercut." Mara finally managed, trying to sound dismissive.

"No, your head is cut open. I shouldn't have pushed you."

"You shouldn't have, but I knew you would. It's fine. Once you expel the stored Aether, you'll just toss me overboard anyway. Might as well make it more appetizing for the sharks."

Her shaking was getting worse. She was going to stumble if she did't sit. "Can we get out of this room now? I'd like to sit down."

He allowed her to hold the towel to her head instead of shackling her, and it surprised her. She preceded him back to the front room, taking a chair for herself and she applied strong pressure to her head. At least she was pretty sure there was no fracture. She'd fractured her skull once and had lost hearing in her left ear for months.

Audrey looked concerned. Mara swore that was her default expression. Reminded her a little of when she'd been young and innocent, before Charlotte and William. For a second, Mara felt bad for her. Hoped she'd never have to lose that bit of herself. Never have her heart ripped in pieces like Mara had.

Mara wanted to protect her.

She really, really hoped it was just the concussion talking.

She was trying to hold the towel firmly, but the shaking was getting worse. She gave up, holding the towel in her lap. She was waiting for Duke to show symptoms of the purging, but nothing so far. She was going to have to push, and she knew how he'd react. There was a distinct possibility he was going to beat the shit out of her.

Whatever. She could take whatever he dished out. She'd had worse.

"Stay away from Charlotte." Mara slurred the words a little, grimaced, and kept on. "She's dangerous, especially to you. Duke, too. If she finds out why you're well, she won't rest until she has you."

"What do you mean?" Nathan's voice made her frown. Damn it, if she explained, he'd start asking the right questions. It was hard to think through the sound of her head screaming. Between the Aether and the whack to the skull, she was having trouble staying focused. It felt like someone had dosed her with Sodium Pentothol, like she had to tell the truth because she couldn't make lies that made sense.

She tried to grit her teeth and not say anything, but she could still see Audrey staring from the corner of her eye. She could see the question repeating there.

"Because you're like me." Mara snarled. "Now that you have Aether in you, you're like me. She can't know that." She bit her tongue, her hands shaking. She held them still in front of her, trying to manage her aloof smirk, or at least a decent sneer or glare. She just couldn't think. She should really be thinking about how to set Duke off.

"What would she do, Mara?" Audrey asked her gently- probably more polite than anyone else ever had. But Mara didn't want to answer this. She kept her teeth clamped on her tongue, breathing hard. She could feel the Aether in Audrey, questioning for her.

Mara's breath sped up as she tried not to answer the sweetly questioning Aether. It was her friend though. It kept her alive, it gave her power, it loved her, and she couldn't refuse it. Especially when she wasn't well.

Mara rested her head in her shaking hands, staring down as the Aether pressed against her like kisses. It had been a long, long time since she'd had a kiss. She fought the tears and won, but didn't look up as she answered, feeling blood drip around the back of her ear and down her neck, the drops rushing faster. She could feel the back of her shirt, where nobody could see, soaked and sticky against her neck and shoulders, all the way down to her bra strap.

"She'd lock you up so she could test you, find out what made you different. Why the Aether would link with you."

It was true, and yet she hadn't said anything directly about herself. It was the best she could do.

"But why? What's she after?" Nathan asked.

Mara's frayed temper snapped. "What's she done so far? Has she tested just Troubled people, or has she tested everyone? Did you give her Aether to use? I know there were more than seven orbs in that box. What's she told you? That she's looking for a cure? Genetic markers, maybe? Anything to cure the poor, poor Troubled people. Dr. Cross just wants to help everyone. She just cares that much. And she hasn't reported Haven to the CDC because she wants to protect the Troubled, right? Well she's lying. She wants to study the Troubled people to check on her fucking experiments!"

Mara breathed harshly, scowling as she tried not to meet anyone's eyes. She needed to shut up, shut up, shut up! She wanted them to find the right questions on their own! She wasn't here to spoon-feed them answers, especially not after everything they'd done to her.

She needed to focus on Duke. She had to force a reaction, to set off the purge, especially if she was unwell. She had to do it while she still could. Contact. That's what he craved. He was just like her, she understood him because she understood herself. She had forced a hug on him, he'd shoved her halfway across the room. If she kissed him, especially in front of Nathan and Audrey... that should kick off enough emotion- anger, hate, embarassment, regret- that it would activate the repaired Trouble and force the purge.

She took a deep breath, trying to prepare her mind and body for the expected negative response. Before the purge kicked into high gear, he'd have several moments to make her pay.

It was fine. She'd had worse.

She stood quickly, turning toward Duke. She'd taken a single step when everything went sideways.

Some combination of Aether-overuse, concussion and blood loss began a catalyst of it's own, and she was falling. She didn't feel the impact. Her eyes rolled and her body shook, seizing. She could hear, but she couldn't see and she couldn't control her body. It felt like being trapped under another mind and she started to panic, a pained, terrified scream, warbling and cracking in a way that sounded like broken glass flew from her mouth through clenched jaws.

Mara wasn't sure how long it went on; she heard voices and felt hands turning her, Audrey's horrified gasp as she saw the blood-soaked shirt and hair. Just when she thought her teeth were going to crack from the pressure her jaw was exerting, the shaking stopped and she lay limp, melted into the floor as she tried to catch her breath.

Hell, that was embarrassing.

Duke was suddenly there, in front of her face, and she didn't have the energy- the physical ability to kiss him. Just as well, since she didn't seem to be on her best game tonight.

"Mara, I'm sorry. Why didn't you tell me you were bleeding so much?"

His eyes teared up, and before she could even wonder what had caused his emotional response, she saw his tears turn black.

Oh no. No. Not now.

She was weak, but she yelled as loudly as she could as she let the Maze, the symbol of the Guard, surge into being on the skin of her left wrist.

"Nathan, get Audrey to the back of the room, now!"

A brief moment of surprised movement, not enough for Mara to brace, and Duke's back arched until he was staring up at the ceiling, his arms stretched wide. Aether, thick and dark as wildfire smoke erupted from Duke's mouth and eyes, heading straight for Mara.

It hit her everywhere- pouring into her mouth, into the Maze on her wrist, even her eyes and ears. Everything that Duke expelled, Mara took into herself.

She hadn't even thought when she acted, just ordered Audrey to safety and took the hit. She'd tried so hard, but a lifetime of one behavior just wasn't undone by a couple of months of another behavior.

She hadn't changed much, as hard as she'd been trying.

Eventually, thank the gods, Duke expelled the last of the backed-up Aether from his system. The thick cloud still surrounded Mara and she could feel him staring as the Aether filled her, her back arching up from the ground, injured, bleeding head pressed hard into the floor. She fisted her hands to try and keep from reaching for help.

A few whimpers sounded from her chest, but at least she couldn't scream with the Aether clogging her throat. She was able to stay mostly silent, and she didn't reach out for comfort or help. And now Duke was safe.

She'd call it a win.

She ingested the last of the Aether and her spine went slack, dropping her straining body back to the floor, where she tried to catch her breath. Everything looked strange, slightly warped and completely discolored by the haze of Aether that made her eyes black.

She had to get off this floor, to stand up before they thought she was weak, or weaker than they already did, after her little episode. She rolled onto her front, ignoring the dizziness and nausea- her stomach was empty anyway- as she pushed up onto her hands and knees. Determined, she reached for the nearest chair and grabbed it, pulling herself up silently. She gripped the back of the chair tightly to keep herself up, looking around at them with black eyes.

"Keep her away from Charlotte. When William comes back, kill him- he's not connected to Audrey anymore, just me. Nathan, you owe Duke. Earn the trust he's given you. It's a gift you don't deserve."

She turned her head slightly. "Duke, you should let me teach you to use your ability before you throw me over. Your choice. Either way, stay away from Charlotte. She's as dangerous to you as she is to Audrey now."

Her voice was quiet but even. She felt the blood flowing quickly down her neck again- she'd probably made the bleeding worse when she'd been of the floor. She was disturbingly, almost frighteningly tired. The thought of sleeping handcuffed to a kitchen chair was even more unappealing than usual. She thought it might be more comfortable if he just threw her overboard now. The water wouldn't feel cold for very long, it would be dark and deep and peaceful. She could lay in the arms of the currents and stretch her body.

Her eyes slipped shut and she started to sway, imagining the water was already rocking her to sleep. She felt her body falling, though it all seemed to be moving very slowly. She was shocked to feel strong, hard arms catching her body and lifting it.

Then there was nothing.