Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or this world. I just like to be a part of it sometimes

Author's Notes: I'm going to be writing all of these post-ep drabbles as if I haven't read any spoilers and have NO IDEA as to what is going to happen in the next episode.

Also, these are only going through a light beta, so all dumb mistakes are entirely my own.

Everything up to the end of 515 applies.


After Fear

She was scared. The atmosphere in the gym was charged, and it was half directed towards Nathan. Her elation of him returning was short-lived, and now she was pushing people back who were advancing on him. Everyone was turning on everyone, and even Nathan, the man who most of the town had always looked up to, was now considered an enemy. But why? What had happened to Kira? And why were so many of the townspeople siding with Tony? Many of them had only met Tony a few days ago.

She tried her best to hide her fear, but her exhaustion was getting the better of her. The only thing that had kept her going each day this past week at the school, was knowing each night she be able to lie on her small cot, wrapped in Nathan's arms. He had always been her rock, and she his, but something had changed once Charlotte chose her over Mara. It was like she and Nathan instinctively knew the only way they would get through all of this was to act as one. And so, they did. They kept nothing from each other, and stuck close to each other whenever they could. Some days, that meant only at night, when they both passed out from exhaustion, but they passed out together.

Last night however, he wasn't there. It was the first night in two weeks she had spent the night alone, and she couldn't do it. After only a couple of hours of tossing and turning, with sleep easily evading her, she instead started roaming the halls. There was no one there to comfort her. She was alone. Anyone she held dear was gone, and it was tearing her apart. She refused to let that nugget of fear grow inside her - that nugget that Nathan wouldn't be coming back from fixing the power in town. So she walked, and paced, and prayed for dawn.

But when Nathan and his team still hadn't returned, that nugget had grown, and when she looked at herself in the bathroom mirror, even she could see the bags under her eyes, and the worry etched on her face. And when whispers became shouts that Dave and Charlotte were back, but Nathan and Kira were not with them, everything inside her broke. The only thing she knew to be true was she couldn't survive without Nathan. So, she would go after him, and if she didn't make it back, well, so be it. And as much as she hated Charlotte, not only for everything she had done, but most importantly, for coming back without Nathan, it had felt so good to have someone hug her while she cried. She needed the comfort.

But no comfort was better than hearing the shouts of Nathan being back, so she fought her way through the crowd to get to him, to welcome him back to the school.

And now, she was pushing people away from him. Pulling him out of the gym as much as he was pulling her out. Again, the two of them were working as one, no longer fighting each other. They were working completely as a team.

They ran into Dwight as he was coming towards the commotion, and took cover in his office.

"What happened?"

Nathan stole a quick glance at Audrey before looking back to Dwight. "When we were out, Charlotte told me the key to curing the Troubles was aether. Dave had Seth's Rougarou detector, so while Charlotte was fixing the generator, Kira and I went out to find it."

"And?"

Nathan could hear the irritation in Dwight's voice, but didn't let it bother him. Dwight was under just as much pressure as everyone else lately, if not more. "And, we found some."

"You found aether?" Audrey couldn't help but be surprised. Mara had searched for weeks, and Nathan had found it in only a few hours.

Nathan opened his backpack, allowing Audrey and Dwight to look in, where they could both see the bag was filled with the small, black balls. But when Dwight reached for the bag, Nathan pulled it back.

"Nathan, hand it over."

Nathan shook his head. "No, Charlotte is the only one who knows what to do with this. I'm going to give it to her."

When Dwight took a menacing step towards Nathan, and knowing about his string of deceit, Audrey stepped between the two men. She was losing faith in Dwight, but needed to defuse this situation. "Dwight, let Charlotte look at it. We don't have any other option."

"I don't trust her."

"Dwight, we have to trust her. No one else would even know where to start with this." Audrey kept her gaze on Dwight's, and felt herself ease slightly when he sighed.

"Fine, but I'm going to have one of the Guard keep an eye on her."

Audrey nodded as Dwight shifted his gaze to Nathan. "So, what happened to Kira?"

Nathan cleared his throat, and Audrey had a quick feeling he was working out what he was going to say. She would have to ask him about it later. "The aether was at the bottom of a deep hole. I went down, while Kira stayed above with a light she was powering. I had a glow stick on me, and went down. But, Kira couldn't keep her charge long enough, and, the light went out. I couldn't get up in time."

Audrey could feel herself tense, and let herself mourn silently for the young girl. While she didn't know her well, she had to thank Kira for saving Nathan's life, and sacrificing herself to find the possible cure to the Troubles.

Dwight nodded. "I'll let Tony know, but, you need to be careful, Nathan. People are placing a lot of blame on everyone, and you're no longer immune from that blame."

Nathan licked his lips, before turning to Audrey, taking her hand in his. "Come on."

Audrey felt her heart quicken at the feel of Nathan's hand in her own, but she couldn't shake the feeling of fear which had taken root within her. Dwight was right. Nathan was no longer safe, and neither was she. They were going to have to look after each other even closer now. They needed to solve this darkness Trouble, and fast, because the school was quickly becoming a powder keg of emotions, and she wouldn't be able to relax until they were back home.