AN: Thanks for letting me know about the last chapter ;). I didn't realize I had uploaded the second chapter twice. Here's the real chapter 3!
Disclaimer: I do not own Haven or its characters
AN: Only thing is Nathan gets a little possessive, could be seen as slash.
Chapter 3: Territorial Dispute
Duke swallowed hard as he sat on the edge of his bed the next morning. He had awoken in a cold sweat only to find that he'd slept through his alarm and several anxious calls from Audrey and a couple of the employees at the Gull. What really bothered him was the area on his neck that Nathan had rubbed his face all over. He reached up and tentatively touched the spot. It didn't hurt really, but it felt…different. He hadn't convinced himself to look in a mirror in fear that he would have some grotesque mark on his skin that he wouldn't be able to cover up or explain away.
After a few more minutes of mental preparation, he finally got off the bed and headed to the bathroom. Once there he carefully kept his gaze averted, pretending to be busy sorting through the few things he had on the sink.
"Oh come on, suck it up," he chastised himself out loud. "It can't be that bad." Taking a long calming breath he brought his gaze slowly up to the mirror. The area was slightly red, but otherwise looked normal. His face on the other hand was almost entirely purple and he didn't even want to think about the rest of his body.
Now that his physical appearance was settled, he had time to figure out what was wrong with Nathan. He was already troubled. Was it not enough that the guy was physically and emotionally, in Duke's opinion, unable to feel anything? The thought almost made Duke feel sorry for him. Almost. Haven just wouldn't leave the man alone. Realizing he wasn't going to get any answers just sitting there, Duke decided it was time he visited Nathan for a change.
….
Finding Nathan proved to be much more difficult than he'd planned. He wasn't at the police station, checking up on the Rev, or coming up with a reasonable story for the Teague brothers. In fact it took him most of the morning to even find someone who'd seen him.
"Duke, you look just awful dear," Patsy Morrow greeted him. She owned one of the local bookstores, which Duke had entered as a last resort. The woman drove him insane, but if she was the only person in the whole damn town who'd seen Nathan, then he wasn't going to pass her up just because she annoyed him.
"Thanks Patsy, have you seen Nathan around?" he asked.
"Are you going to report that?" Patsy asked, pointing unabashedly at his face. She was in her late seventies and frankly Duke couldn't remember a time when the woman wasn't crazy as hell.
"Don't worry about it, have you seen him?" he repeated.
"Sure. He passed by about an hour ago with Audrey. They looked like they were in a hurry," Patsy said, nodding. "You know, you really should be more careful. A man of your age should be worrying about your health right now. My Hector was just like you. He did all sorts of things and it ended up killing him in the end. Well…I guess if you really get down to it, it was the cancer that killed him, but I still think it was from too much excitement."
"Thanks, Patsy." Duke hurried out of the store. Now that he was pointed in the right direction, it didn't take long for him to find Nathan and Audrey walking casually down the street. If Patsy thought they were in some kind of hurry they were either trying to quickly pass her store or she needed her eyes checked again. Audrey happened to turn and waved to him as he was rapidly gaining on them.
"You're looking a little better today," she said, giving him a smile laced with worry.
"Yeah, Nathan can I talk to you for a moment?" Duke asked. He felt bad for dodging Audrey, but he needed answers.
"Um, sure I guess," Nathan nodded. Duke tried to ignore the hurt look that flashed over Audrey's face as he and Nathan walked a little ways farther and slipped in between a couple buildings.
"What was the deal last night and don't say payback because I didn't do anything to deserve this," Duke hissed.
"If you're referring to me thinking you were drunk then I think it's warranted."
"I'm talking about when you came back," Duke corrected.
"I…didn't come back," Nathan said slowly.
"Fine. You don't want to tell me fine, but I'm warning you, if you step foot on my boat without Audrey or someone else I will shoot you." Duke stalked out of the alley, pushed passed Audrey, who was waiting at the entrance, and headed back down the street. After all the time he'd spent looking this seemed somewhat anticlimactic, but just being alone with the man had made him nervous. He swore at his fear. Of all the people he'd done business with he'd never been as afraid as he was now.
He made it half way down the street before stopping and turning back around. Audrey and Nathan were still standing in front of the alley talking. He could see the concern on their faces and he honestly didn't know how Nathan hid it so well. He saw Nathan shrug and glance down at him, but when he noticed Duke watching he seemed to stiffen. Furious and frustrated, Duke stormed back to them.
"Alright that's it. I want answers and I want them now. Don't pretend like you don't know what I'm talking about," Duke snapped, as he approached them. Nathan looked helplessly towards Audrey. "What? Are you too afraid to say it in front of her?" Duke asked sharply, gesturing wildly toward Audrey. "Because I think she has a right to know. I think she should know everything about her partner and his fetish for beating the crap out of people." Duke's voice had been steadily rising and Nathan actually took a step backwards from the force of the words.
"Wait a second, are you saying Nathan did this?" Audrey asked, her voice rising slightly in surprise.
"Tell her," Duke ordered, loud and sharp enough that Nathan took another step back.
"You're obviously confused," Nathan said hesitantly.
"Confused?" People across the street were beginning to stop and stare as Duke's voice had risen well above the noise of the traffic and pedestrians. "Do you think I'm stupid? I'm not going to sit back and take this shit from you Nathan. Explain to me what the hell you were thinking last night and what this is?" He jabbed at the red spot on his neck.
"Duke, I think maybe you need to calm down," Audrey said, lightly grabbing his arm.
"No! Damn it, Audrey, he's the one who's been doing this to me!" Duke protested, yanking his arm out of her grip. "Don't you understand?"
"That's impossible. I was with him all day yesterday. He wouldn't have been able to do this to you," Audrey tried to reason with him.
"Yesterday wasn't him, but the first time was and last night he came back. He had the guy who set me up and he threw him overboard," Duke said exasperated. They stared at him as if he'd suddenly grown a second head. Now Duke was aware of everyone staring at them and he had the distinct feeling that they all thought he was the crazy one.
"Maybe you should go home," Nathan suggested tonelessly. It had taken years for Duke to figure out the different levels of monotone that Nathan possessed and this one seemed to suggest he was scared out of his wits, but was not willing to admit it.
"That's all you have to say to me?" Duke said sharply. His voice had lowered considerably, but now seemed more dangerous. Nathan shot another glance towards Audrey. "What do you keep looking to her for? She can't answer for you Nathan," Duke growled. Nathan opened his mouth as if to say something, but closed it again.
"Mr. Crocker?" Duke turned when someone tapped his shoulder and saw Guiles Dover standing there with a patient smile.
"Dover?" he asked, bewildered. "But…Nathan…I…he…" Duke seemed at a loss for words as Nathan refused to react and Dover pretended he hadn't been thrown overboard bound and gagged only twelve hours earlier.
"It's all right Mr. Crocker, I'm going to take you back now," Dover said patiently.
"Back?" Duke choked. While 'back' implied absolutely nothing to him it still had an ominous sound to it.
"Yes sir. Back," Dover gave him a conspirator's wink then turned to Nathan and Audrey. "I'm sorry about him he sort of…escaped."
"Escaped from where?" Audrey asked, stepping forward almost defensively.
"I'm treating Mr. Crocker for his wounds. I'm Dr. Guiles Dover and I feel I must explain his behavior this afternoon. See, he's on a large amount of pain medications, which accounts for the aggression and paranoia. I had instructed one of my nurses to keep an eye on him, but apparently she found the task of watching him sleep too boring," Dover explained with the ease of a man who had lied one too many times in his life.
"So, you work at the hospital?" Audrey asked skeptically.
"I've never seen you around," Nathan added his own suspicion. Duke supposed Nathan really did want to keep his extracurricular activities a secret from Audrey if he was trying so hard to play dumb.
"I'm a family physician," Dover explained, though his voice seemed to be losing its polite tone. "I've worked with the Crockers for years, haven't I Duke?" Dover looked up to him expectantly, but Duke couldn't quite wipe the clueless expression off his face before Dover grabbed his elbow and yanked him a few feet away. "If you want answers you will have to play along," Dover hissed. "I can't pull this off all on my own and you're obviously getting nowhere with him." Duke took another second to process this and glanced back once at Nathan before understanding what he meant.
"You'll tell me everything?" he asked. Dover gave him a sharp nod. Duke straightened up and walked over to Audrey and Nathan.
"I apologize for my behavior. I wasn't in my right mind."
"If you don't mind, I'll be taking Mr. Crocker home now," Dover chimed in, taking an unnecessarily tight hold on Duke's elbow. "I assure you he'll be right as rain in a few days. Now, come along Duke, you must go back to bed."
"Audrey…" Duke shot a glance at Nathan and then looked back at her. "Watch out for yourself." Audrey nodded halfheartedly as she seemed to be keeping a close eye on Dover out of the corner of her eye.
"You too," she said earnestly. "I'll stop by later tonight to check up on you." Duke nodded and followed Dover back down the streets and towards the docks.
…..
Once out of Nathan and Audrey's line of sight, Dover took a sharp right and led Duke to a beat up Ford Taurus, claiming that the boat wasn't private enough. His instincts were telling him not to get into the car, but his curiosity to know what the hell was going overrode his cautious side.
Twenty minutes later they arrived at an old abandoned mill just outside of the city limits. Duke hesitated before getting out of the car. Why would they need to come all the way out here in order for Dover to explain himself? How was the man alive anyway when he had gone into the water tied up like he had been? It was this thought that made Duke realize he'd made a mistake. Who knew what the man was capable and Duke had followed him like a lost pup.
Damn it. He cursed himself. Dover had already gotten out of the car and was holding the door open to the mill expectantly. Now his only chance of escaping the trap, if it was one, was to keep Dover thinking he didn't know what was going on. He slowly got out of the car and walked over to Dover as calmly and naturally as possible.
"Were you admiring the view?" Dover asked, with an eyebrow raised.
"What's to admire?" Duke asked, stepping past Dover and walking into the darkened building. The door being held open was virtually the only light source and when Dover let the door click shut, Duke was plunged into darkness. He froze, willing his eyes to adjust to the darkness, but he was completely blind. He started forward again, hoping that Dover was as blind as he was. He'd only gone a couple of feet, however, when someone grabbed him from behind. A long calloused hand was covering his mouth and before he really had a chance to react a dim light flickered on, illuminating some of the building.
He realized that he had been pulled into a short hallway and Dover was nowhere in sight. Duke knew that whoever had grabbed him was too tall to be Dover so he kept still; hoping whoever it was wanted to help.
"Duke?" Dover called out. "Don't you want to learn the truth?"
"Can I trust you not to say anything." The whisper was right at Duke's ear and he had to suppress a shiver at the hot breath sliding down his neck. He had recognized Nathan's voice immediately and although he trusted him about as much as he trusted Dover, he gave one short nod. Nathan removed his hand from Duke's mouth, but his left arm remained looped around Duke's waist. He was about to nonverbally protest this position when a gun slowly appeared around the corner about six inches from his face.
"Come on Crocker. Come out and face your mortality like a man," Dover shouted. Dover's face appeared a few moments later and Nathan, reaching around Duke, punched him hard enough to send him flying into the opposite wall. The gun went skidding across the floor as Dover slid down to the ground.
"I could have done that," Duke snapped.
"Of course you could have," Nathan said, smirking as he rested his chin on Duke's shoulder.
"I should have known you'd be here," Dover sneered as he struggled to his feet. Duke saw Nathan's gun appear off to his left and frowned when he realized it wasn't the standard issue Haven PD handgun.
"Didn't I tell you to stay away?" Nathan asked his tone calm and pointed.
"You know how I am with direct orders," Dover huffed.
"And you know how territorial I am," Nathan returned.
"Speaking of which, would you mind letting me go?" Duke asked as authoritatively as he could given the situation.
"Only if you promise to get right in the car," Nathan said. Duke suppressed a shiver at the slightly seductive tone.
"Don't you trust me?" he asked, trying to mimic Nathan's tone. He didn't know what Nathan was playing at, but if it got him out of here then he was willing to play along. He felt Nathan's face press against his neck for a second and then the arm disappeared and Nathan moved so that he was standing between Dover and Duke while leaving the exit open.
Once Duke was outside he didn't go for the car, but he did pause to take notice that Nathan's Bronco was nowhere in sight. He glanced towards the door to make sure that no one was coming after him and then quickly started up the road and away from the mill. He wasn't above hitchhiking back to Haven if it came down to that, but he had a feeling he wouldn't be on the road long enough. In fact he had just barely lost sight of the mill when Nathan pulled up beside him in a tan Honda Accord, which had been the only other car in the lot.
"I thought I told you to go to the car," Nathan said as he slowed the car to creep alongside Duke, who refused to stop walking.
"I didn't see your car," Duke pointed out.
"I'm borrowing this one," Nathan said, glancing down at the dash of the car.
"Without the keys," Duke asked, nodding towards the ignition. He didn't know Nathan was capable of hot wiring a car either for ethical reasons or a lack of knowledge to do so.
"I was in a hurry," Nathan said, with a small smirk. "Would you like a ride?"
"Not really," Duke answered, refusing to divert his eyes from the horizon.
"Suit yourself," Nathan said, and then drove off without another word. Duke stopped in his tracks completely taken off guard. He would have been less surprised if Nathan had gotten out and shoved him in the trunk. He looked up and down the street, but didn't see a single car in either direction. Sighing he began the long trek back to town.
Chapter 4 up soon. Thanks for reviewing. :)
