Duke watched Audrey drive away before turning to the kid, who was eyeing him with a distrust so familiar he wasn't sure how he hadn't guessed his parentage immediately. He could see Nathan so clearly in his clenched jaw and scowl.

"Sure you should just let her go like that?"

"Your mother's a big girl. And damn closest thing I've ever seen to a superhero. She'll be fine. And trust me, she doesn't need a third wheel when she finds Nate."

"What if she doesn't find him? You said he was shot. And who knows how long ago that was. First time I went into that barn it was twenty-seven years until I came out again."

"Well aren't you a ray of sunshine. You get that from your father."

"How do you know my father?" he demanded.

"Nate and I grew up together here in Haven. He'd either tell you I'm the devil or someone good to have your back in a gunfight – depending on the day. Let's just say it's complicated."

"And my mother?"

Duke was used to dark tones conveying hidden meanings. "Are you asking me if I'm a threat?"

James shrugged his crossed arms. "Maybe."

Part of Duke wanted to be. The part that had grown up believing that you should grab whatever you want as quickly as possible however you can, and if you hold on then you deserve it. Nathan had fallen down on the job and Duke had been there when Audrey needed a shoulder to cry on and someone to fly across the country with. For the first time in his life he wanted to take care of someone else, and he knew he could do it.

It would be easy to wish that they were too late and Nathan was gone. Audrey would be inconsolable for awhile, but he'd be there to pick up the pieces. With Nathan out of the way Duke was fairly certain he could charm her. He'd turn her grief into something constructive and wouldn't let her wallow. And one day maybe she'd look at him the way he wanted her to. The way he'd pretended she was looking at him in Colorado.

Except that against all odds and reason he didn't wish that. Audrey loved Nathan; he'd heard the words from her lips and he'd known long before then. He didn't understand why she'd fall for Wuornos's awkwardness instead of his smooth moves, but she obviously had. And although it cycled more rapidly than the Troubles, he currently held no ill feelings toward his old friend. He'd wanted to shake him for pulling away from Audrey when obviously the two just needed to make out and make the most of the time she had left. But Duke had seen his devotion in his determination to keep her from disappearing and he knew Audrey's feelings were returned. Even as it killed him to know that Audrey would never be his, he was kind of glad for his friend. Because Nathan deserved happiness, and he'd had so little of it in his life.

Turned out being selfless was kind of a bitch. But so was everything Audrey had been through for the sake of this god-forsaken town. Least he could do was try it for her.

"No. The way those two dance around each other – it's like Shakespeare. They've got star-crossed lovers written all over them. Look at you – they've even got a cross-generational lovechild born before they were. It's pointless trying to get in between them. I know bad odds when I see them."

"And if the odds weren't so bad?"

"You know, I'm sensing a lot of hostility and I don't think it's warranted."

"Not warranted? Not warranted?" James started to pull at his hair and Duke caught a glimpse of the madness that had gripped Nathan once when Audrey had left him on Duke's boat and he'd started ranting about not being able to feel. "My wife, the love of my life, is dead! Not only is she dead, it turns out she was a serial killer who cut off people's skins and wore them. She sewed a bunch of people together, like a quilt, so she looked like herself. Before that, someone killed me, and then I spent twenty-seven years asleep in a barn, resurrecting or something, and then when I wake up my wife tells me it was my own mother. But she was a monster, and a liar, so I don't know who killed me, or why, and I have no idea what I'm supposed to do. And now some random man with a ponytail who has a crush on my mother tells me I don't have a right to be angry!"

"Okay," Duke said placatingly, drawing out the syllables as he raised his hands in surrender. "You definitely have a reason to be angry. Sorry. All of that totally sucks. But none of it is my fault. Except for the hair, which is cool nowadays, by the way."

James looked at him like he was the crazy one, but his breathing began to slow and he didn't launch into another rant, so Duke accepted it as a victory.

"Why don't we start over? Pretend we just met. Hi. My name is Duke. Duke Crocker."

"Crocker!" James sneered, and Duke realized his mistake too late – this man had spent time with Lucy.

"Geez. Yes. Look. I know—"

"Your father—"

"I know! My father tried to kill Lucy, and my grandfather tried to kill Sarah. And technically I'm supposed to kill Audrey. That was so, like, three months ago. But here's the thing – my old man was an ass. I didn't like him much when he was alive, so when he showed up as a ghost and told me I was supposed to kill my best friend I decided, 'hey, I have free will, and that's stupid, so no thanks.' And me and your parents have been through all this already. Audrey trusts me, and Nathan trusts me – sometimes – and you can ask them about this tomorrow."

He didn't know how he expected James to respond. But it wasn't the way he did. "Lucy used to babysit you."

Duke laughed. Sometimes he remembered that – the strange woman with the long, dark hair who would occasionally show up instead of Vanessa who always told him that he could be anything he wanted – but if he didn't specifically search for the memories they seemed to hide in his subconscious. "I know. This town is so weird."

It was a monumental understatement, but exhaustion was beginning to hit him and he was finding it hard to be clever. "Look, it's late. I don't think Audrey will be back tonight, but she'll call me if she needs us. We should get some sleep. I'm sure the shit will hit the fan tomorrow. That's usually how things go around here."

"We're going to sleep in this saloon?"

"Hey. The Grey Gull is a restaurant, not a saloon, and I happen to own the place. Legitimately. And Audrey rents the apartment upstairs. I don't think she'd mind if you stayed there. I'll crash on the couch in my office."

James followed silently as Duke retrieved his spare key from inside the restaurant and then led him up to Audrey's apartment. "I really hope there's not still a dead guy in here," he muttered as he unlocked it, remembering finding Mario on the floor and Audrey gone.

But the apartment was undisturbed, and Duke allowed himself to survey it quickly, letting the Audrey-ness of it all sooth him. She wasn't much for decorating or accumulating stuff but she'd still made the space her own. They'd spent a lot of nights out on her deck, nursing a couple of beers while he searched for ways to distract her from her destiny and make her smile.

He had to stop thinking of that. Shaking himself from the reverie, he gave a brief tour. "Couch, bedroom, bathroom." It was a small space, and self-explanatory to navigate.

Duke was about to leave when he realized what had been bothering him since the two of them had been left alone together. "Hey, do you feel all right?"

James looked back at him skeptically, as if trying to figure out how that was a trick question. "Uh, yes. Why?"

"Because you didn't, last time. You got sick, and Arla had to bring you back to the barn. But I don't think that's going to be an option anymore."

"I feel fine. A little tired, that's all."

"How long did it take before?"

"I didn't feel quite right when I woke up. After three or four hours I could barely move."

"It's only been what – an hour? Maybe I should stay close."

"That isn't necessary," James protested.

"Look, if anything happens to you Audrey will kill me. Not literally," he clarified. "But first she'll yell at me, and then she'll make me feel so guilty that I'll wish I was dead. So if you start feeling strange – at all – you need to come down and wake me up and we'll have to figure out what to do."

"Yes, Uncle Duke."

Duke chuckled. "So you do have a sense of humor after all. I'll keep that in mind. Good night."

He'd never felt so excited to sleep on a couch. It had been an endless day, and like he'd told James he had a feeling things in Haven were going to be even dicier than usual for quite awhile. He was still worried about Nathan, still anxious about how much time had passed while they'd been gone. But such concerns would have to wait until the morning.

/*/

He awoke to his cell phone buzzing and snatched it groggily from the table. The message was from Nathan's number, but the smiley face after: "We'll be over in 30 mins. Breakfast, please?" seemed like Audrey's handiwork.

"Anything 4 u, sweetheart," he texted back, hoping Nathan would see it. He'd tried to put on a brave front for Audrey, but he'd been worried about Nathan. He wasn't sure he'd ever be able to forget the way he'd collapsed in his arms, eyes wide with shock and desperation. He wasn't sure which was more frightening – all the blood or the fact he'd charged Duke with rescuing Audrey instead of attempting to go after her himself. Without pain to stop him, he must have been in bad shape not to fight his wounds.

But if Audrey was swiping his phone and using emoticons then surely everything was well. He re-read the message, just to reassure himself, and noticed the timestamp in the bottom corner.

"Shit!"

They'd been gone two years. Duke ran a hand through his hair and tried to fathom that. He'd left Haven for longer than that back before the Troubles returned, but he'd traveled the world in that time – smuggled, swindled, even gotten married. This time he'd spent half an hour in a burning barn, and that was it.

Nathan had spent two years alone, picking up the pieces.

He didn't envy the guy one bit.

Feeling unsettled, Duke made a few calls before going upstairs to check on James. He was half afraid he'd find him passed out and feverish. Instead he found him sitting on the couch halfway through one of Audrey's vampire novels.

"Bet they didn't have those in the eighties," Duke said with a laugh. James blushed and shut the book, turning it over so Duke couldn't see the cover. But the damage was done. Duke knew the kind of drivel Audrey read. He'd teased her about it more than once.

"Is it normal now for women to idolize falling in love with monsters?"

"Apparently. Though everyone should just move to Haven. They'd get over that real fast." Duke shook his head. "How you feeling?"

"Fine. Normal."

"Great. I got a text from Audrey. She found Nathan. They'll be over soon."

James cocked his head. "A text?"

"Man. Someone's going to have to give you a lesson on the twenty-first century. It's like a note, on my phone."

"Your phone sends you notes?"

James confusion was too funny. "Just wait until someone shows you the internet." Duke realized that would probably be him, and found himself not minding.

"I'm going to make us some breakfast. Come down when you want."

One of his contacts had dropped off some rations while he was upstairs, and he grabbed the bags and headed to the kitchen. He was a little afraid to see what state the place would be in after two years, but the kitchen was tidy, albeit a bit dusty. He'd told the kid he'd owned the place – but that had been two years ago. He had a few loans, and after two years of missed payments surely the bank had come calling. It was curious they hadn't bothered to clean out the apartment upstairs. But it was quite likely if they lingered too long they'd run into the new owners. The uncertainty of that excited him—he'd be sure to cause a scene—but he'd have to figure out a way to get the place back. Maybe he was going soft, but he was fond of the Gull, even if he had other ways to stay afloat.

Assuming he hadn't lost his boat too.

The cooking soothed him, as it always did. Sometimes, as Audrey pulled him deeper and deeper into the nonsense with the Troubles he'd disappear into the kitchen for the night and help the chef with the orders just to clear his mind.

Everything was nearly ready when he heard the restaurant door open and Audrey call, "Anybody home?"

Duke turned off the griddle and emerged from the kitchen to find Nathan and Audrey hand and hand in the doorway. She was grinning so widely it was impossible not to smile back, but Nathan was surveying him with some intense, awkward gaze he couldn't interpret. But he looked whole and fairly well, and Duke figured maybe it wouldn't be a bad day after all.

"Morning." It was early afternoon, actually, and Duke considered making a comment about what had kept them occupied for so long, but he decided to let it pass just this once. Truth was they deserved some time alone together, and he'd been asleep until she texted him anyway, so it's not like he'd expected an early start.

Audrey stepped forward and Nathan followed until they both settled on stools at the bar. "It's good to see you, Nate."

"Likewise." His gaze may have held volumes of meaning, but he had apparently reverted to his typical monosyllables.

Audrey rolled her eyes and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Please tell me breakfast is ready, because I am starving!"

They were interrupted by the door opening again as James entered. Nathan and Audrey turned around to look at him and everyone froze.

Duke got the feeling everything was going to be extremely awkward for a very long time.

"Hello," Audrey said in that tentative tone she always used when approaching someone who was Troubled.

"He's okay then?" James asked, staring pointedly at Nathan.

"Yep," Nathan answered.

The discomfort was palpable, and Duke wanted so badly to laugh. "Okay. Breakfast, coming up!" he chirped, turning back into the kitchen.

When he emerged again with three plates of waffles James had taken a seat next to Nathan. He set them down in front of James, Audrey, and the empty place beside her and watched as Audrey's face lit with delight and James's turned into a scowl. "I prefer pancakes," he sulked.

Duke couldn't stop his laughter at that. "Course you do," he said before turning back again.

He emerged with a pitcher of maple syrup and a heaping stack of pancakes, which he set in front of Nathan. He turned to James. "Maybe your old man will share."

"You told Duke," Nathan said in an even tone that didn't betray how he felt about that.

"Yep," Audrey replied.

Duke was about to take a seat and start his own breakfast when Nathan reached out and grabbed his wrist. "Thank you," he said, and Duke shied from the sudden heaviness of his tone.

"I'm going to let you in on a little secret," he said, leaning close. "It's the same recipe."

To his right, Audrey snorted.

"Not for the pancakes." The admission hung in the air, and Duke couldn't retreat because Nathan was still holding on. "For bringing Audrey and James back."

A year ago Duke would have had a smart-ass comment waiting on deck, but this morning his wit deserted him in the face of Nathan's raw honesty. He stood gaping for a few beats too long before managing a sincere, "You're welcome."

Nathan released him and he scurried back to his seat.

Audrey's grin was wide and a little bit cheeky. "My guys, getting along. Must be a day for miracles." She slipped a hand into her jacket pocket and pulled out her cell phone. She put her arms around both men and held the phone out in front of them. "Smile," she commanded, and the phone was flashing in his face before he really knew what was happening.

"What was that for?" Duke asked, trying to blink the spots from his eyes.

"Just something I want to remember."

Suddenly he wanted to pinch himself for not putting it together sooner. "I've got some pictures of the last eight months, you know." He pulled out his own phone and flipped through the photos. "You at your birthday party, before people started getting killed. Nathan showing off the worse dance moves ever the day he got demoted. The two of you sitting at my bar, making goo goo eyes at each other."

"That isn't—" Nathan started, but when Duke pushed the phone in front of him and he saw the photo in question he couldn't deny it. They'd come by for drinks after a long case, and the way they'd been looking at each other Duke had expected to find Nathan's Bronco still there the following morning. But apparently Wuornos was incapable of making a move even if the opportunity was looking him right in the eye.

He brought out a pot of coffee and watched as Audrey pulled it from Nathan's hands, pouring him a cup and then testing it before setting it in front of him. "Give it a minute," she advised, and Duke was struck by the intimacy of the gesture. Yet there was no awkwardness in it, as if it was something they'd already done countless times. Duke had forgotten that Nathan wouldn't be able to feel temperature.

They spoke of trivial things while they ate, and Duke appreciated the levity that had become so hard to come by. At one point he caught Audrey silently snickering, and from the glances she kept sneaking his way he got the strange suspicious she was laughing at him.

"What's so funny?"

She giggled, and then covered her mouth with her hand and shook her head. "I'm sorry. It was an awful day, but I keep thinking about how excited you were to make Chris Brody waffles over and over again."

Duke scowled, even though it was good to see Audrey laugh. "I cannot believe neither of you told me about his Trouble."

"That's because it was hilarious," Nathan deadpanned.

Nathan still had half a pancake left. He slid it over to give to James, but once their plates touched James reached out a hand to stop him. "It's okay. You eat it."

But Nathan's eyes had gone wide and he'd frozen in his tracks.

James narrowed his. "Are you okay?"

"I felt that."

"Yeah. Sorry. But I'm full. You should finish those."

"No. You don't get it. I don't – I can't feel anything."

Now Audrey's eyes had gone wide and she clutched onto his shoulder.

"What?" James asked.

"That's my Trouble."

"You can't feel anything? Just me?"

"And your mother."

There were a lot of comments Duke could have made about that, but Audrey blushed and he let it go.

"You've never lost your sense of feeling? Even temporarily?"

"No," James answered.

"Thank God," Nathan said, voice thick with relief. "Troubles usually run in families. They kick in during times of emotional stress. But if everything with Arla and the barn didn't set you off then maybe you're okay."

"Maybe he got Audrey's Trouble instead of yours," Duke suggested.

"I asked Howard if I was Troubled," Audrey said. "He said I wasn't."

"He also said he was your boss at the FBI. Are we really believing that guy now?"

"One way to know for sure."

Nathan reached out to stop her but Audrey was too quick. She ripped off a scab on the top of her hand and then pressed the bleeding sore against Duke.

The reaction was instantaneous. He felt the surge of adrenaline, the power coiling in his muscles and the weird pressure in his eyes. He gripped onto the bar and took steadying breaths, waiting for it to pass.

"Don't like that," he finally muttered when his head began to clear.

"Sorry," Audrey said

"What's going on?" James asked.

"Duke gets like that when he touches the blood of a Troubled person."

"So if Audrey's Troubled, did she come to Haven that way?" Duke pondered.

"No. The shadow killer," Nathan said. "He had her and the Teagues cornered, and she called me for backup. It was after that I noticed I could feel her. She tackled me when we first met, and I didn't feel anything. And Hannah's boy wrapped her in a cocoon on our second case. She didn't come here with the Trouble. It kicked in, like with everyone else."

"So what does that mean?"

"No idea. But I know the first people I'm going to ask."

"They won't talk to you," Nathan warned. "They've been pretty mad ever since everything with the barn went south. Vince is in hot water with the Guard, and Dave's barely speaking to him."

"Well, they're going to talk to me, one way or another. Cause this time I've got an answer for them."

"Before you head off on that crusade I've got a present for you," Duke said. "Close your eyes."

"Really?" Audrey asked.

"Really."

He made sure she wasn't peeking before he went back into the kitchen and returned with a white pastry box. She felt out the dimensions before opening her eyes and flipping it open with a squeal: one dozen perfectly frosted cupcakes from Rosemary's.

She hopped off the stool and threw her arms around him. "Thank you! This has been such a cupcake week."

"I kinda figured," he said, taking advantage of the rare opportunity to breathe her in. If nothing else he could still make her smile.

She'd devoured two of them quicker than he thought humanly possible before she realized courtesy dictated she should share. Duke declined the offer; he'd had enough sugar in his breakfast to last all day.

"Cupcake?" Audrey asked Nathan, but when he told her "No thank you," she started giggling. He let her go on for a few moments, caught between a frown and a smile. "Shut up," he finally said.

Duke was obviously missing something. And he so didn't want to know.

When Audrey passed a cupcake to James he took it. He removed the wrapper carefully and then turned back to Audrey with a searching look. "Lucy loved cupcakes," he said.

"There are certain things that are always the same, no matter her memories," Nathan said, and Duke was shook by his certainty. He'd met Sarah, but he couldn't honestly say she and Audrey were the same. The hair and the accent and the fact she and his grandfather were trying to kill each other had all been a little distracting.

"Well, it's nice to know that I always have good taste."

He wasn't sure how she lived with the knowledge that she'd been so many people, caught in a perpetual cycle of borrowed time. It was no wonder she'd begun to unravel once he'd found out about the Hunter – but she still always tried to act so strong.

"I'm going to head upstairs. I need a shower and a fresh change of clothes – feels like I've been in these forever."

He could already see her mind racing, ready to launch her into the next crisis the Troubles presented. He didn't feel ready for that; he didn't know how she could possibly be. "You can take a day off, you know. Maybe spend it in bed."

Nathan choked, and Duke appreciated the opportunity to laugh. "I'm sorry guys, I tried to be good – but really."

Audrey shook her head, but she wasn't smiling. "I'll have you know the last time I took a day off Haven did get caught in a time loop, so the theory that the world won't crumble if I'm not working is not necessarily sound. And we may be back but this is far from over. We have to figure out how to stop the Troubles – and that means finding a lot more answers than we were able to before."

She grabbed her cupcakes and practically stomped off. Duke waited until she'd shut the door and was definitely out of earshot before turning to Nathan. "Is she okay?"

"Think so." Nathan stared at the door she'd left through. "She's worried about what happened in Haven while she was gone."

"What did happen?"

Nathan shook his head. "Nothing good."

Duke would help them pick up the pieces but he didn't envy them the responsibility. If not for Audrey he'd get the hell out of this town, his father's last request be damned. There had been some allure in Arla's promise that if Audrey was gone, the Troubles would stop. He didn't want Audrey gone, but he did want life to go back to normal almost as much as he wanted her to stay. It wasn't right that he'd been in far more danger in his tiny hometown than when he'd been smuggling contraband around the world.

"Let me know what I can do."

"You know, after two years those parking tickets are going to be pretty outrageous."

"This isn't about that." He was surprised that he was able to admit it, but it seemed like time he and Nathan stopped bullshitting each other. "Audrey got them all thrown out a few weeks before we left, anyway."

"Then what's it about?"

"If we're going to stop this thing we need to work together this time. All of us." He glanced significantly at James, who was trying to look inconspicuous as he eavesdropped. "We made a real mess of it last time. Not trusting each other. Keeping secrets." He couldn't stop his gaze from going to Nathan's arm, where he knew that damned tattoo was hidden under his shirt. There had been few things in his life that had hurt more than seeing it on his friend's arm.

Nathan covered the offending area with his other hand, as if that could hide what he'd done. "I had my reasons."

"And so did she. Doesn't matter. It didn't work out so well. That Jordan. She turned out to be a classy broad. Shooting you in the back. Literally."

"That's none of your business," Nathan growled.

"When Audrey came crying to me about it, it kind of became my business. And it was my business when I had to catch your bleeding body and leap in after her because you couldn't."

He expected Nathan to slug him. Normally he was all for a good brawl to work out some aggression, but fighting with Nathan was so unsatisfying since Duke was the only one who felt the repercussions.

But Nathan just stared at him with his jaw clenched, daring him to continue.

"Just don't hurt her again. That's a warning."

He held Nathan's gaze for a few tense seconds. Once he was convinced he got his point across he turned to gather up the dishes.

"Look, I need to figure out what happened to the Gull while I was gone, but really, call me if there's anything I can do."

"You don't have to worry about the Gull." There was something odd about Nathan's voice, like someone was pulling a confession from him.

"I think the laws of modern economics would say differently, but don't worry, I'll figure it out. No one came to kick us out to start the grills for lunch, so maybe it didn't get sold. Though really, not sure why anyone wouldn't want to buy my baby – unless they thought it was haunted or something."

"Can't buy something when the owner's not selling."

"Yeah, but banks tend to get in a selling mood long before two years pass."

"Not if they're getting their payments."

The truth clicked and left him staggering.

"Nathan…" Because no one did things like that for him. Sure, his father had given him a boat once, in a roundabout way, but that had come with a charge to continue the family legacy as a Trouble killer. He was sure Nathan's strings wouldn't be nearly as dastardly.

"You went after Audrey. For me. Least I could do was make sure your life was still in order when you got back."

"Even if it took twenty-seven years?"

"Hope you negotiated better terms on your loans than that. I know how much you overcharge for booze."

Duke ran a hand through his hair, unsure of what to say. A few minutes ago he'd read this man the riot act and now he owed him so much more than pancakes.

"I can write a check but I don't know how to run a restaurant, so I had to close the place down. Your staff had a damn good end of the season party, though. And the Rouge is down at the docks. Someone checks on her every once in a while to make sure she's still seaworthy."

"Thank you." There was really nothing to say besides that, but he was aware how insufficient it was.

"You watched out for her when I couldn't." And it was more than that moment with the barn. It was Jordan and the Guard and Colorado, and changing her locks and bringing her cupcakes and making her smile while he was buried in some infiltration mission that got him nowhere.

"We'll keep her here this time," he swore, because it would always come down to Audrey now, and he realized he was fine with that. He'd never before had anything to fight for except himself. Between the two of them there was nothing that could tear her away again.

/*/

Author's Note: This chapter was also supposed to include a Nathan/James scene, but it got too long. Stay tuned for that … and possibly a whole lot more if people are still interested. Turns out this might have a plot after all.