Note: Many thanks for the incredible TRDowden1!
Ch. 4 Everyone's Changing
On the way to Haven, Duke told Todd about Audrey and her situation.
'Does that make sense to you?' Duke asked when he was done.
'I think so,' Todd said, as they entered the town and Todd looked around.
'It's fine if you're confused; I was confused,' Duke said. 'If you have any questions, just ask.'
'Okay.'
'Remember if we see her, she's Paige now.'
'Got it,' Todd said. 'So, who is Jewel?'
"Hope you don't mind, but we're going to stop to pick up Lizzie," Dwight said as he parked his truck in a parking slot next to a playground, then everyone exited.
'That's McHugh, another member of the Guard,' Duke pointed out, as they walked closer and Dwight waved to him.
'Whoa! He's huge!' Todd said, making Duke smile as the two larger men talked.
"Daddy!"
Todd and Duke watched Lizzie run up to Dwight, who picked her up and hugged her. Todd walked closer as Dwight put her down.
"Lizzie, this is Todd; he's Gloria's grand-nephew," Dwight introduced. "Todd, this is Lizzie, and my friend, McHugh."
"Nice to meet you, kid," McHugh said, shaking Todd's hand.
"Hi!" Lizzie enthusiastically greeted. She then looked at Dwight. "When can we play, Dad? You said we were going to play when you come back."
"How about you play with Todd instead?" McHugh suggested. "There are a few things your dad and I need to talk about first."
"Okay! Come on, Todd! Let's play!" Lizzie said, grabbing Todd's hand and lead him to the playground. Duke looked back at the adults.
"So what's this about William's goons?" McHugh asked Dwight, once the 'kids' were gone. He then noticed Gloria's and Dwight's incredulous stares. "What?"
Gloria then smacked Dwight's shoulder . "You didn't tell him?!"
"You didn't tell Nathan!"
"Tell me what?" McHugh asked.
"That's Duke," Gloria said, indicating Todd.
McHugh's face registered his shock, and he looked wide-eyed at Dwight.
"Uh, I'll buy you a drink later and tell you all about it," Dwight muttered.
"I think I may need several drinks," McHugh gasped, as Dwight lead him to the park benches.
Todd actually didn't mind playing with Lizzie; he enjoyed listening to her creative imagination, and Duke took this opportunity to rest. Right now, Lizzie the Lion-Hearted and Todd the Temperate were about to rescue the princess.
"We have to be quiet to sneak up to the dragon," Lizzie reminded Todd as they hid behind the bushes.
"Are you sure it's a dragon?" Todd asked, as he felt Duke come back. "I think some dragons are cool."
"It has to be a dragon," Lizzie insisted. "What else could kidnap a princess?"
"It could be a manticore," Todd suggested.
"What's a manticore?"
"A manticore has a lion's body, a scorpion's tail, and a face of a man," Todd explained. "It has three rows of fangs and eats human flesh."
"Whoa," Lizzie, said, impressed. "Then . . . yeah . . . it's definitely a manticore."
"Okay," Todd said. "So . . . I'll follow your lead."
Just as Lizzie crept around the bush, she bumped into a little girl, who looked younger than her, causing her to fall to the ground.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Lizzie apologized, as the girl's nanny came to their side, and Todd helped the girl back onto her feet. Todd then felt something strange from Duke.
'What's wrong, Duke?' Todd asked as he let the nanny looked over her charge.
'I don't know . . . I got this weird feeling when I . . . when we were close to her,' Duke said.
"Hey, do you want to play with us?" Lizzie asked the girl and introduced herself and Todd to her. Her nanny approved and Lizzie smiled. "Okay, you can be the princess we rescue from the manticore. What's your name?"
"Jean," the little girl said.
'Isn't that the name of your daughter?' Todd asked.
'Yes . . . but, no . . . okay, there are no coincidences in Haven . . . but still—' Duke said.
"Todd, hurry up! We need to stop the manticore from eating the princess!" Lizzie said, getting Todd's attention, tugging on his sleeve.
"Oh, sorry . . . you're right . . . lead the way," Todd said.
A few minutes after Lizzie the Lion-hearted and Todd the Temperate saved the princess from the manticore, Gloria, Dwight, and McHugh found them. Lizzie said bye to her new friend and ran to her dad to tell him about their heroic adventures, while McHugh walked up to Todd.
"Duke?" McHugh asked in low voice, and Duke nodded back. McHugh then looked at Gloria. "Does this mean the Troubles have returned?"
"So far we don't know," Gloria said.
"Why are you asking that?" Duke asked.
"Because that is your daughter," McHugh said, indicating the little girl who was hugging her nanny.
Todd felt Duke retreat deep into his mind.
'Duke?' Todd asked, concerned. 'Are you . . . crying?'
Gloria reached out and held Todd close.
"I know you're in there," she said into his hair. "Todd, can you let me talk to him?"
'Go,' Todd told Duke, who remained silent for a long moment before he spoke.
'I never...I never thought I would ever get to see her,' Duke finally said, sniffling.
'Talk to Gloria,' Todd urged, and he allowed Duke to come forth.
"Jean's adoptive parents died," Gloria told Duke. "When Addie found out, Beatty petitioned to adopt her back. She thought it would be safe now, since-"
"Since I died," Duke finished softly. He looked toward her. "She's beautiful."
"She has your eyes and hair," Gloria smiled. "Todd kind of does too. Sure he's not yours?" she teased. "Might explain why you ended up with him."
Gloria looked over Todd again; he did remind her of Duke. Expect Todd's nose was a little bit slimmer and his skin was slightly paler.
"Not that I'm aware of," Duke said, feeling Todd's protest. "But then again, this is Haven."
Todd looked around the police station as he followed Dwight, Lizzie, McHugh and Gloria. He noticed the door opened to the chief of police's office, and out came a woman with brown hair and a man with blue eyes, who was cooing over a baby he held in his arms.
'That's Audrey, well, Paige now,' Duke said as they watched Paige took the baby and placed him in a stroller, and gave Nathan a quick kiss on his cheek. 'Then the baby must be James."
Paige gave Todd a friendly wave and smile and he returned it as she left.
'That's Nathan,' he heard Duke tell him, as Nathan signaled them to come in.
"Lizzie, can you stay here with Laverne while we talk to Nathan?" Dwight asked his daughter as Laverne walked up to them.
"You can read my stories while you wait," Todd said, taking out some of his notebooks from his satchel and gave them to Lizzie. "I think you'll like the adventures of Dirk the pirate."
"Thanks, Todd!" Lizzie said and left with Laverne.
Dwight glanced at Gloria, and then at Todd.
"Any ideas on how to break this to him?" he asked.
"You were the cleaner, Duke says," Todd answered. "What does he mean by that?"
"Later," Dwight muttered. "Hey, Nate," he answered as they entered his office. "I'd like you to meet Todd."
"Hi, Todd," Nathan answered and shook his hand. "I heard about what happened with your parents - and we're going to do everything we can to stop those guys." He looked to Gloria. "Thank God you and Dwight were there at his house - they could have hurt him too."
"We weren't just there by sheer coincidence - there was a reason for our visit," Gloria began slowly.
"What I don't understand how they're here," Nathan went on, not getting Gloria's subtle hint. "The Troubles are supposed to be over."
'That's Nathan,' Duke said in Todd's head. 'He's a great guy, but sometimes, he's a little dense.'
"I don't know how they're here either, Nathan," Gloria sighed. "But right now, we have another issue on our hands. Have a seat, Todd," she gestured. "You too, Nathan," she added. "You're going to want to sit down for this."
Puzzled, Nathan did as she asked, Todd sitting down opposite him.
"Todd contacted me," Gloria said. "He sent me an e-mail, and told me that he'd been having very real, intense dreams, and now, he's been hearing a voice in his head."
"How did he get your e-mail?" Nathan asked.
"I'm getting to that, Nathan," Gloria told him. "The voice told him that he had once been a living person - that he came from Haven."
"He's hearing voices? He needs a therapist, Gloria, not the local coroner," Nathan told her.
'Let me drive. Please?' Duke asked Todd. 'Sometimes, you just have to hit him over the head with the truth.'
'Okay,' Todd said. 'Now I see why Dirk and Noel fought so much.'
'I never had a better friend than I did in Nathan,' Duke stated. 'But I'd be lying if I said we never fought with each other.'
"So who was this living person that he's supposedly been hearing?" Nathan asked.
"Me, Nate," Duke said, and Nathan looked at him strangely.
"My name is Chief Wuornos, kid," he said a bit sharply.
"And I always called you Nate, even though you hated it," Duke said. "And I remember how I used to pick on you in school like when we stuck sixteen tacks in your back. And the winter you broke your arm sledding and I took you to the hospital," he went on softly. "And I remember how we sat right out here in this hallway and talked and I told you I turned in McGuinness so you wouldn't quit the force," he went on, seeing the tears build up in Nathan's eyes and slip down his face. Duke made Todd lean forward and put his hand on Nathan's.
"I don't know how, but I landed in Todd after-"
"After I killed you," Nathan whispered, and Duke heard Todd gasp in his head. 'He KILLED you?!'
'There were some extremely extenuating circumstances,' Duke replied. 'But yeah, he did.'
"Duke?" Nathan asked, wiping his eyes.
"Yeah," Duke answered. "I'm here. For how long, I don't know, but - I'm here."
"Duke, there's—"
"Save the sappy speeches for later, I think we should return to figure out why Todd is so special," Duke said.
Dwight then nodded at McHugh who took out an old leather-bounded book which Duke recognized.
'The Crocker Book of Death,' Duke said and sensed Todd's confusion. 'It's the Crocker family journal.'
"One of your ancestors liked to do genealogy," McHugh said and opened the journal to a certain page and gave it to Duke. "He even researched where the Crocker family line split, and then we found this."
McHugh pointed to a line where the name 'Beale' was written.
"Todd, if you can hear me, the Beale family is a distant relative of the Crockers," McHugh said. "I don't know how many times removed, but you are."
'We're related?!' Todd said as he looked over the page.
'It looks that way, kid,' Duke said.
"How does this explain what happened to Todd? Is this Trouble of the Beale family?" Nathan asked.
"I don't know, he only list the families, not the Troubles," McHugh said and Duke returned the journal. "Maybe you should keep it for now, you might have better luck."
Duke just nodded and placed the journal in Todd's satchel and Nathan checked the time.
"Look, I'm meeting Paige for lunch . . . what are we going to do for Todd's living arrangements?" Nathan said.
"Well, since Todd is supposed to be my grand-nephew, it would make sense if he stays with me," Gloria said.
"Does that work for you, Todd?" Dwight asked and Duke let Todd back in control.
"Yeah . . . sure," Todd answered.
After lunch, Gloria let Todd to settle in, while she looked over Vicki's work while she was gone.
"Um, Dr. Verrano?" Todd asked in a soft voice, as he stepped into the room.
"Is something wrong?" Gloria asked, starting to get concern, as she went over to him.
"Well, Duke's asleep . . . well, he's a spirit and they don't need sleep—"
"Let's just call it sleep and make it easier on all of us," Gloria said and Todd nodded.
"I don't want to wake Duke up . . ."
"Kid, Duke and I had a conversation and you slept right through it," Gloria said. "Just speak normally."
"Okay," Todd said. "It's about Duke."
"What about him?" Gloria said as they both sat down.
"He doesn't want to answer my questions and he doesn't say why," Todd said. "And I think I should know . . . since . . . you know . . . we're related and he's in my body."
"Let me be the judge of that; what are your questions?"
"Why did Nathan have to kill him and who is Jewel in Haven," Todd said.
Gloria sighed deeply.
"I really think you should discuss this with Duke, but I'll tell you, rather than keep asking him about memories which are obviously unpleasant for him and making you both miserable," she said, swallowing hard.
"It doesn't sound like it was very pleasant for you either," Todd noted.
"I was there when Nathan - did what he did," she replied. "Duke was being controlled by a monster, who was making him do terrible things," she said. "Duke managed to get control of himself again briefly; but we all knew that it wouldn't last for very long before the monster took him over again, or killed him to make himself stronger. Duke knew that if he died, the Troubles in his body died too. He asked me to help him - end his life," she went on, her voice cracking. "But I couldn't bring myself to do it. So Nathan did. It wasn't easy for him. I don't think Nate's slept a full night since - and not sure if he ever will again."
Todd nodded, listening.
"And who's Jewel?"
"I think Jewel is, or was, Jennifer Mason. She was pretty special to Duke," Gloria told him. "She died."
'Yes, she was special to me,' Duke said harshly in Todd's head, waking up. 'So I think you could respect the fact that I don't want to talk about her just now instead of snooping behind my back.'
Todd ducked his head, embarrassed, and Gloria saw it.
"Hey! Don't be yelling at him," she admonished, growing irritated with him. "He deserves answers. The Age of Secrets died out with Vince and Dave Teagues," she said. "So welcome to the Age of Full Disclosure, Duke Crocker."