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

Author's Notes: This is all A/U, but would technically have to have occurred between the events of Exposure and Morbitity.

This only underwent a light beta, so any mistakes found are completely my own.

I'm updating a little early since it's the Super Bowl tomorrow.

Prompt: Chris Brody comes back to town during the time Audrey isn't immune to the Troubles

Summary: An old Trouble brings a new trouble for Nathan and Audrey

The Problem of Not Being Immune

He was worried. Plain and simple, he was worried. He had been woken this morning by her wracking cough. It came from the chest, and it sounded like parts of her were breaking apart. He rubbed her back as she coughed, hoping it would provide some comfort, but since he couldn't feel her anymore, he couldn't tell if what he was doing was eliciting good, or bad reactions. She was sitting up in bed, leaning over, coughing into her lap, and finally just got out of bed to get some tea. He knew she was doing it out of habit rather than out of relief. Nothing seemed to relieve that cough.

And then the overall theme of her new lack of immunity was also worrying him. As much as it hurt his heart, he could deal with not being able to feel her, but now she was just as susceptible to what the Troubles brought, making her that much more vulnerable to the town. And her being sick on top of it, wasn't helping.

She had rallied herself that morning though. Somehow, she had gotten dressed, and was ready to face another day. He insisted on driving though. He did most days anyways, but today he wanted to make sure she was in his sight as much as possible.

So when she mentioned halfway through the morning that she was going to walk over to Rosemary's to buy them a mid-morning snack, he tried to stop her. She of course would hear nothing of his concerns, and headed out the door. But now, it was heading into the early afternoon, and she still hadn't returned. He tried calling her a few times, but his calls went from ringing through to voicemail, to going straight to voicemail.

When the clock above him moved to 2pm, he decided he needed to go look for her. He'd never forgive himself if he found her collapsed somewhere and had been waiting for hours for someone to come find her.

As he climbed into the Bronco, he tried calling her one more time, and one more time it went straight to voicemail, doing absolutely nothing for his worry level. He found himself tapping his fingers on the steering wheel each time he was forced to wait at a stop sign for more than a few moments. Finally, he turned on the street that held Rosemary's, and he felt his heart skip a beat.

The front of Rosemary's was absolutely packed with people, with a few turning their heads together in shushed whispers. There wasn't anywhere near to park, so he drove down a few blocks, and felt himself almost sprinting to the bakery. Thoughts of a collapsed Audrey flooded his mind, even though the rational part of his brain told him that enough people in town knew her, so if she had collapsed, she would have either been at the hospital already, or he would have been called.

He started to push his way through the crowd, but it was so thick, he couldn't make much headway, so he took another approach. He pulled out his badge, and shouted to the crowd. "Haven PD. What's going on here?"

A boy that looked to be about twelve didn't even look as he answered, but instead kept bouncing on his tiptoes to try to get a better view of the bakery. "You didn't hear? Chris Brody is back in town. Isn't that awesome? I sure hope I get to see him."

Great. One more thing to deal with. As if there wasn't enough going on this week as it was. He sighed as he began crowd control, ignoring the curse words thrown his way since he was keeping people away from Chris Brody. That must be where Audrey was. She must have run into him at the bakery, and since she's Audrey, stopped to talk to him, and just lost track of time. She was too nice for her own good sometimes.

He finally made his way up to the front of the building, and sure enough, there was Audrey sitting at a table. He couldn't see who she was with, but he had a pretty good idea. The jealous comments coming from some of the women around him also confirmed his suspicions. As his angle of the situation shifted a bit, Nathan felt a familiar twinge in his heart, and this time it hurt much more than it did the first time he felt this. Jealousy hit fast and hard, with hurt following closely behind. With the new angle, he could see that not only was Audrey sitting at a table with someone, but she was entangling her fingers with the other person in a dance that is only reserved for people who are in love with each other. It's something he had done with her countless times. And that's when confusion hit. Why would she be doing that? And with Chris Brody of all people? He couldn't decide what to do. Should he just turn and walk away - assuming she had been playing with his emotions these past few months just to keep her busy until Chris came back? Or should he run in and demand answers from her?

His heart was pounding so hard he could actually almost feel it. He raked his fingers through his hair and took a deep breath. Sometimes realization hit quickly. Sometimes it took its time. For him, it was almost an attack. Audrey was no longer immune to the Troubles, which meant she would be just as enamored with Chris as everyone else was. No wonder she was still with him! He couldn't fault her for that. He had done the same thing the last time Chris was in town. Ok, this was an easy fix. All he would do, was march in there, walk straight up to her, pull her up and out the door, and never look back. She would realize her mistake, he would be able to watch that blush he loved so much creep up her neck, and then he was pretty sure she would try to make up for everything tonight. And that was a pretty good conclusion to this situation.

He took a step back towards the bakery to fulfill his plan when realization smacked him over the head. If Audrey wasn't immune anymore, sure, she would have fallen victim to Chris Brody's Trouble, but the fact that she was still there meant Chris had realized this as well, and was taking advantage of her. The last time those two had been in the same room, hadn't ended well, and a big part of it was Chris not being able to handle the fact that Audrey had been immune. Now that she wasn't, he was using it to his advantage. He was probably the one who made her turn her phone off. That son of a bitch.

New plan.

He quickly counted how many people were still in the area. This would require some tact after the fact, but it would be worth it.

He calculated where Chris would be sitting, made a mental check of where the other tables were in the bakery, and went for it. In three long strides, he was inside the bakery. One more, and with his left hand held up beside his eyes, he was looking at Audrey. Then, closing his eyes, and praying he calculated the distance correctly, he spun around and punched as hard as he could. He knew he had hit something, because his hand stopped moving, and he wasn't pulled forward under his own momentum. But in the split second before the sound made it to his ears, his blood ran cold that he missed his intended target. He was quickly rewarded however, with the satisfying sound of someone crashing to the floor, and several shouts and screams as people moved to help Chris up.

He turned his back to where the commotion was coming from and opened his eyes to see Audrey frantically moving in the same direction of the commotion. He caught her by the arms, and pulled her to the side, seeing the wild look in her eyes.

"Oh my god, Nathan! What have you done! I think you broke his nose!"

He couldn't help the feeling of smug satisfaction that flooded his senses, but he had to get her moving. "Parker, come on. We need to get out of here."

"No! Nathan, I need to help him. He's bleeding!"

He tugged on her, and had to practically lift her out of the building, but he finally got her out on the street, putting his hands on her arms again, and leaned in close. "Parker, focus. You're not immune to the Troubles anymore, and you just saw Chris Brody."

He watched her eyes shift from pure panic, to pure embarrassment, to pure defeat before she closed them and dropped her head. "Oh, hell."

He rubbed his hands up and down her arms, hoping to let her know it was ok, but he had to smile. "Hey, we've all been there."

She looked up and her lips twitched into a lopsided grin. "I can't believe you broke his nose."

He tried to be serious, but knew she would hear the delight in his voice. "Trust me. The guy has had it coming for months. You stay here for a minute. I need to go in and clean this up. I'm sure it doesn't look great that the former Chief of Police just dropped Haven's favorite person."

"Maybe I should come too. Just to help explain things."

He shook his head. "No. You're not used to not being immune. You stay here. I don't want you getting sucked in again."

She narrowed her eyes at him, but nodded her head. As he headed back inside Rosemary's, he could already see her working on the people standing outside, getting them to move on their way. He thought he heard her mention something about a potential gas leak in town that was making people act irrationally.

"I've already called the police. You can't just attack someone like that - especially someone as wonderful as Chris Brody."

Nathan looked at the old woman who stood in his personal space, waving a finger in his face. "I'm sorry ma'am. I was just informed there is a town-wide gas leak causing people to act irrationally. I wanted to come back to apologize to Mr. Brody, but please feel free to fill out a police report in regards to my actions."

The little old lady shook her head, and then looked over to Chris. "He's such a good man. I hope the doctors will be able to fix his pretty face."

He took a tiny step back at the fierceness in the old lady's eyes when she looked back at him, and watched her walk out of the bakery. The place was small, so it was difficult to navigate his way to the table without looking at Chris, but he managed. He sat down at the small table, keeping his eyes locked on the floor. He could see a set of boots, and knew that Chris had managed to climb off the floor, and was sitting at the table. "Chris."

"Nathan."

He heard a distinct nasal tone in Chris' voice which confirmed Audrey's suspicion that he had broken Chris' nose. He didn't feel bad about that. "You are more than welcome to file a police report about my actions today."

"As much as I would like to, I'm assuming you had a good reason for the unprovoked attack."

He nodded. "Audrey."

"Yeah, I had a suspicion after the second time your name showed up on her phone screen."

He could feel his blood start to boil. "So it was you who made her turn her phone off."

"Yes and no. I've found that a helpful suggestion goes a lot further for me than it used to."

It was getting frustrating not being able to look into his foe's eyes as he spoke. He wanted nothing more than to give Chris a look that could kill. "You need to stay away from her."

"Is that a threat?"

"It's a warning. She's not immune to the Troubles anymore. Don't even think of trying to take advantage of that." He heard sirens pierce the air, and knew it was time to leave. Someone had obviously called an ambulance for Chris. Not that he expected any less from those trapped in Chris' Trouble. As he walked away, he could hear Chris yell at him.

"Are you at least going to apologize about my nose? You ruined my perfect face!"

"Nope." And with that, he was out the door, and could finally look at something other than his own shoes.

"Nathan, I…"

He looked at Audrey and shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Come on, let's go to Haven Joe's. You still owe me a morning snack." He took her hand and led her down the street, his heart finally slowing.

"You know Dwight is going to talk to you about this, right? I mean, we did just tell people there was another town-wide gas leak."

He squeezed her hand a little tighter. "All the more reason you need to spring for pancakes."

He could hear her snort, so he pulled her against him. Her recent loss of immunity to the Troubles was going to prove much more difficult than he originally thought, but he would do anything to keep her safe.

Upcoming Prompt: Audrey is feeling insecure that she has no set of memories/life/family before Haven that are her own. (Courtesy of goldenbeautys)