Author's note: Two quick things. 1st, This is quite a bit shorter than the last chapter so sorry about that. 2nd, I told you that this one would get posted quicker than the last. Oh, and thanks to eeryone who reviewed last chapter. Enjoy.
The Hand You're Dealt
Remember a while back when I said that Nathan and I have these natural roles that we fill but that we occasionally switch? Yeah, well it happened again. On our latest case it was Nathan that was sure there was something other than normal responsible for the death of our victim. I, on the other hand, looked at the evidence at hand and saw it as a simple, albeit tragic, accident. Of course he was right, yet again. He has great instincts and now that he is willing to see the supernatural he follows them far more often than when I first set foot in Haven. I just wish the Chief would see, or acknowledge, how well Nathan deals with Troubled cases. Organizing my notes to finish up the case file, I find myself thinking back on the first case we worked where Nathan was the one expecting supernatural causes.
***Haven***
It was just a couple of days after the fiasco on Carpenter's Knot, and things were weird between Nathan and me. I would find him just looking at me or invading my personal space while being very careful to avoid any actual contact and it was starting to worry me. In fact I remember asking him several times that week if he was alright and telling him that he was acting odd. On top of that, after Duke decided to reveal his knowledge of Lucy, he decided – with a lot of prompting on my part – to help me find some of the other people in the Colorado Kid picture. Needless to say, when the principal of the local high school's car blew up killing her, I was slightly more than a little distracted and was more than willing to take the fire marshal's "no foul play" (as Nathan would say) theory at face value. Nathan on the other hand, was not going to just let it go. He pushed for us to follow up the investigation because he had a gut feeling. Julia later pointed out over our weekly girls' night that from where she was standing it seemed almost like a lovers' spat when we were discussing whether or not to pursue the investigation. At the time I called her crazy; now I'm not so sure she was wrong. Either way a simple offer of coffee seemed to set us on solid ground again – well as much as Nathan's weird hovering thing allowed for us to be to begin with.
I still wasn't completely into the investigation or possibility of it being anything other than what it looked like when Duke showed up to go talk to the, what turned out to be, completely loony photographer. Still, I felt guilty leaving Nathan to follow up on all of the paperwork while I was off doing my own thing – with Duke no less. I think the only reason I ended up leaving at all was how earnest Nathan was when he told me to go; not that that left me completely guilt free. A phone call to my partner once I had dropped Duke off made me feel a lot better though, and even allowed me to laugh over the sad mental state of Crane. Then again Nathan has always had this amazing ability to make me feel better about just about anything.
I was having drinks with Julia at the Gull when we got the call later that night about Zander literally boiling to death in the community pool. As much as I hated to, I had to grudgingly admit that it wasn't normal. Add to that the fact that there was a clear connection between the two deaths that day, and I had to concede that Nathan was right to push for further investigation. I still had no idea what we were dealing with or how it was possible, but then again when do we ever understand things that early in an investigation around here. Troubles related or not, though, it would have to wait until morning, so Nathan and I came up with a plan of action for the next day, shook on it, and went home to try and get a few hours of sleep.
***Haven***
Looking to the clock, I notice that I have just enough time to run home and change before meeting up with Nathan, Julia and Duke at the Gull. Our weekly Justice League dinners, yes I admit I am a total nerd, have become one of my favorite parts of the week. For a girl that never had more than a friend or two for longer than a few months, it's really nice to have a standing weekly date with three people who have become really good friends to me if not entirely to each other. On the drive back to Nathan and my house, I find myself thinking of how our odd little group dinners first came about.
***Haven***
It was during the same case with the fire starter, who we originally thought was Duke's old babysitter Vanessa but turned out to be the troubled Matt. It was after we had put together the vague images Vanessa had been having and found the boy at the Dockside Greens. Matt, sadly, was Troubled in more ways than one. He was afflicted and had the ability to set things on fire and blow them up, but he also was one of the few afflicted people I have come across who wasn't repentant over what they had unknowingly done. He actually thought it was cool that he could be like a villain in a superhero movie. It still breaks my heart a little to think about him and the fact that I killed him. I may not have set him on fire directly, but I did cause him to get so worked up that he literally imploded. It was also my fault, regardless of what Nathan says, that Vanessa ended up dead. If I hadn't triggered her affliction in the first place by bringing up the Colorado Kid, she wouldn't have been in that field to be killed.
But if I hadn't triggered her, all of those kids probably would have died that night. Moreover, she would probably never have remembered and revealed what she knew about the Colorado Kid's murder or the connection it would have to Duke's own death. That little, ok not so little, revelation is what brought the four of us together. While sitting around drinking and commiserating about the events of that night, we managed to piece it together. Duke revealed what Vanessa had told him about how he would die. That in turn reminded me that she had seen something very similar before the Colorado Kid had died. The lynch pin was provided by Nathan though, when he figured out that the tattoo on the inside of the man's forearm was the same we had found on Helena's first victim. It really shouldn't have surprised any of us sitting at that table that the Troubles were somehow innately connected to the four of us or that we would be the only ones able to, hopefully, bring an end to them, but it did. It all seemed to come back to the Colorado Kid. Vanessa had been there because of what she saw, and she saw the same fate for the boy in the picture – who just happened to be Duke. Nathan's first experience with the numbness that plagues him now began around the same time as that murder. Then there is me, who's somehow related to Lucy Ripley – the woman standing next to Duke in the picture. Finally there is Julia, who while not having a direct connection like the rest of us, is as vital to the fight we have now as Eleanor was to it the first time around.
***Haven***
By the time I reach the house, I have come to the a familiar conclusion – whatever is going on and however long it takes, we will find a way to beat the Troubles. I don't know how I would be able to deal with this day in and day out if I didn't truly believe that. Well that and the fact that the majority of these meetings of ours are less about finding the mysteriously tattooed man and more about relaxing and unwinding, helping each other shake off the Troubles for an hour or two, and giving us a brief respite of being normal people in this less than normal town. Shaking the toughts away, I make my way to the Gull to enjoy a little piece of normal.