Jean here! I went back to school, so I dunno when Duke will be checking in again. Sorry about that you guys. But he has my password, so who knows? Maybe he'll update for me while I'm swamped with term papers. I'm taking astronomy this term- pretty excited about that.
Uh… let's see. Don't own the show on Syfy, even if it's about this pretty cool gal I know… but I don't own it. All rights reserved , yadda yadda yadda. You know the drill…
SyFyFan2012: From all of us here in Haven (well, I'll let you in on a secret- I'm not in Haven right now. But I'm going home this weekend!) thanks a bunch! We (or at least I) really appreciate it!
STforRK: Pretty crazy first day in Haven, huh? But, yeah, I got my paper written, thank goodness. I didn't exactly want to explain to my teacher that I didn't finish my homework because I was too busy being put in hostage situations… No, I think I got a B on it. Not my best work at such late notice, but better than nothing.
KK161990: Thanks! I felt pretty proud of myself too! But, yeah, you're right, mocking him wasn't the best idea…I lived to tell the tale, but definitely learned my lesson!
BrokenDarkFire: I don't exactly know how to respond to this, but I appreciate that you enjoy it! I'm just kind of writing what I remember and running with it, so that's probably why my 'voice' is so informal… I mean, I don't really know how Duke, Aunt Audrey and Uncle Nathan were before I met them, but I've seen their show, and they still act pretty much the same today…
Missy Prissy: Aww, thank you! You're review kinda made me miss Duke, but it's ok. I gave him a call when I got it, and I'm going home this weekend! You telling me that you can tell I'm his daughter? That just totally made my day, because my dad is my role model! (And Duke says thanks for making me miss him, because he enjoyed talking to me and missed me too. He owes you one.)
Onward!
"Hit me." Jean declared, surveying her hand. Duke slid another card over to her, and she frowned.
"Do you want another?"
"Nah. I'll stand." She replied glumly, and Duke grinned.
"All right, show your cards." He declared, flipping over his. They added up to twenty, and the way Jean was carrying on, she probably went over. "Take that, Jean Bean!"
"Twenty-one!" Jean cried, slamming down her hands. "And that's how you play a game of cards!"
"What!" Duke cried, adding up her numbers in his head. He came to the same conclusion that she did, and frowned. "Dang it!" he cried, handing her a bag. They'd decided to use potato chips to play with, instead of poker chips. Jean grabbed a chip and set it on the table.
"So, how was your day?" Duke asked. "The kids any better?"
"Yeah. They mostly just left me alone. I think they got it all out of their system yesterday."
"That's good." Duke nodded, dealing her again. "Did you talk to Tessa?"
"I did! She's a real peach. A bit shy, but she's a sweetheart. I'll stand."
"Good. Tessa's cool. I'll stand too. What'd you get?"
"17." She declared, flipping her hand over.
"19!" Duke hollered. "In your face, sweet child of mine!"
"Shoot!" Jean laughed, as Duke snatched up a chip. He grinned, and reached into a bag that had been resting by his feet, pulling out some sort of a red cloth and tossing it at her. Jean raised an eyebrow. "What's this?"
"A bandana." Duke smiled. "Like a pirate. Put it on!"
"Alright…" Jean said patiently, expertly tying it around her head. Duke didn't even want to ask how she knew how to tie it without his help. "So… what now?"
"Oh, I got you a whole costume." Duke shrugged, handing her the bag. She took it from him, raising it up in the air questioningly.
"Explain…"
"I promised a little girl once that when I found my own little girl again I'd turn her into a Miss Pirate, so she'll be just like me." Duke shrugged. "I keep my promises."
"Who was she?" Jean asked, rooting through the bag and putting on an eye-patch. "And why did she think you were a pirate?"
"I live on a boat, don't I?" He replied with a grin. "I'm totally a pirate. And her name is Ginger. She was Troubled, and I was watching her while Audrey and Nathan looked for her dad. She wanted to know if I had any kids, and I told her about you."
"Well… A promise is a promise." Jean shrugged, taking the bag and heading below deck momentarily. She reappeared dressed in brown trousers, black knee high boots, a large white tunic, brown lace up vest, plastic sword strapped to her waist, tri-corner hat resting a-top her bandana, and copious amounts of gaudy jewellery. "I feel like I'm dressed for a Halloween party."
"Aye, ya look it too." Duke replied. "But I can't let you be a pirate all alone, lassie."
"Ok, you're weird." Jean stated, as Duke ran off to find his own pirate garb. "What do we do now?"
Duke sat back down at the card table, adjusting his own bandana and shrugged. "What pirates do best, I suppose. Gamble."
"I thought pirates plundered things best." Jean declared, raising an eyebrow. "Hit me."
"You got it." Duke replied, sliding a card her way. "And I'm getting too old to plunder."
"You're kidding me! This from the man who's sailing off to Russia to track down the guys who've tried to kill me twice. There's no way you're too old. Hit me again."
"Uh-huh." Duke acknowledged, handing her another card. "I kind of like being on the right side of the law right now. Ol' Nate's actually rooting for me."
"Just because he doesn't want you to die doesn't mean he's rooting for you. Doesn't he want to kill you himself?"
"Buzzkill." Duke frowned. "I ought to make you walk the plank."
"We don't have a plank." Jean snorted.
"We should get one." Duke mumbled, and then looked up with excitement. "We should get a plank, Jean!"
"Uh… I 'm gonna have to veto that one." Jean rolled her eyes. "You'd make me walk it too much."
"You're no fun!" Duke complained. "Can we at least get a canon?"
"Duke, you're ridiculous." Jean shook her head with a patronizing smile. "But I'm going to miss you while you're gone."
"I'm gonna miss you too, munchkin. But I'll be back soon."
"Yeah. What'd you get?"
"Uh… 13. You?"
"24." Jean groaned. "You win."
"Hah! Someone got greedy."
"Someone got a king." Jean snorted, miffed. "Are you all packed and ready to go?"
"Just about. Audrey and Nathan should be here any minute now. Don't have too much fun at their house, ok? Remember, they're the enemy. They like to have pancakes, and Sunday dinners and talk about their feelings and junk. They're like the perfect 2.5 kids with a white picket fence kind of family."
"And that's the enemy?" Jean laughed. "I'll stand."
"No! I'm losing ye already! You've gotta fight it, lassie! You can't pine for a nice little settled down family! We're pirates! We have adventures, and sail the open seas, and fight both the law and other pirates! You can't want to be confined to the American Dream!"
"No offence, Duke, but I'm kind of tired of fighting 'other pirates'. At least for now. I don't like getting held hostage too much, you know. You have to change things up a bit. Do they really have Sunday dinner?"
"Every Sunday at 3 pm. It's usually either a turkey or a ham. And they all pass the plates around and bless the food and Nathan cuts the bird/ pig, and it's all very Norman Rockwall-ish." Duke affirmed. "I'm sorry I got you into this… Show?"
"16."
"14. Dang!" Duke sighed, handing her a chip.
"What is going on here?" Audrey asked with a smile, boarding the Rouge.
"When did it turn Halloween?" Nathan added with a wry grin.
"We're pirates." Jean explained.
"For Ginger." Duke added.
"Ah." Audrey nodded. "The little girl who made you fall off the top deck of the Gull?"
"What?" Jean cried, twisting to look her dad in the face.
"She didn't mean to. I was playing pirates with her, and I… fell."
"How did you live through that?" Jean asked, astounded. Duke raised an eyebrow.
"This from the girl who got the crap beat out of her yesterday, and doesn't even have so much as a bruise today?"
"I heal. You don't." Jean stated looking him over. "Are you ok?"
"Kid, this was years ago. I'm fine." Duke rolled his eyes, grabbing a box off the deck. "Are you all packed?"
"I think so." Jean replied, holding up her bag.
"We'll give you guys a minute." Audrey declared, touching Nathan's arm. The two of them left the Rouge and walked down to the end of the pier. Jean bit her lip. She'd wanted to ask Duke something for a while, and even if it wasn't the most tactful moment, this might be her last chance.
"Duke?" She began hesitantly.
"What's up, buttercup?" He asked, motioning for her to go on, and Jean chewed her lip, measuring whether or not she actually wanted to hear the answer to her question.
"Have you… er… ever killed anyone?" She asked, and Duke set down his box slowly, looking at her.
"Why would you ask that?" He asked, and Jean already regretted asking.
"It's just… well, when Nathan picked me up from school yesterday, I threw it out there, just in a fit, you know? I was angry at how the kids were treating me and said something like 'It's not like Duke ever killed anyone, right?' And Nathan started acting really weird, and when I pressed him about it, he said I should take it up with you."
"Jean… you should sit down." Duke stated with a sigh, and Jean's eyes widened.
"Oh my God! It's true. You've-"
"No. Jean, listen to me." Duke interrupted, setting his hands on her shoulders. "It's not all black and white like that. There's… well, there's more to my Trouble than I've told you. When people in the Crocker family line kill a Troubled person, we can end the Trouble in their family line. A man… well, he literally forced my hand. I mean, he grabbed my hand and stabbed himself, to protect his family from his Trouble."
"So… it wasn't your fault?" Jean asked, and Duke shook his head.
"Jean, I gotta be honest with you. There was another."
"What?" Jean asked, leaning heavily against the rail.
"His Trouble… well, he killed family members and harvested their organs. He would have passed it on to his son. I had to protect his son from that."
"And now his son had to grow up without a father. I know how that feels, Duke, and I can tell you, I'd rather have a father that I'm disappointed in than no father at all. Because, trust me, it sucks."
"I'm sorry!" Duke raged. "But I left you in the hands of a loving family. You were supposed to grow up and have a good life. How was I supposed to know that Roger was just going to go die and leave you? Huh? How was I supposed to know he would die rather than raise you?"
He stared at Jean open mouthed as what he had said registered in his brain. Her eyes widened and brimmed with tears, as she stared at him in horror.
"I'm sorry, Jean. I worded that wrong. I didn't mean that. I'm so-"
Jean cut him off, slamming her fist into his jaw.
"No." she stated, her voice shaking. "You did. Roger was a good man, Duke. A good father. You could have learned a thing or two from him." And with that she turned, going ashore, and ran down the pier into the waiting arms of Audrey Parker. Duke watched, kicking over the card table, and sat down on the deck with a sigh, head in hands as Audrey and Nathan walked away with his daughter between them. He sighed, standing up and moving to the bridge to start up the Rouge.
"Well, here's your bedroom for the week." Audrey declared, showing Jean the room.
"Thanks, Aunt Audrey." Jean sighed, sitting on the end of the bed.
"Duke makes mistakes, you know." Audrey stated, sitting next to her. "He says stupid things that he doesn't mean. He's used to always being on the defensive, you know?"
"Yeah." Jean forced a small smile. "I'm kind of sorry I punched him."
"You do that a lot." Audrey frowned. "But you've got a killer right hook."
"Thanks." Jean sighed. "Audrey, what if he gets killed over in Russia and the last thing I ever said to him was that he was a bad dad, and a bad man?"
"Jean, he's not going to get killed. Do you remember how Nathan described Duke, your first night here?"
"He said something about Duke being a weasel who could worm his way out of anything." Jean replied, and Audrey nodded.
"As unflattering as it sounds, it's true. Duke always manages to get out of trouble."
"Well, that's good." Jean nodded.
"It's all going to be ok." Audrey soothed, hugging Jean.
"Am I going to get grounded for punching my dad?" Jean asked, and- Audrey grinned.
"Let's just say he deserved it, and call it even, ok?"
"Are you trying to be the cool Aunt?" Jean asked with a smirk, and Audrey tousled her hair.
"Darling, I'm your only Aunt."
"You actually pronounce the g?"
"What?" Audrey frowned.
"You say darling? I've ALWAYS said darlin'."
"Well, DARLING, not all of us are country girls." Audrey laughed.
"Too true." Jean shook her head. "Country folk are nicer."
"No way!" Audrey gasped, clasping her hand to her chest. "You said I was nice!"
"You are." Jean smiled. "So is Tessie. But, you know, there's so much more drama here. In Nebraska, a good punch to the face made everything better."
"And that's nicer?" Audrey asked, frowning.
"Yeah. We were all great friends." Jean shrugged.
"Well, if it works…" Audrey shook her head. "Where's Sadie?"
"Oh no, I forgot her!" Jean exclaimed, searching frantically for the stuffed rabbit. She stopped, looking up at Audrey. "How'd you know about her?"
"Duke talks about you a lot." Audrey admitted. "He really loves you. That's why I know he didn't mean to hurt you."
"Yeah, there's that." Jean nodded, momentarily distracted. "But… Aunt Audrey, I need Sadie. I can't sleep without her. I know it sounds silly, since I'm fifteen, and almost all grown up, but Lily gave her to me, Audrey. I need her! Lily says…" She broke off sadly. "Lily had a little girl before me. Her name was Molly. Sadie was supposed to be for her. She'd been in Lily's family for years. Her great grandmother owned her originally. But… Molly died the day she was born. That's why they adopted me, and Lily gave Sadie to me instead. I need her, Audrey. She's all I have left of my Other Family."
"I'll see what I can do. Is she still on the Rouge? Maybe Duke hasn't left yet."
"Yeah." Jean exclaimed, heart beating fast. "Can you call him?"
A knock at the door interrupted them. She looked at Audrey, who made no move to get up.
"Scott can get it. Sadie's more important. Let me dial…" She cut herself off, listening to the tone on the phone. "He's not answering." She swore. "Don't worry, Jean, if I have to, I'll call in the coast guard to stop him. You're going to get Sadie back."
"Jean! Mom! Door!" Scott yelled working his way down the hall.
"Who is it?" Jean asked, glancing at Audrey, who shrugged.
"Probably someone having Troubles. I'm on the clock 24/7, you know." Jean followed Audrey to the front door pulling it open to reveal Duke.
"You forgot Sadie." Duke declared sombrely, holding her out. "I know you can't sleep without her."
"Duke…" Jean breathed, taking the rabbit from him.
"And I couldn't leave with you mad at me." He concluded. "I lost you once, Jean, the day you were born, and I swore when I got you back that I'd never lose you again."
"I'm sorry I punched you." Jean bit her lip, eyeing the bruise on his face. "Here, let me…" She placed her palm flat on his face, and closed her eyes. Seconds later, the bruise was gone.
"Thanks, kid." Duke closed his eyes, trying to think of what to say. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have said that about Roger. I know he was a good man, and I know you loved him. I'm really grateful to him for raising you. I'm glad he was a good father when I couldn't be. And you're right. I could learn a thing or two."
Jean stared at him for a full minute, before rushing into her father's arms. He buried his face in her hair, and she tipped her small face up to look at him.
"I've been told I'm a pretty good teacher."
"And I'm more than willing to learn. Now, I've got to get to Russia if we're ever going to get the Mafia off our tails. I'll see you in a week, ok?"
"Don't be late." Jean smiled. "I love you, Dad." Duke stopped, turning around to look at her. She'd NEVER called him dad before.
"I love you too, Jeanie. Stay safe."