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

Author's Notes: Heads up – time shift again.

A big thank you to my beta who forced me to pull back on a few things in this chapter. She always calls me out on what I'm doing wrong, which ultimately makes this way better for you all.

Here's the promised Tuesday update!

A Proposition

"Ok, Bug. What have you got?"

Juliet furrowed her brow and then laid her cards down on the table in front of her. "Read'm in weep."

Duke was about to correct Juliet as to how to properly say the phrase as he watched her take a large gulp of her chocolate milk, but looking at her cards made him pause. "Damn it."

"You said a bad word."

Duke guilty looked up at Juliet. "You're right, Bug. That was a bad word. I shouldn't have said it."

"Daddy would get mad if you said that. Mommy would just wink at you and tell you not to tell Daddy."

The things Juliet would say made Duke laugh every time, and this time was no exception. "Really? I've known your Daddy to say a bad word or two in my time."

Juliet shook her head. "Daddy only says bad words when he's mad." She paused and looked down. "He's mad a lot. I hear him and mommy yelling. It makes me sad."

Duke was pretty sure his heart broke a little as he listened to Juliet. Her words were starting to crack as tears gathered in her eyes.

"Hey, Bug, come here."

Duke held his arms out as Juliet looked up and scampered off her seat across from him, and wrapped them around Juliet as she climbed into his lap. He held her as she sniffled, and looked up at the ceiling of the boat, trying to compose himself before speaking. In that moment, he was livid with Nathan and Audrey. They were so hell-bent on finding their son, they were ignoring the needs of their daughter. Even now, while it was great he was able to spend time with her, he only had the opportunity because they were off talking to their son. And would be for god knows how long. He already knew he'd be driving Juliet to school in the morning, too. So, even though her parents weren't there for her, he would damn well make sure he would be. Even if it meant defending those same parents he was currently cursing. "Your mommy and daddy are just really stressed out right now, Bug. You know how you can't feel things anymore?"

Juliet pulled back to look at Duke, and nodded.

"Well, there's a lot of people who are having things like that happen to them lately, and your mommy and daddy are the ones that fix them."

As he spoke, Duke suddenly had a nail of fear stab through him. Should he be the one telling Juliet about what's going on? Shouldn't this be coming from her parents? Truthfully, it should, but it was obvious they were keeping her in the dark, and even though she was so young, she deserved to know why her parents were suddenly acting differently than usual.

"They do?"

"Uh huh."

"How come they haven't fixed me then?"

Duke sighed. Sometimes, the kid was too smart for her own good. This wasn't going well, but then, it wasn't something he should have to be explaining. Every time he spent time with Juliet, he always felt a small pang of regret he hadn't found anyone yet to settle down with and have kids. Deep down, he was a kid person. He just understood them. But he had never found anyone he could see himself settling down with. Even Evi. Sure, they were married, but he couldn't really see himself having kids with her. There was a new girl who had recently come to town though who he could see himself being attracted to. He had overheard she was from Boston, and was in town trying to escape the craziness of the big city. Yeah, maybe her.

He shook his head to get his thoughts back on the girl currently sitting on his lap. "Because you have a special superpower, Bug."

"A special superpower?"

"Yeah. Your daddy has the same one, did you know that?"

Juliet's eyes went as round as saucers. She was fascinated by this turn of events.

When Juliet shook her head, Duke sighed, but continued on. "Yup, he can't feel things either. Well, except for your mommy."

"I can feel Mommy too!"

"I'm sure you can. Because that's your mommy's superpower. She's extra special. She's protected from everyone's superpower."

"Wow, really?"

"Mmm hmm."

"Do you have a superpower?"

Duke nodded. "I do."

"What's your superpower?"

"I can make other people's superpowers go away."

"Whoa, so just like Mommy and Daddy?"

Duke chuckled. Oh, this kid. "Kind of. We do it a little differently, but, yeah."

"So, since I have a special superpower, that means you can't take mine away either, right?"

"That's right. But I don't have my superpower right now anyways."

"Does that make you sad?"

Did it make him sad? On the one hand, it was nice being 'normal' and not have to worry about being caught up in everything. But on the other hand, he did kind of miss being needed, and getting out there and helping people. There were both pros and cons to having his Trouble, and he couldn't decide which column had more checkmarks in it, so he answered the only way he could think. "I'm not sure."

The two of them sat in silence for a few moments until Duke finally spoke. "Ok, Bug. I think it's about time for you to get to bed. You've got school in the morning."

Juliet shuffled off of Duke's lap and dropped to the floor. "Are you driving me to school tomorrow? Can I sit up front?"

Duke had to grin. Nathan would kill him for allowing her to keep sitting up front, but if that's what the Bug wanted, that's what she would get. "Of course. I'll pack you a lunch too, but let's get you in the shower first so we can get you washed before bed."

"Yay!"

Duke shook his head as Juliet ran through the boat toward his tiny bathroom, and quickly gathered up the cards from their poker game. He had to make sure he helped her, because otherwise, the kid would flood his tiny bathroom. She was used to having much more space than what his boat provided. But, it didn't matter. He would do anything for Juliet. That kid could make anyone smile.

Audrey's stomach was rolling, and if she had actually eaten anything that morning, she was pretty sure she wouldn't have been able to keep it down. Last night took an emotional toll on her, to the point where she was positive she was getting sick. All of the sleepless nights and anxiety were finally catching up to her, and of course, they were catching up at precisely the wrong time. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, trying to ward off the rolling waves of exhaustion that had been plaguing her for days. Today was worse than usual, but then, staying up until the wee hours of the morning would do that to a person. But she couldn't concentrate on her deteriorating health for long as sounds started to leak through her thoughts.

Audrey flicked her eyes over to Nathan, registering him quickly standing up, before she looked back towards the door of their office, standing herself to walk around her desk to see what all the commotion was about. She made it out of the door only moments before Nathan, and her eyes widened at the chaos erupting in the room, momentarily freezing her to her current spot. Thankfully, Nathan's reactions were still on point, and he quickly moved around her and into the melee.

Officers seemed to be coming out of the woodwork, and all were moving in to help restrain a man who was currently being taken to the floor. For a brief moment, Audrey could see a shock of black hair, and momentarily thought it was Duke, and wondered what he had done now to cause the ire of the entire Haven PD. But as people started moving positions, and Nathan was able to wade his way to the center of commotion, she could clearly see it was not in fact Duke, but rather, James, and her heart immediately started beating like a jackhammer.

"Break it up! Break it up!"

Nathan's voice lifted above the commotion, and stopped a few of the officers on the outer ring of people. The ones in the thick of it however, were still struggling to hold James, who was now no longer struggling. Audrey hoped he hadn't been accidentally knocked unconscious, but when she saw him lift his eyes to Nathan, she knew he realized he would be ok now Nathan was here.

Nathan reached forward and pulled one of the officers off of James. "Gregor, get back. Get off." Once he had managed to pry one individual off, the others were easier, and he was able to lift James back to a standing position.

"Boss! That's the guy you've been asking us to find!"

Nathan turned with anger flaring in his eyes to Gregor. "Thank you, officer, but that's no reason to wrestle him to the ground. I have him now. Get back to your station."

When Gregor refused for a moment, Nathan continued to stare him down, until Gregor finally gave up, and walked back to his desk in the bullpen.

"Some officers you have here."

Nathan glared at James who was dusting himself off, and readjusting his rumpled clothes, and grabbed his upper arm, dragging him towards Audrey's office. "My office. Now."

Audrey watched as the two men stumbled towards her open door, and followed them in, shutting the door behind her.

James shrugged Nathan off, and moved further into the office before turning around to face Nathan and Audrey. "You know, I came in here to propose something, but now I'm tempted to just walk on out and keep on walking."

Audrey could see Nathan's jaw tense, so she stepped between the two men. "James, I'm sorry about what happened. Everyone is just on edge right now because of the increase in Troubles, and truthfully, we've been hounding everyone to find you. They just got a little over excited to finally find you."

James snorted. "Yeah, they found me alright. They found me as I willingly walked in their front door."

Nathan raked his hands through his hair and had to turn away for a moment. Of all the stupid, unprofessional, ridiculous things his officers could do. He would have to have a talk with everyone once all of this calmed down. "Why are you here?"

James looked towards the old black couch sitting in the room, and plopped down on it. "I've been thinking a lot about our conversation last night, and I wanted to talk to you more. I want you to understand where I'm coming from."

He paused, and glanced towards Nathan before looking at Audrey, who nodded, encouraging him to continue. "I don't want to go back into the Barn. At all. But, I understand I'm the only person other than you who seemingly can be taken by the Barn. As a human, deep down, I'm naturally leaning towards self-preservation, which would ultimately mean forcing you to go into the Barn so I don't have to, but I've done my research on you, and know you have a family here. And, as selfish as I may be, I can't be selfish enough to break that family up. While the Cogan's may not have been my real family, they were a family to me, and I couldn't even imagine having to grow up without them. There were so many things that happened in my life where I needed them, and they were always there. I'm not sure how I would have become the person I am if they hadn't been there.

"So, because of that, I came here with a proposal. I want us to work to figure out how to stop the cycle of the Barn. I want us to sit down and go through the research. Leave no stone unturned. Together."

Nathan nodded as he listened to James' words. They were completely reasonable, and what he ultimately wanted as well. As much as his gut was screaming at him to do everything to protect his wife and daughter, deep down he knew he had to protect his son as well, and it was eating at him, because he just didn't know how to do that. He wasn't an idiot. He knew it would come down to saving his wife, or saving his son, with no grey area, and he wasn't prepared for that. He would give his own life before sacrificing one of theirs, but he knew he couldn't do that either, because without him, they would still be left with the Barn, and would be left without their protector. He was faced with an impossible choice, and it was making him sick. But, figuring this out together might just be what solves everything. With James on their side, maybe they could finally figure out the history of the Barn, and how to finally stop it, which would mean he wouldn't have to lose anyone. A small bit of hope started to bubble inside of him, and it was more than he'd felt in a long time.

"But, I have one condition of me helping you."

And just like that, the small bubble of hope inside of Nathan popped. If he could feel, he knew he would feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand at attention, and because of that, he absentmindedly started rubbing the back of his neck. His actions did not go unnoticed by his wife. "And what is that?"

"I want to spend a day with Juliet."

"Of course!"

Nathan winged his eyes to his wife's, and for once, couldn't figure out what she was doing. But then, of course he knew was she was doing. She wanted her family to be a family, and she inherently trusted her son, even though she had no plausible reason to do so. Nathan sighed. There was no point in overthinking this situation, or arguing at the moment. Audrey had made their decision, and he was going to go along with it – no matter how unsure he was.

"Great. We can start researching tomorrow, and I'll see Juliet this weekend since I'm assuming she'll be in school tomorrow."

Audrey nodded, and finally could feel her nausea sink away. Things were going to be ok. Her son was here, wanting to help, and was clearly showing an interest in being a part of the family. "That'd be great, James."

At that, James stood from his place on the couch, and looked towards the door. "I'll see you tomorrow then."

He paused, and Audrey instantly knew why. "Here, let me walk you out." She snaked her arm through James' and opened the door to walk him out. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Nathan slump into his chair. It was destroying her how stressed out he was, but she was just so happy to see her family coming together. She may only have this reprieve for a few days, and she was going to revel in it while she could.

Nathan sat with his head in his hands. What had he done in a previous life for him to be subjected to such a shitty life this go around? His entire life, it was like the universe was punishing him for something, and his punishment seemed to get worse and worse the older he got. All he wanted was a nice, quiet life. He wanted to work at his job that he loved, with the woman he loved, and then go home and enjoy her and their daughter in the house he had built for them. Why was that so much to ask for? Millions of people around the world were able to enjoy that. Why couldn't he? Why was he forced to suffer all the time?

So many emotions were rolling through him – everything from melancholy to anger – and thankfully his officemate knew exactly how to handle this – by just being with him, but not saying a word. His life may have been one of suffering, but at least he had her. He had Audrey. And he thanked god every day for her, because she always seemed to know how to handle him. She had from the very moment she met him and threw a joke at him in the middle of a standoff. He might have started to love her at that very moment, because, how could he not? They had gone through so much together – more than any normal couple – and because of that, they knew everything about each other. And she knew in this moment, he needed the precious time to collect his thoughts and feelings, and needed absolute peace to do so.

And so when the door to the office flung open, and he still hadn't fully collected his thoughts and feelings, he was ready to rip off the head of whatever asshole was brave enough to intrude on the calmness of Audrey's office. The epitaph that screamed from his lips as he demanded to know what the person was doing there had Audrey's eyes widening as she glanced between the two men, and it was her look that had Nathan actually looking towards the intruder. The fact it was Duke lessened his anger a touch, but definitely not enough to diffuse the situation. The man was his friend, but that didn't make Nathan want to see him right now. The only person he wanted to be around was Audrey. "You need to leave."

"No. We need to talk."

Nathan slowly stood, placing his palms on his desk, irritation radiating from his eyes. "Not now we don't."

"Yes, we do. And don't think for a second you intimidate me, Nathan, because you don't. You and I both know I won't back down from you. It's about Juliet."

Audrey knew her husband was struggling to hold on to his composure. He rarely let his emotions get the better of him – in fact, he was one of the most stoic people she had ever come across – but when he was stressed out – really stressed out – sometimes, his emotions would get the better of him. And today was one of those days. James had really gotten to both of them, for different reasons, and she knew deep down he was struggling with the problem of how he was going to keep his family safe. All of his family, including James, and it was tearing him apart. There were so many reasons why they needed to figure out how to stop the cycle of the Troubles, but the one most important to her – other than Juliet – was Nathan. Ten years ago, his stress was palpable to her, even though she didn't know him intimately, and it was why she pushed him away. But now…now she did know him intimately, as he did her, and it was making his stress even worse. And right now, as much as she loved Duke, and wanted with all of her heart to ask what was so important about Juliet that he felt the need to barge in here, she knew it could wait until later tonight when Nathan was more composed. Anything could wait, unless… "Is Juliet ok? Was she hurt?"

Duke turned from his stare down with Nathan to Audrey. "No, not physically anyways."

Audrey let out a breath, but sharply inhaled another as she processed his words. "What are you saying, Duke?"

"I'm saying, we need to have a serious discussion about how you two are behaving around her."

"We are not having this conversation now."

Audrey turned to look at Nathan, and then moved towards Duke, placing her hands on his upper arm. "Duke, can you come over later this evening? I'll cook us some dinner. We can talk then. This morning has just been…tense. James stopped by. Later will be better to talk. But, you're positive Juliet is ok?"

Duke sighed. He could never say no to Audrey, no matter how angry he was at her. "She's at school, she's fine. But yes, tonight. No exceptions."

Audrey nodded.

"And I want steak."

"Done." Audrey grinned at her friend. Something was definitely bothering him, and it was concerning her daughter. If it was up to her, she wanted to know everything now, but something in her was telling her to let it wait a bit. Satisfied that Juliet wasn't in the hospital with an injury, she made a mental note to get to the school a little early so Juliet could help her pick out the items for dinner that night. She would be excited to "cook" for her Uncle Duke.

"Tonight."

Audrey nodded. "Tonight."

Duke flashed one more look in Nathan's direction, and then walked out the door. Audrey blew out a sigh of relief to have diffused the situation, but knew she really had only postponed the inevitable. Looking over towards her husband, she could only hope he was able to mentally process their conversation with James enough so he could concentrate on Juliet tonight.

"Mommy, can I have a snack?"

Audrey flicked her eyes up to the clock on the wall to make sure it wasn't too late before answering Juliet. "Of course, baby girl. Do you need any help?"

"No, mommy, I got it."

As Juliet sauntered into the kitchen with Peanut hot on her heels, Audrey shook her head. Her baby girl was growing up so fast. And that thought made her heart sink, because the possibility of having to sacrifice herself for the town was growing stronger day by day. If they couldn't figure out how to stop the cycle, she may never get to see Juliet grow up. The next time she would see her, Juliet would be in her mid-thirties. She would probably be married and have kids of her own, and Audrey wouldn't realize any of them were her family.

"Baby, what's wrong?"

Nathan's voice pulled her out of her dark thoughts, and she forced a smile to her face. "Nothing. Sorry, what were we saying?" Nathan held her gaze, and she knew without a doubt he didn't believe her, but after a few moments, he closed his eyes, and when they reopened, he was looking back towards Duke.

"Ok, Duke, we're here, we've eaten. What did you want to talk about?"

"Oh, you know. The weather and such. What do you think of this humidity we've been having?"

At the narrowing of Nathan's eyes, Duke sighed. "What do you think I want to talk about? I want to talk about James."

"I thought you wanted to talk about Juliet."

"I do, but now I'm just as interested in James, and want to talk about him."

Nathan sighed. He didn't want to talk about James right now. He was emotionally exhausted, and really just wanted to go to bed. But, he knew Duke was only trying to look out for them, so was willing to go along with the conversation. "What about?"

"Nathan, come on. You obviously had some sort of heavy conversation with him at the station today, and I'm betting it stemmed from whatever conversation you all had last night." Duke held up his hand when Nathan went to interrupt. "And yes, I deserve to know, mostly because I've been taking care of your daughter this whole time you've been chasing after your son. You both need to start remembering she needs you. And she's picking up on what's going on around here, and it's starting to bother her. She started crying last night when she told me about the arguing you two have been doing. God, can't you even keep it together in front of her? She's only six for Christ's sake." Spent from his speech, Duke grabbed his beer, took a long swig, and leaned back in his chair, allowing both Audrey and Nathan a few moments to collect their thoughts. Nathan has his eyes closed, whereas Audrey turned and looked forlornly towards the kitchen.

"She was crying?"

Duke nodded at Audrey's question, and watched as she put her head in her hands.

"I know she overheard us once, but I didn't realize it was more than that. But, once is still once too many times." She looked up at Nathan, and could see he was feeling guilty too.

"Duke, you should have called us."

"Oh yeah, like either you or Audrey would have answered your phone last night. And besides, I'm pretty sure she was happier being away from you guys anyways. Can't you tell she looks more rested today than she has in a while? It's because she was finally able to get away the palpable tension that is suffocating this household right now."

Audrey looked up at Duke, and felt she needed to defend her and Nathan, even though she knew Duke was right. "She's just been tired from school."

Because he was never able to be truly angry at Audrey, Duke softened his tone when answering her, but still kept up the bite in his voice. Juliet deserved better than them in this moment. "You know that's not true."

Audrey blew out a breath and looked towards the ceiling as she tried to figure out what she wanted to say – what she needed to do. Duke was right. The tension in the house was unbearable, but there was little she could do about it. They were inching closer and closer to the arrival of the Hunter, and James' request to spend a day with Juliet had thrown her. She immediately had said yes – why shouldn't she? – because she was excited for her two children to be together. But now that she was home, and away from the situation, she was starting to wonder why exactly James wanted to meet with Juliet. She couldn't help it – she was second guessing everyone. And even the nap she managed to sneak in this afternoon on the office couch wasn't helping her exhaustion levels, and corresponding paranoia levels.

And speaking of Juliet, suddenly she was standing at the table. Audrey was so engrossed in her own thoughts, she hadn't even heard her daughter walk up to them. She momentarily wondered why Peanut wasn't at his usual spot between Juliet's legs, but couldn't dwell on the thought, because Juliet was looking at her daddy and talking.

"Daddy, you need to come to the kitchen."

Nathan leaned forward in his chair, angling his body towards his daughter. He had to momentarily leave behind his feelings of guilt. "Why?"

"You just do."

He sighed. Now was not the time he wanted to be negotiating with a small child. He was too irritated at Duke's words – regardless of how correct they were. "Juliet, we're having a conversation here. Why do you need me to come to the kitchen?" Nathan watched as his daughter conducted a mini debate in her head. She was so much like her mother.

"Um, you know that watermelon that was on the counter?"

As soon as Nathan heard Juliet's words, he instantly knew this wasn't going to be good. "Yes."

"It fell off and broke."

"It broke?"

"Uh huh."

Nathan sighed and rubbed the back of his neck in frustration. "Where were you when it broke?"

"I was in the pantry."

"If you were in the pantry, how did it fall and break?"

"I don't know. Maybe it's Troubled."

Audrey had to bite down hard on her lip to stop from laughing. If anything, Juliet sure knew how to break the tension in a room. As Nathan stood up, Audrey looked up at her husband apologetically, and waited until he left the room to laugh. And only started laughing harder when she heard him say, "oh my god" upon seeing what was undoubtedly a spectacular mess. It felt good to laugh. It had been too long since she had really been able to laugh.

"It's good to see you laugh." Duke leaned forward in his chair so he was closer to Audrey, thereby being able to keep his voice low enough for Nathan not to hear.

"Yeah. It feels good, too. I haven't felt like laughing a whole lot lately." Her voice came out low and unsteady.

"When this is all over, I'm going to make sure you have a reason to laugh every day."

Audrey gave Duke a small smile. He was such a good friend, and she was so lucky to have him in her life. He somehow always made sure things would turn out ok. And because of that, and because of so much more, he deserved to know everything he was asking.

"I'm sorry about today at the station. You just came at completely the wrong time. We went to see James last night, and it was…interesting. He does remember us."

"He does? How?"

"I'm still not entirely sure, but I would guess it's because he's not meant to be in the Barn. I am. So, I'm the only one whose memories are wiped."

"Why did the Barn take him in the first place? I mean, the last time, he just got caught up with Lucy in there too, but this time, you didn't go."

"We discussed that. It was because the Barn only takes people who want to go. He wanted to go – to get away from Arla – and I…I didn't."

Duke narrowed his eyes. He couldn't figure out where this was going. "Yeah, but isn't the Barn supposed to be for you? How could it even take him? Regardless of how badly he wanted out of here."

Audrey swallowed. "I think it's because he's half me. And because he's only half me, that's why it dropped him off early. That's why the Troubles are back now. They'll only stay away for 27 years if I go in the Barn."

"You're not seriously considering going in, are you?"

"I'm not, but I'm not sure I'll have much of a choice."

Audrey stopped as Nathan wandered back into the room, and Audrey could see Juliet walking with her head hung low down the hallway towards the bathroom, with Peanut at her heels. Nathan must be sending her in there to take a bath. "Everything ok?"

Nathan took a deep breath. "Who knew there was that much liquid in a watermelon? It was everywhere. I had Juliet help me clean it up. She's on her way to take a bath now because she's sticky. I am too, to be honest." Nathan shot Duke a death glare when he realized Duke was more than likely going to say something involving some sort of sexual innuendo. "I'm going to go help her get in the tub. Do either of you need anything before I go?"

"No, thank you, Nathan. You didn't get angry at her, did you?"

Nathan looked at his wife, hurt from her insinuation, but knowing she was only asking because of what Duke had recently said. "No, but she knows I'm not happy. Audrey, she broke a watermelon. Any parent wouldn't be happy about that. Trust me. If you had just cleaned that up, you wouldn't be happy either."

Audrey only nodded, and then watched her husband walk down the hallway towards the bathroom, and their little girl. "He's so good with her, but I am worried his temper is getting the better of him lately."

"He's just worried about you Audrey. He's worried about both of you."

"I know."

"I'm worried about both of you."

Audrey turned back towards Duke. "I know."

The two friends sat in amicable silence for a few moments before Duke pressed on. "So what happened at the station today?"

Giving herself a few moments to collect her thoughts, Audrey reached for her water and took a deep gulp, allowing the cool liquid to soothe her dry throat. "He said he had thought things through last night, and wanted to talk more. He absolutely does not want to return to the Barn, but knows I'm the only other one who can go, and he knows now I have a family here – a family he says he doesn't want to break up. So he's asked for us to sit down and start going through the research again and see if we can figure out a solution to all of this. Together."

"That sounds…reasonable." Duke watched as Audrey shrugged and looked away, just as she always did when she was collecting her thoughts. Something else was going on she wasn't saying. "What is it?" And as she looked back at him, he could feel his stomach plummet. Something was definitely going on, and it wasn't good.

"He wants to spend a day with Juliet."

"What? Why would he want that?"

"I'm not sure, and I initially said yes right away, but now that I'm thinking about it, I'm not as sure."

He knew she was holding something back again. "Why?"

Audrey paused before speaking. No matter how many times she went through James' words in her head, and even though she knew they were words he was going to say, they still hurt. "Because he told me he initially was going to stay hidden so I would be forced to go in the Barn, and he could stay here."

Duke pounded his fists on the table and swiftly stood, raising his voice more than intended. "Damn it, I will not allow that little punk to do that!"

"Duke…"

"What's going on out here?" Nathan came striding into the room, keeping his voice barely above a whisper. "Duke, you're scaring Juliet, and you said yourself she's stressed out."

Audrey quickly stood up and angled her body between her husband and friend. She placed a hand on Nathan's cheek, knowing the skin to skin contact would calm him down. "Nathan, it's ok. He didn't mean to. Everyone is just a little tense right now."

Nathan licked his lips, itching for a way to relieve some of the pent up anger flowing through his body, but his wife's cool hand on his cheek effectively served to temper his pique. He blew out a breath, and looked into her eyes. "This isn't over. I need to get back to Juliet."

Audrey brought her other hand to Nathan's cheek, framing his face, and brought his forehead down to hers. She spoke so only he could hear. "It's going to be ok, Nathan." She could feel him sigh, but could also feel his body sag a little in relief. In that moment, she knew Nathan was just as upset as she was, and she would make sure to make him a priority later tonight once Duke had left, and Juliet was fully asleep.

Nathan pulled back, looked once more at Duke, and then headed back towards the bathroom.

"I'm sorry, Audrey."

"Duke, it's ok. Really."

"I do mean it though, Audrey. I'm not going to let that punk force your hand. None of you will be leaving my sight until this is all over."

Audrey forced a smile to her face that wouldn't reach her eyes. "I know."

Duke reached down for his beer and drained it. Moving towards the kitchen, he placed the empty bottle on the kitchen counter, and perched his hands on the counter, leaning his weight on them, and keeping his back to Audrey. He was too emotional to face her right now, and needed a couple of moments. But when he felt her hand on his back, his shoulders sagged, and he turned to her. "I didn't do well with the prospect of you leaving 10 years ago, Audrey, and I'm not doing well this time, either."

"It'll be ok, Duke. We'll fix this."

The sounds of water splashing reached their ears, and Duke sighed. "Sounds like Julie t and Nathan are finishing up. Will you say goodbye to them for me?"

"You're not going to say goodnight to her? She'll be disappointed she missed you."

"I don't think Nathan would appreciate that right now. I know he needs time to process things. Just tell her I had a poker game to get to."

Audrey shorted. "I'm not going to ask why that would make sense to her."

Duke grinned back. "Yeah, it's probably best you don't."

The two friends looked at each other again, saying thousands of things without saying a word, and then Duke turned and headed out the door, with Audrey watching after him. She stood there for several minutes before the voices of her husband and daughter stirred her. It was time to be a mommy to a little girl. Decisions about her future would have to wait until morning.