A patrol car pulled up in front of the police station, Officer Paul exited the driver's side, and opened the back door for Dwight, "Not the first time we've caught you breaking and entering, Dwight." Paul was quite pleased with himself that he was about to bring Dwight in in cuffs. Paul was one of the ones who was prejudiced against Troubled people and he knew that Dwight was one of the 'special ones'. He went into the trunk with his leather gloved hands, and pulled out the crossbow with arrows that Dwight had on him when he was picked up.

"Chief Wuornos can clear this up." Dwight stated matter of factly. He was doing a 'clean up' job when Paul came in and took him away in cuffs.

Paul chuckled, "You haven't heard? Wuornos isn't the Chief anymore. We got a new guy, so there's no more...special treatment for..special people, you know?" He smirked at Dwight after saying that,

Dwight hadn't heard about Wuornos not being the Chief anymore and that could certainly put a damper on things, especially where the Troubled were concerned. Dwight wasn't about to let Paul in on that thought train and just asked, "Are you sweating?" in his most intimidating tone of voice he could muster.

"It's warm out here." Paul replied without missing a beat, knowing his sweating had nothing to do with Dwight or how intimidating Dwight was trying to be.

"I wouldn't say that." Dwight said with the same tone as before. If Paul was going to try and bring him in in cuffs, then Dwight was going to have some fun with it.

Just then, Nathan came over with a bag of donuts in one hand and a tray of coffee in the other, "Dwight." he said in greeting, then looked at Paul and what he was holding, "What's this?" Nathan looked at Dwight in question. The inquiry was meant for him, not Paul.

"I was doing a little clean up at the Central Coast Meat Packing." Dwight replied, knowing that Nathan would know exactly what he was talking about.

Nathan knew what Dwight meant, but he had to ask just one thing, "With a crossbow?" Paul held up Dwight's crossbow as Nathan asked that question.

Dwight just shrugged in reply because he really couldn't explain the crossbow. Well, he could explain it, but he wasn't going to.

Nathan let out a breath, setting the coffee and donut bag on the hood of the car, "I've got this from now, Paul." Even though Paul looked pretty annoyed, Nathan took the crossbow from him anyway. As Paul started walking away, Nathan said, "Paul. Cuffs."

Dwight turned around to let Paul take off the cuffs, with a smug little smirk on his face. After removing the cuffs, Paul muttered something under his breath as he headed back to the police station. What he had muttered wasn't caught by Nathan or Dwight.

"So there's a new Chief?" Dwight asked once Paul was out of earshot. He wasn't sure if the details of this were for other's ears or not, so he was going on the side of caution.

"Yeah." Nathan replied, opening up the donut bag to get one for Dwight, "The selectmen sent in this guy Merrill. He's a reformer from Brunswick, and I think he's clueless about the Troubles." Nathan handed Dwight the donut, "Sprinkles?"

"He won't be clueless for long." Dwight replied since every other day seemed to be one Trouble case after another. Dwight accepted the donut, "Thanks."

"Thank Haven. That one's hers." Nathan replied, only half kidding, picking up Dwight's crossbow, "Just watch where you point this thing."

Dwight chuckled at the fact that he now had possession of Haven's donut, took his crossbow back with a nod, and went on his way enjoying the sprinkled donut with a grin.

Nathan shook his head a bit, taking the coffee from the hood of the car and headed into the police station. He was about to head into his and Audrey's office when he heard shouting coming from the Chief's office.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Haven shouted, not believing what she had just been told by the new Chief.

Chief Merrill was not pleased by Haven's tone of voice, "Keep your voice down." he said to her, closing the door to his office. "I assure you, Miss Parker, this is not a kidding matter."

"I have passed every test, I've been working on cases for months now, I'm a deputy for Pete's sake!" Haven couldn't accept the fact that not even three minutes ago, this new Chief had just fired her.

"How you became a deputy was unorthodox to say the very least. You did not graduate from the academy, that is something that cannot be overlooked. If you wish to attend the academy then reapply here after graduation, well nothing is stopping you from doing that." Merrill replied going by the book on this, "Your situation may have worked for the previous Chiefs but it will not fly with me. Badge and gun, now."

Haven couldn't believe this was happening. She actually found something that she loved just as much as her art and this jackass of a new Chief was ripping it away from her. Haven removed her sidearm and set it on the table before plucking her badge off her belt, setting it down next to it. She was far from happy about this, something that was practically radiating off of her.

"Thank you." Merrill replied in an 'about time' tone of voice, taking her badge and gun off his desk and placing them within a drawer. "You may leave now."

Haven scoffed in frustration, annoyance, and hell even a bit of anger before walking out of the Chief's office, slamming the door behind her.

Haven walked into Nathan and Audrey's office just in time to hear Nathan say, "I don't think Haven and the Chief are getting along very well."

"We're not." Haven replied an was going to elaborate further but Audrey closed her lipgloss and said, "All right, so you guys are still okay with taking the graveyard shift tonight?"

Haven had to make sure they knew what was going on, so before Nathan could say anything, Haven quickly answered, "Nathan is going to be solo tonight, because Merrill just fired me."

Both Audrey and Nathan looked at Haven in shock, "He did what?" Nathan asked, not liking the sound of this news whatsoever.

"You've been doing so great, why the hell did he fire you?" Audrey asked, also wanting to know what the reason behind that was.

"I didn't graduate from the academy and how I was deputized was 'unorthodox to say the least'." Haven ran her hand through her hair, "I knew that was going to bite me in the ass one day."

"Haven, I had no idea he was going to fire you." Nathan informed her, in fact he gave Haven a glowing recommendation to keep her on staff when Merrill was going through the staff files.

"Yeah, well that doesn't change the fact that he did." Haven didn't mean to be snarky at Nathan like that, but this whole situation was really getting under her skin. "Enough about me," Haven looked at Audrey, "You go out on your...date."

Audrey didn't want to let this go, but Haven seemed pretty keen to, so Audrey would leave it alone...for now. "It's not a date." Audrey replied causing Haven to reply in sarcasm, "Oh, sure. Of course it's not."

Nathan picked up from there, "That's why I've never seen you so nervous." he didn't buy that it wasn't a date for one minute and knew Haven didn't either, "Because of you 'non-date'."

Audrey sighed and when she saw Haven cross her arms, she caved, "It's just...It's been...It's been, what, a month since Chris left for London, and his trouble was still, you know, relatively new."

"Right." Nathan replied, with a hint of bitterness to his tone, "And when people see Chris they're immediately very...fond of him." his bitterness turned to sarcasm when he said, "It's nothing to worry about."

"Are you being sarcastic?" Audrey asked, believing he was but wanted to hear it from him.

"No, he's not. It's nothing to worry about Audrey." Haven tried to assure her sister and shot Nathan a bit of a look as well.

"It's not?" Audrey asked, needing the reassurance.

"Definitely." Haven replied as truthfully as she could so Audrey wouldn't pick up on it.

This topic of conversation was cut off by Laverne buzzing in on the radio, "Got a visitor up front, hon."

Audrey, assuming it was for her, answered, "Thanks." Lavern was quick to add in, "For Nathan. Crocker's here."

Nathan and Haven both looked confused as to why Duke was there, "You know why he's here?" Nathan asked Haven, getting up from his desk. "I have no idea." Haven replied, truthfully not knowing why he was there.

Nathan met up with Duke, who said to Nathan, "You know I hate that you're a cop, right?"

Nathan crossed his arms, having no idea where this was going, "Yeah." he replied, and Duke continued, "And I hate that they put you in charge of this place. But for certain reasons...it makes sense."

Nathan still had no idea what Duke was talking about, so he pointed out the obvious, "Well, I'm not the Chief anymore, you remember?"

"Yeah." Duke replied, rubbing his chin, looking around, "But do you want to know why you're not the Chief anymore?" Duke finally made up his mind on what he was going to do with finding out that Evi and the Rev were working together. He didn't tell Haven, yet, because...well he had to face it, depending on the situation Haven could be a bit of a wild card. So, telling Nathan first was the safest bet, "Evi." Duke continued, "She's the one that tipped off the Rev about your file on Troubled people. I saw it on her phone."

Nathan listened to every word that Duke said and it infuriated him, but he kept his cool, "I knew it was the Rev." There was something that didn't make sense to Nathan, though, "But how the hell is Evi involved?"

"You got me." Duke replied, "I knew she had some sort of ulterior motive to being here, but I had no idea it was anything like this. God only knows what else she's hiding." With this information out, what else Evi could be keeping secret was anybody's guess.

"Does Haven know?" Nathan then asked, wondering whether or not Haven was keeping that information to herself, but was doubting it.

"No," Duke replied, "I think we can agree that she can be a bit of a..."

"Wild card?" Nathan suggested and Duke nodded, "Exactly." With more of a hushed tone, Duke referred back to Evi, "Look, I figure we do this here, otherwise Evi would bolt. I told her you were helping me with my parking tickets." Upon seeing Nathan's 'huh?' expression, Duke added, "It was the best I could come up with."

"Hmm..okay." Nathan answered, getting on board with this plan, "Let's put her in the break room." He wasn't even going to inquire why Duke and Evi were together that morning, but he had a feeling that it wasn't anything bad. After all this time, Nathan finally accepted how much Duke cared for Haven and how Duke wouldn't ever intentionally do anything to hurt her.

"Alright." Duke replied, ready to put their plan into action...that was before he saw something pooling out from beneath the door of the nearby restroom. "Um..." Duke said gesturing to said substance, "What the hell is that?"

Nathan looked to where Duke was gesturing to and upon seeing it...he had no idea.

Haven said bye to Audrey and was going to hit the restroom before heading out to find...something to do with her time. Maybe she'd see if Dwight needed help with is cleanups or anything. She was in the deep end where it came to the Troubles and helping those who were Troubled, she couldn't turn back on that now.

With that, and the restroom destination, in mind, she turned into the hall and stopped when she too saw the...well...black liquidy goo, pool out from beneath the restroom door. "What the hell is that?" Haven asked, pointing at the substance and she rubbed her forehead in worry and wonder when Nathan and Duke both replied with silence.

Audrey heard footsteps behind her, entering the office. Assuming it was Nathan she asked, "Did Duke finally pay his parking tickets?" She was surprised to find that it wasn't Nathan. Chris turned Audrey around and kissed her surprised face. He was so glad to be there, to be with her.

Audrey's eyes opened wide when she realized they had an audience. Two officers were looking into the office, admiring Chris, thanks to Chris' trouble. "Oh..oh!" Audrey said, pushing Chris back a little to point out that they were being watched, "Chris." she said, pointing out the door when he didn't seem to get her point.

It didn't phase Chris much, but he realized that she was bothered by it, "Oh, right. Workplace." Chris closed the office door and almost laughed when he heard sighs of disappointment coming from the officers on the other side. "I guess I just don't care." Chris walked back over to Audrey to pick up where they left off; an awkward (on Audrey's part) kiss of greeting.

Audrey returned the kiss for a moment before breaking it again, "Okay...hey...hey, hey." Audrey kept repeating until Chris got the hint again, since he wasn't too eager to stop kissing Audrey. "What?" he asked, not getting what the problem was.

"Why don't I just grab my stuff, and then we can go down to the boat parade?" Audrey asked, that being what she really wanted to do until she figured out what she was feeling.

"Parade?" Chris asked Audrey, who was grabbing her stuff, "With boats, and lights, and drinking, and people?" he was not too keen on this idea, "No. I don't wanna see anyone but you." Chris was trying to sound romantic about it, before he pressed his lips against Audrey's once again.

Audrey's eyes closed, returning Chris' kiss, but the kiss didn't last for long due to Nathan's voice coming from the radio saying, "Parker, you'd better get out here." Upon hearing that, Audrey sighed, "I gotta..." she didn't finish her sentence, instead she headed straight to the door.

Chris couldn't believe this was happening and was trying to stop it, "Uh..no. No. We've got plans." Audrey headed out the door anyway, making Chris frustrated, "This better not be important." He sighed, calling to Audrey with sarcasm, "I love that you don't listen to me!"

Stan and Audrey walked down the hall, Stan handing Nathan the set of keys for the restroom. "Is that black blood?" Audrey asked them. Nathan unlocked the door and Haven made hand gestures expressing that she had no idea what it was. Duke didn't have and explanation either, and just sort of pointed at Haven in a 'what she said' way, even though Haven hadn't said a word.

Nathan opened the door to reveal a dead male body on the floor. His skin was shades of gray and black, veins almost pitch black, with black blood that had poured from his mouth and nostrils. "It's Paul." Nathan said upon seeing him, he and Audrey entering the restroom.

"He's dead." Audrey stated, looking up at Haven, "Haven, get out of here. If the Chief catches you near this..." Audrey was cut off when Haven said, "Screw the Chief." Haven replied, "Badge or not, I'm going to be a part of this investigation." Upon hearing Haven's words, Audrey couldn't help but feel a bit proud of her.

"You lost your badge?" Duke asked in shock, this being the first time he's heard about it.

"Not even an hour ago. Jackass Merrill fired me." Haven replied with pure bitterness to her tone.

"He's an idiot." Duke couldn't believe that anyone in their right mind would let Haven go. While he didn't like cops in general, Haven was a damn good one. Even he had to admit that.

"Guys!" Audrey had to get their attention to shut them up, "Can we get back on track, please?"

Haven nodded, clearing her throat, getting closer to the inside of the room without stepping on anything.

"I just saw him." Nathan informed them, "He looked pale, and sweaty, but not..." He stood up, gesturing to Paul's body, trying to find a word to explain it.

"Not as dead?" Duke replied, before Nathan could finish his thought, "'Cause...he's pretty dead."

Haven moved over to Audrey and crouched down beside her. "Look at this," Audrey said, gesturing to Paul's face, "His veins are black."

"What the hell causes that?" Haven asked, not wanting to get too close, but also wanted to know. Her question couldn't even be theorized because Chief Merrill made an appearance in the doorway, "What is this?" he asked, demanding to know what was going on. Merrill looked into the room, "Is that one of my officers?"

Duke looked at Nathan in question, wondering who that guy was. "That's Chief Merrill." Nathan answered and Duke had a 'ah' expression in response. Duke caught himself before he spoke his thought of 'The jackass' aloud and scratched behind his ear instead, something he did when he caught himself before saying something that could get him into trouble.

"And who are you?" Merrill asked Duke, to which Duke replied with, "I am..." he was about to say his name when he caught Haven waving for him to get out of there so he said, "...nobody." Without another word, Duke turned around and headed in the opposite direction of where Merrill stood.

Merrill narrowed his eyes a bit before turning his attention back to those in the restroom, "And what do you think you're doing Miss Parker? Have you already forgotten that you've been fired?"

"No, I remember." Haven replied through almost gritted teeth. She stood up, giving Audrey a 'keep me posted' look. Audrey returned it with an 'I will' look of her own. Haven walked past Merrill without an excuse me, and went off to gather up anything she may have left in Nathan's desk that she commandeered while he was Chief.

"We could really use her on this." Audrey told the new Chief, trying to get Haven back there.

"Your opinion is biased, Officer Parker. Your sister never should have been allowed to be deputized in the first place, but this is not the time nor place to discuss that matter." Merrill replied, making it quite clear that this topic of discussion was closed.

Audrey exhaled deeply, getting back to the matter at hand; Paul's dead body. "What do you think could have caused something like this?" Audrey asked Nathan.

Nathan sighed, not sure what it could be. Merrill stepped further into the room, giving his own suggestion, "Maybe a chemical weapon."

Nathan couldn't believe he had just heard that suggestion come from the Chief's mouth, "We're not a target for anything like that."

Audrey stood up, saying, "We may wanna consider other possibilities." She gave Nathan a look to let him know what exactly she was referring to; The Troubles.

"Are you saying this town doesn't have any local fanatics?" Merrill asked in reply, not ready to let his theory go, "Groups with a reason to target the Haven Police Department? I suggest you look into that right now."

By suggest, Merrill meant they were going to look into it and had no choice otherwise.

The bull pen of the police station was bustling with indistinct chatter. After the Chief announced what the plan was, everyone there was working on it. Haven walked out of Audrey and Nathan's office, adjusting her bag on her shoulder. Going over to Audrey she said, "I'd offer my help but, you'd probably get in trouble for it."

"And you'd probably get arrested for it." Audrey replied, to which Haven said, "Yeah, that too."

Audrey looked around the room and groaned in frustration, "We're not the Pentagon." she muttered to herself. "Could have fooled me." Nathan replied, teasing her, before looking at Haven, "Hey, if you could stick around for a bit, there's something I might need your help with."

Haven was greatly intrigued, "I'm at your service." she said with a dramatic curtsy. "Besides, it's not like I have anything else to do." Haven looked around and said, "I just have to ask one thing...who would stage a chemical attack in Haven?"

"The more people know about the Troubled people, the more afraid they are." Nathan replied, keeping his voice low so only they three could hear.

"Do you think the Rev is whipping them up?" Audrey asked and Haven was actually thinking the same thing.

Nathan looked at Haven before looking at Audrey, choosing his words wisely he said, "Duke just told me that the Rev got me fired."

"Are you serious?" Haven asked, moving closer to the desk Audrey was working at.

"Yeah," Nathan replied, "I knew he'd try and get me out eventually. It just happened sooner than I expected." He made sure to leave the Evi part out of it, not about to give an already pissed off Haven that kind of information.

Audrey's wheels were turning now, "Alright, so the Rev gets his Chief. Why attack the department now?" that was something she just couldn't get.

"As much I would love it to be the Rev so he can be put behind bars, what if it's not? It could be some unhappy perp from Merrill's past." Haven knew she shouldn't let her feelings towards the Rev give her tunnel vision.

"Could be someone who's unhappy about Merrill in general." Audrey added in, looking at Nathan, "You got replaced. You do have your fans."

Nathan looked around before answering Audrey, "You think it's someone...Pro-Troubled with technical knowhow, access to chemicals..." Nathan's own wheels were starting to turn as his sentence trailed off, "The last person Paul arrested was Dwight."

"He was your dad's cleaner." Audrey replied, thinking it was a place to start, "And we really don't know that much about him." she could see how Dwight could be a suspect.

Haven, on the other hand, didn't, "Oh come on, he may be on the...sketchy side or whatever, but I really don't see Dwight killing anybody." Granted she didn't know Dwight all too well but he never gave Haven any 'dangerous' vibes and he was always nice to her, and not in the creepy way. Haven crossed her arms, "I trust him."

Audrey and Nathan both looked shocked to hear Haven say that because they both knew how limited Haven's trust list was. "While that does mean something, there's no harm in asking." Audrey replied, dialing Dwight's number on her cell before handing it over to Nathan.

When Dwight answered, Nathan told him about Paul. On Dwight's end of the line he asked, "He's dead?"

"Maybe you had a grudge?" Nathan replied from his end, causing Dwight to defend himself, "Nathan, listen, I didn't do anything to that guy, okay? You really need to start trusting me. With the new Chief in town, you might need me more than ever." Dwight left the conversation at that, sighing as he closed his flip phone.

Audrey saw that the new Chief was about to make an appearance in the bullpen, "Haven, go. Now." Haven looked over her shoulder and moved away from Audrey and Nathan like a bat out of hell. She told Nathan she'd stick around the station but she couldn't be near them at the moment.

Haven rushed around the corner and almost ran smack dab into Stan, "Holy shi..." Haven placed her hand on her chest, "You almost gave me a heart attack, Stan."

"Sorry about that." He answered honestly, "I also heard about you losing your badge, tough break. Anything I can do?"

Haven thought for a moment and grinned like a Cheshire Cat, a grin that Stan had only seen once before and knew he was in for it. "Actually..." Haven began to say with her grin, "there is something you could help me out with."

A few minutes later they were in the dispatch room talking to Laverne, "Come on Laverne, please?" Stan pleaded with her to help Haven with what she wanted.

Laverne turned around in her chair to face them, "I love you kids, but no. If the new Chief finds out I did that then..."

"He won't find out and if he does I'll tell him I snuck in here and took them. Please?" Haven replied, putting her hands together with puppy dog eyes and a pouting mouth.

"How can you say no to that face?" Stan asked, gesturing to 'puppy dog' Haven.

Laverne let out a deep breath, and opened up a drawer beside her, "I'm not seeing anything."

Haven practically jumped with glee before kissing Laverne's cheek. She quickly pulled the radios out of the drawer and hurried out of the office with Stan right behind her. Laverne shook her head, "Crazy kids."

"You up for this?" Haven asked, tuning the radios to the same station, the one no one ever uses.

"No." Stan replied, actually feeling nervous, "But if it helps you out then yes."

Haven smiled gratefully, handing Stan one of the radios, "I owe you one."

"You owe me five." Stan replied, "Hiding this in the Chief's office so you can eavesdrop on him is a crime and all."

"Admit it. You're having at least a little fun." Haven wiggled her eyebrows a bit, causing Stan to chuckle. "You're a bad influence on me, Haven."

Haven shrugged in reply, "I've been called worse."

When Stan successfully placed the open radio in the Chief's office, he went back to his normal duties like nothing happened.

Haven hid her radio in a broom closet and set her little tape recorder beside it. She wasn't going to just sit around and wait to see if anything could be heard, but she also wasn't going to miss it. Hence the recorder. Once it was all set and loud enough to record but not loud enough to notice from outside, she checked to make sure the coast was clear and left the closet to check in with the others.

Nathan was bagging some of Paul's things to get sent away for testing when Duke and Evi came over to him, "We're going to do this now?" he asked, thinking there had to be a better time than this.

"Wait." Duke replied, his hand out to Nathan gesturing for him to stop, "Evi. Show him what you showed me."

Evi reluctantly uncrossed her hands and held them out to Nathan. Her fingertips were pitch black, down to the palms of her hands were turning gray, and the veins in her fingers were black. Just like Paul's.

"It starts at the extremities." Nathan said quietly, standing up from his seat.

"What does?" Haven asked, walking over to them and saw Evi's hands, "Evi, you need to get to a hospital, now." she didn't care whether or not Evi had ulterior motives to being in town or whatever, Haven did not want Evi to suffer the same fate that Paul did.

"How long has she been like this?" Merrill asked upon approach.

"Hey. She's standing right here." Haven said to him in an almost scolding tone.

Evi crossed her arms, looking at Haven and Duke, "What's happening to me?" Unfortunately neither of them had a good answer for her, so they were quiet.

Merrill ignored Evi, turning to Nathan, "Were you and Officer Parker about to locate the chemical source?"

Nathan shook his head, "No. Not yet, sir."

Merrill turned his attention to Evi and started asking her questions, "Did you have any direct contact with Officer Paul Stark? Shake his hand, sit at his desk, anything?"

Evi shook her head, "No." she rubbed her arms in worry because she didn't know what was happening and didn't like that no one was really telling her anything.

Merrill looked back to Nathan, "But this keeps spreading. So it's got to be biological and airborne."

Nathan, once again, thought Merrill was going a bit overboard with this. His tone was evident of that, "Sir."

Merrill ignored Nathan, turning back to Evi, "Ma'am I need you to go back to the break room right now."

Duke was now also defending Evi, because he felt the same way that Haven did, no matter what Evi's motives may be, she didn't deserve what would happen, "Wait a minute, Chief!" Duke exclaimed, in attempts to get the Chief to see reason, but the Chief was having none of it, "Now!" he demanded, not giving them any wiggle room about it.

Duke and Haven wanted both wanted to give the Chief a piece of their mind, and Nathan could see it. He looked at them, silently telling them to keep quiet because it wasn't worth it. Who knew what Merrill would do in retaliation to their sass.

Duke understood the expression and pressed his mouth shut to keep quiet, while Haven literally had to bite her tongue. They didn't know it, but they were both thinking the same thing; 'jackass'.

Merrill walked into the center of the room and addressed all those who were present, "Ladies and gentlemen, we may have a biological agent in the building, which means we follow procedure. We cannot allow the contamination to spread further. So until this situation is resolved, nobody..." Merrill looked at Duke, Haven, and Evi when he said, "and I mean nobody, goes in or out of this building. The Haven Police Station is now under quarantine. This is a lockdown."

Not long after the Chief put the station in lockdown, Haven went into the broom closet to check on the radio and tape recorder. She just about jumped fifty feet when she heard the door open behind her, "What are you doing?" Stan asked, closing the door behind him, looking just as surprised to see her as she was to see him.

"Making sure this is still working." Haven replied, moving aside the mop bucket to check on her little set up, and asked, "How did you know where I was?"

"I didn't." Stan answered honestly, "It's my turn to make the coffee." He moved some things around and pulled out a baggie of what looked like a bag of coffee grounds.

Haven gasped, pointing at Stan, "So that's why the coffee is only good when you make it!" She thought he was just that good at making the coffee.

"I'm going to count you not telling anyone about this as one of the things you owe me." Stan replied with a smile to which Haven made the motion of zipping her mouth shut and throwing away the key. "Where's your boyfriend?" Stan asked, wondering where Duke was and why he wasn't with Haven during all of this.

"He's with Evi. She's freaking and he's trying to keep her calm." Haven replied, not bothered by it. Okay, maybe she was just a teeny bit, but it was way down on the list of things that were bothering her that day.

Stan didn't want to pester Haven with questions about her relationship with Duke, so he changed the subject, "Hear anything good yet?" he asked, gesturing to the radio.

"Not sure..." Haven replied, trailing off because she could hear the Chief talking in his office. Haven turned up the volume so she and Stan could hear better:

"This thing is completely contained. No one is leaving the building until it is clear." They heard the Chief say. "Who's he talking to?" Stan asked, receiving a shush from Haven in reply.

"I'll do whatever has to be done." The Chief continued.

"He must be on the phone." Stan suggested, getting shushed by Haven again, "Okay, okay, I get the hint." Stan said in a mock hurt tone. Haven rolled her eyes, smiling, and tuned back in to the radio.

"Copy that. I'll await further instruction." They heard the Chief say, making Haven really wish she knew what the other end of the conversation was.

"What do that State Police have to say?" Nathan asked. "That's Nathan." Haven spoke and this time Stan shushed her. "Touche" she replied, "Touche."

There was silence for a moment or two before the Chief's voice came from the radio, "That we're doing the right thing. The contagion hasn't spread beyond the police station."

"Alright." Nathan replied, "Like you asked, it's a list of everyone in the station. It's a small group."

"Hugh Underwood? He's a doctor?" The Chief asked, Haven assuming he must be looking at the list.

Nathan answered with, "He said he'd take a look at the body, check on the sick."

"Good. Have the officers keep an eye on everybody." The Chief sounded like he meant business.

"I've got my eye on you." Stan said to Haven, opening his eyes wide, looking right at her. Haven gave him a swat on the back of the head for that, "That was a Richard bad pun." she replied and Stan looked so confused as he rubbed the back of his head.

Haven and Stan almost missed what Nathan was saying, "Sir, the people out there are scared for their lives."

The Chief didn't sound like he had any empathy at all, "Well, that's to be expected. That's why we have to maintain order. I put lock codes on all the doors. All the landlines are shut down. I want you to confiscate everybody's cell phone."

"Like hell." Haven said to herself, not going to part with her cell phone. Her cell was like a safety net for her, knowing she could always get ahold of anyone if she needed them. With everything else going on, she wasn't going to lose that.

"I better get back out there." Stan said, holding up the coffee, and Haven nodded in understanding, still listening in. Stan made sure no one was around before making his exit, leaving Haven in the closet.

Haven was glad to hear that Nathan was trying to change Merrill's mind where the cell phones were concerned, "People will wanna stay in touch with their families."

As soon as Merrill replied, Haven wanted to punch something because he was completely ignoring Nathan. The Chief said, "And I need you and the rest of the department to surrender your weapons. They'll be placed in a locker under my own personal access code. We can't afford someone panicking, doing something rash." Things were silent again before the Chief spoke firmly, "This isn't optional."

Things were silent after that, except for some clicking, that Haven assumed was Nathan handing over his phone and weapon. Haven turned the volume down, put it back near the recorder, and hid it once again. She opened the door to make sure no one was around, before quickly making her exit.

Haven walked into Audrey's office just in time to hear Chris say, "We can leave any time."

"Whoa." Haven said upon seeing him, "When did you get here?"

"Before the lockdown happened, obviously." Chris replied sarcastically then went back to talking to Audrey, "As I was saying, we can leave any time. I'll just use my irresistible charm on your new boss."

"It's resistible." Audrey and Haven said in unison, causing Chris to look like he had just been punched in the gut.

"Haven, got anything?" Audrey asked her sister, slipping a small gun into an envelope.

Haven could tell what Audrey was planning, so set her foot on Audrey's desk and pulled out a small revolver, handing it to her sister. Audrey took the small revolver and looked at it, "Wasn't this Garland's?"

"Nathan gave it to me." Haven replied, as Audrey slipped it into the envelope. Haven put her cell phone in as well, just in case. Knowing she'd have access to it was better than risking losing it by keeping it on her person.

"What are you doing?" Chris asked them.

"Insurance policy." Audrey replied, "You know, in case Merrill decides to search the offices."

"Which he is." Haven replied, causing Audrey to look at her in question. Haven held up her hand, "Don't ask." and Audrey didn't.

Audrey continued with her explanation to Chris, "I want to make sure I have access to at least one gun. Or two."

Stan made an appearance at the door to Audrey's office, "Parker, you called?"

"Yeah," Audrey replied, writing things on the evidence envelope that had the guns and Haven's cell inside, "Stan, you and the desk sarge, you're the only one with access to the evidence room, right?"

"Right." Stan confirmed, wondering what this was about. "Good." Audrey replied, handing Stan the evidence envelope, "Book this in evidence and keep it that way."

"You got it." Stan replied, taking the envelope from Audrey. He gave Haven a little smile before heading out of the office to take care of it.

Audrey let out a breath, looking at Chris but not saying a word. Instead she spoke to Haven, "Follow me."

Haven moved away from her leaning position on Nathan's desk and followed after her sister. She didn't know what Audrey had in mind, it anything was better than hanging around, alone, with Chris.

"Where are we going?" Haven asked, walking along side her sister.

"We're in lockdown, which means your paperwork hasn't officially been filed with the city." Audrey replied, causing Haven to grin, "Loophole. I'm still technically an officer for the Haven PD."

"Exactly." Audrey replied, turning down the hall towards the restroom where Paul was found. Haven was almost downright giddy, "Excellent."

"Told her about the loophole?" Nathan asked when Haven and Audrey approached, even though he was pretty sure that he knew the answer to that.

"That she did." Haven replied, grinning a bit. She and Audrey followed Nathan into the restroom where the doctor, Hugh Underwood, was examining Paul's body.

"Can you tell what happened to him?" Audrey asked Hugh, putting her hands on her hips.

Hugh examined Paul's hands while speaking, "Well...it's strange...this um...dark blood...I know what your chief said, but chemical weapons, they don't act like this."

"Do you think it's a virus?" Nathan asked, that being the next...well...normal question to ask if Troubles weren't involved.

"No." Hugh replied, "No, viruses don't move with this kind of speed."

"Poison?" Haven suggested, getting a little closer but staying out of Hugh's way.

"This isn't like any poison I've ever seen." Hugh replied, the list of possibilities of what it could be quickly diminishing but not any closer to an answer. "It's like nothing on the known medical record."

"Alright. Thank you, Doctor Underwood." Audrey said to him, since there didn't seem to be anything more than he could tell them.

"Hey, call me Hugh." He replied, slipping his pen into his pocket. There was nothing else to say, so Hugh took his lead.

Walking closer to Nathan and Audrey, Haven whispered, "I don't think Haven is in the known medical record." hinting to what she really thought it was; the Troubles.

"It's got to be the Troubles." Nathan replied, getting right on board with that. Nothing 'normal' was panning out so the Troubles were the next logical explanation.

"So, whose affliction is spreading this disease?" Audrey asked, because if they weren't in the building then they could be spreading it somewhere else.

Nathan closed the door so no one could easily overhear their conversation, "The person is probably still in the station."

"What if Paul caught it outside of the station, though?" Haven asked, "I don't want to be a downer here, but we have to think of that possibility."

"Whoever it is, they could be infecting whoever they come into contact with." Nathan replied, "We should rule out those in the station first."

"Okay." Haven agreed, since there wasn't anything they could about those outside the station. "So, what, this happened about..."

Audrey finished Haven's sentence, "45 minutes ago, give or take. And we've already got another case of it? That means we could all be sick in a matter of hours."

"I'm going to go check on Evi." Haven stated, she couldn't help it but she was worried about Evi. Even though she was the one that helped Nathan get fired.

"I'll come with you." Audrey replied, wanting to be there for Haven in case she needed her.

Before they could make it out the door, Nathan took Paul's radio and said, "Dwight, it's Nathan, do you read?"

"Wow, Nathan, outside contact?" Audrey asked him teasingly, "I'm going to tell the new chief on you."

The Parkers chuckled, leaving the restroom, closing the door behind her, leaving Audrey and Nathan to try and through to Dwight.

"It's about time." Dwight answered from his radio, outside of the police station, "What the hell is going on up there?"

"We got some kind of outbreak here." Nathan replied, since there really wasn't a better way to describe it.

Dwight's voice from the radio said, "My buddy from the state police called. Said they got a tipoff. Any call from Haven is a prank. C.D.C got the same warning. I figured there were something you were trying to keep quiet."

Nathan shook his head, because it wasn't him that called in those tips, "No, I guess somebody is." Nathan was growing frustrated, "We're cut off completely."

"Think someone planned this?" Dwight asked, seeing no other explanation.

Nathan didn't have an answer for that, "I don't know. Just stay by the radio for right now. You're my only backup."

"Roger that." Dwight replied. Nathan hid the radio at the back of his belt before leaving the restroom.

Just as he walked out, Audrey turned into the hall, "I checked on Evi, she's getting worse. And now this other woman has to it too."

"And Haven?" Nathan asked, wondering where she was.

"She's with Evi and Duke." Audrey replied, understanding why she'd want to.

Nathan walked with Audrey down the hall, filling her in on what Dwight told him, "Somebody called off the state police and the C.D.C."

Audrey did not expect him to tell her that, "What? Why?"

"I'm more interested in who wants us cut off." Nathan replied, as opposed to even guessing who had called in.

"Do you think that Merrill's troubled?" Audrey asked, she wasn't sure, but it was a place to start.

Nathan really didn't like that suggestion, "You really don't think the Rev would vet his new pick for Chief?" In fact the suggestion sort of annoyed him.

"Hey." Audrey replied, defending herself, "It's not like there's a test for it, alright?" She took a breath, "Maybe he's isolating us to cover his tracks."

Nathan was starting to see where Audrey was coming from with this, "We got to be smart, try and reason with him first." he replied. Nathan and Audrey walked into the Chief's office where Merrill informed them of something shocking.

"Any person leaving this building will be shot on sight." Merrill informed them, seeing nothing wrong with it.

Nathan, however, did. "Shot?! By who?"

Merrill didn't answer his question, "This is an outbreak. It needs to be contained. There are armed men outside this building who will shoot anyone seen leaving, and they will only stand down on my order."

"Who the hell are you?" Nathan asked in a demanding tone. There was something off about this guy and Nathan wanted to know why.

Merrill was losing his patience, "I'm the guy bringing this place under control."

Audrey knew if things kept going like this that things could get ugly, one way or another. She calmly approached Merrill, "Okay, sir, have you ever considered the possibility that maybe you're the one causing this?"

"You think I'm Troubled?" Merrill asked, offended by the suggestion. Hearing that he knew about the Troubles was a surprise to Nathan and Audrey, but they didn't show it. "The Troubled are why I'm here." Merrill continued on, "People are sick and tired of a town that looks that other way while the Troubled break the law."

Nathan knew what was off about Merrill now, "The Rev brought you here, didn't he?"

"I'm here to enforce the law." Merrill stated firmly. He may not have been aware that his skin was turning gray, veins darkening, and dark blood was starting to come from his nose. Nothing was going stop him from speaking, even while Audrey was trying to tell him what was wrong. "To treat the Troubled for what they are..." he continued, "...criminals! We have to maintain order. We have to contain this. No one is leaving here until..." It was that moment Merrill touched his upper lip and discovered the black blood. He looked at his dark gray hands and black veins as he coughed up the pitch black blood. Merrill knew he wasn't going to last long, but he got out his final words. Looking right at Nathan, he said through spitting up the blood, "Your kind won't win." With that, Merrill fell to the floor with a thud.

Audrey and Nathan looked over at Merrill's body on the floor, just as Haven darted into the office with a radio in her hand, "Is he dead?" she asked, catching her breath.

"What?...How?..." Audrey asked, looking at Haven, who answered with going over to one of the pictures on Merrill's filing cabinet. She pulled out another radio that was hiding behind it and turned it off. Nathan and Audrey looked at her in question and Haven said, "Seriously, guys, don't ask." So, they didn't, deciding it was better not to know.

A little while later, a couple officers came in to remove Merrill's body. Audrey directed them where to go, "For now just go ahead and put him in the bathroom with Paul."

"So glad there's more than one in this station." Haven muttered to herself, not even wanting to imagine having to use the bathroom with two bodies in it. Audrey shot her a look that made her say, "Sorry."

Nathan held a phone in his hand, "Merrill's cell phone. Password protected, of course."

"He had to know he was infected this whole time." Haven said, sitting down on the chair near the desk.

"Maybe he was just trying to contain the outbreak." Nathan continued on from what Haven said, and Audrey went on from there when she said, "Or he was terrified of whoever was giving him orders."

Haven plucked one the radios off her belt, having given the other one to Audrey, "Hey, Dwight? Haven here. You see anyone out there?"

"Affirmative. I'm not the only one watching the station." Dwight replied, "And Haven, remind me after all this is over, I owe you a donut."

Haven raised her brow at that, in question. "I'll tell you later." Nathan told her, referring to an explanation that she apparently needed.

Dwight continued to speak on the radio, "You got two armed with handguns on the perimeter, at least one on the rooftop at the post office across the street, packing a sniper rifle."

Nathan used his radio to tune into Dwight, and said, "Head over to the Sheriff's station and see if you can get us some backup."

"Will do." Dwight replied, ending the conversation.

Haven held a card between her fingers, "I got Merrill's access card, thought we might need it."

Audrey had no idea when Haven actually got that card, and listed that under the things she didn't need to know. "We can use it to override the electronic locks. We can get out of here." Audrey plucked the card from Haven, and handed it to Nathan.

Nathan took the card, "Of course we can't really use it. I mean, even if these guys outside are just for show, we can't let this thing out. It could wipe out all of Haven."

Audrey understood Nathan's point, "Okay, it looks like that this thing kills people in a few hours, so we really don't have that much time."

"We're probably immune." Haven interjected, looking at Audrey, "We should interview people one by one."

Nathan was on board for that...with one exception, "Except Evi. She's mine."

"Fair enough." Audrey replied, watching Nathan leave the office. Haven got to her feet and said, "Let's get this over with, shall we?"

Audrey let out a breath and led the way to start the interviews.

Nathan stood in the doorway of the break room as Evi said, "I need to get to a hospital."

"We can't risk letting you out there." Nathan replied, clearly not happy with her, but he was being serious, "We don't know if you're contagious."

Evi wasn't going to let Nathan or anyone else dictate her actions, so she had an idea. Evi took a step forward and allowed her body to go weak, as if she was about to fall. Nathan quickly rushed to her and helped her into a chair, not noticing that Evi reached into his back pocket and pulled out Merrill's key card.

Nathan held his hands out like he wasn't sure if they were contaminated or not, because he wasn't sure whether or not they actually were. Nathan looked at Evi, "Evi, that's not the only reason why I'm here. I need to know why you sold me out to the selectmen, got me fired as Chief. Why are you working with the Rev?"

Evi wasn't even going to deny it, "How'd you find out?"

Nathan wasn't going to lie with his reply, "Duke. He saw your text message."

Evi scoffed, "That's why he's been acting weirder than usual around me." She looked up at Nathan from her seat, "Look, this wasn't personal. I...I got in too deep. And that's when they asked me to do that thing with your files."

"Who's they?" Nathan asked, wanting more information, "The Rev?"

Evi nodded, "He's one of them."

"Why is it so important to have me out of the way?" Nathan demanded to know.

"Because they said it would be helping Duke." Evi answered without giving it a second thought.

"Explain it to me." Nathan replied, needing to know more.

"I can't." Evi retorted, and just then Duke entered the room, "Then explain it to me." he said to Evi, walking further into the room.

Evi looked at Duke and Nathan but stayed quiet. Nathan took that as Evi wouldn't speak if he was in the room, so with a frustrated scoff, he took his radio off the table and walked out.

Duke crossed his arms with raised brows as he waited for Evi to explain things. Evi rubbed her forehead a little before starting to speak, "I'm sorry. These men, they said that I'd be helping you."

Duke did not see that logic, "How does getting Nathan fired possibly help me?"

Evi didn't have an answer for that, "I..I don't know." she replied, "They said that you were important, and that you needed to learn certain things, and Nathan needed to be out of the way because it'd be a problem for you."

Duke sighed, pulled a chair from a nearby table, and set it in front of where Evi was sitting. "How naive are you?" Duke asked, taking a seat in the chair. "Or did they just pay you a lot of money?"

Evi sighed exasperatedly, "Oh my god, it's not about the money. I believed them, okay? I believed them because they told me something that I always knew. You're special."

Duke thought this was preposterous, but he continued to question her, "And what makes me so special?"

"All I know is that whatever is going on in this town, they think that you're in the middle of it and that girlfriend of yours is going to be your downfall." Evi replied, not expecting Duke's reaction.

Duke was keeping his cool until Haven was brought into this, "WHY!" Duke shouted, getting up from his seat, causing Evi to jump out of hers. "Tell me!" he demanded, "Tell me!"

"I can't!" Evi shouted back, "I'm telling you all I know!"

"Everything since you've been here has been controlled by them." Duke stated, feeling even more infuriated by the thought of that than Evi just running some sort of con like he and Haven thought.

"No, not everything." Evi answered honestly. There were a few things that were real, she didn't want to admit it but a budding friendship with Haven was one of them. Forged by them conning one another or not.

"I think it's time you give some real answers." Duke replied, "You could die. We all could die. There are men out there with guns, stopping us from leaving. Even with all that...you still can't tell the truth." Duke looked at Evi like he couldn't believe her, before walking out of the break room, slamming the door shut behind him.

Evi closed her eyes, sniffed back her tears, and pulled the keycard she stole from Nathan out of her back pocket. She looked at the card as she started to come up with a plan. Evi tapped the card in her hand as she walked over to the window. Looking outside, she gasped and moved out of the line of sight. Evi looked at the card in her hands, her gears turning in her head. When she finally decided on something, she walked out of that room like a woman on a mission.

Audrey was in her office interviewing one of the people in the station. "Uh, Nikki Coleman." The woman said to Audrey, picking off pieces of Styrofoam from the top of her coffee cup, "I cane in to file a..uh..a building permit for my boss."

"Okay, great." Audrey replied, "and did you talk to, uh, Chief Merrill or Officer Stark?"

"I talked with everyone." Nikki answered honestly, "They kept telling me to fill out more forms. Does this mean we can go now?"

"Yeah, soon." Audrey answered, "Um, can you just go ahead and send in the next person?"

"Yeah." Nikki replied, standing up, setting her cup on Audrey's desk. Audrey sighed, because she wasn't getting anywhere.

Chris, the next person in line, walked into the office, "This is ridiculous." Chris tossed his jacket on the loveseat in the office, "Do we really have to do this?"

Audrey looked at him with a 'uh, yeah' expression, "Well, you know I can't make it look like you're getting special treatment."

Chris sighed, "Fine. I'll make it easy for ya. It's not me. Now can I go? I've got a killer game of solitaire going on. It's the only card game where nobody lets me win."

Nathan stood in the doorway of Audrey's office and asked, "Have you seen Evi? She's missing."

"Well, she can't be that far." Audrey replied, not really worried about it.

Nathan stuck his hand in his back pocket and said, "The key card is gone...Evi must have it." Nathan hurried off and that definitely caught Audrey's attention, going off after him.

Evi was heading to the front door and almost walked smack dab into Haven, "Whoa!" Haven said, with her hands up, "Where's the fire?"

"Out of my way, Haven." Evi said firmly, not messing around.

Haven shook her head, stepping aside, "You're not going to get anywhere..." Haven's sentence was cut off by Evi using the key card on the door, and dropping it to the floor. "Oh shit!" Haven exclaimed, knowing Evi was going to get shot if she went out there, or spread the...whatever it was. Either way, she couldn't let that happen. Haven quickly scooped up the card, used it on the door, tossed it back to the floor, and rushed out to Evi. "What the hell are you doing?" Haven asked, hurrying to catch up with her.

"Go inside Haven!" Evi shouted at her before shouting out, "Where are you?! I know you're out here!"

From inside Duke heard the yelling, "Evi." he said to himself, rushing to the window then saw Haven was out there with her, "Haven!" He ran to the door, "Get back in here!" He shouted out to them.

"No!" Evi shouted back, "I got out for you."

"I'm sorry, flipside. I'm not going back in without her." Haven told Duke, because she wouldn't be able to handle it if anything happened to Evi on her watch. Trying to plead with Evi she said, "Evi, please come back inside before this lunatics start shooting at us!"

"Go, Haven! Get out of here!" Evi shouted at her, walking into the middle of the street. "I could run, but I'm not going to anymore! You want answers, I'll get you your answers!"

"Evi!" Haven pleaded, following her out to the road, "Let's go!" Haven grabbed onto Evi's arm to try and pull her away, but Evi yanked her arm away, "No!" she shouted, "They're going to give us answers!" A shot rang out, the bullet hitting Evi in the chest. Haven screamed and tried to get out of the line of fire but a bullet went right through Haven's shoulder.

Duke saw what happened, and cried out in despair. He then found the keycard on the floor, used it on the door and ran out to them. "Haven!" He exclaimed rushing over to her, "Get Evi." was Haven's reply. No more shots were fired as Duke scooped Evi into his arms, and Haven pressed her hand against her wound, pulling everything she had in her to make it back inside with them.

Haven leaned against the wall and slid to the floor as soon as they got inside. "Haven, talk to me!" Duke pleaded, needing to know how she was. "Evi first." Haven replied through her tears, body shaking. Duke pressed his hands on Evi's wound as Nathan and Audrey rounded the corner, "Oh my god, Haven!" Audrey went right into worry mode, rushing over to her sister.

"I'll get help." Nathan told them, hurrying off to get someone.

Audrey looked at Haven's wound, trying so hard not to hurt her, before applying pressure, "What the hell were you thinking?" Audrey scolded her younger sister.

"I was trying to do the right thing." Haven replied, wincing, coughing, and crying.

"Getting shot is the right thing?" Audrey asked, again in a scolding manner through her own tears.

"No. Trying to save someone's life was." Haven replied, starting to feel a bit lightheaded due to the loss of blood she was experiencing.

"I'm so sorry." Evi said to Duke, "They...they said it would win you back...that I would win you back but...but I know now...and it's...it's ok...I see how much she needs you, Duke...and how much you need her...you're like...two sides of the same coin..." Evi chuckled as the realization came to her, "Flipside...I get it now..." With those last words escaping her lips, the life left her eyes as her head slowly turned to the side.

Duke was angry for so many reasons and he had to do something about it. Not only did those men outside kill Evi, but they shot the woman he loved and that was something he couldn't let go unpunished. With the keycard in hand, he started to head for the door.

Haven saw what he was doing and said, "Duke...no. Please don't go out there, Duke...please." Haven couldn't handle it if anything happened to Duke, she just couldn't.

"I'm sorry, flipside." Duke said to Haven and tried to go for the door again.

Nathan rounded the corner and saw what was happening, "Duke!" Nathan called out to him, quickly blocking his path, "Don't go out there, you need to be smarter than that!"

"Get the hell out of my way, Nathan!" Duke yelled at him, followed but Duke punching him square in the jaw. Haven gasped, Audrey exclaimed, "Duke!" and that caused Duke to look at them, giving Nathan an opening to take his radio and hit Duke over the back of the head with it, knocking Duke out. "Nathan!" Audrey exclaimed in the same tone, causing Haven to say, "He just saved his life."

Hugh patched Haven up the best he could with the first aid kit they hand on hand. Haven looked pale and could barely stay awake as she laid on the bench, "She's lost a lot of blood." Hugh told Audrey, "If she doesn't get a transfusion soon..." he didn't want to finish that sentence, so he said, "She needs to get to a hospital." instead.

Audrey put her hands over her mouth, trying to keep herself together, "I'm going to figure out what's going on here. The sooner I do, the sooner she can get help." Audrey kissed her sister's head, "I'm not going to lose you." she whispered to Haven before going to the Chief's office to try and find some clues.

Haven wanted to tell Audrey that she loved her too, but couldn't. She was too weak to say a word, but knew that Audrey knew. A woman, who didn't know she was infected, brought Haven over a cup of juice, "I'm sorry this happened to you, Haven." she said sincerely, trying to place the juice in Haven's hand. When their skin touched, black lines that almost looked like moving veins went from the woman, into Haven, before disappearing completely on both of them.

It was unknown to both that the woman was no longer infected and Haven was healed just enough to keep her going for a little while longer."Thank you." Haven managed to whisper, but wasn't able to accept the drink due to Haven's head drooping, passing out. The woman rushed to get Hugh, who came over and quickly checked Haven's pulse. He found that it was still there, put a rolled up jacket under her head, and left her alone to rest.

Meanwhile, Audrey was practically ripping Merrill's office apart, but it wasn't until she dumped out the trash that she found something. Audrey pulled a picked at Styrofoam cup from the pile and knew instantly who it belonged to, "Nikki Coleman."

Audrey brought Nikki back into her office for a more in depth questioning. "You didn't mention that Officer Stark made a call to your residence earlier today, that you were also in Chief Merrill's office. And now they're both dead three hours after they talked to you."

Nikki swallowed a lump in her throat, "I...I wanna help you, but..I can't be seen talking to you." her voice barely above a whisper.

Chris walked to Audrey's office and knocked on the doorframe, "Audrey..."

Audrey cut him off when she said, "Chris, not now."

Chris held up his hands, showing her the blackened tips of his fingers, dark veins going down his fingers, "I guess I won't bother you with this."

Nikki, taken over by Chris' trouble, smiled and giggled at him, "Hello again." she said with a smile.

"Hi." Chris replied in a tone that showed he was not in the mood to deal with her reaction to him.

Audrey made the connection, "You talked to Nikki too?" It was becoming more clear that Nikki was the Troubled one.

"Yeah, she talked to me." Chris answered, not seeing any connection, "Why?" Audrey's expression answered that question for him. His eyes went wide as he pointed at Nikki, "She's the one?" Wiggling his fingers, he walked closer to Nikki, "Be a dear and clear this up, will ya? Do that voodoo that you do."

Nikki smiled, admiring him as she shook her head, "I don't understand." she replied in a dreamy tone.

Chris was on the verge of losing his patience, but he explained it to her anyway, "You're the one causing this disease, so just fix it, will you?"

"Okay." Audrey spoke, getting up from her seat behind the desk and walked over to Chris, pushing him out the door. She couldn't believe Chris had just done that, her face and tone made that clear, "I haven't even told her yet."

"I'm dying." Chris retorted, "Give me five minutes with patient zero. I'll have her healing lepers, I mean, look at her." Chris gestured to Nikki who was fawning over Chris from her seat, "She's practically in love with me."

Audrey couldn't keep what she was thinking in any longer in regards to Chris, her worry about Haven she had to keep bottled up or else she wouldn't be able to function. But if she didn't let something go, she'd lose it. "What has happened to you?" Audrey asked Chris, waving her hands in front of him, "You've completely changed."

Chris scoffed, "Yeah, whatever. I'm going to the hospital."

Audrey stopped him, "You can't leave!" she held onto his arm to keep him from going. "The people out there will shoot you. They already shot my sister."

"I'm sorry about Haven, Audrey, I am. But nobody wants to shoot me." Chris replied.

Audrey shook her head, "Really?" she retorted, "You're a scientist, tell me, what works faster? Your Trouble or a bullet?" Audrey cut back the sass a little, when she said, "Listen, I can save you if you just let me get through to this very scared, and now, thanks to you, very confused woman. Alright? Just let me do my job."

Chris' emotions were so high he said, "Man, I wish my affliction worked on you."

When Audrey heard that, she wanted to pull a 'Haven' and slap him, but she refrained from doing so and just slammed the office door in his face instead.

Audrey sat behind her desk and went back to what they were talking about before, "Usually a Trouble like yours is triggered by a traumatic event. Did something like that happen to you recently?"

Nikki was on the verge of breaking down in tears, something Audrey could see. "Please," Audrey pleaded with her, "you can tell me."

Nikki shook her head, "No, I...I...you don't see, I can't say anything." Nikki took a breath, "He's back. And he'll hurt me again, kill me even."

"Is that why you called Officer Stark?" Audrey inquired, "Is that why you came down to the station? Because you're being abused?" Nikki answered by barely nodding her head, and that was all the confirmation that she needed. Audrey put the cap on her pen, "Okay, listen, that man that you're afraid of, he can't hurt you here alright? You're safe."

Nikki shook her head, "No, I'm never safe. You don't understand, I...it took me years. I ran away. I changed my name. Today he found me." It took everything Nikki had to keep her voice from breaking. "He said if I talked to the police he'll kill me." Nikki wiped the tears from her eyes, and looked behind her to make sure no one was there.

Outside the office, Hugh walked into the bullpen and saw Chris, "Hi, I'm Hugh Underwood. I'm a doctor."

"Chris Brody." Chris replied, "I'd shake your hand but I'm pretty much dying." he held up his darkening hands to show what he meant.

Hugh looked quite sincere, "Oh, I'm so sorry Chris. Um, I just saw you in there with Detective Parker..."

Chris cut Hugh off when he asked, "Is it about Haven?"

"No," Hugh answered, "Haven is resting at the moment. I..I saw you with that Nikki woman...what's going on?"

Chris sighed, "My girlfriend, or whatever she is, doesn't want me to leave. She's the detective. She's in there chatting up a storm while I'm out here dying." Now Chris was sounding bitter.

"I might be able to help you." Hugh replied, "If I can get you to the hospital in time, I might be able to save your life."

"Haven too?" Chris asked, if he was getting a chance to get out then he wanted to make sure Haven could get help too.

"Haven too." Hugh confirmed, "The only thing is, there's no way they're going to let us out of here otherwise. We're going to need a gun or something."

Chris thought for a moment and had an idea, he turned around and saw Stan sitting at his desk, worried about Haven. Chris approached Stan's desk and asked, "It's Stan, right?"

Stan looked up and was instantly taken by Chris' Trouble, all his worry going away. He smiled at Chris and said, "Yeah, it is. Thanks for remembering."

Chris chuckled awkwardly, "Yeah, uh, Stan, Parker wanted me to get that envelope that you put into evidence."

It worked like a charm, "Sure." Stan replied, getting up to retrieve the envelope.

Back in Audrey's office, Audrey got up from her seat, "I think all of those years that you spent absorbing that abuse, swallowing that poison, I think today when he showed up it..it finally leaked out." Audrey sat in the seat next to Nikki, "It's been infecting all these people." Audrey could see the pain Nikki was feeling and hated it, but she needed to be able to help her, "Listen, if you tell me who he is, we can confront him, and..and maybe we can end this thing."

Nikki wiped the tears from her eyes, again, "He's...he knows I'm here. He knows I'm talking to you."

Audrey shook her head, "No. How would he know that unless he's..." Audrey made the connection in that moment, "...here."

Just then, the office door was kicked open by Hugh, causing Nikki to cry out and cover herself. Hugh stormed into the office with Audrey's gun raised, "Excuse me, Officer. Mind if I have a word with my wife?"

Hugh forced Audrey and Nikki out of the office at gun point and made them kneel down out in the bull pen, "Get over there." He demanded, pushing Audrey.

Audrey, with her hands up, said "Alright, alright." She knelt down next to Nikki, "Okay, you're in charge." Everyone else was huddled together on the other side of the room, Chris looking so guilty.

Hugh stood behind Nikki and Audrey, his gun raised at them, "Yes, I am." He lowered his weapon for a moment, "I've heard about the freaks in Haven." Hugh went over to Nikki, crouched down beside her, putting his arm around her, "But creating a pestilence?"

"You don't have to do this, Hugh." Audrey tried to make the first step in hostage negotiations.

"Well, now I do, don't I?" Hugh shouted at a crying Nikki, before looking at Audrey, "Because she complained about me."

Audrey kept her head high, "She didn't do anything wrong."

Hugh leaned his head against Nikki's for a moment, ignoring her sobs, "She did do one thing right. She gave everyone else the disease except me, and now they're all dying." He wasn't worried about Haven surviving because he believed if Haven didn't get to a hospital soon that she too would die, "Maybe..." Hugh moved his head from one side of Nikki to the other, his mouth right by her ear, "...that's because...you know...I'm the only one who truly understands you, huh?"

Chris weakly got to his feet, "Hey...Hugh, come on. Let's talk about this."

Audrey looked at Chris, growing ticked at him, "Chris, sit down. You've already done enough, you've already given him the guns."

"Hey!" Hugh shouted at Audrey, "You don't talk to him like that." Chris went over to Audrey, putting the gun near her head, "Maybe you need to be taught a little respect. What do you think?" Something caught Hugh's attention. He picked up Audrey's hand and looked at her fingers, "Why aren't you sick like the others?"

Audrey pressed her lips together and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to think of a way out of this.

Duke woke up in a cell with a pounding headache. He saw Nathan on the other side of the bars, "Nathan, come on. You can't just lock me in here." Duke walked over to the bars, wrapping his hands around them. "I'm not...I'm not going to do anything. Just...Just let me see Haven."

"Haven will be fine." Nathan felt like he was lying because he honestly didn't know if she would be, but he knew that he couldn't let Duke out. "You're not thinking right."

Duke clenched his hands around the bars and was about to say something but Dwight's voice cut through on the radio, "Nathan, I got backup. The Sheriff's ten minutes out."

"Great." Nathan replied, and Dwight continued, "Not great. Our buddies out here must have a scanner and heard the call go out. They're gearing up, looks like they're coming in."

"They wanna wipes us out before help gets here." Nathan spoke into the radio.

"They're coming in the back, I've got you covered." Dwight replied, filling him in. Nathan put the radio in his back pocket and turned away. Duke reached through the bars, grabbing Nathan's arm, "Nathan. You gotta let me go with you."

Nathan yanked his arm away, "I'm not letting you get yourself killed. Haven would never forgive me." Nathan walked away, ignoring Duke's shouting telling him to wait and to let him out. Nathan was doing this for Duke's own good and hoped he'd eventually realize that.

Duke cried out in anger, frustration, and so many other things. Evi died an undeserved death, Haven was injured and he didn't know how she was really doing, and he was locked in a cell unable to do anything to avenge her. Duke's mind was racing and he needed to get the hell out of there.

Back in the bullpen, Hugh stood up behind Audrey, a clump of her hair in one hand, his gun aimed at her head in the other. "I'm sorry." He said to Audrey, "I can't let you live. You'll keep me away from my Nicole."

Chris stood up, "Hey, come on, Doc. I get you. I understand why you're doing this. Sometimes it's..."

While Chris was distracting Hugh, Audrey whispered to Nikki, "Isolating yourself, feeling weak, that's what's caused this. But what you have inside of you now, you need to turn it around. Fight back, Nikki." Audrey was pleading with Nikki, begging her to fight back.

Nikki wished she could, but believed she couldn't, "I can't." she replied through her sobs.

The tail end of what Chris was saying was, "You don't want to see me die, do ya?" Hugh appeared to be crying after hearing what Chris had to say. With the hand holding the gun, he wiped the tears from his eyes.

Audrey continued trying to get through to Nikki, "Listen, you're not just hurting yourself. You're hurting everyone else here, okay? Find the strength and fight back."

"Alright, that's enough out of you!" Hugh shouted at Audrey, returning the aim of the gun back to Audrey's head.

Nikki looked at Audrey and thought about what would happen to Haven if anything happened to her, she looked at the people in front of her and thought about what would happen to them if she didn't fight back. She couldn't accept it, so she finally spoke up, "Stop it, Hugh!" Nikki yelled at him. She swallowed the lump in her throat, gathering up her strength "No more." Nikki stood up and turned around to face him, standing up for herself for the very first time.

"What did you say?" Hugh demanded and wanted to teach her a lesson for daring to raise her voice at him.

"You heard me." Nikki replied firmly, standing her ground. Even when Hugh turned the gun on her, she barely flinched and just inhaled deeply.

Hugh had the look of a monster in his eyes, aiming the gun at Nikki, "Now, I'm gonna count to three, and you are going to get on your knees and apologize."

Nikki looked Hugh right in the eye and shook her head, "No. You have poisoned me with your abuse for years. I'm done. So kill me if you want. But I don't think you will, because you're nothing but a coward." Nikki held her head high as she shouted at him, "Rot in hell!"

Hugh groaned right after Nikki said that to him, his skin quickly turning gray, his veins darkening. All the poison that she had held inside from his abuse for so long was now being transferred to Hugh, the effect happening far quicker than anyone else. It was mere seconds before the affliction worked through his system, causing Hugh to cough and gag on black blood before collapsing to the floor.

Upon hearing the thud of Hugh's body meeting the floor, Audrey quickly got up, took the guns off his body, and stood next to Nikki. Nikki looked down at Hugh and said, "I...I did that to him. I...I killed him."

"No." Audrey retorted in a comforting manner, "Listen, you saved us." and she was right. Everyone that was showing signs of the affliction were now completely healed.

Nathan hurried into the bullpen and Audrey said, "Hey, it's over." The look on Nathan's face made her go over to him. "Not for those guys outside." Nathan replied. "They're coming in. They want to wipe out the curse and everyone else."

"Okay." Audrey replied, handing the two guns over to Nathan, "Take these, I'll try to get more guns." Nathan rushed away, the radio in his hand as he walked to the back, "Dwight, do you copy?" There was no response from on the radio, so he threw it aside and cocked the gun as he walked to the back door of the station. Nathan was about to open the door when Dwight burst in, "They're coming, get back!" he exclaimed, pushing Nathan back.

Bullets shot through the door and no matter where they were aimed, they all his Dwight in the chest and torso. Nathan crossed his arms out in front of him, anything to try and keep the bullets from causing any deadly damage. When the shots stopped firing, Nathan moved away his arms and watched as Dwight slid to the floor and over to the wall, breathing heavily. Nathan checked himself to see where he had gotten hit and found he wasn't hit at all.

From outside they heard the men shouting to get out of there, sirens wailing, and tires screeching.

Nathan slid to the floor, "Dwight, you're shot." Dwight touched his neck to check, "One grazed my neck." was his reply. Nathan looked around, trying to see where the bullet holes were in the wall, causing Dwight to say, "Let me guess, you didn't catch a single bullet." that was a statement as opposed to a question.

Nathan was trying to wrap his head around it, "Nothing hit the walls. I'm not hit...I don't get it."

To explain everything, Dwight pulled open his button down shirt, revealing a bulletproof vest that was filled with bullets, "Bullets...they, uh..tend to find me." Nathan looked at Dwight with semi raised brows, so Dwight said, "It's a long story."

"Bullets tend to find you?" Nathan asked, just for confirmation, "That's your Trouble?" Dwight nodded a little with a sigh. "Well, you were right." Nathan continued, "The way things are going, I might need you around more than ever."

The lockdown was lifted, paramedics came in to take the dead away and bring Haven right to the hospital. Duke was paying respects to Evi before the paramedics took her from the station, when the Rev appeared out of nowhere and said, "I'm sorry for what you're going through, Mr Crocker. I truly am."

Duke looked at the Rev in a way that told him to stay the hell away or pay for it, but that didn't stop the Rev. The Rev walked closer and said, "They were one of the many innocent victims of the Troubled."

"Cut the crap, Reverend. You don't give a damn about Evi, or Haven." Duke shot back.

The Reverend put his hands behind his back as he continued to approach Duke, "I misjudged Miss Parker, I apologize. Your connection with her is far greater than I ever anticipated."

Duke looked right at the Rev, "Damn right it is."

The Rev nodded, "Perhaps she can help you see what part you play in all of this."

"I don't understand any of this." Duke retorted, causing the Rev to say, "I can help you with that, Mr Crocker...but you're going to have to prove to me that you're worthy." On that cryptic note, the Rev walked away from Duke and headed towards the bullpen.

In the bullpen of the station, Audrey had to tie up some loose ends before going to see Haven in the hospital. In hushed tones she spoke to Dwight, "Dwight, I need you to do something for me. Evi Ryan...make it looked like a suicide, or an accident, just as long as the case is closed. I already have an idea to explain Haven's wound."

"We're not talking about covering up a supernatural event." Nathan chimed in, "This is a murder."

"We can't investigate this with the state police looking over our shoulder." Audrey retorted, but Nathan had a retort of his own when he said, "Evi was shot in the chest. She has black veins in her arms. The medical examiner's never..."

Dwight interrupted Nathan, "No problem." When Nathan and Audrey looked at him in question, he said, "Wouldn't be the toughest thing I ever had to do." Looking at Nathan he said with a nod to his head, "If that's okay with you, Chief."

Nathan looked over and saw the Rev speaking with an officer from the state police, he turned to Dwight and said, "Do it. And one more thing, we've got Chief Merrill's cell phone logs. Guess who he talked to half a dozen times during the lockdown?"

"The Rev." Audrey replied, looking over at the Rev, "He's in the middle of all this." The Rev locked eyes with Audrey and kept them locked as he made his way out of the station until he was out of view.

The next day, Haven woke up in a hospital bed and looked around with squinted eyes. She tried to sit up a bit and groaned loudly as she felt the pain shoot through her shoulder. "Hey," Audrey said, hurrying into the room, "You're not on the good stuff so take it easy."

"Thanks for making sure of that." Haven replied, sitting up with Audrey's help. "Thank Duke, he made it here before I did." Audrey replied, pulling a chair closer to the bed, "You're really lucky, Haven. The doctors have no idea how you didn't bleed out, but you didn't. You're okay, and you're going to be okay."

Haven laid her head back on her pillow, taking Audrey's hand in hers, "I'm sorry...I..."

"Shh.." Audrey said to her sister, kissing the back of her hand. "It's okay, Haven. I understand what you were thinking, I get it. I hate that you had to get shot because of it, but you're going to be okay." Haven and Audrey smiled teary eyed smiles at each other before Audrey said, "On a happy note, Nathan has reinstated you. Welcome back to the force, as soon as you're all healed up." Audrey set Haven's sidearm and badge on the stand beside the bed.

The sisters looked over when there was a knock at the door, "Hey, flipside." Duke said, entering the room. "I'll leave you two alone." Audrey replied, giving Haven a kiss on her head, "Love you, kiddo."

"Love you too." Haven replied, not even complaining about being called kiddo. When Audrey left the room, Haven scooted over a little on her bed and patted beside her.

Duke slowly laid on the bed next to her and carefully held her in his arms. Haven practically melded into him and closed her eyes. There was so much that needed to say to one another, but they both knew that could wait for another time. In that moment, all they wanted to do was be in each other's arms. All they wanted was to just be.

After leaving the hospital, Audrey went to meet up with Chris at the end of the dock. "How's Haven?" Chris asked as Audrey sat down on the bench next to him.

"She's good, physically anyway. I'm still waiting for how she really is emotionally." Audrey replied and was about to say something else, but Chris lifted his hand a little as he said, "Just let me go first, okay?" Chris sighed, "I screwed up. Hugely. And giving your gun to a psychopath...that may have been the least of my mistakes." Chris sighed again, "I lost your trust." he turned to face Audrey, "I thought I could handle my affliction. Last night...I gave into it and nearly got people killed. And that thing I said to you about wishing you weren't immune..that's not true." Chris looked into Audrey's eyes, "I want to be with you, Audrey. I need to be with you."

Audrey let his words sink in and took a moment before replying, "You once told me, 'I want you because you're you'. Wanting me and needing me...they're two different things. I can't be the person that keeps you you. You gotta do that on your own."

Chris felt like his heart was breaking, but he could see where she was coming from. He could understand it and couldn't fault her for it, "Yeah." he replied softly.

Audrey let out a little breath, "It's just you'd...you'd eventually start resenting me for it."

Chris nodded in understanding, "I think the best thing for me to do is to just...go somewhere, by myself, away from other people."

"No, Chris, that's not what I'm saying." Audrey replied, trying to get him to see that it really wasn't what she was saying.

"You know," Chris continued, "someday the Troubles are gonna end, and I'm gonna go back to being the guy that everybody hates. Maybe then I'll be a guy that you can love." Chris and Audrey looked at each other in silence for a few moments before he gave her hand a little squeeze. Neither of them said goodbye as Chris got up from the bench and headed back up the dock.

Audrey watched Chris go for a moment, before turning around to face the water. She rubbed her hand that Chris squeezed and just let her mind wander and let herself...be.

End Episode 9