They'd been dozing for a few minutes when there was a sound like the drone of a beehive. Duke opened his eyes to see a black orb darting around Audrey's head. He shook her gently.

"Audrey? Open your eyes, beautiful. I think this is here for you."

She opened her eyes slowly, her body still lethargic. She held out her hand and the orb zipped right to it.

"Oh! Oh, that's embarrassing. Yikes."

"What? What's embarrassing?"

"Someone can hear us. She's another like you... she thinks she's crazy because she can hear us."

"How is that possible?"

"She has to be like us, from my world." She flopped onto her back, speaking to the ceiling.

"Jennifer. I know you think you're crazy, but you're not, I swear. You need to call..." her eyes unfocused- "Dwight Hendrickson at the police department in Haven, Maine. Tell him you have information about Duke Crocker and... uh, Audrey Parker. I'm begging you, it will prove you're sane." Audrey rattled off the station's number three times, then sent the orb back out, with instructions to destroy her medication.

"Uh, why are you having her call Dwight and not Nate?"

"Dwight's there, Nathan isn't. We're going to have to get him ourselves."

"Any idea how we're going to do that?"

She considered. "If we time it right, we may be able to hoof it. I can't set the Barn down, it's not stable without Howard. There's a partial eclipse coming, I can get us close enough to jump if Jennifer can open the door."

"I really don't want to ask but what happens if we jump and the door is closed?"

"Ahh. Well. I'm sure I could find a way through the Void. Better if she opens the door. I have eyes on, she's already talked to Dwight."

"Already? It's been two minutes!"

"Void-Time, Duke." She stretched lazily, feeling his eyes on her.

"How long until we have to go back?" Duke asked quietly.

"Probably tomorrow. Nathan's going to actually damage himself if we don't get to him soon. And we can't be in here when the Barn dies."

"Dies? Is it alive? I thought it was like a car."

"It is, but it's still a living thing. Most structures that travel the Void are organic, living organisms. It can't survive without it's pilot. Howard was bonded to this Barn the way I am to One, or Two was to Three."

"Stupid question, but does that mean they call you 'Four'?"

"They did, until One learned my name. He stopped calling me Four then, saying 'Mara' instead. You need to understand, he's a complete psychopath. He has no feelings but desire and wrath. He's going to track me again, especially now that he's sensed me here and Howard is gone."

"He'll have to go through me first."

She put her hand over his mouth, looking panicked. "Don't ever say that. If he heard you, he'd take it as a challenge. He's killed so many. He created the Troubles. He's very, very dangerous."

"Can a bullet in his brain kill him?"

"Yes. The problem is, it would kill me, too. The connection from the Aether bonded us. You hurt one, you hurt the other."

Duke looked green, more shocked than he'd looked when she'd slapped him. "Hurting him hurts you?"

"If we're on the same dimension, yes."

"Well... his ability, is it like a Trouble?"

"Well, yes, in that they're both based on Aether."

"You said you could fix my Trouble when we get back. If you do, could I steal his abilities if I touch his blood?"

She sat straight up, so fast it made Duke dizzy. She stared at him with wide, admiring eyes.

"You're a genius, Duke. An absolute genius. Yes, yes that would work. And you won't even have to touch him to get it!"

"What do you mean?"

"If... well, when he shows up, all we have to do is cut me. It will make him bleed. He won't expect it, can't have any idea that someone with your ability exists. Then we really could just shoot him. I'll have to make it so you can't absorb my blood, though. An accident like that would be catastrophic."

She curled up against Duke again, head on his chest. Her hair tickled his face.

"Audrey?"

"Duke?"

"This is like... the fifth time since I've been here that 'Holding Out for a Hero' has played. It was playing when I came in. That seems excessive."

She made a disgruntled noise. "It's a reminder. Every cycle starts this way, always with a song. Something important, usually a message or lesson I'm supposed to learn."

"But you've never needed a hero. You're the hero."

She sighed.

"Lexie. Lexie is supposed to teach me that it's not a weakness to rely on someone. But even still, you're wrong, Duke." Her voice was quiet and rough, and Duke knew she was trying not to cry.

"When the Bolt-Gun killer- Arla- kidnapped me... I knew I was in serious trouble. And you burst in, all 'Knight in Shining Armor' I was so, so relieved. That embarrassed me. Feeling so weak, needing a rescue. I was ashamed. That's why I went to Nathan. So I wouldn't have to admit that you saved me.

"I know, logically, that it's a character flaw. And I know I rely on you, much more than I should. But knowing and feeling are different, and it's hard for me to accept. It's why she's not law enforcement or an emergency responder. A bartender, a girl who isn't so damaged that she's afraid to admit she needs someone. Not that Lexie isn't tough, she is. I am. But she's not as emotionally stunted as me, though her history is just as rough."

"That's why you went to Nathan? Because you were embarrassed?"

She nodded, not meeting his eyes.

"Audrey... how many times have you saved me? Or Nate?"

"I don't keep count, Duke. It doesn't matter, it's what I do."

"Fine. I'm going to keep just loving you. No judgements, no demands. Because that's what I do."

"Of course you're not human. You have more love in you than a human body can hold."

"That's me. An inhuman love machine."

She laughed. "I was sure you were going to go for the cheaper joke."

"Oh, I thought about it."

"Of course you did. I'd have been disappointed if you hadn't. You know what sounds good? A shower."

"And wash off all this Mara-goodness? I've waited years for this. No way."

She rolled over, laughing loudly. "Mara-goodness. Gods, nobody has ever used those words in one sentence."

"Then nobody has ever known you like I do." His tone was emphatic, and she gazed over at him.

"That's true. Nobody, ever has known all of me. I was a child, maybe 6 when I was given to the Cause. We had no names there, and since I've been working in Haven... even I didn't know who I was."

Duke's brow furrowed. "Will you remember this when we go back?"

"There's nothing left to block my memory. I'll be as I am now, and so will you."

"Thank god. Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Oh, now you're asking permission?"

"You mentioned that Lexie has a bad past. Is that something you're willing to share?"

She rolled onto her front, propped up on her elbows.

"My real dad left when I was two. My mom had a drug problem, and a man problem. Just guy after guy in and out. One of them... he would get mom high so he could be alone with me. I was 13, and it went on for over a year. Just before my 15th birthday, he tried to shoot me up after he... well, you know." Her mouth twisted in a disgusted grimace.

"I'd seen it destroy my mom, making her a zombie who was okay whoring out her daughter for a fix. I was afraid, I'd been afraid for ages. I saw him pull that needle out, and I was hurting, hurting so bad- he wasn't afraid to hurt me, obviously. I didn't even think, just grabbed the closest thing I could. His knife. I stabbed him. I don't know how many times. I wanted him to stay down.

"I ran away, found work- honest work, scrubbing toilets, houses, whatever. I managed. When I was 18 I got a fake ID and started working as a bar-back. Within a year, I was head bartender."

She saw the sick, horrified look on Duke's face. "It's fine. I'm fine. Please don't look at me like that."

"I- like what?"

"Like you pity me. I don't need pity. I don't deserve it."

"Lexie, I can hurt for you. It doesn't mean I don't know how strong you are."

"I killed a man, Duke."

"I've killed people, Lexie. And it never got any easier. So let me hurt for you. Let me shoulder some of that burden, because god knows you do it for me. Please, Lexie. Come here." He held his arms open and she hesitated only a moment before she moved into his embrace.

He kissed her face a hundred times, nuzzled his nose against her neck. Things were just starting to escalate when the buzzing orb was back, dancing insistently around their heads like some kind of Tinkerbell on Red Bull.

Lexie held out her hand, still kissing Duke. Suddenly, she broke away.

"Shit!"

Duke groaned. "What now?"

"Haven, what else? We may have a complication."

Oh, he hated those words. They always ended in blood and tears. "Hit me."

She dropped to a whisper, presumably so they wouldn't be overheard. "The Guard is hunting for Nathan. They want to punish him for shooting Howard and screwing up the cycle. When we go in, we'll need to think on our feet. I... I'm going to have to pretend to be just Lexie. I have to pretend I don't remember Nathan." She looked pained.

"It's okay," he whispered back. "We'll find a way to talk to him alone. We're pretty good liars, we can do this."

"I can't let them know I'm in love with you, because then you'll be in danger, too. We... should pretend like the Barn was a simulation for you, too. You can be my boss. Can you do that? It's fine to pretend you suddenly got your memory back when you land, okay?"

"I don't get to be your boyfriend?" Duke looked like a kicked puppy.

"Okay, my boss who's my boyfriend, but we're not serious, okay? I mean it, if they know I'm in love with you, they'll be after you and Nathan both. No, until I can correct your Trouble and convince Vince Fucking Teagues who and what I am, I'm Lexie once we touch down, clear?"

"As long as I get to be the boyfriend, I'm good."

"Jennifer probably already slipped that she heard us in flagrate delicto. That girl reminds me of an orb, she's so... sprightly. Yeah, that's the word. She's in Haven now, following Dwight around. You know what they remind me of? Beauty and the Beast. She's all tiny and perfect like Belle. I better be careful, she might try to steal you from me."

"Impossible. I don't even look at other women. You're it for me, Mara. All the parts of you."

"How can you be real? If I didn't know the limitations of the Barn, I would think I was still in a simulation. You're too good to be real." She kissed him, hoping he would feel the truth of her words. She had to teach him to be loved too.

They had to learn together.

"Come on Duke, I promise to make the shower worthwhile. We'll need to leave soon, they're looking for the door."

"I thought I was your boss."

"Keep telling yourself that. Up, Crocker. Let's go."

He followed under protest.