Title: The Day We Died
Author: Shannon – shannyfish
Disclaimer: I do not own "Haven" or its characters, Syfy and other people do. This is merely for entertainment purposes only.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: When Duke is confronted by friends of Reverend Driscoll that promise to give him the answers he so desperately wants, will he sacrifice everyone and everything he holds dear? How will the town of Haven be forever changed? Audrey/Nathan
Warning: All of Season 2 is fair
Author's Note: This fic takes place after the events in 02.10 "Who, What, Where, Wendigo?" Reviews make me happy :D And I'll write faster too! So, keep that in mind! And yes…I totally stole the title from the Fringe episode!
. . .
Chapter 7 – "Covert Mission"
"I know this has to all be confusing to you," Duke told her. He was preparing dinner. He had been trying to appease her since she arrived back at the Cape Rouge.
"It is," Audrey admitted. "Are you sure you're not going to be upset with me staying at the apartment above the Grey Gull for a bit?"
"No," Duke said as he looked over his shoulder at her. "I want you to be comfortable."
Audrey smiled at him and nodded. "I appreciate that."
"So, was it weird at the station?"
"Weird that the chief of police and I both don't remember?" Audrey asked. "It was a bit odd. Nothing felt right," she lied. She had to lie. Everything had felt right at the station, she'd actually felt a bit empty when she'd stepped outside of those doors. She'd left Nathan behind. She couldn't touch him. They had to be secretive…for a bit. Right now, Duke couldn't know. She wanted to know what was going on.
There were secrets everywhere. Audrey honestly didn't think there existed another town in the whole world that had so many secrets. She was really starting to feel like so much of her was a secret. She was sure people knew. Audrey wasn't a local though. It would take time, she was pretty sure that Doctor Carr had said that it would take about five years before she could claim local status. She really didn't want to wait years upon years to really know who she was.
"How was Nathan?"
"You guys grew up together, right?" Audrey asked.
Duke nodded. "Yeah."
"Has he always not been able to feel? He burned himself on coffee today and didn't even realize it," Audrey lied.
"It's his trouble," Duke said as he worked on dishing up dinner. "I thought we talked about this last night? About the troubled…"
"It's a lot to take in, I guess," she said with a shrug. This was a lot harder than she had expected. Of course, she knew that Duke wasn't going to just tell her everything. It couldn't be that easy. No, she was going to have to work her way into his confidence. Not having her memory, or so he thought, would help with that but she was sure that he was still suspicious. Duke was always like that. "My brain's just not holding everything."
"Look, the troubled are pretty hated in town. But that doesn't matter. You, me, and Nathan…we're friends. Nathan's troubled, but I wouldn't hurt him."
"Am I troubled?" Audrey asked.
It was a question that she still wondered about. Was being immune to the troubles a trouble? Was it like Nathan's not being able to feel? It was a trouble, but it didn't really affect the whole town. It wasn't like her emotions affecting the weather.
"Don't know that I'd label you troubled," Duke said honestly. He set the plates down on the tabletop and sat down across from Audrey. "I mean, you not being affected by them…that's strange. I guess…I guess that means you're troubled," he said as he tried to take in the idea of Audrey being one of the troubled.
"But you don't care?"
"You're my friend above anything else."
"Nathan too?" Audrey asked.
"Yes," Duke told her as he stared at her.
She saw truth in his eyes. She was sure Nathan wasn't going to trust Duke. Not after everything, but she believed him. Believed that he wouldn't really hurt her or Nathan. Audrey wasn't sure what to think though. Grief did a lot to a person and maybe Duke was still figuring things out. She just hoped he figured out where his allegiance lay sooner rather than later.
"You have a lot of questions," Duke commented as he pushed her plate a tad bit closer to her. He wanted to change the subject or at least eat there in silence.
Audrey shrugged. "I don't remember things… I'm just trying to figure out things." She picked up her fork and started to eat to appease him. She could tell that Duke wasn't comfortable with all her questions. She'd have to keep from piling on all of them at once, but she honestly didn't want to be stuck pretending for long. She wanted things to be somewhat normal. However normal it got in Haven…
"How is it?" Duke asked after taking a bite of his own.
Audrey nodded. "Really good. Thank you," she said as she looked up at him and flashed him a smile.
"Glad you like it," he replied with a bright smile.
This was awkward. Beyond awkward. She was sure that once this charade was over that Nathan was going to want to shoot Duke (which Audrey wouldn't allow), but she thought that Duke really just needed some psychiatric care. Maybe some time in the Freddy. That could do him some good. He'd been through a lot lately and that was enough to make anyone break.
"I was thinking, maybe we should get away this weekend," Duke spoke up after they both ate in silence for a bit. "Take the boat out. We don't have to fish or anything… Might just be nice to have a change of scenery."
"I don't know," she said. "I might be called in…"
"I think medically you deserve the time off," Duke said. "I'm sure Nathan will understand that."
"Maybe."
Duke shook his head, a smile still firmly on his face. "You don't remember anything except unconsciously you remember you're a workaholic!"
"What?"
"You," Duke said. "You can never say 'no' to your job. Always trying to save the world."
"I must be good at it."
Duke shrugged. "Seems that way, but they're not all wins. Sometimes you lose and it's hard for you. I honestly don't know how you can keep putting yourself through that."
"Probably because I have to at least try…"
"Give yourself a break from saving the world, Audrey."
"I'll ask Nathan," Audrey said quietly. She already knew what the response would be. There would probably be a door closing and then yelling and arguing. Nathan knew Duke longer than she did, but she felt like she knew Duke better than Nathan did. She also thought (hoped even) that she could control Duke. She didn't think that Duke would push lines. And if he tried to push things, well then Audrey would push back…possibly with her knee to his crotch.
She knew that Nathan would feel like it wasn't fair. He was so looking forward to going on their trip. It was about a week away and Audrey honestly couldn't blame him. Right now, all she wanted to do was to run away from Haven (for a while at least) with Nathan. To be held in his arms and just to have him nearby. This, being so far apart and pretending,; it was killing her. It was probably killing him, too.
"What are you thinking?" Duke asked.
"Huh?" Audrey asked and then Duke's question processed through her brain a moment later. He was about to repeat his question when she responded before he could. "I was just zoning…I guess… Like I said, it's all been a lot. My job seems to come naturally, but not remembering people…memories…it seems like there's a whole in my life. A huge one. It's really frustrating."
"You'll remember…in time," Duke told her.
She just smiled and nodded.
. . .
"This is ridiculous, Audrey! You're not going with him!" Nathan yelled. His door was closed and the blinds were drawn, so they had as much privacy as they could want in the police station. "Duke's already proven himself dangerous! And you want to go out to sea with him? I can't protect you there…"
She waited patiently for him to stop. Eventually he'd need to breathe…or pace again. Possibly both. He finally remained quiet for more than a second, so she spoke up. Her voice was soft and quiet. "I know, Nathan… I can take care of myself, though, especially if it's just Duke. I'll take my firearms…he may know I'll have the one, but I doubt he'd be suspicious of me carrying."
Nathan's phone on his desk rang and he picked it up. "Wuornos." He nodded and then sighed. "I understand. Send them in." By the time Nathan set the handset down, his door was opening. The Teagues brothers had let themselves in and then closed the door behind them quickly. "What can we do for you two?" Nathan walked around his desk and leaned against it, his arms crossing over his chest.
"We heard what happened," Vince started.
"We're sorry it took so long to get here to warn you," Dave said. "But we've been kept busy and I swear we're being followed."
"Warn us about what?" Audrey asked.
"You two don't remember… They did that to you," Vince spoke up.
"We know," Audrey and Nathan said together and then smiled at each other a moment after.
"Oh…" Dave spoke up a moment later.
Vince looked between the two of them. "Then you know that you two should be together and not Audrey and Duke?"
"If this is another lecture, I'm kicking you out now," Audrey told them.
"Lecture?" Nathan asked.
"I'll explain later…"
"They're trying to erase how far you two have come," Dave said. "Like they erased you before… We can't let that happen… We need you both."
"We're trying to get some information from Duke," Audrey explained. "I'm only pretending not to remember to try to get close enough to him to find out his plan and the players."
"We'd appreciate you two not saying a word," Nathan said. "We're not letting it play out much longer…"
Dave and Vince nodded. "We can do that."
"Good."
"You two are together now, right?" Vince asked curiously.
Audrey smiled and shook her head. "You two never give up, do you?"
"It's nothing to be embarrassed about…"
Audrey looked to Nathan who gave her a nod. "Yes, Nathan and I are together…"
Vince and Dave exchanged excited looks between them. "Well then, we'll leave you two lovebirds alone then," Vince said and tugged at his brother's sleeve. "Come along, Dave."
Audrey just shook her head as the two of them disappeared just as quickly as they'd arrived there. They were definitely characters.
"Lecture?" Nathan asked, his eyebrows raised as he waited for a response.
"I got lectured before…when I was Dave and Vince…about how I needed to express my feelings to you. How it was obvious and we were the only ones not admitting it," Audrey explained as simply as she could.
"Good thing they let us sort that out instead of us reading about it in the Haven Herald," Nathan told her. "With those two I wouldn't be surprised at what they'd do to further what they believe is right."
Audrey sighed. "Well maybe now they'll be appeased."
"Well, I'm not appeased… I still don't think any of this is a good idea."
Audrey frowned and closed the distance between them. "You trust me, right?"
Nathan nodded. "You, I trust. I don't trust Duke."
"So, trust that I can look after myself and that everything will be fine…"
"If you're out at sea, you're not going to have reception," Nathan pointed out. "At least let me get you a satellite phone for you to borrow. Just in case. You can tell Duke that I made you take it, as your boss."
"He'd believe that… He thinks it's funny that I don't remember anything, except that I'm a workaholic," Audrey told him.
Nathan closed the short distance that still remained between them. He reached out and touched her hair and then the side of her face. "I just don't want anything to happen to you."
"I know," she whispered. "I'll be careful, I promise."
"I wish we could just take off now…" Nathan said and leaned in and kissed her forehead. He allowed his forehead to rest against hers for a moment and pulled her closer with his arms. He wrapped his arms around her and wished that he didn't have to let her go. "It's still dangerous out there…people are still upset about the rev."
"I know," Audrey told him. "But most of them, I think, are appeased since I don't remember anything. The rev's men were helping Duke. I think that says something."
"It says they wouldn't hesitate to do it again and next time, they'd probably just shoot us both."
Audrey frowned. "Let's try to not be so pessimistic about things."
"I like to think of it as realistic."
She leaned in and kissed him. She needed to remind him that things would be alright. They'd already come this far, she wasn't about to let them slip back into nothingness. She'd find out what Duke and the rev's men were up to. She'd find out about the house that wipes your memories and then disappears. And then…then they could go back to being in reality. But for now, she'd have to continue to pretend.
Nathan deepened the kiss and then was interrupted by the knock on his door. He pulled away quickly and hurried back to his desk. He didn't want to. He would just stay there with Audrey in his arms and her lips on his all day, but they were still pretending. "Come in."
The door opened and they both turned to see Duke standing there. "Hey," Audrey greeted with a smile.
"Am I interrupting?" Duke asked.
"No," they both said quickly.
Duke looked between them. "I'm missing something going on here…"
"What do you want, Duke?" Nathan asked quickly.
"I was just dropping lunch by for you both. I figured that you probably wouldn't have the time to have a proper lunch." He turned to Audrey. "I put the lunch on your desk. I was wondering if you had remembered to ask about this weekend?"
"I did…and Nathan said yes," Audrey said looking from Duke to Nathan.
"But I have a condition," Nathan said. "Since she's supposed to be on call."
"What's the condition?" Duke asked.
"I have to bring along a satellite phone," Audrey said.
"Is that really necessary?"
"It's not a big deal," Audrey defended. "Probably won't even be used. But if there's some kind of emergency then I need to know. Plus, it's not going to really hurt anything to bring it along."
"That's true," Duke said. He nodded. "Okay. Well don't be too serious in here. Eat something,." He leaned in and kissed Audrey's cheek before waving at Nathan and leaving.
Audrey saw the anger in Nathan's eyes. She motioned for him to stay there. "Breathe," she whispered. She reached up and wiped at where Duke had kissed her. Thank God, Duke hadn't kissed her on the lips in front of Nathan. Audrey probably wouldn't have been able to stop the fight if that had happened.
"He-"
"I know! But he thinks he's my boyfriend," Audrey yelled whispered at him and then shuddered when she said the part about Duke being her boyfriend. She waited a moment before crossing his office. She turned to make sure that the blinds were still closed and that his door was still shut. Audrey went and sat on the edge of his desk so that she was only inches from his chair. "You're the one I want to be with, Nathan. You know that… I know this is hard…"
"This weekend, that's it. If you don't get anything, then it's over," Nathan said quickly. "I don't want to pretend anymore."
Audrey nodded. Tears threatened to fall. It was hard. She wanted to be with Nathan. She wished that she could cheer him up, that they could just have dinner tonight. That couldn't happen yet. She knew how much this upset him. She knew how special their connection was…especially for Nathan. "I'm sorry this is so hard…" she reached out and touched his face.
"I really haven't had any relationships in a very long while where I've been jealous," Nathan admitted. "I'll admit that him touching you makes me want to throw him through my office window. " He tried to stay calm. He tried to keep his voice even. "But this weekend is it. It's going to kill me that I can't keep an eye on you."
"There's always the Coast Guard," she reminded. "Though, I think that Duke would think that was odd."
"I may send Dwight out there," Nathan said. "For my sanity."
Audrey nodded. "I wouldn't mind that. It'd feel a bit better."
"Promise me," Nathan said. "This weekend and that's it."
"I promise."
. . .
TBC…