Disclaimer: Don't Own, Don't Sue! D

A/N: Back by popular demand! ;D I do apologize but the updates and responses to reviews will be fairly slow because I am bombarded by coursework, internships, and whatnot; and have very little time to work on fics. =(

Chapter 2: Did You Ever?

The call that had come in was about some brawl that had happened on the other side of town. Allegedly, there was four people involved; but when emergency response, followed by Audrey and Nathan, arrived, there was only one.

"Should be a simple case, right?" Nathan smirked, speaking sarcastically.

"Yeah, you do know that we will probably never get anything near normalcy in Haven, right? Besides, I like a good challenge." Audrey laughed.

Nathan patted her on the back as he stepped forward towards the crime scene, "well, then you should love this case."

Audrey smirked and shook her head as she followed her partner closer toward the crime scene. It was nearing the early hours of the morning, dawn threatening the darkness.

The young man, whom, was found at the scene of the crime, nearly an hour or so ago, sat on the ground, covering his face as he wept.

He could not have been much older than twenty or thirty years of age. He had dirty blonde, borderline brown hair, green eyes, and a tan complexion, as though he were outside in the sun for a while; but not in Haven.

"What's his name?" Audrey asked Nathan, keeping her eyes on the young man.

Nathan shrugged. "Not sure, haven't seen him in Haven before."

Audrey crouched down so that she was eye level with the young man.

"Hey there," she spoke softly. "Can you tell me what your name is?"

"It—it's James, James Whittier." He stuttered looking up at Audrey, his eyes bloodshot.

"And here I thought he was gonna say 'James Bond.'" Duke said walking up beside Nathan.

Audrey shot him a meaningful look before turning back to the young man.

"I'm Audrey." She replied.

Audrey glanced back at Nathan and back to James Whittier.

"Can you tell me what happened here James?" she asked.

"Dunno, I just remember walking down the street, it was rather dark. I was being followed by three men. And—and the rest is a blank." James answered.

Audrey searched his eyes before standing and turning to Nathan.

"Well?"

"Well, he's either lying or he really can't remember what happened after he was followed." Audrey pointed out.

"We should take him into custody." Nathan affirmed.

"On what charges? We've got nothing on this guy." Audrey reasoned.

"I'm sure you guys will think of something." Duke blurted out.

"By the way, why are you here, Duke?" Audrey asked, slightly annoyed.

"Oh, just thought something might come up about the Troubles or my services would be required." He replied.

"Well, there's nothing much you can do here at the moment, Duke. So maybe you should head back home." Nathan declared.

"And here I thought we were going to start being nice to each other." Duke retorted sarcastically.

As James went to try and stand, Audrey noticed a dark blood stain on his left leg.

"James, are you hurt?" she inquired, approaching the man.

"Oh, would you look at that?" he spoke, as if amazed that he was hurt.

"It must've happened last night." He continued.

"But you just told me that you couldn't remember anything that happened last night." Audrey spoke, as she slowly turned toward him.

James flinched slightly, whether it was because of the pain or because Audrey might've have painted him into a corner.

"Do you mind if I have a look?" Audrey asked as she approached him cautiously.

James looked as though he were wondering if he should make a break for it or just let Audrey have a look.

"I—I—I guess so." He replied as he sat back down on the ground and let Audrey look at his leg.

She very carefully lifted up his pant leg to check the wound.

Audrey was not the squeamish type, but what she found on James's leg caused her to gasp.

"What?" Nathan and Duke asked at the same time.

"Look." Was all Audrey could say.

James had a symbol carved into his calf. It was the tattooed symbol that was supposed to be on the man that was said to kill Duke.

Duke backed up slightly.

Audrey called for the medics to come and collect James and take him to the hospital.

She stood and turned to Nathan and Duke.

"Is that—" Duke began.

"It's the symbol, but I doubt if it's the man." Audrey answered, knowing what his question was.

"How do you know that?"

"Because, it was supposed to be a tattoo, not a human pumpkin carving." Audrey answered.

Audrey woke up to the early afternoon sun.

Nathan had managed to convince her to go and get some rest before they began working further on the case.

She had tried to argue, but because of the pirate escapade on Duke's boat before the incident with James, Audrey found that she could refuse Nathan's request.

Audrey glanced at the clock, noticing the time. She rolled out of bed and got a quick shower. She even got dressed quickly.

She had never slept in this late.

Just as Audrey was pulling on her shoes, she heard a knock on her door.

"That's probably Nathan, here to point out I slept in." She laughed to herself.

Not that she ever expected Nathan to do so.

She grabbed her gear and her jacket as she headed toward the door.

However, upon opening the door, she found that it was not Nathan at the door; but Duke.

"Officer Agent Parker." He smiled.

"I'm not on duty yet, Duke; and it's Officer Parker now." Audrey corrected him.

"Running late? Or are you off duty today?"

"I came back to grab some things." Audrey lied.

Duke nodded.

"Is there something I can help you with, Duke?" She asked impatiently.

Duke looked as if he were thinking about it before he answered her.

"Oh, yeah; um two things." Duke spoke excitedly.

Audrey raised an eyebrow at Duke's sudden liveliness.

"One, do you need a ride?"

Audrey reluctantly nodded, knowing how Nathan would interpret that arrival.

"Two?" Audrey asked.

"Two. Those things you had me say on the boat the other day. About saddling a horse, cottage cheese, and the electric slide."

"What about it?"

"Those were things you had me say that I never did." Duke stated.

"Yeah."

"And, uh, I was just wondering, are those things that you never did?"

Audrey was caught off guard and couldn't hide the truth from Duke in that moment.

"You didn't, did you?" Duke asked, sounding shocked.

Audrey folded her arms, giving Duke a meaningful look.

"How is this possible?"

"What does it matter?" Audrey asked.

"Look, are you going to give me a ride or am I walking?" Audrey asked, closing the door behind her as she started to walk toward the parking lot.

"Audrey." Duke spoke softly, as he grabbed her hand, stopping her.

"If we don't leave now, I'm gonna be late." Audrey answered.

"Look, I'm—I'm—s—sor—sorry." Duke spoke, saying the words that were the often the hardest for him to say.

"Don't worry about it. Let's just go." Audrey said pulling her hand from his grasp.

Duke grabbed her hand once more and spun her around to face him.

"I'll make a deal with you." He said.

"I'll give you a ride to work and I'll even help you catch up on the childhood you missed." Duke replied smiling.

Audrey thought about it. Thinking Duke might eventually let it go, she agreed as they walked to his truck and drove to the Haven Police Department.

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