AN: I know! I suck! It's been so long since I've updated this story. I'm just not sure where I'm going with it. I just have scenes and no filler to connect them. I'm also super upset right now. For those of you who don't follow Eric Balfour and Emma Lahana religiously on Twitter, Emma is not returning to the show next season and therefore no more Dukifer ='(. I'm hoping they'll keep her alive so if she ever wants to come back she can. It's not a lot of hope though because I'm kind of a pessimist. I had a few questions from anon reviewers that I will answer at the end. I wish I could say that the next chapter will be up soon, but it probably won't be. These updates will be like a nice surprise. Just when you forget about this fic and start thinking it's never going to be updated again, BAM! New chapter! And then the waiting and forgetting cycle starts again.

Everything was pitch black. Jennifer couldn't move.

Oh please no. Not again. She thought as her heart began racing. She managed to lift her arms and feel around. What she discovered was exactly what she expected. Her knees were tucked up uncomfortably tightly to her chest and she was laying on her side. She was surrounded by walls, so close she couldn't even straighten her arms above her. She had been here before.

She pushed up on the surface that was above her, but it didn't budge. She started pounding on it and pleading. "Please! Please let me out! I didn't mean to do it! I promise I'll be better!" Tears were streaming down her face as she clawed at the lid of the box she was in. She didn't know what she had done this time or how long he would leave her in there. She hoped it wouldn't be as long as last time but feared it would be longer.

But this time something was different. She heard someone call out her name.

"JENNIFER?!"

A sense of relief melted over her body. It was Duke. She started banging on the lid again. "DUKE?! I'M IN HERE!" she called out. She heard his footsteps approach. But as the lid above her was pulled open it wasn't Duke's face hovering above her. It was Alec's. And he was angry.

"I thought I told you to be QUIET!" he screamed at her. As he reached towards her she turned her head away from him and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to brace herself from whatever was about to come. She felt a pair of hand grab her by the shoulders and pull her upwards.

Jennifer's eyes flew open as sat up quickly. She didn't scream. She learned long ago how to not vocalize the terror her nightmares brought her. She did, however, allow an audible gasp to pass her lips. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she was struggling to catch her breath.

Duke was sitting on the edge of the bed in front of her, deep concern in his eyes. His hands were still resting on her shoulders where they had been shaking her and trying to rouse her from her dreams. She felt him begin to pull her towards him, about to wrap her in a hug.

She put her hand on his shoulder and pushed him back a bit, shaking her head. She wanted to tell him that she just needed a second to pull herself together first. That she needed to feel unrestrained for a moment and bring her thoughts back to reality after the paralysis of her nightmare. But she couldn't get her voice to form words. She closed her eyes tightly and clenched her hands into fists, one grabbing the sheets down by her side, the other clutching tightly onto his shirt by his shoulder. She took a few slow, deep breaths, trying to get her heart to stop pounding through her chest.

Duke watched the number on the heart monitor dropped back down. Not quite to a normal rhythm, but lower than what he had seen it reach when she was still in the midst of her nightmare during the minute he was trying to shake her awake. He watched as Jennifer took deep breaths. It made him wonder how many times she had done this before. How many times she had woken up alone, or next to someone who didn't care enough, and had no choice but to calm herself down. The answer was so many that now not only could she, but she needed to deal with it herself, even though she did have someone there to comfort her.

After a minute or so, she had finally relaxed a bit and her death grip on his shoulder loosened. She looked at him. "I think I'll take that hug now." Without hesitation, Duke pulled her into him.

He held her tentatively and not nearly as tightly as she wanted. She knew he just didn't want to hurt her, but right now she didn't care. She wrapped her arms around him firmly.

Duke got the message and reciprocated the aggressiveness of the hug. It wasn't long before he felt her body tremble as she began crying. He rubbed his hand in circles on her back and whispered to her. "Shhhh… It's okay. It was only a nightmare."

She shook her head against his shoulder. "No. It wasn't."

Duke didn't ask her to elaborate just then and let her do what she needed to. After a moment, she picked herself up and brushed away the wetness that had formed under her eyes.

"It wasn't just a nightmare," she confessed realizing that as much as she tried to forget about those days, they were going to come back and haunt her now that Alec was back in the picture. She wanted Duke to know. She needed Duke to know. "It was more like a memory. Alec used to have this chest at the end of our bed for extra blankets and whatnot. I threatened to leave him once. I told him that if he didn't stop hitting me I would take my stuff and leave. He called my bluff. He hit me hard and I blacked out for a few minutes. When I woke up I was inside that chest. He had piled the blankets and books and I don't even know what else so that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't push the lid open from the inside. I tried pounding on the cover and pleading with him, but it was no use.

"He left me in there for three days. When he finally let me out all my joints were stiff and I was exhausted and starving. He took such good care of me the next day or so, but he kept telling me that was what my life would be like if I left him. That if I left I'd be less than the nothing I already was. Locking me back up in that chest became his favorite threat."

Although Duke did his best to keep a poker face, Jennifer could tell he was fuming. She knew he wanted to kill Alec and she wasn't sure she wanted to stop him.

"Him showing up again just reminds me of that worthless, defenseless, weak, hopeless person that I used to be and that I've tried so hard to get away from."

As the tears started back up in her eyes, Duke shifted his position so that Jennifer was back in the place she felt safest: in his arms with him lying next to her and her head against his chest. He kissed the top of her head and whispered into her hair. "I didn't know you back then, but I know you now. And if someone asked me to describe you, none of those words would even cross my mind. You are the strongest person I've ever met, Jennifer. Even with everything you've been through here in Haven and before you came here, you live each day with a smile on your face and you think more about others than yourself. That's one of the many reasons I love you."

She got butterflies in her stomach as he said that. Butterflies that remained there as he continued.

"Everyone in this town loves you. You're funny and clever and you write like someone who grew up in this town and cares more about it than anything else, despite the fact that you've only been here a year.

His words seemed to calm Jennifer. He watched as her eyelids began to flutter closed once again. He kept talking to her until he was certain she was once again asleep, before gently laying her down and heading out into the hall.

When Duke stormed out of Jennifer's room and started pacing the hospital hall, Audrey and Nathan knew was off. They both stood up and went over to him.

"What's wrong, Duke? What happened?"

Duke managed to sound like he was yelling even though he kept his volume quiet. "What's wrong?! Someone attacked my girlfriend and tried to kill her! The same someone who tormented her for years before I even met her. He locked her in a box for three days, Audrey! She's having nightmares about him and there's nothing I can do about it! I just feel so useless! I need to do something to help her but I don't know what."

It pained Audrey to see her friend so distressed. Especially when she had no idea how to help him. "I think the only thing you can do for her right now, Duke, is be there for her. Hold her hand through the nightmares. Let her know you're here and not going anywhere. I know it's not much, but it's really all you can do. The entire Haven PD is keeping an eye open for Alec. We've notified all the nearby hospitals that we're looking for someone with a stab wound to their leg so if he goes anywhere to get treated we'll know."

Duke looked at her. His eyes were full or anger and sorrow. "It's not enough."

"I know. But right now it's all we can do."

Duke took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair. He knew Audrey was right. But he promised himself that if Alec ever came near Jennifer again, he'd kill him. Screw the consequences.

AN: So there you go. Duke's murderous side is coming out in full force. Now for some responses to anon reviews. One anon asked "I was wondering, if there were one song to describe Dukifer's relationship... what would it be? Any ideas?" Oh anon! Silly, silly anon! ONE song?! I have an ENTIRE Dukifer playlist. Now that we know Jennifer won't be on next season it is growing to contain most of my "Feels" playlist. The biggest ones I can think of though are Philip Philips' 'Home', Taylor Swift's 'Sad, Beautiful, Tragic' and 'Treacherous', and Eli Young Band's 'Crazy Girl'. Maybe I'll make one of those online playlists you can share with people and share it with you all. I can't pick just one. It is not possible. (I love the questions though so feel free to keep sending them!). To the other anon who rewrote 'Do You Wanna Build a Snowman?' to try and get me writing, you are awesome! It apparently didn't work, but I really wanted it too. To quote the lovely anon, "Please I know you're out there. People are asking where you've been. Theres no new updates anymore...I'm waiting for some more, I love this fanfiction. I get a little crazy, when I get bored, I wish you would update sooooooon." It really made me want to update, but the creative part of my brain wasn't cooperating with it.