Author's Note: I don't think this surpasses the T rating, but anyone easily offended may want to tread cautiously. To those not easily offended … enjoy!

Nathan threw the Bronco in gear and sped toward the station, everything that had just happened replaying in agonizing detail. Audrey's cries wrapped barbed wire around his heart, but he couldn't heed them. He had to get her out of there.

"You stop this car this instant, Nathan Wuornos, and you tell me what the hell is going on!"

He'd never heard her so furious.

"I can't." He stared out at the road, not daring to look at her.

"You damn well can!" She reached for the steering wheel but he caught her wrist, trapping it. She played dirty the second time, reaching for this thigh but he wouldn't be distracted when her life was at stake.

"Do you want me to drive us off the road?" he hissed. He had to take his other hand off the wheel to stop her and it was a few seconds until he'd clasped both her wrists in his right hand. "Don't make me cuff you."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Better than getting us both in an accident."

"Then pull over!"

"They could be following us."

"We should be following them!"

"Why? We're still one gun against six."

"Because they just murdered someone in front of us and expected to get away with it! The Nathan I knew would have made sure they didn't."

"Maybe I'm not that man anymore."

He heard her sharp intake of breath and ventured a glance her way. Her eyes were red and there were tears running down her face. Despite everything this town had thrown at her, he'd rarely seen her cry. Maybe she'd never forgive him for this – and maybe she shouldn't. But he wouldn't survive if anything happened to her.

"We're not safe on the road. We'll talk at the station. I'll tell you everything you want to know."

They didn't say another word for the rest of the drive. When she began to fidget he suspected sabotage until he realized how uncomfortable her position must be. He released her wrists, filled with shame. She wrapped her arms around herself, and he desperately wanted to be the one to do that. To wipe the tears away, kiss her forehead and promise that everything was going to be okay. But even if she ever let him touch her again he couldn't promise what he didn't believe.

The shock of the station's new appearance broke her pledge of silence. Two stories, smaller, faded wood instead of stately brick. So different from the place where they'd worked side by side, became partners, grew into friends. When he'd returned from the hospital to find it smoldering, all traces of her destroyed, it had been worse than the bullets. "What happened?"

"Didn't have meteor insurance." With so much of the town ruined they'd had to make due. The way most of the residents felt about him, restoring the police station to its former state wasn't a priority.

She didn't wait for him to open the door for her. She scrambled out of the car as soon as it stopped and he followed, half afraid she was going to bolt in the wrong direction just to get away from him.

Instead she waited for him to cross in front of his truck and slapped him in the face.

"How dare you!"

His hand came up instinctively to cover his jaw. It hurt, but that was of little importance. The sting would fade, and he'd miss it when it was gone. It was the torment on Audrey's face and the rage that seemed to radiate from her that would destroy him.

"I had to keep you safe."

"That wasn't about me! The Guard attacked an innocent man."

"This is all about you!" She hadn't expected him to shout at her. But he couldn't take it anymore – her inability to put her own needs in front of this damned town and look out for herself.

"Get inside. We shouldn't stay out in the open."

"You're being ridiculous."

"Get inside! Now!" he bellowed.

He was prepared to drag her in but she went of her own accord. But as soon as the door closed behind them she rounded on him.

"Start explaining. Now," she demanded.

"Let's go to my office."

"No. You said we needed to go inside. We're inside. Start talking. Unless you need to send reinforcements after our merry band of murderers, but somehow I don't think that'll be happening."

The receptionist was staring at them with a dropped jaw. Everyone in this station knew how he'd mourned her. Everyone in the town knew what that had wrought. The Guard had made sure of that.

Now she was shrieking at him like a banshee and even if he deserved it it was still embarrassing. "Come on, Parker." He reached for her elbow and she smacked his hand away.

"Don't."

"You really want to hear the whole story in the lobby of the police station?"

"I wanted to hear it in your truck, but apparently that wasn't safe. So this will have to do, since you didn't bother to tell me this morning."

He was hoping that if he just kept walking toward his office she would follow when Stan rounded the corner. There was no way he hadn't heard her yelling, but he still looked gobsmacked at her appearance. "Officer Parker!"

"Stew! Stan! Damn it!" Perhaps realizing this wasn't how she wanted to reunite with all of her former co-workers, she shot Nathan a scathing look. "Fine. You win. Your office."

It was a short walk. Fewer officers, smaller building, fewer rooms.

"Talk," she demanded as soon as she slammed the door behind them.

"All right." He clutched at his neck, trying to figure out where to begin. All he could see was himself, pounding on the Barn that would disappear any second and take her away from him. That was where this had all started.

"The meteors kept falling for a day. Took out about a third of the town. Homes. Businesses. The harbor. Couple hundred people died. Would have been more if Dwight hadn't taken charge."

"The meteors were supposed to stop when I went in the Barn. That's what Howard said."

"They didn't." He had known, watching the Barn disappear, that they wouldn't. He had expected the whole town to burn. And in that moment he hadn't cared. "There was mass panic. And you know how that brings out the Troubles. Whole families who didn't even know they were affected suddenly were. But it was different this time. It wasn't all accidents. People were angry, and they started using their Troubles like superpowers. Vince and Dave even stopped trying to cover everything up. They advised people to stay calm and lay low."

"It didn't work," she said flatly.

"No. The Guard knew what was supposed to happen with the Barn, and they were furious. They started telling people that the meteor storm was never supposed to hit – that the Troubles should have gone away. That is was our fault that they didn't. That's why I had to get you out of there. They hate you, and they're everywhere."

"We're the police. We should be able to stop them."

"We tried. But there are hundreds of them, and they have dangerous afflictions and no rules. We lost six good officers the first month just trying to keep order. Stan was in a coma for seven weeks when one of them drained almost all his blood. A third of the force quit, and no one rushed to sign up. You know nothing is simple when a Trouble's involved. Locking them in jail rarely makes anyone safer. We still tried it because there was nothing else we could do. People using their Troubles on purpose didn't want to be talked down or sent off with Dwight. There were breakouts, and more dead officers. The Guard swore to protect the Troubled, and that makes more than half the town on their side."

"Who do they need protecting from? The Rev's men?"

"At first. There were more kidnappings, shootings in the streets. Sermons about hellfire seemed pretty convincing when the church was the only building standing in that part of town. But they never had a strong leader after the Rev, and it became clear pretty early that the Guard was more powerful. Hatred and fear are less motivating when you realize they'll only get you killed. But there was satellite footage of the meteor storm. It was national news. Ever since they've been terrified that the rest of the world is going to realize what's going on here and try to intervene. Every nosy reporter or conspiracy theorist is a threat, and every scared native without a Trouble has the potential to squeal."

"And they don't think murder in the streets will get anyone's attention?" she snapped.

"There was talk of a purge. Kill everyone without a Trouble. But there were too many who still cared about people without them. So the next plan was to lock down the town. Put checkpoints on the roads, cut phone and internet service to the outside world."

"They couldn't do that," she said, aghast.

"Rumor is they have a family that can. We fought with everything we had to make sure that didn't happen, but the Guard could change their mind any time and there isn't much left for us to do. They have the power here, and they're willing to do whatever they think necessary to protect their own. All we can do is warn the public who to watch out for and advise them how to stay out of the way. And damn it Audrey you have to be careful, because now that you're here you'll be their number one target!"

"If they hate us so much why didn't they go after you?" Her voice was quieter now, but it still felt like an accusation.

"Because they knew it'd hurt more to keep me alive than to kill me."

She reeled back as if he'd hit her, and he turned away, unable to stand the look on her face. He felt like he had. He'd certainly failed her. Failed every innocent and everyone who'd turned guilty because he'd damned them to this.

He had to get out of there. He'd told her the truth and now he needed space. "The official reports are all filed. The real reports are in the bottom drawer of my desk. The details are all there. Please, just stay here. I have to figure out how to cover up the fact Alistair's a gold statue or his sister will blow the whistle on this and I can't do that if I'm worrying about you."

He expected her to fight him, and he wasn't sure how he was going to stop her. But she nodded and settled into his chair. "All right."

He fled, and he didn't go back for hours, even though she was in his office and it would have been easier to work the cover up from there instead of one of the spare, empty rooms. Didn't help matters that each and every one of his co-workers knew he was slinking around like a dog with his tail between his legs, but he needed some time away from her disappointment. He did have a job to do, even if it wasn't what it once had been. Thankfully the entire Haven PD knew to leave him be when he was in one of his moods. As evening approached he ordered her dinner and had Stan take it to her, and the man walked past his office periodically to make sure she was still there.

When the end of the day came he knew he couldn't hide forever. He didn't know how he'd face that inevitable day when the Guard decided she'd seen enough of what Haven had become and tried to kill her, but he could watch over her now, at least.

He knocked on the door before he entered and she startled from her position behind a wall of files. She'd pulled her hair back and taken off her suit jacket, and her fries were half eaten and forgotten.

"Time to go."

He couldn't read her expression. She looked tired, but maybe he was just projecting. She rose without a word and followed him through the half-empty police station.

He anticipated a protest when he turned toward his house instead of the Gull. He didn't expect them to share a bed ever again, but he wasn't letting her out of his sight. He'd sleep in a chair by the door if he had to. He assumed his house was safe, but he couldn't swear the Gull wasn't booby trapped and there was no way he was checking it tonight. He'd get Duke to help in the morning.

But she didn't say a word about that or anything else, which unnerved him even more than her earlier anger. Audrey was never quiet for so long. He'd never met anyone with a stronger need to fill silence, and he'd heard her ramble on about the cream and sugar at the police station for ten minutes just because he wasn't in a talkative mood.

If Claire was still here she'd surely be able to analyze that, and it wasn't the first time Nathan had wished the nosy shrink had survived their last brutal case. Claire had spent hours talking to Audrey, so maybe she would understand what was going on in that head of hers, because Nathan could only guess and fear the worst.

She took off her shoes and hung her coat and suit jacket on the hooks by the door, all without saying a word, and it was all so odd and domestic and perfect and yet somehow wrong and Nathan was too damn exhausted to make any sense of it. He didn't feel weariness the way he had back in college or the Academy, but his limbs were heavy and his brain sluggish even though there were too many thoughts racing through it. Just this morning he'd thought that maybe he didn't have to feel this way anymore. That her being back was enough. But he'd been fooling himself. Because now he had something to fight for but he didn't know how to do it, especially when she was too damned stubborn to let him. Maybe she was too shocked to argue now, but that wouldn't last. She wouldn't be Audrey if she gave up so easily – that's what had made those last two months together so wrong – and normally he wouldn't ask that of her but Bernie's threat kept echoing in his mind and just like he couldn't save Alistair he was terrified that he wouldn't be able to save her. Because they were outgunned and outnumbered, and he couldn't protect her every single second and it would only take one slipup for everything to be lost.

And now they were standing in his living room at an impasse and all he wanted was for everything awful to just stop – just for a little while.

"You think I don't know that this is my fault?" he rasped, the awful truth draining from him like pus from a wound. "You wanted to stop the Troubles but I couldn't let you go. Everything that's happened – everyone who's died – has been because I needed you so damn much I didn't care about the consequences. And I'm even worse than Dave and Vince because even knowing how it turned out I would do it again. Because you're here now. Even if you never look me in the eye again I would still choose to save you, because it isn't fair that you have to give your life for this damned town. You deserve to be happy. I want to be what makes you happy. But I know you want me to take care of Haven. I tried. I just couldn't do it without you."

She advanced on him, reaching a hand out to cover the place where she's slapped him earlier. Her fingers were surprisingly cold. "Nathan…"

"Don't," he said shakily, pulling away. He couldn't do this tonight – be a gentleman while she gave him a glimpse of heaven and then shut the door in his face. He had no right to expect anything of her, but he wanted her, desperately. He'd spent years wanting her – wanting her by his side, wanting to see her smile again, wanting her to fix him, wanting her beneath him, craving his touch as much as he craved hers. Now that she was back, here before him but still somehow so far away he didn't trust his self control to hold.

Yet he couldn't make himself take more than one step backwards. Because as much as he knew he couldn't handle it he wanted whatever bone she would throw him. It was pathetic. But he had spent so long with so little hope, and now that she'd miraculously returned some tiny part of him still believed that maybe – just maybe – he hadn't ruined them beyond repair. That she could still see something worthwhile in the wreck of a man he'd become. And he'd be strong enough to save her.

She wore the same pained expression from earlier in his office. "I'm not Sarah," she whispered. He couldn't figure what that had to do with his confession.

"You are," he insisted. Because if she wasn't he was even more of a bastard in all of this, having sex with some clone of her just because they couldn't get their shit together in their proper time.

"That's not—" She shook her head, clearly agitated. "I don't mean what she said to Vince and Dave. I forgive you."

The thought of that paralyzed him. He'd learned early that if something seemed too good to be true, it usually was.

"How?" He'd never seen her as upset as she was today. It seemed incomprehensible that anger had disappeared.

"You didn't know what was going to happen. You just wanted to keep me safe. How can I stay mad at you for that?"

"So many people died."

"We can't change the past. But we still have the future."

"Haven's in shambles. I can't control the Guard. There are more Troubles than ever. All because I couldn't let the Barn have you."

"Because you love me."

"Yes," he said miserably.

Her hand was on his face again, forcing him to look at her. The anger had melted away. She looked young. Vulnerable. Achingly beautiful. She stared into his eyes and did not flinch. "Because you love me. And I love you. So I forgive you."

Her fingers began to move and he felt like he was being undone. "I can't," he choked out. Couldn't resist her. Couldn't be strong anymore. Couldn't believe this was happening.

"I'm not asking you to. Not tonight. No more false starts. No more teasing. No more later. Just stop thinking."

"Make me," he challenged, but he knew as soon as he said it that she'd already won.

Their lips crashed together desperately. She met his anger and swallowed it, and it didn't take long from him to be lost in the swirl of her tongue and the warmth of her mouth. Her hands found their way under his shirt, and he gasped when she pressed one against the small of his back. The other soon followed, and then they were dancing across his skin, sliding up toward his shoulders and then back again, leaving tingling nerves in their wake.

She broke contact with his mouth long enough to pull his shirt over his head, but then their lips were drawn back together like magnets. Now her hands were everywhere, running across his chest, finding scars and muscles and feelings he'd long given up on. He wanted to get her shirt off, give back as good as he was getting, but he couldn't concentrate. One hand had snapped the elastic and was fisted in her silky hair, stroking her neck and the other clutched at her hip, holding her to him. He was never letting go.

His time with Sarah had been wonderful, but it had been quick and half-clothed in the front seat of her car. He had felt so much, but it had been nothing compared to this. Since she didn't know of his affliction he had tried to suppress how much she affected him – but Audrey knew. There was no need to hide, and no way that he could have. And she was taking full advantage.

When her lips left his mouth and started traveling down his body it was almost too much. His brain overloading, his legs started to quake, and he grabbed her shoulder to steady himself.

She straightened immediately, adjusting her stance to support his weight. She brought both hands up to cradle his face and tilted their foreheads together. It was all he could focus on, and as everything else fell away the world stopped spinning.

She looked deep in concentration, sapphire eyes dark with lust but shining with concern, and God she was beautiful. "You all right?" she asked, patient when he was dizzy with endorphins, and he loved her all the more for it.

It was awhile until he could form words at all. "Not thinking much."

She threw back her head and laughed and he used the opportunity to pepper kisses down her throat. He could feel her satisfied hum vibrate under his lips, spurring him on.

It was easier to focus when he had the upper hand. He found her shirt buttons and was shocked when the first one had a ghost of substance under his fingers. He'd had to learn how to unfasten buttons by sight and instinct. Now that he could feel one he seemed to have forgotten the lesson. But they were far enough from her skin that he couldn't properly discern the button from the fabric around it. He fumbled unsuccessfully, aggravated that he was incapable of such a simple task.

He wanted to grab either side of the shirt and just rip it off, buttons be damned, but he wasn't sure she'd appreciate that. Wasn't sure he'd survive if she did.

"Little help?" he growled.

He expected her to unfasten them quickly, irritated and impatient. He didn't expect the feeling of her hands covering his. The buttons became completely solid under their stacked fingers, and she retaught him the movements with painstaking care, repeating the process for every button until the fabric parted. He sought her eyes for permission, and was blown away by the tenderness radiating from them. He didn't understand how she could look at him like that, especially after everything she'd seen today.

But she nodded her consent, and he owed her a hell of a lot of payback. Taking a deep breath, he slipped his hands under her shirt and pushed it off her shoulders, trailing after it down her arms until it fell forgotten to the floor.

"Flawless," he whispered before dropping his hands to brace them just above the waistline of her pants.

"Stop," she murmured shyly as a blush crept across her pale skin.

"I mean it."

Her skin was so warm and inviting. His hands drifted slowly in a thorough exploration. He marveled at the way one of his hands nearly spanned her slight waist. Enjoyed the way she arched and moaned as it traveled upwards.

Her black satin bra was soft under his fingertips, but not nearly as soft as the flesh beneath it.

"Catch me," she whispered in his ear after a few minutes of bliss, scrapping her teeth over his earlobe for a few overwhelming seconds.

He barely had his wits back by the time she clasped her hands on his shoulders and pushed herself upwards, wrapping her legs around his waist.

He'd never know if it was shock or instinct but his arms came around her, clasping her to him and then there was so much skin touching, her breasts pressed against his chest. "Parker." The word came strangled from his throat as her arms wrapped around his neck, caressing.

"You won't drop me," she promised, and sure enough his legs were steady underneath him even as his heart felt it might beat out of his chest or explode.

Her lips blazed a trail across his collarbone and began moving downward while she threaded a hand through his hair, scratching lightly at his scalp. He couldn't stop his moan of appreciation or the tremor that went through him.

"I'm not going to hurt you, am I?" she asked from somewhere above his right nipple.

"God, I hope not." He had no idea, honestly, but he'd try to hold it together for her – for him – for them.

Her laughter was throaty, glorious, and perplexing.

"Something funny?" He couldn't hold a scowl when her legs were locked around his waist and she was half naked in his arms.

"I've just missed you." From her perspective she'd only been in the Barn a few minutes. But that wasn't what she meant. He understood, but he couldn't come up with a suitable response.

She shook her head with a soft smile, releasing him from an apology he'd have to make later. "Take me to bed, Nathan."

They hadn't solved anything, and come morning they'd have to deal with that. But it felt like absolution, having her warm and willing and safe in his arms.

Hours later, after she retaught him the feel of every inch of his skin, and he would have forgotten even his own name except for the number of times she repeated it in various tones of ecstasy, she tilted her head up to meet his eyes from where she was sprawled across his chest. "We're going to find another way," she swore, and after all she'd just done to him it was impossible not to believe her. "I need to stop the Troubles. And I will. But I'm not giving this up."

His body still buzzed with the feel of her, but his mind was blissfully still. Giving himself over to the relief of that, he pulled the sheet around them and let himself sleep.