Haven fic: Vigil (A/N, A&D, PG-13, 1/1)
Title: Vigil
Author: Shane Vansen
Category: Audrey/Nathan angst; Audrey&Duke friendship, angst, h/c; Nathan&Duke friendship, of a sort; post-ep
Spoilers: Magic Hour 1 for sure; consider anything aired fair game
Rating: PG-13
Length: ~2000 words
Disclaimer: It's probably best that they're not mine; I'd screw it up. Haven, its characters and storylines, and the overall concept belong to people much more creative than I.
Summary: Audrey, Duke, Nathan, and the aftermath of Magic Hour.
Author's Notes: If you see december21st around be sure to thank her for saving you from some terribly written paragraphs, as well as for the title.
A small detail, but assumes that Duke doesn't know about the sunset deadline.
***
Nathan's dead, Audrey's on the verge of freaking out, there's something not quite right about Tommy, and for several long, long moments Duke can't seem to move.
He's not at his best right now, he knows. After that kiss, Audrey never came back to the room and he spent most of the night wondering how badly he'd screwed things up. He hasn't had much in the way of sleep, and since then there's been learning that Audrey has a son and the uncomfortable flight back from Colorado and now Nathan, lying dead on the ground in the middle of nowhere. Duke's never exactly led a sheltered life but this is a lot to take in, even for him.
His attention is split between Tommy, whose reactions aren't sitting quite right with Duke, and Audrey, whose hands are still flitting over Nathan's body, landing on his face, in his hair, on his chest and arms. He can hear her voice, high and frantic and cracking every few syllables as she repeats a litany of Nathan's name and no and please and, most heartbreaking to Duke, I'm sorry. He doesn't know what she's apologizing for - though he has his suspicions - but there's something about the way she says it that makes him hurt for her.
That decides it for him. There's nothing conclusive about Tommy but Duke knows exactly what Audrey's been going through for the past month, the past few days, and this is clearly the last straw.
"Audrey," he murmurs, reaching out for her shoulder. Her hands have stopped their desperate movements and are wrapped around one of Nathan's, holding tight, but she can't seem to keep still; her body's rocking back and forth just a little.
This isn't right, he thinks. Of all the ways he's pictured the next few weeks playing out, Nathan being shot dead by some random Troubled person never even entered his mind. This isn't right.
She shrugs off his hand. "Call an ambulance," she orders, and he can hear that she's trying to keep it together but she's failing miserably.
"Audrey," he repeats, and takes her upper arm this time, tugging her around so that she's facing him. "It's too late. An ambulance won't do any good."
"No." She rips away from his grasp, one hand releasing Nathan's and fumbling through her pockets until she pulls out her cell. She's shaking too hard to punch in the right numbers and Duke gently pulls it away.
"I've got it," he tells her, and flips through her contact list until he finds the number for Haven PD. It's as he's waiting for someone to pick up that he remembers Tommy and that the other detective should've called it in by now.
Duke glances around but can't see any sign of the other man. That sets him on edge; he still doesn't know what, exactly, made him suspicious when they first arrived, but a cop disappearing without a word from the murder scene of another cop? The murder scene of the chief of police? He can't think of a single plausible excuse for that.
"Haven Police Department. Audrey, is that you, hon?"
The distinctive voice of Laverne draws his attention back to what's right in front of him. Audrey's gone completely still now, only her shoulders moving with her raspy, erratic breaths; he can't see her face but he knows she's crying. He doesn't know if this is progress or something that should worry him further. Duke stands on shaky legs and turns away from her, taking a few steps away so she won't overhear as he relays what's happened and gives Laverne the GPS coordinates so they can send someone out.
He ends the call and squeezes the phone in his fist, not sure what to do next. Now that he isn't looking at Nathan and Audrey he doesn't want to turn back, doesn't want to see again the body of his one-time friend lying sprawled on the cold, damp ground, doesn't want to witness Audrey struggling not to break down completely. He's barely holding it together himself; anything else is just too much to contemplate.
But then Audrey makes a harsh sobbing noise, then another, and Duke knows he can't leave her to deal with this on her own.
He kneels next to her and tries putting a hand on her shoulder again, just to let her know he's there. She doesn't shrug him off this time; in fact, she does the opposite, turning and throwing herself at him so fast he loses his balance and ends up sitting down hard, Audrey in his lap, her face buried in his chest.
"It's my fault," she whispers to his collarbone, and Duke wraps his arms around her and holds her close. "I should have stayed here, or taken Nathan with me. I shouldn't have left him alone. It's my fault."
"Audrey," he starts, and has to swallow several times before he can continue because it's hard to talk around the lump in his throat. "This isn't your fault. Nathan's the one who said one of you should stay here or you know you would've taken him to Colorado instead of me." Duke has no illusions to the contrary; whatever happened between them in that motel room, he knows that whatever's going on between Audrey and Nathan played at least a small part in it. "He's been looking after himself since long before you ever showed up. There was no reason to think anything would happen if you left for a few days. Did he ever say anything that made you think he was in trouble?"
She sniffs and shakes her head. "Someone's been killing people and then blackmailing their families to bring them back to life, but it didn't sound dangerous. No more than any other case." She sniffs again but sounds a little less like she's about to have a breakdown.
"There, you see? There's no way you could have known. This isn't your fault, Audrey. You didn't pull the trigger."
She burrows deeper into his hold, still crying, and he rests his head atop hers and rubs her back in a meagre attempt at comfort. When she stops all of a sudden with a single hitching breath, Duke barely pulls back fast enough to avoid getting hit when she bolts upright. "What?"
"Noelle shot Nathan," she says, like it's an epiphany. "That's what Tommy said."
He's surprised she even registered what was going on around her once she saw Nathan lying on the ground but nods in agreement. "Yeah, so?"
"So Noelle is Troubled. She can bring people back to life." Audrey scrambles to her feet and Duke follows suit, finally catching on to where she's going with this train of thought. "She was right here, Duke. If we can find her, she can save Nathan."
He looks around, trying to find a clue as to which direction she might have gone. Away from the road, he decides, and points. "That way."
Audrey takes a few steps, hand already reaching for her weapon, but stops when he falls into step beside her. "Duke, could you-" Her eyes flick over to Nathan's body and then close for a second as she breathes deep. "I don't want him to be alone."
He looks between her and Nathan, uncertain. He doesn't think it's safe for her to be out in the woods by herself, not with what he's starting to believe about Tommy, but he can also see that she'll be better able to focus if she knows someone's watching over Nathan. "I'll stay here," he promises. "I'll send backup for you as soon as they arrive." She nods her thanks and Duke grabs her arm before she can leave. "Audrey, be careful, okay? Something's not right about Tommy. I don't want anything happening to you, too."
"Okay," she says, but he's pretty sure she isn't really listening. He gives her back her phone, just in case, and then lets her go.
For a while he just stands there, listening as the sounds of Audrey moving through the woods fade. Then, with a promise to keep, he turns and makes his way back to Nathan.
It's weird and more than a little creepy, sitting beside the body of someone he knows, and Duke finds himself talking without really meaning to say anything. "Well," he starts, "at least you didn't feel it, right? That's something, I guess." He stares at Nathan's feet, unable to bring himself to look at his face or bloody chest. It's so senseless, all of it - Nathan's death, Audrey's impending disappearance, everything breaking down around them. All at once, he's angry. How dare Nathan die and leave things the way they are? It's not fair that he's gone and left Duke to deal with the fallout.
"You really can be an ass sometimes, you know that? I mean, I know I did some pretty awful things to you when we were younger, but c'mon, Nathan, we were kids. How can you hold a grudge for something that happened almost thirty years ago? I may not be the most upstanding citizen in Haven but I'm not as bad as you make me out to be. Audrey trusts me, doesn't she? Why can't you?"
He tips his head back and stares up at the sky, letting out a breath and most of the anger with it. "But that's the problem, isn't it? The more Audrey wants my help, the more you want nothing to do with me. Which really just goes to show how stupid you can be, because if you'd just man up and talk to her instead of freezing her out then she wouldn't be turning to me. It's your own fault, you know, so I'd appreciate it if you'd stop taking it out on me. If you were any smarter you'd realize that I'm not even competition."
There's something almost ironic about spilling his guts to Nathan, of all people, but it's not exactly like he can hear him. His voice softens anyway, as if in apology for yelling. "Audrey's going to find Noelle, and they're going to save you. That's how it's going to be. And when you wake up, the two of you are going to lock yourselves in a room somewhere and have it out about whatever it is that's got you so on edge around each other. Anything else that happens, I seriously don't want to know, okay? And after that, you're going to stop treating me like the scum of the earth. Got it?" Because if Audrey really does vanish in twenty days, Duke's pretty sure they're going to need each other to get through the aftermath. He doesn't like admitting it, but he's never really been one for that kind of denial, either.
If it were just him, Duke's pretty sure he'd take the Cape Rouge and get out of Haven as fast as he could; it was fifty-fifty if he'd ever return. In spite of everything, though, he thinks he won't be able to just abandon Nathan to deal with the loss of Audrey all on his own and, more than that, he knows that Audrey would want him to stay. He'll stay for the both of them, and because when it comes right down to it, it's the right thing to do.
The wail of sirens sounds in the distance and Duke knows that Haven PD's almost there. "There you go," he says, patting Nathan's arm, still without looking at him. "Cavalry's arrived. They'll help Audrey find Noelle and you'll be just fine." He stands and stretches without moving away, keeping his promise to Audrey to watch over him.
Duke glances at the sun as the police cars pull into the driveway. Less than an hour to sunset, he estimates. They'd better find Noelle soon or it'll be too dark to keep up the search.
Then there are officers demanding answers and Duke doesn't give the oncoming darkness a second thought.
--end--
(no upcoming spoilers, please and thank you!)
Author: Shane Vansen
Category: Audrey/Nathan angst; Audrey&Duke friendship, angst, h/c; Nathan&Duke friendship, of a sort; post-ep
Spoilers: Magic Hour 1 for sure; consider anything aired fair game
Rating: PG-13
Length: ~2000 words
Disclaimer: It's probably best that they're not mine; I'd screw it up. Haven, its characters and storylines, and the overall concept belong to people much more creative than I.
Summary: Audrey, Duke, Nathan, and the aftermath of Magic Hour.
Author's Notes: If you see december21st around be sure to thank her for saving you from some terribly written paragraphs, as well as for the title.
A small detail, but assumes that Duke doesn't know about the sunset deadline.
***
Nathan's dead, Audrey's on the verge of freaking out, there's something not quite right about Tommy, and for several long, long moments Duke can't seem to move.
He's not at his best right now, he knows. After that kiss, Audrey never came back to the room and he spent most of the night wondering how badly he'd screwed things up. He hasn't had much in the way of sleep, and since then there's been learning that Audrey has a son and the uncomfortable flight back from Colorado and now Nathan, lying dead on the ground in the middle of nowhere. Duke's never exactly led a sheltered life but this is a lot to take in, even for him.
His attention is split between Tommy, whose reactions aren't sitting quite right with Duke, and Audrey, whose hands are still flitting over Nathan's body, landing on his face, in his hair, on his chest and arms. He can hear her voice, high and frantic and cracking every few syllables as she repeats a litany of Nathan's name and no and please and, most heartbreaking to Duke, I'm sorry. He doesn't know what she's apologizing for - though he has his suspicions - but there's something about the way she says it that makes him hurt for her.
That decides it for him. There's nothing conclusive about Tommy but Duke knows exactly what Audrey's been going through for the past month, the past few days, and this is clearly the last straw.
"Audrey," he murmurs, reaching out for her shoulder. Her hands have stopped their desperate movements and are wrapped around one of Nathan's, holding tight, but she can't seem to keep still; her body's rocking back and forth just a little.
This isn't right, he thinks. Of all the ways he's pictured the next few weeks playing out, Nathan being shot dead by some random Troubled person never even entered his mind. This isn't right.
She shrugs off his hand. "Call an ambulance," she orders, and he can hear that she's trying to keep it together but she's failing miserably.
"Audrey," he repeats, and takes her upper arm this time, tugging her around so that she's facing him. "It's too late. An ambulance won't do any good."
"No." She rips away from his grasp, one hand releasing Nathan's and fumbling through her pockets until she pulls out her cell. She's shaking too hard to punch in the right numbers and Duke gently pulls it away.
"I've got it," he tells her, and flips through her contact list until he finds the number for Haven PD. It's as he's waiting for someone to pick up that he remembers Tommy and that the other detective should've called it in by now.
Duke glances around but can't see any sign of the other man. That sets him on edge; he still doesn't know what, exactly, made him suspicious when they first arrived, but a cop disappearing without a word from the murder scene of another cop? The murder scene of the chief of police? He can't think of a single plausible excuse for that.
"Haven Police Department. Audrey, is that you, hon?"
The distinctive voice of Laverne draws his attention back to what's right in front of him. Audrey's gone completely still now, only her shoulders moving with her raspy, erratic breaths; he can't see her face but he knows she's crying. He doesn't know if this is progress or something that should worry him further. Duke stands on shaky legs and turns away from her, taking a few steps away so she won't overhear as he relays what's happened and gives Laverne the GPS coordinates so they can send someone out.
He ends the call and squeezes the phone in his fist, not sure what to do next. Now that he isn't looking at Nathan and Audrey he doesn't want to turn back, doesn't want to see again the body of his one-time friend lying sprawled on the cold, damp ground, doesn't want to witness Audrey struggling not to break down completely. He's barely holding it together himself; anything else is just too much to contemplate.
But then Audrey makes a harsh sobbing noise, then another, and Duke knows he can't leave her to deal with this on her own.
He kneels next to her and tries putting a hand on her shoulder again, just to let her know he's there. She doesn't shrug him off this time; in fact, she does the opposite, turning and throwing herself at him so fast he loses his balance and ends up sitting down hard, Audrey in his lap, her face buried in his chest.
"It's my fault," she whispers to his collarbone, and Duke wraps his arms around her and holds her close. "I should have stayed here, or taken Nathan with me. I shouldn't have left him alone. It's my fault."
"Audrey," he starts, and has to swallow several times before he can continue because it's hard to talk around the lump in his throat. "This isn't your fault. Nathan's the one who said one of you should stay here or you know you would've taken him to Colorado instead of me." Duke has no illusions to the contrary; whatever happened between them in that motel room, he knows that whatever's going on between Audrey and Nathan played at least a small part in it. "He's been looking after himself since long before you ever showed up. There was no reason to think anything would happen if you left for a few days. Did he ever say anything that made you think he was in trouble?"
She sniffs and shakes her head. "Someone's been killing people and then blackmailing their families to bring them back to life, but it didn't sound dangerous. No more than any other case." She sniffs again but sounds a little less like she's about to have a breakdown.
"There, you see? There's no way you could have known. This isn't your fault, Audrey. You didn't pull the trigger."
She burrows deeper into his hold, still crying, and he rests his head atop hers and rubs her back in a meagre attempt at comfort. When she stops all of a sudden with a single hitching breath, Duke barely pulls back fast enough to avoid getting hit when she bolts upright. "What?"
"Noelle shot Nathan," she says, like it's an epiphany. "That's what Tommy said."
He's surprised she even registered what was going on around her once she saw Nathan lying on the ground but nods in agreement. "Yeah, so?"
"So Noelle is Troubled. She can bring people back to life." Audrey scrambles to her feet and Duke follows suit, finally catching on to where she's going with this train of thought. "She was right here, Duke. If we can find her, she can save Nathan."
He looks around, trying to find a clue as to which direction she might have gone. Away from the road, he decides, and points. "That way."
Audrey takes a few steps, hand already reaching for her weapon, but stops when he falls into step beside her. "Duke, could you-" Her eyes flick over to Nathan's body and then close for a second as she breathes deep. "I don't want him to be alone."
He looks between her and Nathan, uncertain. He doesn't think it's safe for her to be out in the woods by herself, not with what he's starting to believe about Tommy, but he can also see that she'll be better able to focus if she knows someone's watching over Nathan. "I'll stay here," he promises. "I'll send backup for you as soon as they arrive." She nods her thanks and Duke grabs her arm before she can leave. "Audrey, be careful, okay? Something's not right about Tommy. I don't want anything happening to you, too."
"Okay," she says, but he's pretty sure she isn't really listening. He gives her back her phone, just in case, and then lets her go.
For a while he just stands there, listening as the sounds of Audrey moving through the woods fade. Then, with a promise to keep, he turns and makes his way back to Nathan.
It's weird and more than a little creepy, sitting beside the body of someone he knows, and Duke finds himself talking without really meaning to say anything. "Well," he starts, "at least you didn't feel it, right? That's something, I guess." He stares at Nathan's feet, unable to bring himself to look at his face or bloody chest. It's so senseless, all of it - Nathan's death, Audrey's impending disappearance, everything breaking down around them. All at once, he's angry. How dare Nathan die and leave things the way they are? It's not fair that he's gone and left Duke to deal with the fallout.
"You really can be an ass sometimes, you know that? I mean, I know I did some pretty awful things to you when we were younger, but c'mon, Nathan, we were kids. How can you hold a grudge for something that happened almost thirty years ago? I may not be the most upstanding citizen in Haven but I'm not as bad as you make me out to be. Audrey trusts me, doesn't she? Why can't you?"
He tips his head back and stares up at the sky, letting out a breath and most of the anger with it. "But that's the problem, isn't it? The more Audrey wants my help, the more you want nothing to do with me. Which really just goes to show how stupid you can be, because if you'd just man up and talk to her instead of freezing her out then she wouldn't be turning to me. It's your own fault, you know, so I'd appreciate it if you'd stop taking it out on me. If you were any smarter you'd realize that I'm not even competition."
There's something almost ironic about spilling his guts to Nathan, of all people, but it's not exactly like he can hear him. His voice softens anyway, as if in apology for yelling. "Audrey's going to find Noelle, and they're going to save you. That's how it's going to be. And when you wake up, the two of you are going to lock yourselves in a room somewhere and have it out about whatever it is that's got you so on edge around each other. Anything else that happens, I seriously don't want to know, okay? And after that, you're going to stop treating me like the scum of the earth. Got it?" Because if Audrey really does vanish in twenty days, Duke's pretty sure they're going to need each other to get through the aftermath. He doesn't like admitting it, but he's never really been one for that kind of denial, either.
If it were just him, Duke's pretty sure he'd take the Cape Rouge and get out of Haven as fast as he could; it was fifty-fifty if he'd ever return. In spite of everything, though, he thinks he won't be able to just abandon Nathan to deal with the loss of Audrey all on his own and, more than that, he knows that Audrey would want him to stay. He'll stay for the both of them, and because when it comes right down to it, it's the right thing to do.
The wail of sirens sounds in the distance and Duke knows that Haven PD's almost there. "There you go," he says, patting Nathan's arm, still without looking at him. "Cavalry's arrived. They'll help Audrey find Noelle and you'll be just fine." He stands and stretches without moving away, keeping his promise to Audrey to watch over him.
Duke glances at the sun as the police cars pull into the driveway. Less than an hour to sunset, he estimates. They'd better find Noelle soon or it'll be too dark to keep up the search.
Then there are officers demanding answers and Duke doesn't give the oncoming darkness a second thought.
--end--
(no upcoming spoilers, please and thank you!)