Haven fic: Still Here (A/N, G, 1/1)
Title: Still Here
Author: Shane Vansen
Category: Audrey/Nathan friendship, UST, missing scene, fluff
Spoilers: Last Goodbyes
Rating: G
Length: ~900 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: When he wakes with a jacket under his head and no memory of the past twelve hours, one of the first things Nathan does is, naturally, call his partner. (missing scene for Last Goodbyes)
Author's Notes: Thanks to december21st for yet another speedy beta. Remaining errors are entirely mine.
***
When Nathan wakes up at the desk in his office with his jacket folded under his head and no memory of what's happened over the past - he checks the time - twelve hours, he immediately does two things: he makes sure that everyone at the station is okay, and he calls Audrey.
"So, Parker," he starts, without so much as a 'hello'. "I assume you have some idea of what's going on?"
"Nathan," she says, and he can hear the relief in her voice even over the phone line. "Are you okay?"
"Seem to be." He wouldn't know if anything hurt, of course, but he's walking and talking and can think clearly enough, and no one else is complaining of pain, except a couple of officers who hit the ground hard when they passed out and have a few bruises.
There's background noise on Audrey's end, a short burst from a siren, and it's only then that Nathan wonders what she's up to now that everything seems to be over. "Where are you?"
"The back of an ambulance," she tells him, and cuts off his next question with, "I'm fine; I'm just riding with someone to the medical center. I'll fill you in later. Oh, but in the meantime, if anyone asks, tell them it was a gas leak."
"Again?" he asks, amused.
"It wasn't even my idea. Blame the paramedic."
He smiles. "You coming to the station?"
"In a while, if you don't need me," she replies. "There are some things I need to wrap up here first."
"Call if you need anything," he says, though it goes without saying, and waits for her affirmative before heading out to make sure Haven has survived the latest Trouble more or less intact.
***
An hour later, Nathan has a general sense of what happened, though he'll need Audrey to fill in the specifics. So far there seem to be few serious casualties; the worst that most people appear to have suffered are bruises. A few people have been sent to the hospital to have head wounds checked out, and at last count there were half a dozen people in ICU. There haven't been reports of any deaths yet, and Nathan hopes it will stay that way.
With everything under control he heads to the medical center to find Audrey, and doesn't have to wait long before she joins him in the hallway. Something happened today, he realizes almost immediately, something beyond whatever Trouble she had to deal with; she's quiet and distracted in that way she gets when the people she tries to help don't get their happy ending. Before he can ask, she's giving him an apology Nathan senses she's been building to for days now.
When she trails off, unable to find the words, he doesn't make her finish. They've both made spectacularly bad choices over the past two months and holding her decisions against her when she only has a few days left is both hypocritical and pointless. "I'm still here," he reminds her instead, assuring her they'll figure it out together, and she squeezes his hand and looks up at him as though for once she believes that they have an actual chance of beating her deadline.
He's beyond glad to see that spark of hope in her.
Once she looks away, Nathan expects her to pull her hand away too; Audrey does personal in small doses, like she can only handle putting herself out there for a minute or two at a time. She surprises him, though, by leaning into him, her head resting against his shoulder, and he remembers that he still doesn't know what she's been through the past twelve hours. While undeniably helpful, her immunity to the bizarre events that happen in Haven often puts the weight of the Troubles on her shoulders alone. "What happened today?" he murmurs.
Head still on his shoulder, she fills him in on Will Brady and the comas the rest of them fell into this morning. "On some level, he's still aware in there," she concludes. "Maybe one day he'll be able to wake up, keep living his life."
"Maybe," he agrees, reading between the lines and figuring out where her new willingness to fight for her future has come from.
Her voice is quiet as she notes, "I've lost another day."
"We have enough time," he promises. "We've worked against tighter deadlines."
She nods, then lifts her head from his shoulder and turns to look at him. "If we don't figure it out," she says, "there are still some things I need to tell you."
Nathan catches and holds her gaze before nodding slightly. "We need to get back to the station." He'd rather find somewhere quiet and have this conversation now, but there's still too much going on for them to just take off. "Tonight?"
"Claire's coming over so we can go over our notes about the skinwalker. You could join us." She pauses, glancing down. "Or you could come over... after."
Her eyes flick back up to his and Nathan's pretty sure he isn't misreading her. "After," he repeats, his tone low and serious, and her lips curve up in a soft smile.
"It's a date," she says, then her face turns red and she pushes off the edge of the gurney, sounding all business again when she tells him, "We should get back." The effect is somewhat ruined by the fact that she's still gripping his hand.
He strokes his thumb over the backs of her fingers before letting go. "You need a ride?"
She nods and heads toward the door, her cheeks still pink, and Nathan grins and follows.
--end--
Author: Shane Vansen
Category: Audrey/Nathan friendship, UST, missing scene, fluff
Spoilers: Last Goodbyes
Rating: G
Length: ~900 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: When he wakes with a jacket under his head and no memory of the past twelve hours, one of the first things Nathan does is, naturally, call his partner. (missing scene for Last Goodbyes)
Author's Notes: Thanks to december21st for yet another speedy beta. Remaining errors are entirely mine.
***
When Nathan wakes up at the desk in his office with his jacket folded under his head and no memory of what's happened over the past - he checks the time - twelve hours, he immediately does two things: he makes sure that everyone at the station is okay, and he calls Audrey.
"So, Parker," he starts, without so much as a 'hello'. "I assume you have some idea of what's going on?"
"Nathan," she says, and he can hear the relief in her voice even over the phone line. "Are you okay?"
"Seem to be." He wouldn't know if anything hurt, of course, but he's walking and talking and can think clearly enough, and no one else is complaining of pain, except a couple of officers who hit the ground hard when they passed out and have a few bruises.
There's background noise on Audrey's end, a short burst from a siren, and it's only then that Nathan wonders what she's up to now that everything seems to be over. "Where are you?"
"The back of an ambulance," she tells him, and cuts off his next question with, "I'm fine; I'm just riding with someone to the medical center. I'll fill you in later. Oh, but in the meantime, if anyone asks, tell them it was a gas leak."
"Again?" he asks, amused.
"It wasn't even my idea. Blame the paramedic."
He smiles. "You coming to the station?"
"In a while, if you don't need me," she replies. "There are some things I need to wrap up here first."
"Call if you need anything," he says, though it goes without saying, and waits for her affirmative before heading out to make sure Haven has survived the latest Trouble more or less intact.
***
An hour later, Nathan has a general sense of what happened, though he'll need Audrey to fill in the specifics. So far there seem to be few serious casualties; the worst that most people appear to have suffered are bruises. A few people have been sent to the hospital to have head wounds checked out, and at last count there were half a dozen people in ICU. There haven't been reports of any deaths yet, and Nathan hopes it will stay that way.
With everything under control he heads to the medical center to find Audrey, and doesn't have to wait long before she joins him in the hallway. Something happened today, he realizes almost immediately, something beyond whatever Trouble she had to deal with; she's quiet and distracted in that way she gets when the people she tries to help don't get their happy ending. Before he can ask, she's giving him an apology Nathan senses she's been building to for days now.
When she trails off, unable to find the words, he doesn't make her finish. They've both made spectacularly bad choices over the past two months and holding her decisions against her when she only has a few days left is both hypocritical and pointless. "I'm still here," he reminds her instead, assuring her they'll figure it out together, and she squeezes his hand and looks up at him as though for once she believes that they have an actual chance of beating her deadline.
He's beyond glad to see that spark of hope in her.
Once she looks away, Nathan expects her to pull her hand away too; Audrey does personal in small doses, like she can only handle putting herself out there for a minute or two at a time. She surprises him, though, by leaning into him, her head resting against his shoulder, and he remembers that he still doesn't know what she's been through the past twelve hours. While undeniably helpful, her immunity to the bizarre events that happen in Haven often puts the weight of the Troubles on her shoulders alone. "What happened today?" he murmurs.
Head still on his shoulder, she fills him in on Will Brady and the comas the rest of them fell into this morning. "On some level, he's still aware in there," she concludes. "Maybe one day he'll be able to wake up, keep living his life."
"Maybe," he agrees, reading between the lines and figuring out where her new willingness to fight for her future has come from.
Her voice is quiet as she notes, "I've lost another day."
"We have enough time," he promises. "We've worked against tighter deadlines."
She nods, then lifts her head from his shoulder and turns to look at him. "If we don't figure it out," she says, "there are still some things I need to tell you."
Nathan catches and holds her gaze before nodding slightly. "We need to get back to the station." He'd rather find somewhere quiet and have this conversation now, but there's still too much going on for them to just take off. "Tonight?"
"Claire's coming over so we can go over our notes about the skinwalker. You could join us." She pauses, glancing down. "Or you could come over... after."
Her eyes flick back up to his and Nathan's pretty sure he isn't misreading her. "After," he repeats, his tone low and serious, and her lips curve up in a soft smile.
"It's a date," she says, then her face turns red and she pushes off the edge of the gurney, sounding all business again when she tells him, "We should get back." The effect is somewhat ruined by the fact that she's still gripping his hand.
He strokes his thumb over the backs of her fingers before letting go. "You need a ride?"
She nods and heads toward the door, her cheeks still pink, and Nathan grins and follows.
--end--