seaoftroubles | Preplay, ep 4x01 Fall Out

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Preplay, ep 4x01 Fall Out

Duke already did the very first scene, so the trick here will be to connect him -- and Luce and Tavi -- to Jennifer. I'm thinking that maybe, the same way I relocated Duke's mom to Baltimore, Jennifer could be in Baltimore for handwavy reasons, too? And she could go see this new therapist in town. Who listens to her story about hearing voices, recognizes the same things Duke has told her about the meteor storm and the barn, and goes "uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh so here's a thing you probably don't want to hear and I might lose my license but can I put you in contact with someone?" and clues Duke in?

Duke talks to Jennifer, figures she must be troubled, and tries to contact Haven again -- this time getting through only to be told that Duke Crocker's been dead for six months. He calls Dave, who he finally gets to listen, and finds out that Nathan is on the run. He talks Lucifer and Octavia into coming with him and Jennifer up to Maine to see if they can find Nathan and Audrey and find out what's going on

They find Nathan outside a biker bar, letting people punch him for money. Jennifer is apalled. Octavia is, I'm guessing, unimpressed. Maybe Lucifer makes the first move to say "hi" instead of Duke? I can totally see Duke getting ready to go over and Lucifer being all like "NAH LET ME GET A SHOT IN, THEN" and getting Nathan's attention

Arrival in Haven. Jennifer has caught Nathan up on what she heard from the barn bout how to end the troubles forever. There's a welcoming committee in town made up of Guardsmen with guns, led by Jordan. Duke catches Jennifer up on who's who in the crowd as the Teagues and Dwight show up to try to defuse the situation. Nathan tells the Guard that he's going to get Audrey to kill him to end the troubles forever. Enter a MFING TORNADO. Everyone takes cover, Vince convinces the Guard to clear out and let Nathan help defuse the weather trouble, Dwight offers to take folks back to the station to clue them in

I'm picturing the group splitting up here. Duke gets Jennifer to head to the Gull to get something to eat while he and Nathan work on the trouble. Octavia could go with her, show her the way to the Gull, maybe meet Wade? Or would she be unwilling to leave Duke with Nathan and Dwight? I'm guessing Lucifer will go to the station to find it deeply country and lacking in comparison to the LAPD. Anyway, either way, Dwight gives Nathan and Duke (and anyone who tagged along) a rundown on the weather events happening in town. Nathan remembers about Marion and her weather trouble. They decide to go check it out.

At Marion's house. There's a GIANT FUCKING STORM overhead, so it's hard to miss. Nathan, Duke, and Dwight go in to try to talk to Marion, but it's like the inside of an over-clocked meat locker. Ice and frost coat every surface. Dwight and Duke are immediately shivering. Nathan can't feel it though and sends them out so he can talk Marion down. This might be a fun place for Lucifer to step in and help out? I kind of like the idea of freshly capable of saying ILU Lucifer seeing a woman completely freezing up over her loved one's death. Nathan tells her that she has to learn to let go, uses his own example of not being willing to let Audrey go and thus ruining the end of the troubles as an example for this. Lucifer . . . responds like Lucifer? Anyway, Marion is eventually talked down (though not before trying to freeze Nathan solid). Meanwhile, outside, Dwight, Duke, Vince, and Dave watch the storm head towards town and lightning blow up Dave's old camper van

At the Gull: Duke expected it to be closed down since he wasn't around to run things even over the phone for six months (also they think the owner is dead), but the place is hopping. If Octavia has come with Jennifer, then maybe she texted? Maybe the text got lost/delayed due to Marion or maybe Duke is less nonplussed on arrival, either way. Anyway. Wade shows up all "OMG DUKE YOU'RE ALIVE" and Duke is all "oh fuck my brother is here, we have a killer trouble and he's a total nincompoop, he's doomed"

At some point during/after all this, Duke tells Lucifer and Octavia he needs to stick around at least until they find out what happened to Audrey. Nathan is a self-destructive wreck, Haven has lost its collective goddamned mind and appointed DWIGHT as chief of police, it's a shitshow! He brings them to his in-Haven boat (Lucifer is unimpressed with its tininess I'm guessing), and they talk about being stuck in yet another shit situation in someone's homeworld.

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Nathan's head rocked back, but then he just scowled and snatched the bill off Lucifer.

"I said 'I need a break'."

"Don't mind him, Nate," Duke said, actually approaching this time, and Nathan's expression lit up. "Luce doesn't much like Maine."

"Hah," Nathan breathed, grinning through his ~~trauma-~~beard, hardly hearing a word of it. He only had eyes for Duke now. He gripped Duke by the shoulders, looking him over like he couldn't believe he was here.

He had never looked so happy to see Duke before in his life. It was disconcerting.

Duke smiled back. "Nathan," he said, hoping to see a bit more of the guy he actually knew on that scruffy face, but then Nathan was tugging him into a tight hug, which -- Duke wasn't sure that had ever actually happened before.

"You smell," Duke said, the only thing he could think of to say. "Bad."

Lucifer adjusted his jacket as he watched the both of them-- hug.

"Well, now that feels slightly less satisfying," he said. He raised his voice. "We still think you're an arsehole!"

Octavia had nothing to add to that.

So she glanced towards Jennifer. She hadn't run off yet, had she?

"I thought you were dead!" Nathan said, pulling back, still grinning, his hands fisted in Duke's collar now. Which was close enough to a stranglehold for it to put Duke on slightly more familiar ground.

"Yeah, well. I had other plans."

"Audrey," Nathan breathed, pushing past him and scanning the parking lot. Jennifer, frozen in place, offered a shaky wave.

Audrey was, of course, nowhere in sight.

"Nathan," Duke tried, but Nathan was nothing if not laser focused at all times.

"Where is she? Where's Audrey?"

"Not presently here, possibly dead, possibly not," Lucifer said, as he stalked towards the two. Teary reunions was one thing, getting all weird on Duke over bloody Audrey was another. "We're here to figure that out, so for the love of-- well, me-- calm your bloody impotent tits, will you?"

His hand landed on Duke's arm. This couldn't be uncomplicated on the man.

It was so very very complicated, yes.

Nathan gave Lucifer a vaguely baffled look, even as he kept scanning the parking lot, as though Audrey would pop up from behind a car yelling "surprise!" Duke hadn't missed this side of Nathan.

"This is Lucifer," he said, nodding in Lucifer's direction. "My boyfriend. You remember Octavia, our partner, and that's Jennifer. She's troubled."

"Hi," Jennifer said. "This is all extremely weird."

"Mostly it's just incredibly annoying," Lucifer said. "Mind giving us the cliff's notes of how you wound up playing a particularly dull version of Russian Roulette in a parking lot? Oi--"

Sorry, Nathan. You were definitely getting grabbed by the lapels just for a light shake. "Just making sure you didn't break up in the head."

"Lucifer," Octavia said, too mild to be any kind of a warning or a plea. But still.

She eyed the bikers.

The bikers gave zero shits. Other than watching with interest.

This was better than a soap opera!

Nathan let Lucifer shake him. Now that he'd confirmed for himself that Audrey wasn't here, he was only looking at Duke again.

"I thought you were dead," he said again. "I thought -- I thought I'd sent you to your death. Got both of you killed."

"Whelp." Duke shrugged. "You didn't. Congrats?"

"Hello," Lucifer said flatly, "Am I invisible? Can you hear me talking?"

Don't make him (try to?) mojo you, Nathan!

"Yes," Nathan said shortly, jerking free of Lucifer's grip.

Still looking at Duke.

"What happened to you? After you went in the Barn it vanished like -- it was never there. I made it back into town just as the last of the meteors were coming down. It was chaos."

"I couldn't find Audrey," Duke said, shrugging, like thinking back on that wasn't messing with his head all over again. (Like this entire situation wasn't messing with his head on so many different levels already.) "The whole place was falling apart. I was only in there for maybe a few seconds, then the floor went out from under me and I landed in Fandom. Been there for the last year."

"Year?" Nathan shook his head. "It's only been six months."

"Yeah, I'm guessing between Fandom and the Barn our timelines are just never going to line up again."

Edited 2022-01-07 18:16 (UTC)

"Are you three aware we have an audience?"

Because that didn't seem ideal to Octavia.

"Who cares," Lucifer said tersely.

He paused.

Then glanced over his shoulder. "Do you care what we're doing here?!"

The bikers, catching the look on his face, all became very busy doing other things. The crowd in the lot thinned out until only the five of them were left.

"Jennifer could hear what happened in the Barn," Duke was telling Nathan, letting Lucifer and Octavia handle the crowd. "Howard talking to Audrey, me yelling for her, all of it."

"I thought I was crazy," Jennifer said, looking from Lucifer to the bikers distractedly. "Still not convinced I'm not."

"You're not," Nathan said shortly. "I'll get cleaned up. And you all can tell me everything on the way to Haven."

Octavia glanced back at the car, then at their little group here.

Did some math.

And muttered, dryly, to herself, "Great."

"Duke can sit in your lap," Lucifer said helpfully. "Unless we want to make Nathan ride in Jennifer's, I can go either way."

"Should've taken my SUV," Jennifer muttered.

Nathan frowned at the car. "Came all the way here in that?"

"Luce likes his luxury," Duke said, shrugging. "I take it you don't have wheels of your own?"

Nathan just scowled and stalked towards the car. "Someone can sit on me. Won't feel it anyway."

"Yeah that's really not the issue here."

Was that loud enough to actually be audible to people other than her? Whoops.

"You can be Jennifer's chair and keep your mouth shut as much as possible," Lucifer said, wandering back towards the car.

The engine started purring again on its own.

"Um," Jennifer said, raising her hand. "Do I get a vote?"

"It's fine," Nathan said. "I really don't mind."

"Not actually the problem here!"

"I could always steal us a second car," Duke offered. Nathan shot him a look. "Oh, what, because making money by getting bikers to punch you is so much more ethical?"

"Oh, should I just turn on another car for him?" Lucifer said, pointing at something tiny and lumpy. "Because I can do that."

Nathan continued to glare at Duke, but didn't seem to have further objections to car stealing. "Duke, you drive. Jennifer and I can talk on the way."

Duke snorted. "Sure, Nathan. Would you like me to do that favor for you? No problem. You know you only have to ask."

That sounded an awful lot like someone was expecting Octavia to let Duke out of her sight without Lucifer there, either. Hell, she wasn't even feeling entirely comfortable with the idea of letting Jennifer ride alone with Nathan.

"That's not happening."

She didn't sound like she'd entertain anyone disagreeing with her.

"You and Jennifer can ride in one car, we'll take the other," Lucifer said flatly. "The nice one."

Jennifer continued to look deeply uncomfortable. She leaned in closer to Octavia.

"Please don't make me ride with him alone. He's kind of creepy."

Preplay, ep 4x01 Fall Out

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Re: Seedy bar, Duke, Nathan, Lucifer, Octavia, Jennifer

Re: Seedy bar, Duke, Nathan, Lucifer, Octavia, Jennifer

Re: Seedy bar, Duke, Nathan, Lucifer, Octavia, Jennifer

Re: Seedy bar, Duke, Nathan, Lucifer, Octavia, Jennifer

Re: Seedy bar, Duke, Nathan, Lucifer, Octavia, Jennifer

Re: Seedy bar, Duke, Nathan, Lucifer, Octavia, Jennifer

Re: Seedy bar, Duke, Nathan, Lucifer, Octavia, Jennifer

Re: Seedy bar, Duke, Nathan, Lucifer, Octavia, Jennifer

Re: Seedy bar, Duke, Nathan, Lucifer, Octavia, Jennifer

Re: Seedy bar, Duke, Nathan, Lucifer, Octavia, Jennifer

Re: Seedy bar, Duke, Nathan, Lucifer, Octavia, Jennifer

Re: Seedy bar, Duke, Nathan, Lucifer, Octavia, Jennifer

Re: Seedy bar, Duke, Nathan, Lucifer, Octavia, Jennifer

Re: Seedy bar, Duke, Nathan, Lucifer, Octavia, Jennifer

Re: Seedy bar, Duke, Nathan, Lucifer, Octavia, Jennifer

Re: Seedy bar, Duke, Nathan, Lucifer, Octavia, Jennifer

Re: Seedy bar, Duke, Nathan, Lucifer, Octavia, Jennifer

Re: Seedy bar, Duke, Nathan, Lucifer, Octavia, Jennifer

Re: Seedy bar, Duke, Nathan, Lucifer, Octavia, Jennifer

Re: Seedy bar, Duke, Nathan, Lucifer, Octavia, Jennifer

Re: Seedy bar, Duke, Nathan, Lucifer, Octavia, Jennifer

Re: Seedy bar, Duke, Nathan, Lucifer, Octavia, Jennifer

Re: Seedy bar, Duke, Nathan, Lucifer, Octavia, Jennifer

Re: Seedy bar, Duke, Nathan, Lucifer, Octavia, Jennifer

Re: Seedy bar, Duke, Nathan, Lucifer, Octavia, Jennifer

Re: Seedy bar, Duke, Nathan, Lucifer, Octavia, Jennifer

Re: Seedy bar, Duke, Nathan, Lucifer, Octavia, Jennifer