Season four preplay coding THE FIRST

[seaoftroubles]

Linda	Well. Linda watched the young woman leave her office, and blew out a breath the second the door was closed. This was… well, unexpected, she wanted to say, but when was anything expected in her life? Nothing since Lucifer, that was for sure. She had to call Duke. She knew that. Lucifer wasn’t going to thank her for it. She knew that too. Ring… ring…
Duke	"Linda!" Duke greeted. "I didn't forget an appointment, did I?"
Linda	"Duke," Linda said, plastering a smile on her face even if he couldn't see her. "No, you're not scheduled for another few days, but I needed to talk to you about a new patient who just left." A pause. "A young woman," she said. "Talking about a barn."
Duke	Duke was just going to willfully ignore the cold shiver that ran down his back at that. Until he absolutely couldn't anymore. "Farm girl, maybe?"
Linda	"No," Linda said, looking up at the door. "No, I don't think so. She said she was hearing voices. People yelling about meteors, about barns... and somebody called Audrey." She'd definitely heard that name before. "Duke, I think she might be related to-- what you left behind."
Duke	Duke sat abruptly. Luckily he was nowhere near the gunwale when he did, so he just ended up on a crate and not in the water. ". . . She's troubled," he said, after a long moment. "She definitely heard Audrey?" He'd been almost resigned to thinking she was dead. Almost.
Linda	"She said she heard-- a few voices," Linda said carefully. "A man, calling out for Audrey. A woman, talking about her son. A lot of chatter about a barn and meteors. I don't know exactly what it all means, but... it felt like something I should tell you."
Duke	"Yeah, no, that's -- that's good to know, I guess. Um." Duke shoved his hand through his hair. "I -- who is she? Is she from Haven? Does she know you're talking to me?"
Linda	"I may have mentioned that I knew someone who... had similar experiences," Linda said. Tactfully.
Duke	"Okay. Okay." Fuck. He was not at all prepared to deal with this. He wasn't in Haven-mode! "Right. Um. Okay, I definitely need to talk to her. Am I going to freak her out if I talk to her?" It was connected to Haven. Freaking out was unavoidable.
Linda	"Do you really need me to answer that?"
Duke	"I mean. You could lie to me and be reassuring," Duke snarked. "Right. Um. I guess . . . I'll talk to her. This . . . person. With a trouble. Does she know what troubles even are?"
Linda	"I don't think so," Linda said, heaving a big sigh. "She's from Boston, just moved here."
Duke	"And promptly found a new therapist who knows about troubles." Duke sighed. "Yep, that sounds like Haven's work. Did you tell her about me?"
Linda	"I didn't think it was my place to give her those kinds of details," Linda said. "But I can give you her address, if you want it."
Duke	"Yeah. That'd be -- good, I guess. And I'm sure I'll have lots to tell you at my next appointment about it."
Linda	"Duke," Linda said. She chewed on her bottom lip. "Be careful?"
Duke	Duke let out a faintly bitter laugh. "I'll do my best."
Linda	Linda gave him the address, then hung up with a sigh. She was... just going to preemptively clear her schedule for Lucifer, now.

---

Duke	Duke hung up his phone, biting back a curse. This -- well, it wasn't the worst way that Haven had decided to fuck with him. But it still wasn't going to go over at all well, was it. "Luce? Tavi? I, um. I need to tell you something."
Octavia	Nothing good started like that. Octavia looked concerned as she came into the room.
Lucifer	"Please tell me it's nothing dramatic," Lucifer said, following after her.
Duke	"Would that I could," Duke said, shaking his head. "Linda has a troubled patient."
Octavia	They hadn't talked about Haven in a long time. Amd 'troubled' had other, more general uses. But maybe Octavia was refusing to connect the dots only because she still could. "... And?"
Lucifer	"She's a therapist, all her patients are troubled," Lucifer pointed out. His cluelessness was definitely genuine.
Duke	Yeah, he could have phrased that better. He was kind of lost in how much he hated this right now. “Haven troubled. She’s, um. She’s been hearing the Barn. Me, yelling for Audrey. In the Barn.”
Octavia	And there came the unavoidable dread. Octavia stared at him.
Lucifer	"Oh, enter terrible plot development, stage left." Lucifer pinched the bridge of his nose.
Duke	“Yeah.” Duke let out a heavy sigh. “She, uh. She thinks she’s actually insane.” He laughed uncomfortably. “Which isn’t surprising, but — anyway, um. Turns out people in Haven think I’m dead?” Look, he was dealing with a lot of weird information today.
Octavia	Octavia should probably do something other than just stare some more. "Did she tell you that?"
Lucifer	"Suppose you were in a large building when it exploded," Lucifer said, eyeing Duke warily.
Duke	“Fell apart?” Duke shook his head. “Uh. No. I tried calling Nathan to see what’s going on and everyone kept telling me I couldn’t be Duke because Duke’s dead.”
Octavia	"But you could get through to Haven." Not a question. More like Octavia was stating it outright to get herself to accept it. (She hadn't yet realized how fast her heart was racing all of a sudden.)
Lucifer	Lucifer sighed loudly. The reality of the situation clearly hadn't quite hit him yet. "Does this mean we have to roadtrip back to your hellhole?" he asked. "Word chosen deliberately, I assure you."
Duke	Duke swallowed, hand in his hair. He didn’t like this any more than they did. “I — I think we do. Jennifer needs help, and — and Audrey’s still missing and Dave said Nathan’s on the run. . . .” He trailed off, shaking his head. He couldn’t believe this was happening. It’d been more than a year, and he’d almost started to relax. “You don’t — have to come. But. I could probably use the backup.”
Octavia	"You are not going on your own," Octavia snapped. The burst of anger wasn't directed at anyone here: it was a crutch. He'd been on his own, last time. And look at how that had turned out. (The floor felt like it was giving out underneath her.)
Lucifer	"I would've made some flippant comment about how you must be losing your mind, but Octavia covered it quite nicely," Lucifer said, gesturing towards her. None of this sounded especially good. But after seeing the way Duke had been since coming back the last time, Lucifer also didn't see the point of arguing with him.
Duke	Duke nodded, giving them a shaky smile. “Thanks. I’ll, uh. I guess I’ll let Jennifer know. And maybe after this . . . we can finally be done.”
Octavia	The panic Octavia was ignoring did not buy that at all. But Octavia forced a nod.
Lucifer	"We'll just pack up, check in on what's going on over there, fix whatever needs to be fixed, and then ride out of there as fast as possible with your nerves soothed one way or the other," Lucifer said. Optimistically.
Duke	“Yes. That. Exactly.” Duke really wanted to believe in that optimism.
Octavia	Octavia... nodded again. She didn't buy this, either. (And her heart sounded like thunder in her ears.)
Lucifer	"Right, well," Lucifer said, looking at Duke a bit helplessly, like a train that just ran out of steam. "Now what?"
Duke	"I'll . . . call Jennifer. And . . . I guess we rent a car?" He was kind of hoping someone gave him a hug first.
Octavia	Octavia looked a little too frozen in place for that. The reality of the situation was really starting to seep in, now. She looked off to the side. Breathed in.
Lucifer	Lucifer rolled his eyes. "I'll buy something," he said. He glanced at Octavia. Frowned. Glanced back at Duke's face. Frowned again. "... Are you two all right?"
Duke	"Uh huh," Duke said distractedly, staring at his hands now. He shook his head and looked up, squinting. "Not really, no. It's Haven."
Octavia	"Sha," Octavia muttered, in agreement. She looked up, at Duke, his face, and something... shifted, finally. And then she did, stepping up to him. He looked like he could use a hug. (She didn't know what she could have used. A drink?)
Lucifer	Lucifer sighed. He reached to snag a bottle of bourbon off the counter (priorities!) and followed her. "C'mere, then," he said, "We hardly need to leave today."
Duke	Duke leaned against Octavia the moment she was close enough, then made a grab for the bourbon the moment it was. "Great! I'm just going to get trashed in the meantime then. Any objections?"
Octavia	Octavia said nothing as she wrapped her arms around him. It felt like disaster was knocking on their door. Again.
Lucifer	"None at all," Lucifer said, and closed his arms around them both once Duke had the bourbon. (Like a shield.)
Duke	"Oh good." Duke took a long swig from the bottle and let his partners keep the world away for a little while.

---

Lucifer	"Right, well, this is the best thing I could find on such short notice," Lucifer said, eyeing the car critically. If there had only been three of them, he would've been tempted to just shove everyone into the Corvette and sort it out later. Instead, he gestured at the new... troubled... person, whatever her name was, with his keys. "Newbie, you take the back seat."
Jennifer	"Um." Jennifer raised her hand, eyeing the two extra new people dubiously. (One new person was bad enough. How the hell had she let her new therapist talk her into this? Or the existing embodiment of one of the voices in her head for that matter?) "Or . . . we could just take my SUV?"
Duke	"It's better to just let him have this," Duke told her. "Luce is . . . particular. About his transportation." Jennifer frowned at him, and he clapped his hands together with too broad of a grin. "Right, sorry! Jennifer, this is Lucifer, my boyfriend, and Octavia, our partner. Luce, Tavi, Jennifer. The woman who hears the Barn. Heard the Barn?" "Heard," Jennifer muttered. "I'm on meds now."
Octavia	Octavia wondered how much medication would do to something that was coming from outside of your head, but kept it to herself. The wary way she was eyeing Jennifer wasn't personal. Not that anyone would be able to tell. "Hi," she said, a little on the flat side.
Lucifer	"Hello," Lucifer said, gesturing impatiently at the back seat. Again. "No judgment about the medication here, I had to listen to Duke yell 'Audrey' for a bare few minutes and it already damn near drove me batty, now please sit."
Duke & Jennifer	"Hi," Jennifer said. ". . . Wait, Lucifer?" "We'll explain in the car," Duke promised, pushing her towards the back seat. "We're driving a convertible to Maine," she muttered, climbing into the backseat. "Sure." Duke slid in with her, leaving the front for Octavia. "It's fine," he said. "It's May there." ". . . What?"
Octavia	"You'll be asking that a lot," Octavia rasped, blandly, as she slid onto the front seat.
Lucifer	"Just don't bother, really, it's a complete waste of your time," Lucifer said. He waved his hand, and the engine started purring. Then he hopped into the driver's seat.
Jennifer & Duke	"Did he just magic the car on?!" Jennifer hissed. "I'm guessing it's a remote starter," Duke said. "But yes, he's the Devil, yes, he's still our boyfriend. Pop culture gives him a bad rap." "Oh." Jennifer nodded, then frowned. What the fuck had she gotten herself into?
Octavia	Haven via Fandom, obviously and unfortunately. "Best wear your seatbelt," Octavia drawled, as she went to to do just that. "The Devil doesn't drive slow."
Lucifer	"It does and I don't," Lucifer agreed. He hit the gas as he tore out of the parking lot. Fast.
Jennifer & Duke	Jennifer let out a startled shriek and grabbed onto the door -- and Duke -- to brace herself. "Right," Duke said after a moment -- and a small grimace down at her hand on his arm. "So. About this Barn?"
Lucifer	"Anything helpful you might have heard?" Lucifer added, slipping down his decidedly keyfob-less car keys into his pocket.
Jennifer	"I don't . . . know?" Jennifer said. She took the hint and let go of Duke's arm to hang onto her seatbelt instead. "Um. I heard -- Duke, I guess. Yelling for Audrey. And someone called 'Howard'? And something about -- ending troubles."
Octavia	Octavia's expression was starting to look a little tight in its mildness, again. Not that anyone could really see, except Lucifer. "Not super useful," she noted, mostly under her breath.
Jennifer & Duke	“Hey, I didn’t ask for this!” Jennifer said. “It’s fine,” Duke soothed. “We’re just . . . frustrated. What else do you remember? What’d — whoever — say about ending the troubles?” Jennifer shot him a small thankful look. He was clearly the reasonable one here — even if she had spent months hearing him yelling for Audrey like a maniac in her head. “Um. That to do it, Audrey had to, uh. Kill someone. Someone she loved. Which, I mean, that seems like a lot. How bad even are these ‘troubles’?”
Lucifer	"Ah, think somewhere in the realm of natural disasters," Lucifer said casually, as he hit the gas a little harder. "Often the specifically homicidal kind. Quite a trick my Father played on all of you lot with those, I have to say."
Octavia	"He means God," Octavia filled in, still a little flat. She said it mostly to distract herself from thinking various unpleasant things about Audrey having to kill someone.
Jennifer & Duke	“Oh,” Jennifer said in a small voice. After a moment, Duke reached over to pat her knee reassuringly. “You get used to it eventually.” “None of this is making me think I’m not crazy,” Jennifer told him. “Just so you know.”
Octavia	Octavia heard that 'oh', and thought -- Fuck. This was another person getting pulled into Haven's bullshit, probably though no fault of her own. (And not just the reason they were getting pulled back into Haven's bullshit.) "But it's good practice," she rasped, with a glance towards the back seat. "Because Haven's probably going to be worse." A pause. "On the bright side, you're with people who've been there before." Metaphorically and literally, depending on the person.
Jennifer & Duke	". . . Yay?" Jennifer said. "I grew up there," Duke told her. "And I've been dealing with the troubles off and on for the last few years. But Audrey's the real professional. If you can help us find her, then the rest of us can probably just hang back and let her deal with things."
Octavia	Well, so much for Octavia's feeble attempts at being reassuring. Much better to stare stonily out the windshield to keep any of her feelings on those statements from spilling out. This was going to be a long ride.