Season four preplay: Lay Me Down

[seaoftroubles]

1. Duke gets a call from Nathan to say "Duke get your ass back here Wade's activated." -- Also feat. Lucifer and Octavia

2. Duke, Octavia, and Lucifer arrive in Haven, find out only [wild handwaving because Haven is terrible at timelines] number of days has passed even though it's been months for them. Jennifer says she's settling in okay on the Sanguine Moon and is applying for a job at the Haven Herald. Duke is all "uhhhhh. . . . 'kay, that's a choice that I support I guess". Jennifer is adorkably awkward about being nervous for the interview. Wade arrives at the Gull to grab cleaning products and is cagey about the reasons. "Soda spilled in my car." He claims that he understand the trouble is terrible and isn't going to let it take over. Duke tries to talk him through it, but Wade just shoves him off and promises to head out of town. Duke tries to pretend he believes that this trip might be an easy one. Also there is a day-time drunk sleeping on the bench outside the Gull. FOR PLOT REASONS.

3. Later that day, Dwight comes by the marina to tell Duke that the drunk died mysteriously at the police station. Duke remembers Freddie, the drunk, was into watching bear documentaries at the Gull. Dwight asks about Jordan, wonders aloud if Wade's involved. Duke says no way. -- Lucifer and Octavia are welcome to join in or not

4. Duke dreams about trying to talk to Wade about their trouble and getting attacked when he gets a papercut. Wakes up when dream!Wade slashes him with a knife to discover GIANT KNIFE WOUND ON HIS ARM! Octavia has her own injurious dream. Lucifer freaks out/fusses over them.

5. Lucifer tries to insure Duke and Octavia stay awake. Audrey decides to compare Nathan and Duke's activities the day before since they both got hit by the trouble and survived. They make the connection to the Herald and call Dwight -- too late, he gets shot in a dream. We can also have Nathan fill the OT3 in on the non-dream murders at the same time.

6. Duke takes advantage of Dwight being sedated in the hospital to check what he's looking into, finds info on the murder with the broken knife. Puts two and two together and figures out it's Wade. This can happen off screen. He and Lucifer (and maybe Octavia?) head to the local boat rental he knows Wade used and gets access to the boat he used. He follows the GPS along the coast and finds Wade's dumping grounds, including Jordan's remains.

7. While Audrey and Nathan defuse the trouble, Duke, Lucifer, and Octavia go after Wade, stop him from offing a guy at a local bar. Wade goes all high and mighty, Duke yells at him. Wade tries to pull the "brothers" card to keep from being turned in. "You killed all those people, Wade. That's on me now, too." Wade threatens to expose Lexie's secret so the Guard tries to make Audrey kill Nathan. Lucifer knocks Wade out so they can lock him up on the Sanguine Moon.

8. Octavia guards Wade on the Moon while Lucifer and Duke try to figure out where to stick him and arrange their travel back to Fandom. Wade escapes and he and Octavia fight. Octavia is winning until Wade manages to draw blood and gets the upper hand. Enter Duke and Lucifer. Lucifer goes to Octavia to try to staunch her bleeding while Duke takes on Wade? (Since Duke can't interact with Octavia's blood and all. Maybe Wade managed to open her dream wound and it's worse than just a little cut.) Wade throws himself on Duke's knife and dies. The Crocker trouble dies too.

9. Duke wraps Wade's body in a tarp. When Duke reaches for Octavia's wound, she flinches back. Duke internalizes the SHIT out of that even though it's a natural move if they've been used to trying to keep their blood off him. Lucifer suggests they clear out, Duke agrees, so long as he can bury Wade first. He asks them not to tell anyone about the murder. Luce and Tavi are probably like "whatever, we don't want to talk to any of these people anyway."

Comments

1. Phone call

[seaoftroubles]

Duke gets a call from Nathan to say "Duke get your ass back here Wade's activated."

Re: 1. Phone call

[betterthanaplan]

Frankly, when Duke's phone actually rang instead of going to voicemail, it was never good. So he could maybe be forgiven for digging it out of his pocket and squinting at it sideways like it might attack him.

The name on the caller ID didn't help.

"Nathan," he said, through faintly clenched teeth. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

The conversation was short, since Nathan was anything but chatty. Duke's expression went from annoyed to distressed, then to sort of a resigned depression.

"Don't do anything," he said, all but biting off the words. "Please. I'm heading up, I'll take care of it."

Another few moments of listening to the other end.

"Thanks."

He hung up and stared at his phone for a long moment, then wound up as though to pitch it into the water before just jamming it back in his pocket with a hissed curse.

Re: 1. Phone call

[okteiviakom]

Octavia had only caught half of that, but it did not bode well.

"Who was that?"

She had a feeling she already knew.

2. Arrival in Haven

[seaoftroubles]

Duke, Octavia, and Lucifer arrive in Haven, find out only [wild handwaving because Haven is terrible at timelines] number of days has passed even though it's been months for them. Jennifer says she's settling in okay on the Sanguine Moon and is applying for a job at the Haven Herald. Duke is all "uhhhhh. . . . 'kay, that's a choice that I support I guess". Jennifer is adorkably awkward about being nervous for the interview. Wade arrives at the Gull to grab cleaning products and is cagey about the reasons. "Soda spilled in my car." He claims that he understand the trouble is terrible and isn't going to let it take over. Duke tries to talk him through it, but Wade just shoves him off and promises to head out of town. Duke tries to pretend he believes that this trip might be an easy one. Also there is a day-time drunk sleeping on the bench outside the Gull. FOR PLOT REASONS.

Re: 2. Arrival in Haven

[betterthanaplan]

The portal opened just down the beach from the Grey Gull, between a handy little grove of trees that protected it from general view. Duke stepped out, looked around to get his bearings, then made a beeline for the bar.

"Wade!" he yelled. "We gotta talk!"

Re: 2. Arrival in Haven

[okteiviakom]

Octavia was a lot more openly wary about stepping through the portal and into Haven. But she couldn't muster up much more than a sense of resignation at seeing Duke bolt for the Gull.

"There he goes," she muttered under her breath.

3. The plot thickens

[seaoftroubles]

Later that day, Dwight comes by the marina to tell Duke that the drunk died mysteriously at the police station. Duke remembers Freddie, the drunk, was into watching bear documentaries at the Gull. Dwight asks about Jordan, wonders aloud if Wade's involved. Duke says no way. -- Lucifer and Octavia are welcome to join in or not

Re: 3. The plot thickens

[betterthanaplan]

Wade was, supposedly, getting his affairs in order to skip town. Duke was doing his best to trust his brother -- the same trust he'd spent ages demanding from everyone else around town -- and went to go check on the Sanguine Moon while they waited, make sure it stayed in ship-shape since Jennifer was staying there for the time being.

It was . . . actually kind of a nice way to spend the morning. Boat engines could be fiddly, but they were seldom complicated. You fixed the broken stuff, oiled the stuck stuff, and everything worked the way it was supposed to.

Way easier to deal with than obnoxious brothers.

[let me know if you want to ping in here, if not, I'll just fill in the canon dialog when Dwight comes by!]

Re: 3. The plot thickens

[my_own_advocate]

"It's been a while since I've seen you go full sexy greasy mechanic."

Lucifer had... well, he hadn't been trying to give Duke space. He knew that was a terrible idea. He was also very bad at it. But he had, at least, tried to give Duke an hour or so to fuss over the boat.

Until now.

Now he'd just be over there, lurking. Watching.

Commenting, because he was still Lucifer.

4. Killer dreams

[seaoftroubles]

Duke dreams about trying to talk to Wade about their trouble and getting attacked when he gets a papercut. Wakes up when dream!Wade slashes him with a knife to discover GIANT KNIFE WOUND ON HIS ARM! Octavia has her own injurious dream. Lucifer freaks out/fusses over them.

Re: 4. Killer dreams

[betterthanaplan]

When he woke, Duke would wonder at the fact that the dream took place on the Rouge, a place Wade had never been and, if Duke had his way, would never be. His boat had become his refuge, a place Haven could no longer touch. A place for him and Octavia and Lucifer where they could get away from what their various worlds always tried to do to them.

In his dream, though, Wade stood at the Rouge's sink like he belonged there, washing blood and fish scales from a long knife.

"Look at you," Wade said with a friendly smile. "You got a date tonight?"

Duke flicked him a small smile. "You and me." He gestured to the carefully set table beside him. "Last supper."

"Sorry," Wade looked down at the knife in his hands. "I, uh, got plans."

"Come on," Duke wheedled. "You're leaving soon. Look, I want . . ." he looked at the table setting. What he'd originally thought was a carefully folded napkin turned out to be his father's journal. Their father's journal. "I want to show you something." He flipped through it quickly, looking for the right page. "It's Dad's journal. I should've shown you earlier, but . . ."

But he'd thought he needed to keep it to himself.

"Look. He talks about the rush that troubled blood gave him." He knew the entry was in here somewhere. He flipped faster and sliced his thumb open on the edge of a page. "Ow!"

He jammed his thumb in his mouth and glanced up at Wade.

Wade stared at him. Licked his lips.

"Wade?" Duke asked.

Wade lunged. Duke threw his arms up to block, but Wade's eyes were somehow already silver, his attack somehow already insanely powerful. And he had that knife.

"No. Wade, man, stop!"

The knife bit into his arm, deep, slashing down across the meat of his forearm. The pain was shocking, bright and angry and he shot awake with a shout.

"Wade!"

Re: 4. Killer dreams

[okteiviakom]

The desert was vast and empty, but Octavia thought she could feel something moving under the sand. Slithering, biding its time. One more reason they couldn't stop, one more reason Octavia was ushering Jennifer along, as if the horizon would eventually come closer if they just.... kept... going.

But it never did.

And the sandstorm rose in two blinks of an eye, all around them.

And when Octavia grabbed Jennifer, desperate to shield her, no no no take me instead, you can't have her, the crystallized shards of the storm tore through her cape and slashed razor-sharp at her back, at her arms.

And then someone was shouting. Jennifer? Her? No, someone else, someone --

She startled awake, alert and wide-eyed. "Duke?" (Her back and her arms stung. She did not really notice, no.)

5. Exposition times

[seaoftroubles]

Lucifer tries to insure Duke and Octavia stay awake. Audrey decides to compare Nathan and Duke's activities the day before since they both got hit by the trouble and survived. They make the connection to the Herald and call Dwight -- too late, he gets shot in a dream. We can also have Nathan fill the OT3 in on the non-dream murders at the same time.

Re: 5. Exposition times

[betterthanaplan]

"Double red-eyes . . . Straight, no chasers," Duke announced, holding up the coffees he'd picked up for Audrey and Nathan when he and his partners had hit up the shop on their way over. "And we wrote down everything we did yesterday, like you asked."

Audrey accepted the coffee Duke offered her, and the piece of notebook paper along with it. "Thank you." She gave him a smile that went wan when she looked at Octavia and Lucifer. "All of you."

[I assumed the three would be sticking together here, but let me know if you'd rather I not mod your character as present and I will edit!]

Re: 5. Exposition times

[my_own_advocate]

"The sooner this is over, the better for all of us, I'd say," Lucifer said. He had his own mad sugary coffee concoction in one hand-- and poured some whiskey into it with the other.

He needed it, all right?

6. To the marina

[seaoftroubles]

Duke takes advantage of Dwight being sedated in the hospital to check what he's looking into, finds info on the murder with the broken knife. Puts two and two together and figures out it's Wade. This can happen off screen. He and Lucifer (and maybe Octavia?) head to the local boat rental he knows Wade used and gets access to the boat he used. He follows the GPS along the coast and finds Wade's dumping grounds, including Jordan's remains.

Re: 6. To the marina

[betterthanaplan]

Octavia was off making sure that Jennifer and Gloria were both safe from the latest trouble. In the meantime, Lucifer and Duke had checked in on Dwight -- and Duke had checked Dwight's files to see if he'd made any progress in Jordan's disappearance.

Turned out she was only one of a handful of troubled people, mostly girls, who were missing or dead -- and not of a dream. They'd found a knife tip in one of them.

And one of Duke's knives, he'd discovered, was missing its tip. Supposedly because Wade had broken it gutting a fish.

So he and Lucifer had come to the marina to do a bit of investigating. See just how far gone Duke's brother was.

"Uh, hey," Duke called as he approached the man running the boat rental dock. "I think my brother might be renting a boat out here. Name's Wade Crocker?"

Re: 6. To the marina

[my_own_advocate]

"Looks a bit like this one, but then much less attractive," Lucifer offered. If he sounded impatient, well, it was because he was terrified, and impatient was a much better emotion to cling to.

7. Confronting Wade

[seaoftroubles]

While Audrey and Nathan defuse the trouble, Duke, Lucifer, and Octavia go after Wade, stop him from offing a guy at a local bar. Wade goes all high and mighty, Duke yells at him. Wade tries to pull the "brothers" card to keep from being turned in. "You killed all those people, Wade. That's on me now, too." Wade threatens to expose Lexie's secret so the Guard tries to make Audrey kill Nathan. Lucifer knocks Wade out so they can lock him up on the Sanguine Moon.

Re: 7. Confronting Wade

[betterthanaplan]

Duke might not have been around Haven much since he was a teenager, but he'd managed to keep up with most of his contacts, and it only took a couple hours before he got word that Wade was haunting the Rusty Scupper, chatting up a known troubled person. Duke headed right over, determined to stop his brother in his tracks.

He'd try reasoning with him first. And if Wade wouldn't listen (Wade wouldn't listen, Duke what it felt like when their trouble was triggered, how good it could feel in the moment to kill, and Wade had never been big on self-control), then . . . he'd stop him.

No matter what.

Re: 7. Confronting Wade

[my_own_advocate]

"Are you ready for this?"

Lucifer had remained mostly quiet over the past few hours. The situation was-- kicking up some terrible memories.

It wasn't. Going to end like that this time. Not for Duke. He wouldn't let it.

8. Showdown!

[seaoftroubles]

Octavia guards Wade on the Moon while Lucifer and Duke try to figure out where to stick him and arrange their travel back to Fandom. Wade escapes and he and Octavia fight. Octavia is winning until Wade manages to draw blood and gets the upper hand. Enter Duke and Lucifer. Lucifer goes to Octavia to try to staunch her bleeding while Duke takes on Wade? (Since Duke can't interact with Octavia's blood and all. Maybe Wade managed to open her dream wound and it's worse than just a little cut.) Wade throws himself on Duke's knife and dies. The Crocker trouble dies too.

Re: 8. Showdown!

[betterthanaplan]

[note: insert Wade icon here]

Wade woke in the dark with a pounding headache. And a whole lot of anger, which he turned immediately on the door.

He was just mad -- and a little bit crazy -- enough to keep beating on it until he broke his hand or the door. It'd been too long since his last kill. He needed another. Needed it. And if he had to take out Duke's little friends to get what he needed . . . he was okay with that. He hated himself for it, but he was okay with it.

9. ANGST

[seaoftroubles]

Duke wraps Wade's body in a tarp. When Duke reaches for Octavia's wound, she flinches back. Duke internalizes the SHIT out of that even though it's a natural move if they've been used to trying to keep their blood off him. Lucifer suggests they clear out, Duke agrees, so long as he can bury Wade first. He asks them not to tell anyone about the murder. Luce and Tavi are probably like "whatever, we don't want to talk to any of these people anyway."

10. OOC

[seaoftroubles]

Because we gotta