Preplay test: Season four into five!

[seaoftroubles]

Octavia	Something smelled off. It wasn't a conscious thought just yet, because Octavia wasn't awake enough for one of those. But she was getting there. She'd gone to bed on the Rouge as normal, curled up on one side of Duke, safe in the knowledge that Lucifer was on the other side of him. And she was still curled up against Duke's side now. But now, something... smelled off.
Duke	Duke's sense of smell wasn't that great. But he could absolutely feel something off. Namely, the fact that one side of his body was colder than it should be. "Luce?" he muttered blearily, without opening his eyes. "You okay, man?"
Octavia	No answer. Hmh. "'D he go outside?" Octavia muttered. It was rare that Lucifer would be the first one up, but it did happen...
Duke	Duke huffed. "Maybe?" He rolled over slowly, towards the spot where Lucifer should be. And fell off the edge of the -- much smaller -- bed.
Octavia	Octavia immediately startled more upright at both the sound of it and the sensation of him abruptly slipping away. Her vision was still blurry, only half comprehending what she was seeing. (If even that? Not even that.) "Duke?"
Duke	"What," Duke said to the floor. "The fuck." He pushed up, blinking around. And woke up very abruptly. "What the fuck."
Octavia	Yeah, Octavia's gaze had also had time to skitter around long enough to fully wake her up. She knew what smelled off, now: every little thing about the interior of the boat - and something faint like perfume or shampoo or another scented thing. (Arms around her pulling her back and away from the pit --) "Duke," she said, slowly, "where are we?" She recognized the Sanguine Moon. (And the faintest whiff of Jennifer, apparently.) So maybe she was just asking in case that would somehow yield a different answer.
Duke	Duke didn't answer immediately, twisting in place to take another look around. Hoping he was somehow wrong. "Haven." Had two syllables ever been filled with more dread?
Octavia	Funny, Octavia just felt cold and numb inside all of a sudden. Though that didn't stop her from scrambling off the bed to look for something.
Duke	Duke pushed himself back against the bulkhead, hands coming up to fist in his hair. He needed a second to just freak the fuck out and then he could move on to dealing with whatever shit this town was planning to throw at them.
Octavia	"We need to call him." Yeah, Octavia had just sprung into action. Freaking out would have to wait until she could process any of this. "Where's my phone?" She wasn't really asking him. He was unlikely to know any better than she did: nothing was where they'd left it because this was not where they'd left it.
Duke	"Fuck," Duke said. He didn't have any clothes either. Well, not on him. And not on the floor where he would have left them. He uncurled and reached across to a trunk on the other wall. Unless Jennifer had moved them, he should have some emergency supplies in there. . . . "Burner," he said, tossing Octavia a flip phone. "Pants." Those were for him. He pulled them on, hopping a little as he tried to get them on. "Jennifer?" he called. "Jennifer!"
Octavia	Octavia's focus zeroed in on the phone. And dialing Lucifer's number. And praying she could get through.
Duke	“Jennifer!!” Duke shouted, heading above decks to look. It didn’t take long. The Sanguine Moon wasn’t large. He came back holding a phone of his own. “She’s not here.”
Octavia	Octavia had gone a little pale, still clutching the phone to her ear. "I can't get through to Lucifer." Oh. There was the dread, turning her spine into ice.
Duke	Fuck. Duke had already had his freakout time, though, so he stuck to just swallowing hard and nodding. "We won't until Haven wants to let us. He's okay, though. He's at home." Freaking the fuck out and doing who knew what to the Rouge, but -- well. Octavia knew that part. Him mentioning it too wouldn't be helpful.
Octavia	Octavia's hand fell. She was already stomping down the urge to freak out. It did leave her looking a little wild around the eyes, though. "What do we do now?"
Duke	Duke heaved in a deep breath. He didn't have a good answer to that. "I'm calling Jennifer. Maybe we can just . . . grab her and head for Baltimore the old fashioned way?" He was pretty sure that wasn't how it was going to happen.
Octavia	This was Haven, after all. But still: "Good enough for me." ... At some point here she should probably put on something more than just underwear and an oversized tee.
Duke & Jennifer	She could borrow some of Duke's emergency clothes. Or Jennifer's . . . regular clothes. Either way. "Jennifer," Duke said, when she answered. He put the phone into speaker mode so Octavia could hear too. "Octavia and I are back. We just -- woke up on the Sanguine Moon. . . ." "Duke! Oh my god, it's Duke, he's back!" Jennifer was talking a mile a minute, a sure sign that something was Up. "I'm not there. I'm at -- a safe house. William tried to kill me! I might be magic? I have a magic book. It killed a rugaru. Made of the black junk that made us all crazy. The book says that I'm the Child of Ruin and I have to find the Heart of Haven and I don't know what any of that means, but I'm in hiding because maybe it means I can save everyone!" "Um." Duke pinched the bridge of his nose. "Wait, what?"
Octavia	"Jennifer, slow down," Octavia said. Snapped? Close enough. "One thing at a time, start at the top."
Jennifer & Duke	"I don't know what the top is," Jennifer admitted. "Um. I guess there was a whole . . . wish thing? I didn't really get involved in that one. But I guess Duke was a cop." "Ew," Duke said. "Let's skip that part." "Okay. Then there was a -- a monster. The rugaru? It killed a bunch of people with my birthday. Because it was looking for me!"
Octavia	Octavia was going to have questions about the cop thing at some later time. Much, much later. "And a book killed it?"
Jennifer & Duke	"A trashy vampire romance novel. I found it in my birth parents' house." ". . . As you do," Duke said. He rubbed his nose with his free hand. "And -- now you're in a safe house?" "Uh huh! Vince and Dave are guarding me." "Well, I feel better." He very clearly did not.
Octavia	"Vince and Dave?" Octavia repeated, with a tone like Jennifer might as well have said she was being guarded by a couple of -- bumbling porgs or something. "Do you think this is what we got yanked back for?" As if there was any meaning to any of this.
Duke & Jennifer	"Fuck, I don't know. Maybe?" Duke shook his head. "Jennifer, whose safe house are you at?" "Nathan's? Is that bad?" Duke sighed. "Well, it means I know where you are, at least." He could only think of one spot Nathan would consider a 'safe house'. "Hang tight, we'll head right over."
Octavia	"And then we'll try to leave, right?" Just checking. Now that Nathan's name was in play again. (It wouldn't be long before Audrey's would be, too.)
Duke	“And take Jennifer with us,” Duke confirmed. “Maybe see if Gloria will skip town with us too.” He wasn’t going to suggest asking those two along. He wasn’t that masochistic. He’d just . . . have to keep worrying about them quietly from afar.
Octavia	"Gloria," Octavia breathed. "I'm calling her." Not because she thought Gloria would actually abandon this sinking ship of a town, but because -- Well, Gloria.
Duke	"Good. Yes." Duke nodded sharply. He didn't much think she would come with them either. But they had to try, right? "I'll . . . get us a car." By stealing one, probably. They didn't have time to bother with a rental.
Octavia	There was a scrambly sort of urgency to this attempt at a call, too. Gloria better pick up.
Gloria	It took a few too many rings, probably. Gloria was not having a very good day. "I'm sorry, Wild Cat," she said when she did answer. Her voice was gruffer than usual, tight with the effort to hold herself together. "I can't talk right now. Unless --" An audible breath. "Are you and Duke back in town?"
Octavia	Octavia's heart sank. Hearing Gloria sound like that felt like something buckling from underneath her. "Yes." There was no point in babbling.
Gloria	"Oh," Gloria said, sounding like her heart was breaking. "Octavia, I'm sorry. There's a trouble, it's extremely dangerous. Audrey's trying to help, but --" She choked up again, then seemed to make a decision. Even old battle-axes needed someone to talk to, sometimes. "It's Aaron. My grandbaby's troubled. And I don't know what we're going to do!"
Octavia	Yeah, something was definitely crumbling here. All Octavia could really do was try and grab hold of whatever it was that had made her get up and square her shoulders and get to work every damn day down in the bunker. Like it was up to her to carry things. "Dangerous like how?" Start with the facts.
Gloria	Gloria took a shuddering breath, appreciating Octavia's professionalism. (Hating having to depend on it.) "It's my late husband's family trouble. When they cry -- people die. That simple. But -- it's never activated on anyone this young before. Audrey and Nathan think that man, that William person, he must have altered little Aaron's trouble. Most of the family learns not to cry, but we can't teach a baby that!"
Octavia	The girl under the floor had begun her life as the baby under the floor, and couldn't help thinking about that. Just for a second. Then she shoved that aside. (Most of it, anyway. What remained wasn't really helpful.) "What was that about William?"
Gloria	"Oh lord," Gloria said with a sigh. "Were you here to meet him? I can't even keep track anymore." There was a sound of a rustle and a clink as Gloria took a drink of something on her end. "He's -- someone from Audrey's past, I guess. He can make troubles. Uses that goop that got in everyone's ears. Apparently Audrey can do it too, and she tried giving Lincoln one to counter Aaron's, but now -- well. Now Lincoln's as screwed as the rest of us, I suppose." That last was bone dry. (And a little brittle. She hadn't approved of Lincoln letting Audrey do that to him.)
Octavia	This was a lot of new information. And that familiar ache of hearing Lincoln when it had for so long meant just her Lincoln. And scorn over the fact that of course Audrey was just fucking up again. (She could give people troubles.) "Do you want us to come over there?"
Gloria	"Oh, I don't know. I wish I could tell you two to get somewhere safe, but if you could -- well, I suspect you'd have dragged Duke there already, wouldn't you." Gloria let out a long sigh. "Hell, if anyone's going to be able to talk sense into Audrey, it's Duke, at least. Nathan means well, bless him, but I don't think he's got a rational bone in his body. Especially not where troubles are concerned." Her voice went faintly tight again. "And I can't say I'd be sad to see you, Wild Cat. It might not make much sense, but I worry about you two when you're not around."
Octavia	It said a lot about Octavia's commitment (and attachment) to Gloria that she wasn't running in the opposite direction at the mere mention of Duke talking sense into Audrey. She swallowed. Nodded, uselessly. "We'll be there."
Duke	That was when Duke came back in, pulling on a button down. "Gloria's going to come with us?" he asked hopefully.
Octavia	Octavia checked with Gloria about where she actually was, then ended the call. Then shook her head. (Suppressing a shudder.) "No."
Duke	Duke rubbed his hand down his face. “There’s more going on than just Jennifer’s safe house thing, isn’t there.”
Octavia	"Aaron's troubled." And no, Octavia was not going to be thinking too much right now about her memory of meeting the kid. (Think he likes you.) There was just no room for that. "Her grandson." Her posture was going more rigid by the second. More soldier. "That William guy has something to do with it. He can give people troubles." Oh, and her voice was a flat rasp now. "And so can Audrey."
Duke	Duke stared. "What."
Octavia	Octavia was downright grim now. "She tried to give Lin--" No. "Tried to give Gloria's partner one."
Duke	"What." It was more of a hiss this time. "Why?!"
Octavia	"To counter the baby being troubled?" Said in a tone that suggested she really didn't know why Audrey did any of the things she did.
Duke	"What the hell kind of trouble does a baby have that it needs that?" Duke asked, shaking his head. This was what it had always felt like for Lucifer and Octavia when he got cornered into things by Haven, wasn't it. Just -- blankly horrified and desperate for another answer. It was not dissimilar to how he'd always felt too, but -- But he'd been able to pretend to be in control when it was things like "you have to kill this dying guy or hundreds of kids will murder their families."
Octavia	"When he cries, people die." It took everything for her voice not to crack. Had to go low and quiet instead.
Duke	Duke opened his mouth. Shook his head. ". . . Right," he said eventually. "Well. That -- sounds about right for this fucking town. Let's go, I guess."
Octavia	All Octavia did was nod. They were well and truly back in this bullshit.

---

Duke	"Audrey!" Duke called, storming his way across the lawn once they'd gotten to Gloria's son's house. "You gave someone a trouble?!" He was . . . not best pleased, no.
Octavia	Octavia had never really seen him angry at Audrey. Some dark part of her delighted in it. Not that you could tell by the way she marched after him, her mouth a thin line, her eyes scanning for Gloria.
Audrey & Duke	Gloria was inside for now, making phone calls, letting the rest of the family know about the loss of her daughter-in-law. Audrey was outside pacing, trying to find some other plan to help Aaron keep from killing anyone else. "Duke," she said when she saw him, relief evident in her voice even in the face of Duke's fury. "You're back." "Yeah. Just in time to hear that you can give people troubles," Duke said, stopping several feet away. Audrey nodded, swallowing. "I'm not -- I'd never done it before. But I guess the woman I was -- the original me --" Duke felt cold in a way that had nothing to do with suddenly being in Maine. "You made the troubles." "With William," Audrey said. She folded her arms over her chest, just barely keeping from hugging herself. "Yeah."
Octavia	This didn't feel like something Octavia needed to interfere with. She came to a stop a few paces away. The expression on her face unreadable.
Duke & Audrey	"How long have you known?" Duke asked. He was only vaguely aware of Octavia behind him now, too focused on Audrey. Even when he was pissed at her, she was still somehow one of the points his universe revolved around. "Not long," she said. "I didn't know last time you were here. I haven't been hiding anything." Duke narrowed his eyes at her. ". . . Yes," he said after a moment. "You are." Audrey looked away but didn't deny it.
Octavia	"We don't have time for this," Octavia said, cool and definite in her tone. (So much for not interfering.) "If it's relevant, spit it out."
Audrey & Duke . . . & Ben	Audrey shot her a dark look. Duke shifted between them. “What, Audrey?” “William thought me . . . troubling someone. Would bring the original me back out.” “And it did.” “Not — entirely.” “But a little.” Audrey nodded once, sharply, eyes focused somewhere over Duke’s shoulder. “Audrey,” Duke said, low and quiet. “You cannot do that again.” “What else am I supposed to do, Duke? Kill a baby?” Duke didn’t know how to answer that. It didn’t matter, though. Ben was approaching. Audrey shifted back a step, arms crossed tight over her chest. “No,” Ben said. He looked at Duke. “You have to kill me.”
Octavia	Octavia's gaze darted over to the newcomer. She'd never met Gloria's son, but it didn't take much to put two and two together. How could this manage to keep getting worse? (Because it was Haven, yes, she knew.)
Ben & Audrey & Duke	"I know about the Crocker curse," Ben said, staring up at Duke. "Kill me." Duke's mind whirled. This kept happening, first with Jack and Aiden, now this. Audrey was already shaking her head. "Okay, Ben, listen," she said, "that's really noble of you, but --" Duke held his hand up, cutting her off. "Hang on." He met Ben's gaze with a serious one of his own. "Are you sure about that?" "Am I sure I want to leave my son without any parents?" Ben shook his head. "No. But I don't know another way. I'm sure she didn't tell you, but Gloria considered the Crocker family curse a great blessing." Duke could see the pieces starting to fall into place. He felt cold, even as his heart rate jumped. (Even as part of him got excited.) "Why?" "It cured her family of their trouble," Ben said. "One of your ancestors killed one of hers." Ben swallowed, but his stance was firm. "I want to take this trouble to the grave." Duke nodded slowly. "All right."
Octavia	"What?" Nothing in Octavia was excited. Confused, yes. Also suddenly filled with dread.
Duke & Audrey	Duke's eyes skittered sideways towards her and he swallowed, but kept his focus mainly on Ben. "Take the baby up to the house," he told him. "We'll meet you there." Ben nodded and hurried away. Audrey grabbed Duke's arm, her voice a low hiss. "Are you crazy? You just told me off for troubling Gloria's partner, and now you want me to re-trouble you -- give you the Crocker family curse -- so that you can kill that baby's father?!"
Octavia	There was a violent urge inside Octavia to shove Audrey's hand away from Duke's arm. (Maybe she should have. Maybe some of this should have been let out.) Her eyes were big, her brow a stressed furrow. "Duke, tell me she has it wrong."
Duke	"I don't want any of this!" Duke said. (Even as he wondered if that was entirely true.) "But he is volunteering. And so am I." He swallowed hard, looking between the two of them. "You can't go on troubling person after person until you get it right, Audrey. Body count's just going to keep climbing. But we know me. We know my curse. I mean, just . . . one more hand slap, and we're done." He tried out a smile and knew he missed the mark. Hard. "I mean, it's . . . it's that, or we kill the baby." Duke, at least, had lived enough and done enough to maybe deserve whatever came next.
Octavia	He would have to forgive Octavia for not hearing half of that. The sudden sound of blood rushing in her ears was just too loud. Or maybe it was the quick chain of thoughts that led to her grabbing Audrey's arm to wrench the woman into facing her. "Trouble me instead."
Audrey & Duke	Audrey gaped at her. “Octavia. . . .” “No,” Duke said. “You don’t know what would happen.” “They’re based on — on you,” Audrey said. “I guess —“ she looked at Duke. “She is, you know, quiet?” “No.” Duke pushed his way between them. “No, Audrey, it’s me or no one.”
Octavia	Well, he could try push his way between them, anyway. Octavia wasn't letting up that easily. "Duke." She knew there wasn't a 'no one'. Not with him, not right now.
Duke & Audrey	“This could ruin your life, Octavia,” Duke hissed. “At least with me — the Crocker you see is the Crocker you get. We know my trouble. We know I can handle it.” “Duke —“ Audrey tried. She really didn’t want to do this to him. “Stay out of this, Audrey. You don’t know —“ He swallowed, not wanting to blab Octavia’s history. “You just don’t know, okay?” What if Audrey accidentally brought out Blodreina? At least Duke knew Octavia could take him down if he went bad. He didn’t think he could stand to hurt her if she did.
Octavia	Octavia couldn't find it in herself to really care what Audrey knew or didn't know right now. She'd probably appreciate his care later, though. "It could ruin your life, too!" Not even the trouble, not really, but Haven sucking him right back in.
Duke	Duke's lips turned up in something that wasn't really a smile. "Maybe. But I'll still have you and Luce. So it can't be that bad, can it?"
Octavia	There was something broken in the way Octavia was looking up at him now, fury giving way to... something else. She knew the clock was ticking, knew this concerned Gloria and her family, knew there was no real room for any real conversation about it all. No time for anyone to convince her this was a good idea. And no time for -- "Duke," she tried, but didn't know what to say. Wasn't his mind already made up?
Duke & Audrey	“I know,” Duke said softly. He pulled her in for a hug. “I know.” Audrey stood back, looking away to give them privacy. She didn’t like this any better than Octavia did. But she would set that aside for the good of the people. She was used to that. Apparently it was what she always did.
Octavia	Octavia hugged Duke back, but it was already stiff and stilted. What else was she supposed to do in this moment of accepting defeat, except to just let numbness take over? Put up a front and be a warrior.

---

Gloria & Ben & Duke

Gloria took the news of the new plan about as well as Octavia did. "No. No, Benny. No!" Ben held her tight. "It's the only way." Gloria clung back, still shaking her head. "No, it can't be!" She spun on Audrey. "All the troubles you've solved in this town. . . . This is your plan -- to strip me of my family one by one?!" "You called the Crocker family curse a blessing," Ben said gently, his eyes dry, no matter how clear it was that his heart was breaking, too. "When it cured your family of their trouble." He gave her a slight smile. "You know, I don't even know what it was." Gloria swallowed, shaking her head. "I don't know either." "How great would it be if Aaron's kids didn't know about this curse?" Ben's smile was bittersweet, but no less real for that. "You raised me as best you could, and I love you for it. I need you to teach Aaron how to live and how to feel. And how to cry without fear." Gloria let out a sob and clung to him. Behind them, well out of the way by the door, Duke turned away, hand rubbing down over his face. The people of this town must have done something truly terrible in a past life to earn all this. Or maybe Lucifer was right, and it was all just down to a petty, distractable god with a sick sense of humor.

---

Audrey & Duke	They gathered on the porch, overlooking the bay. The Harker house was a beautiful one, large and classic, with a wide lawn and a gorgeous view. Not that any of that was much comfort in light of everything that was happening. Audrey stood in front of Duke, grim-faced. "Are we doing this?" she asked. Quietly hoping that somehow they wouldn't have to. That Jennifer and the Teagues would find the door that let the troubles in and the four people needed to close it, and she and Duke and the whole Harker family would get a last minute reprieve. But then, Haven never worked like that, did it. "Yeah," Duke said, opening a few more buttons on his shirt. He was working hard to lock his own feelings down. Not think about the fact that Aaron was about to lose his dad, or Gloria losing her son. Not thinking about Octavia's heart breaking, or how Lucifer would react when they finally got home. Just focusing on the next few minutes. One step at a time. "Yeah. We're doing this."
Octavia	Octavia hadn't been able to be there for Audrey and Ben breaking the news of the plan to Gloria, and felt like a traitor for it. She felt like a traitor here, too, standing off to the side with her expression stony and grim. Her eyes kept flicking to Duke's hands.
Duke & Audrey	Duke's hands were holding the top of his shirt open, baring the space between and just below his collarbones to Audrey's hand. Audrey kept her eyes on his as she crushed the black ball between her fingers, spreading it over her palm. After a moment's pause to gather herself, to concentrate, she pressed her hand flat against him. Duke sucked in a breath, eyes wide, a rush of -- something -- rolling through him. Not the same wave of fury and pleasure that he'd learned to associate with activating his trouble, but something not altogether different from that, either. It was like . . . an itching burn in his blood. Like something was waking up. Audrey's face showed she felt something too. She wasn't looking at his face anymore, but staring at something past her hand on his chest. Something that made her mouth quirk in a strange, unsettling smirk. Well. Shit.
Octavia	There hadn't been a moment open for Octavia to step up and take his hand. Maybe it was for the better? So she just watched his hands, and then Audrey's hand (still fighting the urge, somewhere beneath the surface, to wrench Audrey's arm as far away from him as it would go), then his face, and -- He'd felt something, that was for sure. But he also looked like he'd seen something? It couldn't be good.
Duke & Audrey	"Audrey," Duke said, something almost sharp in his tone. She twitched a little, then blinked up at him. "You okay?" "I'm fine," she said, pulling her usual determined mask back into place. "You?" "Something happened," Duke said, rather than even try to answer that question. (No, no he was not okay, he just willingly got retroubled so he could kill one of his best friends' sons, there was nothing okay about this.) "That's for sure." "Well." Audrey took a few steps back, giving him a ghost of a smile. "Good. I guess." Yeah, she knew nothing about this was actually good, either.
Octavia	No one here was okay, and there was nothing good about anything. And Octavia hated how familiar all of it felt. She finally looked away.
Duke & Audrey	Duke was peering intently at Audrey. Who was looking anywhere but back at him. “I’ll go tell Ben to get ready,” she volunteered, and did her best to walk away without looking like she was fleeing. Duke watched her go. “Something happened to both of us,” he muttered.
Octavia	"What?" Octavia asked, less a question about what had happened and more that she hadn't really heard him. Her voice sounded weirdly hoarse.
Duke	Duke set aside his concern for Audrey at the sound of Octavia's voice and hurried over to her. "Hey. Are you okay, gona?"
Octavia	Octavia stared at him like his question made no sense. (Of course it didn't. 'Okay' had no meaning here, and even if it had, what did it matter how she felt when she couldn't change a single goddamn thing?) "What did you see?"
Duke	Duke bit back a sigh and glanced back towards where Audrey had gone. "I think . . . she started turning back into the woman that William's been waiting for. The woman she used to be." He looked down at Octavia, face grim. "If she turns back all the way. . . ." He didn't have a word for how bad he thought that would be for this world. "When I'm done with Ben, we have to get rid of William."
Octavia	There was so much here for Octavia to try and piece together from fragments of information, all delivered at the worst possible time for her to actually be able to retain much of it. So who could really blame her for latching on to the bit that seemed to hurt the most. "We?" See? See how they immediately slid back into Haven's clutches?
Duke	Once upon a time, Duke would have been the first to run away. (Or would have thought of himself that way, anyway.) But part of growing up, of becoming more the person he'd always wanted to be, involved stepping up and taking on responsibilities. Like making sure a madman didn't keep running around his hometown, turning infants into mass murderers. He didn't know how to explain any of that to Octavia, though. So instead . . . he pulled out his knife. "I'll find Nathan for this if I have to," he told her. "But -- if I'm going to kill this guy, I gotta make sure it's going to work." He opened the blade and offered it to her.
Octavia	Ignoring Octavia's outrage entirely didn't do much good either, but then again what would have? At some point she'd probably realize how uselessly unsupportive she was being. But right now all she knew how to do was harden herself up again. She took the knife without saying anything. And continued that way as she used just the very tip of the blade to pierce the skin of the fingertip where it would be the least intrusive.
Duke	So I have to comfort you now? The fact that they both tended to break down over each other's breakdowns had never been terribly helpful for either of them, had it. Duke watched her with the knife, then held out his hand. Bracing himself for the old, familiar rush when her blood touched his skin.
Octavia	No, it hadn't, although he should probably take that slightly misremembered phrase to his therapist. If they ever made it back to the world where his therapist lived, that was. Octavia lowered the hand with the knife. Reached out with the other one, and smeared the small droplet of blood against his palm. She felt awful about doing it, even though it didn't show much on her face.
Duke	Duke was working hard on not feeling anything, right now. Well, other than the rush that made him draw in a long, slow breath. He flicked his eyes -- silver -- up to meet hers. "Just like riding a bike for us Crockers." He waited until the rush passed, and his eyes would be brown again, then offered her one of his empty, wan smiles. "I should find Ben."
Octavia	Funny, empty was a good word for a lot of things right now. Even Octavia's nod. There wouldn't be much holding hands before the tiny wound healed again.
Duke & Gloria	Considering what Duke was about to go do, he probably wouldn't be in a big 'holding hands' kind of mood, anyway. He headed inside. Gloria came outside a few moments later, Aaron tucked into a carrier, her expression pained. "Damn this town," she murmured, not yet seeing Octavia. "Damn it all straight to Hell."
Octavia	Octavia had just barely managed to give herself permission to lower her guard a little, now that there was no one to pretend at. And then Gloria was there, and she froze, unsure if she should say anything. Is she going to hate us forever?
Gloria	Gloria set Aaron gently on the patio table and set about fussing over his blanket for a few moments, before glancing up and spotting Octavia. She startled faintly, and wondered if she should give Octavia space. She'd come out with Aaron to give herself space, after all. But then again, space -- and silence -- had never been things she'd much craved. “Do you believe in an afterlife, Wildcat?”
Octavia	There went any chance Octavia had had of escaping. (Had she really thought about trying to escape? She was never going to say.) "I didn't really get a choice," she said, her voice a little smaller than she wanted it to be.
Gloria	Gloria nodded. "Of course. Yours and Duke's third pretty well proves it, doesn't he." She sighed, fussing with Aaron's blanket again. Doing just about anything to avoid thinking about what was happening inside. "You know, I've had to learn the scientific explanation for just about everything -- evolution, genetics. But even without knowing about your man back home -- I've always believed. I really, really have."
Octavia	Octavia found herself watching Gloria's hands. Guess that was just what she did today, in lieu of -- anything else. (Including thinking about Lucifer.) "Why?" she asked, only barely more than a breath.
Gloria	"Because of what science can't explain." Gloria was warming to her topic, reassuring herself with it. She was about to suffer an unimaginable loss, and she had to know it was happening. Focusing on this, on what Lucifer proved about the rest of the universe, it was the only thing she could cling to. "It's like our brain," she continued. "It's just meat and electricity. But where does the consciousness come from?"
Octavia	"I always thought it just... somehow happened," Octavia admitted, wishing she had more to contribute because she knew what was happening here. (Because she knew what was happening inside the house.) She heard her own voice and it sounded hollow to her. "But then I met... Duke, and then someone else, who both thought people don't really go away. That it's like seasons, and -- and spring comes again."
Gloria	Gloria had to smile at that, watery though it was. She reached her hand for Octavia's chin. "Exactly. Spring will come again. I really think there is so much more for us after we're gone." Which, of course, was when the shot rang out from inside the house.
Octavia	Octavia had heard way too many gun shots over the course of her life. And yet something about this one felt like the worst one so far. She couldn't help the way her head jerked towards it. Whatever moment of surface-level peace they'd managed to cobble together here was gone.
Gloria & Duke	Gloria’s head jerked up too, her expression crumbling. Aaron started to wail, but she paid him no attention. She’d pour herself into him soon. For now, she was too busy thinking about his father. The door to the patio opened, and Duke came out, a baby blanket patterned with airplanes in his hand. He didn’t look at anyone even as he made a beeline for Gloria. “Ben wanted me to bring you this,” he said, voice low and spare. “Aaron can cry now.” He looked at Gloria finally. She stared up at him, tears already on her cheeks. “I don’t . . . expect you to ever forgive me.” Gloria was shaking. But she reached up, cupping Duke’s jaw, then pulled him into a hug.
Octavia	She'll never forgive us she'll never forgive us she'll never forgive -- Gloria was nothing like Aurora Blake, and nothing like Indra kom Trikru, and yet. The entire, excruciating, endless moment of Duke walking out felt like something very specific was about to fall apart all over again. On top of everything else that was already going wrong. And then, Gloria pulled Duke in, and suddenly she could gasp in a quiet breath again.
Duke & Gloria	Duke never knew how to handle most people hugging him at the best of times. This wasn't at all that. It took him several moments to fully process what was happening. His hand came up hesitantly on instinct, gently resting on Gloria's back, even as her arms wrapped firmly around his shoulders, pulling him down low enough for her to press her head next to his. He could feel her grief. He waited for the anger -- yelling, or pushing him away, or maybe trying to throttle him now she had her arms around him -- and braced himself to take it. Whatever she needed, he'd give it to her. But all she did was hang on and softly sob into his ear.
Octavia	The baby was still crying, too. Helpless and harmless, completely unaware of what sacrifices had been made so he could live without hurting people. Octavia turned to him, fussing in soft Trig, as if she could help. Ogud, strikon, ogud.
Gloria & Duke	Gloria clung for a moment longer, then slowly released Duke, cupping his jaw one more time before letting go of him completely. "Right, well. That little boy isn't going to grandma himself, is he." She turned a shaky smile towards Octavia. "I know you two don't want to be anywhere near here. But -- make sure they end this, would you? I don't think this world can handle any more troubles. Now or in another 27 years." Duke ducked his head, not looking at either of them. He let his eyes drag across Aaron, so small and so angry. Like he knew what he'd just lost. Like he knew who'd done it. He spun on his heel and headed -- away. As fast as his long legs could take him there.
Octavia	Octavia didn't know what to say. Everything seemed unbearable - including feeling any sort of responsibility over putting an end to Haven's bullshit, when she already felt so much guilt that she hadn't been able to keep all this from happening to Duke. (That she hadn't been able to keep him safe for Lucifer.) And then Duke just left, and all she could do was throw an... apologetic, wholly inadequate look Gloria's way, and another down at Aaron, before hurrying after him.
Duke	Duke wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of Haven again. The weight of his re-activated trouble felt like lead in his chest, and he didn't think it'd go away until he was back on the Rouge, sandwiched between Lucifer and Octavia, far, far from the idiots that made up the majority of this town. But Audrey was wobbling on the precipice of going bad. And Jennifer had an idea on how to put an end to all this. And if he left before seeing that through -- well, maybe that weight would never go away at all. Octavia would hate it. He hated it. But they couldn't leave yet. So instead, Duke found a spot, well away from where Audrey and Nathan were planning, or where Gloria and her grandson were grieving. Somewhere he could look out at the familiar water and try to process what the fuck he'd just done.
Octavia	Was there any processing any of this? Octavia was packing away all her own feelings again, to the best of her ability, because there just wasn't space. ... Which she wondered whether she should've been giving Duke right now. Seemed he'd been pretty clear about that when he'd just taken off. But, here she was. Circling to him, like he was an animal she was trying not to spook. "Duke?"
Duke	Duke’s lips curled faintly at one edge. He kept looking at the water. “Hey.”
Octavia	Octavia stopped, for now, at a little distance. It wouldn't last. (Hopefully.) She was just -- finally looking at him, for the first time since he'd come out of the house. She couldn't see any blood spatter. (Nothing was to be expected on his skin, but his clothes were a different story.) It wasn't an observation she wanted to be making even to herself, but there it was. "I'm not gonna ask you if you're okay."
Duke	There hadn’t been much blood, at least on the blowback. Neither Duke nor Ben had wanted to leave Gloria with a lot of cleanup. “‘Preciate it.” He looked over at her without turning from the water. “Should I ask you?”
Octavia	"What's the point?" Octavia replied. Maybe she hadn't meant to be that honest (vague as it was), but there it was. She looked tired. Her voice sounded it, too, although it was on the soft side.
Duke	Duke let out a soft huff through his nose. "Yeah." He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket and looked down. "I'm sorry about all this."
Octavia	"I know." Octavia hazarded taking a step closer. And then another.
Duke	Duke angled a little towards her, more instinct than conscious thought. “This fucking place. The answers are never good, are they.”
Octavia	"No," Octavia agreed. And just... slid into his space. Letting it be more instinct than conscious decision, too.
Duke	She was one of two people in the entire multiverse who didn’t surprise him when she ended up there. In his space. He shifted again, leaning into her. “I think — I want to think it’ll get better from here. That Jennifer’s plan will work. And Gloria and that baby will get a happily — or at least normally — ever after.” But that wasn’t how Haven worked. It always got worse.
Octavia	Octavia slid her arms around him. It had more feeling now than it had the last time, the way she tried to wrap him up. She didn't know what to say, though. Haven always got worse. Best she could do was a little hum.
Duke	The weight in his chest wasn’t easing. If anything, it was getting heavier. “Do you think . . . did I make a mistake?” He didn’t know what they could have done differently that wouldn’t have resulted in more misery, more death. But he was terrified, and she was the only one around he was willing to let see it.
Octavia	How was Octavia supposed to answer? She didn't want to hurt him. Didn't want to lie and say what he'd done was fine in any way, either. She held on tighter. "It doesn't matter, it's done."
Duke	She did think it was a mistake. How did he end up with two partners who didn’t know how to tell a kindly lie? Duke let out a soft sigh, only to get cut off by a spasm in his chest. He pulled away from her enough to cough into his hand. . . . Right, that little red splatter was . . . not a great sign. He closed his hand quickly, instinctively. Hiding it from himself as much from Octavia.
Octavia	He was getting Octavia's concerned look anyway. "Duke?"
Duke	Duke opened his hand again. The blood was gone. Had he imagined it? Or had it reabsorbed? He hadn't gotten a rush from it, but it was his own blood. That . . . made a kind of sense, didn't it? "Stress might be starting to get to me," he said. That had to be it. The heavy feeling in his chest just kept getting worse.
Octavia	"I don't think 'stress' covers any of this," Octavia replied, her level of concern not at all lessened.
Duke	That made sense, his wasn't, either. But saying "I think I just coughed up blood" wouldn't do any of them any good when they couldn't do anything about it right now, would it? "Yeah," Duke said heavily. (Everything felt heavy and stiff and slow. Like a fever was coming on.) "Well. . . . Let's see if the others have finished planning so we can get rid of William and get the fuck out of here. Then -- I think we should all sleep for a week. At sea. Where no one can bother us."
Octavia	"If it lets us leave," Octavia muttered, mostly under her breath, already pulling away from him. As much as she didn't want to.
Duke	Duke didn't want her to, either. And he definitely didn't want to think about Haven not letting them leave. He smothered another cough, shoved his hands in his pockets, and with a nod, started towards where he'd last seen Audrey. "Time to make the donuts," he muttered.

---

Duke & Havenites	The plan was . . . not great. But when were they ever? Jennifer and the Teagues had managed to find the "Heart of Haven" or whatever in Haven's lighthouse. The same one that Beattie/Helena had parked herself in ages ago -- from Duke's perspective. The same one where he'd nearly aged to death. So, you know, that was a fun association. (Was it the same one? That one had crumpled, hadn't it? And they'd rebuilt it? So it wasn't the same. He'd just tell himself that a few times and try not to think about the Ship of Theseus.) Under the lighthouse was a cavern, apparently, somehow not filled with sea water. Instead, it had a giant Guard symbol carved into its rocky floor. That was where the door was. The one that would lead to . . . whatever, somewhere else, somewhere they could dump William. They just needed four people from another world to do it. Audrey and William both came from another world, hence their weird powers, and Jennifer, hence her connection to all of this. No one mentioned that Octavia was technically an off-worlder, and Duke wasn't about to be the one to bring it up. It was bad enough Jennifer was involved. Which left one space vacant for -- "Dave is from another world," Duke mused, as they all started filing through the trap door in the lighthouse down to the cavern. "He was adopted," Vince said idly. "Yeah, that . . . explains a lot."
Octavia	Octavia wasn't saying anything. She was right on Duke's heels, looking wary. It had been a while since she'd descended underground. She had not missed it. And Haven was the last place she wanted to be doing it in.
Duke & Havenites	Duke looked back at her, reaching for her hand. He wanted to tell her it was almost over, but that kind of felt like an invitation to Haven to fuck them over in some new and creative way. Ugh. This whole thing was making his chest hurt. He swallowed a cough. Nathan was, unsurprisingly, less worried about giving the multiverse ideas, and was giving Audrey a little smile as he herded William into place. "Just hold on a little bit longer," he told her. "This'll all be over soon." "It's only just begun," William said with a sneer. "Do you actually think that when the time comes, she's gonna send me through that door? We both saw it, Nathan." The sneer turned into a nasty grin. "I've won." Duke sighed. "Why didn't we gag him?"
Octavia	There was no 'almost over' with Haven. Just 'not over' and, if they were very lucky, 'over'. Nothing else was worth thinking about. Octavia gave his hand an idle squeeze. And glared coolly at William, before taking in the rest of the space. (Noting the exits - or really, the lack of them.)
Duke & William	There was a really appalling lack of exits in here. Basically there was the way they came in. And theoretically whichever door they were going to open and shove William through. William clearly wasn't much concerned with Octavia's glare. Assuming he even noticed it. He was far too busy watching Duke now, that damned grin still in place. "What are you staring at?" Duke asked, his voice rough. That cough wasn't going to stay buried long. "A dead man," William answered cheerfully. Duke scoffed. "You know, that's big talk for a guy who's going where you're going. I hear it kind of sucks over there. Even more than it does here." "Oh, that wasn't a threat," William said, smirk firmly in place. "Just an observation."
Octavia	"No one cares either way," Octavia rasped, "so you can shut up now." She was still fighting a very real urge to step in front of Duke. Funny, that.
William & Duke	"Oh," William said. "But I think you do, honey. I see the looks you give him." William looked between the two of them, somehow totally at home even with his hands bound in front of him, in front of a door to what sounded like basically Hell with less charming management. "You two don't know what's happening inside Duke, do you?" Duke's chest seized for a moment. He could taste copper in the back of his mouth. He swallowed hard. "And you do?" William nodded. "Yes. Your family has been absorbing troubles into its blood for generations. When Audrey re-troubled you, she activated them." His smile turned positively shit-eating. "All of them."
Octavia	Octavia's expression cracked, eyes darting to Duke, and back to William, and back to Duke again. "That's bullshit," she spat. But already knew it wasn't. (She should have forced them into troubling her instead. She was never going to forgive herself, and neither was Lucifer --)
William & Duke	William's smile only grew. "Every trouble your family ever eradicated, all crammed in there, mutating, combining, becoming something more deadly than Mara and I could ever imagine." He shook his head, looking honestly impressed. "I just hope I'm there when they blow, 'cause it's gonna be crazy!" Duke stepped forward, the urge to wipe that look off the man's face overwhelming -- except his chest seized up again, and instead of throwing a punch, he doubled over, biting back a groan.
Octavia	Octavia was at his side in a flash, her hand gingerly on his lower back. "Duke?" Alarmed, and hiding it poorly, with her wide eyes.
Jennifer & Duke	She wasn't the only one worried. Jennifer had rushed over as well. "Duke!" Duke shuddered and coughed, leaving a small bloody spatter on his hand. He didn't try to hide it, just watched as it absorbed back into his skin again. Yeah, that was going to be fun. "I'm okay," he said, slowly trying to get upright again. "Just -- let's get this over with. Then we can deal with . . ." He rubbed his chest. It ached. ". . . Me."
Octavia	"You're coughing up blood!" Octavia hissed. She was somehow supposed to keep caring about literally anything else? Nothing else mattered.
Duke & Jennifer	"Can you fix that right now?" Duke hissed back. "Because I can't. But him?" He gestured wildly back at William. "Him I can help fix." He looked at Jennifer. "What does the magic book say to do next?" Jennifer looked at the book in her hands, swallowing hard. "There's no new text. We're all here. I don't know why it isn't telling me what to do." "Well, okay, what do you think we should do?" Jennifer shot a glanced at Octavia. "Not make Octavia mad at us?"
Octavia	"Too late." Octavia was already mad at the entire situation.
Jennifer & Duke	Jennifer let out a faint squeak. "Focus," Duke said. "Yeah." Jennifer nodded jerkily. "Okay. We need to get Audrey, Dave, and William on the figures." She looked over at Audrey hopefully. Audrey nodded back and headed for one of the figures. Nathan went to steer William into place, and Dwight and Vince took on Dave, who was wildly unhappy about the whole process. Duke watched all of that and nodded to himself. "Right." He felt like crap warmed over, but gave Octavia his best attempt at a smile. "We'll . . . get out of the way."
Octavia	"You're not off the hook." Was that reassuring? Maybe if Octavia had managed some sort of a dry-but-not-really tone, it could have been, but she just sounded mad. It was so much easier than feeling any of what was hiding right behind it. And yes, she was trying to herd him further away from the Guard symbol. With an eye to whether he looked at all like he needed support.
Duke & Havenites	Well, Duke was working extremely hard to not look like that, so. "You're all so busy trying to push me through that door," William said, dragging his feet as Nathan pushed him into place. "Does anyone want to hear what you're gonna let in?" "Shut up," Nathan said. The cavern shuddered as Jennifer stepped into her own place and lifted the book. A square in the center of the Guard symbol on the floor slid slowly downward until it vanished into a haze of grey-green fog. Dave shrieked in distress. Duke grabbed for Octavia's hand. "It's done," Jennifer said. "Push him in." Which would be when Duke's chest spasmed again and he crumpled towards the rock wall with a choked groan.
Octavia	An extremely effective way to make Octavia pay as little attention to the circle as possible, as much as a smaller part of her was still finding the strength to also be concerned for Jennifer. "Duke!" She had no idea how hard she was gripping his hand right now.
Duke & Havenites	Duke would try to reassure her, but right now he was only really able to breath in short bursts. He'd stopped tasting blood, which was nice? But now his head was starting to throb, like something was pressing against the back of his eyes. Dave and William were both loudly arguing, William trying to pretend cool even as he clearly wanted literally nothing less than to go through the hole in the floor. "You can't do this!" he shouted. "I know you all think I deserve it, but you have no idea what's over there!" "I don't care," Nathan said. He'd nearly managed to wrangle William to the edge of the hole, and was ignoring pretty much everything else in his focus on pushing the man in without falling in himself. William dug in his heels. "I can fix Duke!"
Octavia	Octavia's head whipped around. She didn't want to look away from Duke (also barely could bear to look at him when there seemed to be so little she could do), but this was the only thing that could make her. "Why would we believe anything you say?" she roared.
Duke & Havenites	"Have I lied to you yet?" William asked her. Dwight glared from behind Dave. "Yes!" "Not to her!" William protested. "Not -- worth it," Duke managed. His head hurt (pounded throbbed) and he felt shaky in a way he never had before, but there were too many people here he didn't trust for him to give into any of it. He tugged on Octavia's hand and stared past her at Nathan. "Do it!" Nathan nodded back, lowered his head, and -- Dave suddenly plunged towards the hole. "Dave!" Vince shouted. "Heeeeelp!" cried Dave. You know what? Duke was just going to lean his head back against the rock wall and let Nathan and Audrey handle this one.
Octavia	Octavia wasn't feeling much of an inclination to interfere either, though she now had her eye on William for any bullshit moves he might pull. She was also keenly aware of where Jennifer was. And yet the overwhelming majority of her concern was with Duke. "Jaka, keep it together." There was an undercurrent of pleading to her clipped tone.
Duke & Havenites	Duke nodded shakily, not trusting himself to speak. He gave her hand a firm squeeze. "He was afraid of it," Vince said, clinging to Dave's arm. "He warned me. I can't lose my brother!" "You're not gonna lose him," Nathan promised. "Pull, Dwight!" Dwight grunted, his arms wrapped around Vince's waist. "I am pulling, but there's something pulling back!" "You loved me once," William said, staring at Audrey. "Don't do this to me." With a lot of huffing and puffing and shouting, Nathan, Dwight, and Vince finally managed to yank Dave back out of the open pit. As soon as he was on level ground again, Nathan lunged for William. "Get away from her!" "You let him do this to me," William said, still holding Audrey's gaze, "and you'll be more evil than Mara could ever be." Audrey swallowed. "Wait. He's right. I can't let Nathan do this." William started to smile, but Audrey glared. "This I want to do myself." She grabbed William's arms and pushed. Before he tumbled, their hands brushed, and Audrey's eyes went wide -- And then William was gone. Duke let out a wet breath. "Jennifer, get that door closed now." Jennifer nodded, holding the book up, and the pit closed up with a thunderous rumble. Duke closed his eyes, relief barely making a dent in the way his whole body throbbed. But at least it was over. Jennifer collapsed.
Octavia	It was the only thing that could make Octavia bolt away from Duke, and bolt she did. "Jennifer!"
Duke & Jennifer	Duke was right behind her, anyway, forgetting his own issues in the moment to worry about Jennifer instead. "Jennifer! What happened?" Jennifer sucked in a weak breath, reaching a shaking hand towards Octavia. "Dave was right. We never should've opened the door." She shook her head, heaving in another breath. "William wasn't what we should've been afraid of." Her eyes fell shut, and she went limp.
Octavia	Oh no. Oh, no no no -- "Jennifer?" Octavia had been grasping her hand, but now that, too, was slack in hers. She let go, and shook Jennifer by the shoulder. "Jennifer!"
Duke	"Jennifer, wake up," Duke urged, leaning over Octavia with one hand braced against the wall. "Is she breathing? Jennifer. Jennifer!" He couldn't deal with this. He felt he'd dealt with everything else today really admirably, but he could not deal with this. "Jenni --" he started again, but his voice vanished halfway through the sentence as his lungs seized again. He felt like he was being squeezed, like something in his body was trying to shove his organs aside. Everything went blurry, and even holding onto the wall, he still swayed.
Octavia	"She's --" There was an end to that sentence, but it was lost when Octavia darted a look up at Duke. Whatever was happening to him, it was getting worse. Everything was falling apart. But Octavia wasn't allowed to get stuck in that feeling (Lucifer would hate her, Lucifer would --), so she turned her gaze to the others, and dug into every little bit of Blodreina still in her to bark, "We need to get both of them out of here!"
Duke & Havenites	"What's happening to Duke?" Nathan asked, watching in horror. Duke looked up, choking on his breath. His face was hot. His eyes burned. Everything was tinted red. "He's as good as dead," Audrey said. Her voice was hard. Cold. What happened next -- no one would ever know for sure. It could have been hours, days, or seconds. The next thing anyone would know, the lighthouse exploded, the occupants strewn across the coast.

---

Duke & Dwight	Duke was on a spit of rocks. He didn't know how he'd gotten there, but that didn't matter. The fact that Dwight was pulling himself to his feet about twenty feet away didn't matter. Only two things mattered. "Jennifer!" he shouted. He swiped at his eyes. His fingers came away hot and faintly sticky, and he caught himself on on a rock as he stumbled. "Octavia!!!"
Octavia	Octavia had been holding Jennifer's shoulder, and now there was nothing under her hands but sand. And that wasn't even the worst of it: the last thing she remembered seeing before feeling like she was getting violently shoved through space was something far too much like blood under Duke's eyes. Although her stomach was turning, she forced herself up to her feet. For an awful second, she thought she'd been tossed right back on to Fandom, alone, but then she parsed enough of her surroundings to recognize she was still in Haven. So she still had a chance. "Duke!" she screamed, as hard as she could. "Duke! Anyone!" There was no one near her. But some instinct already had her patting her pockets for that weird phone Duke had given her earlier.
Duke & Dwight	"Octavia!" Duke shouted again. "Can you hear me?" "Duke." Dwight came jogging towards him. "Duke, are you alright?" Duke shook his head, digging his hand into his pocket for his phone. "Yeah. I think so." He wiped at his eyes again. This time, his hand came away dry. "What happened?" Dwight asked. Duke shrugged. "I don't know." "Where the hell are we? Last thing I remember, we were in the cave underneath the lighthouse." Duke huffed out a groan. "I swear, coming to Haven is like being a blackout drunk."
Octavia	It took Octavia a little anxious fumbling to get a handle on the flip phone, since programming a few numbers into it hadn't really been enough to familiarize her with it. Still, after what felt like way too long (every second was too long when she'd seen Duke bleeding from his eyes) she managed to call Duke's number. Pick up, jaka, pick up.
Dwight & Duke	"What happened to you back at the cave, man?" Dwight asked. "Why were your eyes bleeding?" Duke shook his head, then yelped when his phone started ringing. "I don't know." "We should get you to a doctor." "Yeah, 'cause that's going to happen," Duke muttered. He got his phone out and answered it. "Octavia?! Tell me that's you!"
Octavia	Relief rolled through Octavia - or at least a little sliver of it. "Duke! Where are you?"
Duke & Dwight	"A very rocky beach that I could name but you wouldn't know where it is, anyway," Duke said. "Are you okay? Is Jennifer with you?" Dwight waited, hoping for good news.
Octavia	Yeah, that was exactly why the relief had only been a sliver. "There's no one here."
Duke & Dwight	“Fuck.” She hadn’t been breathing. (She had to be fine!) “Okay, where are you? Any landmarks? We’ll find you.” He looked up at Dwight. “Dwight’s here too.” Not Nathan or Audrey. (Or whoever Audrey had been when she was talking so coldly.)
Octavia	Octavia always felt this way, but right now it was with extra emphasis: they could worry about Audrey later. She rattled off everything she could see that she hoped would be distinct enough for a local.
Duke & Dwight	Duke listened closely, and with one clarifying question, was pretty sure he knew where she was. “That’s not too far. We’ll meet you there.” Dwight frowned, hurrying to catch up while Duke strode forward with purpose. “What about the others?” “They’re locals. They can find themselves. Octavia and Jennifer don’t know this town like we do.”
Octavia	Octavia was going to spend her waiting time on trying to call out for Jennifer. She'd been unconscious when Octavia had seen her last, but -- What else was she supposed to do? She couldn't go looking before Duke found her, first.
Duke & Dwight	She was close enough to walk to, but not close enough to dodge Dwight's attempts at small talk. "I heard about a shooting down at the Harker house." Duke shook his head. "Wow, you suck at small talk." Dwight tipped his head in a silent snort. "Investigating officer said they thinks it's a suicide. Open and shut." Duke sighed. "You need better cops." Dwight was giving him some kind of look. On anyone else, Duke would've called it 'pointed'. "We already had eight people dead. There was about to be twice that. If I still had my daughter?" He offered Duke a shrug. "I might come knocking on your door." Duke walked a little faster. He wasn't going to be able to outpace Dwight, though. Or apparently this conversation. "Haven needs more people who can walk point," Dwight continued. He reached for Duke's arm to get his full attention. "You're one of 'em." Duke showed his teeth in a mockery of a grin. "I dare you to tell Octavia that."
Octavia	They could tell Octavia whatever they wanted soon enough, because as soon as she caught the slightest glimpse of them in the distance, she broke off into a run. "Duke!"
Duke & Dwight	Duke's head snapped up at her voice, and he shook Dwight off to run towards her as well. Dwight watched them with a small, fond smile, and shook his head, holding back to give them their reunion. "Tavi," Duke said on a breath when he reached her. "Are you okay?"
Octavia	Answers would have to wait: Octavia's big eyes were searching his for blood. After her hands scrambled for his, anyway. Like she needed something tangible.
Duke	She wouldn't see any. All the blood had been reabsorbed into his skin. Except for the bit that had soaked into the rock he'd brushed. "You're okay," Duke said, giving her a once-over of his own. Her grabbing his hand was the only thing that kept him from grabbing her and giving her a big hug.
Octavia	Octavia could help that along. There was no blood, and no other outside sign of injury on him. She was free to tug him in for a tight embrace, now. Not that she'd forgotten anything else they needed to do. "We have to find her."
Duke & Dwight	Duke squeezed her tight in return. "We will," he said firmly. Dwight wasn't so sure, but chose to stay silent for now. "Come on," Duke said. "We'll head back to the lighthouse. Good a place to start looking as any."
Octavia	Octavia looked up at his face as she pulled back. "You think the lighthouse is still there?" Not that that mattered: he was right, it was the best lead they had. Octavia was already turning to -- Yeah, she still didn't know exactly where they were. She would have to leave the leading to him.
Duke & Dwight	"No idea," Duke said, shrugging. "But it's worth checking, right?" He gently turned her in the right direction, then took her hand to lead he way. Dwight watched them with a quirked eyebrow. His phone rang and he pulled it from his pocket to answer as he trailed after them. "Duke!" he called when he finished. "That was Vince. He and Dave landed together a couple miles out of town. I'm gonna go help him get Dave to a hospital." Duke nodded absently over his shoulder. "Go. We'll find Jennifer." Dwight let out a soft huff. "Yeah. Let me know what you find." He headed off in the opposite direction.
Octavia	"He's not being optimistic," Octavia muttered. She was choosing not to care about it, marching on.
Duke & a rando	"Yeah, well. He's an idiot." Duke didn't actually think that. But he was avoiding thinking about anything other than getting Jennifer and getting the fuck out of town. A man in a rumpled suit was ranting as they made their way out onto the spit of rocks that had once held the lighthouse. "This is impossible! The first time the lighthouse collapsed, we rebuilt completely to code for earthquakes. Then when it was hit by the meteor, we double-reinforced the new walls. They'll never get the town council to approve funding to rebuild again. The insurance rates alone, and the liability!" He turned towards Duke mid-rant. "If anybody died in there, this whole damn town is going to go bankrupt." "Couldn't happen to a nicer place," Duke muttered. If anyone died in there. Jennifer hadn't been breathing. . . . Duke wasn't thinking about that.
Octavia	Good, so he wasn't wasting his time on a worst-case-scenario assumption on his part. Octavia was not wasting time, period. She let go of Duke and stepped up to the guy looking like she was about to grab his suit by the lapels. "Did you see a short woman with brown hair here?" ... No, not this one.
The rando & Duke	"N-no," the man stammered. "But if she was in there, she's more physics than biology now, if you know meamph." His eyes went wide. "Mmphmmm!" Duke winced and flinched away. The man's lips had been sewn shut. Between one blink and the next. He really hated this town.
Octavia	Octavia flinched back, too, then darted a look at Duke. "What's happening?"
Duke	Duke swallowed. "A trouble." He backed up a step, shaking his head, while the man continued to try to yell through his sewn lips. His eyes were stitched now, too. "We should go," he decided. "Jennifer's not here." And the emergency personnel who were giving up picking their way through the lighthouse wreckage to rush to the man's side could deal with . . . all of that.
Octavia	Just another thing in Octavia's rotating gallery of nightmares, then. "Where next?" she asked, tightly.
Duke	"Uh." Duke looked around, hand running back into his hair, loosening his (already pretty battered) ponytail. ". . . That way." All he had was 'not the way we came from', so. He set off with a purposeful stride anyway. (He was trying hard not to think about the poor man trying to scream through sealed lips behind him. Add that to his list of things to dodge.)
Octavia	Octavia followed, already busy compartmentalizing her way out of feeling her skin crawling. If she swore in Trig under her breath, well, that was just for her.
Duke	Duke would never tell anyone. Haven was a small town, but it had a hell of a lot of coastline. Duke pulled out his phone as he walked, leaving messages for some of his old contacts to keep an eye out for Jennifer. "Let's try the marina. The Sanguine Moon is home for her, maybe she went there." Because she was clearly fine, physically. Just like he was now.
Octavia	"Yeah, maybe." It was the best hope they had, so Octavia wasn't going to argue. But her scraps of optimism didn't quite extend to Jennifer having gone anywhere by herself.
Duke	She should probably avoid saying that to Duke right now. Not that he was listening to much anyone else had to say right now. Just striding forward, taking full advantage of his long legs. If something had happened to Jennifer -- He wasn't thinking about that.
Octavia	Octavia was avoiding saying that to him. It helped her to not think about it too closely. Right this second, she was just glad she had experience with marching with a quick pace.
Duke	Jennifer was not on the Sanguine Moon. And two of Duke's contacts confirmed they hadn't heard anyone mention a woman washing up on any of Haven's various beaches. (They'd both ended up with their mouths, eyes, and ears stitched shut not long after they hung up with him. Not that Duke knew that, yet.) The third, though. "Where?" Duke demanded, free hand in his hair. "Gus, you gorgeous old crotchety asshole, I could kiss you!" He let go of his hair to grab for Octavia's hand.
Octavia	Octavia had been anxiously watching his face during most of this call the same as she had the others. He could have her hand. "Where?"
Duke	"Not far." He gave her a shaky attempt at a smile. "They found a woman. He said EMTs were on the scene." She'd be okay, she'd be okay, she had better be okay. "Come on, let's hurry."
Octavia	Octavia didn't need to be told twice. She was practically already going.
Duke & Havenites	The EMTs were on the scene when they arrived, clustered around a prone form on the rocks, calling instructions to each other. "Pause compressions." "Anything?" "It's no good. I think she's gone --" "Steve? Oh my god!" The focus of the clustered workers shifted from the person on the ground to their fellow EMT, who was grabbing at his face. Which had been stitched closed. Duke decided not to care. He shoved them aside, crashing to his knees by Jennifer's side. Her eyes were closed. She was soaked through, and faintly blue. But that was good, he thought. The cold would keep her brain alive even if she wasn't breathing. He rested his weight on one hand so he could use the other to check for a pulse, then flinched back with a hiss when he cut his palm on a sharp rock. He shook his hand out, a couple drops of blood spotting the ground by Jennifer's head. And vanishing. Duke shoved that observation aside too and pressed his fingers to the side of Jennifer's neck. She sucked in a breath and started to cough.
Octavia	Something about this wasn't sitting right with Octavia, but it was hard to examine the feeling any closer when there were so many obvious reasons for it. And so much of her focus was fixed on Jennifer. She gasped, with the first cough. "Jennifer?"
Duke & Jennifer	There was also just a lot to process. "Jennifer," Duke said on a breath. "Oh thank god." Behind him, a stretch of grass had turned black. In the water, several fish bobbed to the surface, also blackened with death and decay. Jennifer rolled onto her side, coughing up a marina full of water.
Octavia	Octavia should have felt relieved, but there was so little room for it. She'd noticed things, around them. "Duke, I -- I think something's wrong."
Duke & Jennifer	Duke shook his head idly. He wasn't really listening to her yet, too focused on Jennifer. "You're okay," he told her again, helping support her while she coughed and coughed. "You're going to be just fine."
Octavia	Well, Octavia certainly wasn't going to rush into sharing any of the conclusions she was currently drawing. She was looking at the black grass, then up at where the EMT's were still trying to deal with the man with the stitched-up face. Like had happened at the lighthouse --
Duke & Jennifer	"You're okay," Duke said one more time, as Jennifer took another shuddering breath, then blinked up at him. "I am?" she asked. He grinned. The stitches vanished from the EMT's face as quickly and cleanly as they'd appeared.
Octavia	Octavia saw it happen. And she bet the same had happened at lighthouse just now, too. Dread was starting to set in.
Duke & Jennifer	It would for Duke, too. Once the relief had ebbed enough to give it room. "Can you sit up?" he asked Jennifer. "We should maybe get you to the hospital. . . ." He trailed off, looking over at the EMTs, who were hurrying the one who'd been stitched towards the ambulance. ". . . Somehow. I think maybe that one is busy." Honestly, he couldn't really blame them for that.
Octavia	At least he'd felt relief? Octavia finally looked down at them, looking a little... shaken. "We'll figure it out," she muttered weakly.
Jennifer & Duke	"No," Jennifer said slowly, pushing herself further upright. "No, I think -- I'm okay. I feel fine." Okay, now Duke was starting to get some of that dread. "Jennifer -- you were blue a minute ago."
Octavia	It snapped Octavia just a little more into this part of their current situation. "And you were unconscious for a... really long time."
Jennifer & Duke	"Well, I'm wet," Jennifer said. "And -- and cold. And -- where even are we? What happened under the lighthouse?" Duke shook his head, sitting back and rubbing his hand over his mouth. (The cut on his hand was gone. Like he'd healed over when Jennifer woke up. . . .) "We don't know," he said. "Something happened and we ended up scattered all over the coast."
Octavia	"The lighthouse is gone," Octavia added, almost by way of explanation for that 'something'. She couldn't help the way her gaze kept darting to Duke.
Jennifer & Duke	"Gone?!" Jennifer squeaked. She sat up straighter, looking around like she might see the empty outline of a lighthouse in the distance. "But how -- and what happened to the fish?" "Fish?" Duke finally looked around. And noticed the fish. And the grass. And added them to the stitching that had happened and then suddenly stopped. And the fact that the feeling from before the lighthouse, like something was beating on the insides of him, trying to get out, had at some point gone away. Like the blood from his eyes. And the cut on his hand. He took a breath, mouth open as if to speak, then closed it again. Rubbed his mouth. He was . . . so very fucked, wasn't he.
Octavia	So much for hoping he wouldn't catch on quite yet. "Happened when she was... coming back," Octavia said, careful and quiet. "The grass, and the fish."
Jennifer & Duke	"What are you saying?" Jennifer asked, voice small. Duke swallowed hard. "It's me. I'm -- leaking." He got slowly to his feet. "Let's get you two somewhere safe." And he'd -- figure out what the fuck he was going to do after that.
Octavia	Cute that he thought Octavia would stay 'somewhere safe'. She offered Jennifer a hand up. "We'll figure it out." She'd already said that before, but now she was openly saying it about the same thing she'd already been saying it about before.
Duke & Jennifer	He was a little too focused on the whole "I'm leaking troubles" thing to think much past "get loved ones to safe distance" at the moment. She should just be glad he didn't know about thinnies yet or he might decide to try the whole "go into the Void to save the world from himself" thing early. Jennifer took the offered hand -- and then tugged to pull Octavia into a hug once she was standing. "Thanks," she said. "I'm . . . still definitely weirdly fine, though. Where's everyone else?" "Dwight's checking on Vince and Dave at the hospital," Duke said. "Okay. . . . And Nathan? Or Audrey?" Duke could only shrug. He was staring at those fish.
Octavia	Octavia was a little surprised by the hug, but remembered after a second or two how to respond to it, giving Jennifer a tight squeeze back. "We don't know where they are." Octavia hadn't even wondered. "Our priority was finding you."
Jennifer & Duke	"Oh!" Jennifer gave her a slightly sappy smile. "Really? Thanks. But also I kind of feel like we really need to know where Audrey is." 'He's as good as dead,' echoed in Duke's head. He pulled out his phone rather than say it out loud. "Got some texts from Dwight. I guess everyone at the hospital with the weird stitching is okay again now." Just like the EMT was. Because Duke had leaked. "Nothing from Nathan or Audrey though."
Octavia	Octavia sighed, heavily, as she pulled away from Jennifer. "Guess we could try Nathan." But please understand it pained her to say that. Which probably explained why she followed it up with, "Or we could just try and get the fuck away from here."
Duke	Duke gestured with his head in the general direction of town as he poked at his phone. The EMTs had taken off without so much as a 'goodbye' already. "Let's start back towards town, then. I'll make some calls." Fruitless calls. To Nathan and Audrey. And to Portalocity, because yeah. Getting out of here (and to their god-like partner who wouldn't be affected by leaking troubles) sounded like a really good plan.
Octavia	Octavia made sure Jennifer could get away from the rocks safely. She was trying to pull herself back together again, and guessed herding someone helped. Especially since she had no smartphone to prod at the Portalocity app on.
Duke & Jennifer	"Nothing," Duke said as they continued their trudge back into town. "Nathan's not answering, Audrey's phone is going straight to voicemail, and the gnome said Portalocity is 'down for maintenance'." He was so tempted to fling his phone into the sea right now. ". . . there's a gnome?" Jennifer asked Octavia, sotto voce.
Octavia	Octavia shook her head. "It's a thing with the portals we use, I don't really get it."
Jennifer & Duke & . . . someone	Jennifer nodded. "That's becoming the story of my life." "But hey, at least you've still got one," a voice said. It didn't sound . . . quite right. "All three of you do. And I was sure two of you were gonners." Duke jammed his phone into his pocket and turned towards the woman stepping out of the trees. "Audrey?" Mara smirked at him. "Audrey's not here anymore." She wiggled her fingers. "Now, be nice little worms and help me get home and maybe I won't make sure you're goners, next time."
Octavia	Octavia shifted in front of Jennifer without a second thought, even as a wave of something exhausted rolled through her at the sound of Audrey's (not-Audrey's) voice. This day was a pile-up of one horrible thing after another. "Save the threats," she said, in a drawl that came off almost bored, like she wasn't on-edge and on high alert again. (She was.) "We don't want anything to do with you."
Mara & Duke	"I don't care what you want," the woman said. She was dressed differently than Audrey had been last time they'd seen her, wearing a very business-y suit and peacoat, her hair pulled back from her face. Her face which was wearing a very openly vicious expression. "Anyway, don't get your panties in a knot, honey. I'm only here for her." She kissed her teeth and waved at Jennifer. "Though I'm not too sad that I haven't missed watching your boyfriend explode." Duke shifted to join Octavia in front of Jennifer. Tried not to think about exploding. "You're her, aren't you. The original. William's girl." "I prefer to go by 'Mara', thanks."
Octavia	The expression on Octavia's face was very openly 'no one gives a shit'. With a decidedly Blodreina edge of something very cold. It was a very familiar mask to wear. "We can't help you."
Mara & Duke	Mara strode up to her, body language challenging in every way. "I don't need you to help." Duke darted between them, hand up to keep her back. "You really don't want to do this."
Octavia	Octavia was doing a great job being a looming presence behind his much taller shoulder. She was doing an even better job not trying to pull him back and away, although she really wanted to. But he also made for a great cover for her wrangling a small knife out of her pocket. Just in case.
Mara & Duke	"Well aren't you so protective," Mara said. She placed her hand flat on his chest, a mimic of what Audrey had done when she retroubled him. "It's adorable. Especially considering you're probably going to get them both killed." "Right. And whatever you want Jennifer for won't?" Mara grinned. "Not immediately. But eventually, probably. You know what they say about omelets and eggs."
Octavia	"Don't touch him." What, was Octavia supposed to be giving Mara the time of day by actually listening to anything she was saying? Please.
Duke & Mara & Jennifer	“Tavi,” Duke said, not wanting any more of Mara’s attention on her than absolutely necessary. Too late. “Feisty,” Mara said. “I see why you like her.” She shrugged, letting go of Duke and circling to his right. “Not that it matters. Come along, Jennifer, we have an appointment with a thinny.” “Um,” said Jennifer. “No thank you.”
Octavia	"Wasn't an invitation to touch anyone else," Octavia rasped, shifting more firmly in front of Jennifer. (Calculating in her head where to sink the knife if Mara made one false move too many --) "All three of us are going home."
Jennifer & Duke	Jennifer let out a little "oh!" of surprise at that, but then glared over Octavia's shoulder herself. "Yeah! So there." Duke resisted the urge to pinch his nose. Any comment he might have made, though, was cut off by the staticky hum and glow that presaged a Portalocity portal opening. "And . . . there's our ride," he said, reaching for Octavia's hand (trusting she'd grab Jennifer's) to tug her in the direction of the newly opened portal.
Octavia	Well, Octavia hadn't specified whether they were all going home together. But now that the portal was there -- Sorry, Duke, that hand held a knife, so Octavia pulled it back with a muttered, "Swis, jaka." Her free hand grabbed for Jennifer's, though, with much the same intention he'd had. She kept her eyes on Mara.
Duke & Mara	Duke wasn't sure what "swis" was, but he didn't react outwardly to the avoiding of his hand. She had Jennifer. That would have to be enough. Mara's eyes went wide and hungry when she saw the portal. "Ohhhh, you have some good tricks up your sleeves." She darted for it, hot on Duke's heels.
Octavia	Well, the swis in question made a clarifying appearance right then, as it came out swinging for Mara. Mostly as a threat, though Octavia couldn't really pretend to feel bad if she managed to nick any skin. "Back off."
Mara & Duke & Jennifer	She caught Mara across the chest, just enough to slash her blouse. "I just got this shirt!" she yelled. Duke was through the portal. He turned back and caught Jennifer just as she flung herself through with rather more force than necessary. It was her first portal, okay? "Tavi, come on!" "Oh no you don't," Mara hissed, grabbing for Octavia. "Your trouble is just my style!"
Octavia	Octavia slashed at Mara's hands, stumbling backwards for the portal. It wasn't going to be a graceful landing on the other side, but it didn't need to be.
Mara & Duke & Jennifer	That it sure didn't. Mara lunged after her, mindless of her now-bleeding hands -- and the portal closed. Leaving Duke, Jennifer, and Octavia on the asphalt on the Baltimore side of the Fandom Causeway.
Octavia	Octavia was going to have a bruise on her ass from stumbling onto the asphalt, but right now she couldn't even feel it through all the adrenaline. "Everyone okay?" she asked, a little breathless, sitting up while her gaze darted around in an effort to orient her to their new surroundings. "... Is this the causeway?" She saw it. Saw the island on the other end of it, too. She just needed Duke to confirm he saw it too.
Duke & Jennifer	"Looks like it," Duke confirmed, pushing himself upright. He looked over at Jennifer. "Um. Welcome back to Baltimore?" Jennifer gave a shrug. "Better than whatever that lady wanted with me in Haven."
Octavia	There was blood on the blade. Octavia wiped it clean on her pants before putting the knife away. "Yeah," she muttered.