betterthanaplan | Haven, Maine, over the weekend

From:

betterthanaplan

Where there may be someone waiting on the docks for them

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia had thought about Haven a few times, over the years. Mostly when she hadn't been able to stop herself from wondering about where he was, what he was doing. If he'd gone back to Haven.

Sometimes even if he'd gone back to Nathan.

It was odd to see the town come into view, now. There was a sense of recognition, but it was so faint if felt almost as if it was something she'd seen in a dream, like a deja-vu, like her brain misfiring.

It had been too long for her to realize that she was doing the same thing she'd done the first time they'd been sailing into this harbor together. Hovering by his shoulder, by his side, with her arm winding around his back, because no matter what awaited them... This was still their space.

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke tugged her in close. "You ready for this?" he asked.

Because he wasn't sure he was.

From:

okteiviakom

"No," Octavia replied as she leaned more against him. "Doesn't mean I won't do it like I am, though."

Because she was Like That.

From:

betterthanaplan

"I have no doubt," Duke said, then let out a deep, aggravated sigh.

Nathan was standing on the dock, his arms folded over his chest.

"I gotta start paying Beattie off or something."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia followed his gaze.

Her voice dropped into a deep, unimpressed drawl. "Chit yu vout in disha nomonjoka gaf, hmh?"

From:

betterthanaplan

"He likes to search the boat. Looking for something to lock me up over." Duke rocked his head back with a little huff as a blonde woman walked up the dock and joined Nathan. "Don't know what she's doing here, though."

Agent Parker, FBI, should've been long gone. Unless they had an interest in the troubles.

From:

okteiviakom

"And who's she?"

Octavia. Octavia, sounding like you were ready to deck her too if it came to that was unnecessary.

From:

betterthanaplan

Yeah, she got an amused sidelong for that one. "Agent Audrey Parker. I saved her life last time. She's not a local."

You know, except for the part where she looked exactly like a woman Duke had known when he was eight.

He stepped away from Octavia to go tie the Rouge down, keeping a sharp eye on Nathan and Audrey the whole time.

"Can I help you with something, Officer? Agent?"

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia followed him down, but couldn't really help much, since most of her boat skills regarding the Rouge were pretty rusty. So she ended up standing on the deck, a silent but steely presence.

5'4" of queenly judgment.

(It was in everyone's best interest that Duke had already called out to the people on the dock. Otherwise she might have opened with "Go float yourself, Nathan.")

From:

seaoftroubles

"Nathan here finds your presence 'nefarious'," Audrey said, looking extremely amused. She nodded to Octavia, not looking even remotely intimidated by her queenliness. "Who's your friend?"

"Nefarious." Duke shook his head. "Nefarious, Nathan?"

Nathan just lifted his chin and stared back.

Duke had a thing for a good silent poker face, yes.

From:

okteiviakom

"Unless being nefarious," Octavia drawled, "assessed by someone with a grudge --"

No, she didn't even bother glancing at Nathan. She knew without looking that he was most likely staring at Duke.

"-- is grounds for not letting someone in town, you can go."

From:

betterthanaplan

"It's not," Audrey said cheerfully.

"Mr. Crocker," Nathan said dryly. "Your vessel has been randomly selected for a security search."

"Really." Duke raised an eyebrow at Audrey. "You're going to let him get away with that? This is clearly harassment."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia didn't really move anywhere to block any anticipated attempt at boarding the ship.

She did shift calmly and quietly in that direction, though. Just a bit.

From:

seaoftroubles

Duke shot her a small glance and a smile.

Audrey noted the shift and raised an eyebrow. Her amusement didn't falter.

"I don't know, Duke. I'm still new at this whole small town cop thing."

"You handled the cats just fine," Nathan said blandly.

"I did, didn't I."

"That sounds like a story," Duke said. "You two should go talk about it. Somewhere else."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia didn't say anything. Just stayed where she was, observing.

Waiting.

From:

betterthanaplan

There was a lot of that happening.

"So," Duke said, once it was clear that they wouldn't be leaving. "You're working with Nathan now, huh?"

"I am," Audrey said. "You have a problem with that?"

"Me? No." He looked at Nathan. "Does she know all about your . . . thing?"

Nathan's face went, somehow, even stonier. Audrey looked between them, getting more and more amused.

"Yeah, Nathan," she said. "Do I know all about your 'thing'?"

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia kept watching.

Specifically, she was watching Audrey, now. Not in an intense way, just... taking note of several things about how she carried herself, how she was reacting to this.

Getting to know this stranger, in her own way.

From:

seaoftroubles

Audrey was watching her and taking note right back. As well as taking all sorts of notes about Nathan and Duke.

Before Nathan could respond to her question, his radio crackled to life.

"Nathan, are you there, hon?"

Nathan growled, then pulled the radio off his belt. "Go ahead, Laverne."

"Got a call about a disturbance up at the Freddy."

"We're on our way." Nathan set the radio back on his belt. "We're not done, Duke."

"Looking forward to it." Duke wiggled his fingers at him. "Byyyye."

Nathan gestured Audrey back towards his car with a jerk of his head and headed off. Audrey shot Octavia a smile. "It was nice to meet you, Ms. . . ?"

From:

okteiviakom

"Ask him," Octavia rasped, nodding after Nathan. "It's in the arrest records, somewhere."

She was pretty sure she remembered the records did not actually have her down as Octavia Blake.

From:

betterthanaplan

No. No it was not.

Audrey shot an amused eyebrow at Duke again and nodded. "I'll do that." She headed after Nathan. "What's a Freddy?!"

Duke sagged a little once they were gone and rubbed his hand over his hair. "She stuck around." He shook his head. "I can't believe we managed not to get boarded."

From:

okteiviakom

The shift in Octavia's demeanor was more subtle, but it was still like shedding some traces of Blodreina and becoming... well, whoever it was she was these days, again.

"Maybe this trip will go better," she said with a little sigh.

She didn't believe it.

From:

betterthanaplan

"Sure. This is a place where weird shit tends to happen." He pulled out his phone. "I'm thinking Gloria first. How about you?"

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia gave him a tiny nod.

"A friendly face could be nice."

Even though it kind of terrified her. Hostile was easier than nice, sometimes.

From:

betterthanaplan

It was a whole lot easier to maintain an angry shield, for one.

Duke made sure the Bronco was nowhere to be seen, then headed down the gangplank, making a quick call.

"She said she'll meet us here. Maybe we can do lunch somewhere."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia nodded again.

And then shook her head, but that was clearly for a different thought. She'd been looking around while he'd been on the phone, and... "It's so weird to be back here."

From:

betterthanaplan

"Yeah, that's how I usually feel coming back here, too." Duke shrugged. "It's a little easier with you around, though."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia finally made her way over the gangplank.

All so that she could reach for his hand. "Well, at least your last visit was only a little while ago."

From:

betterthanaplan

"True. Though I wouldn't exactly call it a good trip." He spotted Gloria's car pulling in. "She must've been waiting for us." He gave Octavia's hand a squeeze. "Come on. Let's say 'hi'."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia gave his hand a squeeze back - and then let go. It was an involuntary reflex, to try and hide the soft, regardless of her feelings about Gloria.

She was looking toward the car, though, and then already taking her first tentative steps towards it.

From:

seaoftroubles

Gloria gave her a small smile. "Nice to see you, wildcat. Here you've been having a time of it."

Duke stayed where he was, hands slipped into his pockets, and smiled at Gloria. "Hey, old bird."

"Boy, I oughta smack you."

From:

okteiviakom

If Haven itself had felt like something out of a dream, seeing Gloria felt at least doubly so. All Octavia could do was weakly raise her hand in the semblance of a wave, and breathe, "Hi."

... God, she was staring, wasn't she?

From:

seaoftroubles

"C'mere and give me a hug, kiddo," Gloria said. "You look like you could use one."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia dropped her hand, slowly, and for a moment it looked like she wasn't going to go for it.

But then she did, stepping up to Gloria and practically throwing her arms around her. Not tight enough to hurt but - surprisingly tight, all the same.

From:

seaoftroubles

And Gloria hugged back just as tight, rubbing little circles on Octavia's back.

Duke ducked his head, turning slightly away and rubbing his head as he tried to hide his relief. Gloria eyed him.

"You're next, kitten. Don't think you're not."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia choked out a sound that was a little like a startled laugh. Just, a lot rough.

And a little wet, though she'd pretend it wasn't.

It'd take her a moment to pull herself together.

From:

seaoftroubles

That was fine. Gloria was retired, she had no other plans for today.

"You missed Nathan," Duke said.

"And neither of you got arrested by him this time? Good job."

From:

okteiviakom

"They didn't try to come aboard," Octavia mumbled, trying to mask the strained note in her voice with a drawl. (Just breathe, Tavi.) "So I didn't have to defend our home."

Yeah, she was not interested in even pretending that risking arrest hadn't been on the table.

From:

seaoftroubles

"Well, you know how cops are," Gloria said.

"They called away before they could try," Duke said. "Something going on up at the Freddy."

Gloria sighed. "That'll be a trouble, then. Maybe it'll be nice and stay contained up there."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia gave Gloria one final squeeze, then finally pulled back.

And stubbornly refused to wipe at her eyes, even as she felt like she should have.

"What's the Freddy?"

From:

betterthanaplan

"Local mental hospital," Duke said. "Shit, that's not where Claire works, is it?"

Gloria reached up to smack him on the head, then dragged him into a hug. "Would I do that to you? The Freddy's in-patient only. Claire's got her own office not far from the station."

Duke hugged her back almost as firmly as Octavia had. "Good. Audrey seems like good enough people, but I'd really rather not have another run-in with Nathan if I can help it."

From:

okteiviakom

Okay, so Octavia did wipe her eyes with the heel of her hand once it seemed they were both too preoccupied to notice.

"Agreed."

From:

betterthanaplan

"So, uh." Duke clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Lunch. Preferably somewhere we won't get threatened out of."

"Second Chance?" Gloria suggested. "They're opening in just a couple weeks, I'm sure Geoff would love to have you come by and make fun of pigeons."

Duke tilted his head at Octavia. "What do you think? It's pretty much guaranteed to only be us."

From:

okteiviakom

"I don't know what that is," Octavia pointed out, as if the name didn't speak to her and as if 'pretty much guaranteed to be just us' wasn't a major selling point. (It did and it was.) "Sure?"

From:

betterthanaplan

“My friends’ restaurant. They’ve been shut down for awhile, fixing the place up. It’s a gorgeous spot, right by the water. . . .”

“Kitten, you’re babbling.”

Duke sighed. “I do that, yeah.”

From:

okteiviakom

"I like places by the water," Octavia offered, with a look up at Duke.

Because she didn't mind the babbling.

From:

seaoftroubles

"Well, what are we waiting for, then? Get your asses in the car." Gloria patted Duke on the back and gave him a shove.

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia didn't need to be told twice to get moving.

A private space and Duke's actual friends sounded perfect for right now.

From:

betterthanaplan

Assuming, you know, they survived that arrival thread

From:

seaoftroubles

Claire had a heads up they were coming, and made sure her office was nice and welcoming.

And that none of her other troubled clients were anywhere around to see her welcoming Duke Crocker.

From:

okteiviakom

There was no amount of 'welcoming' that would actually make Octavia comfortable.

But she wasn't glued to Duke's side the way she probably would have been if they'd done this seven years ago. Her coping methods were slightly different now, and they involved projecting a sense of unflappable confidence with every step she took.

How well that would work on a woman who'd heard her lock down more and more over the course of an hour (well, probably less) on the phone earlier this week, though...

From:

seaoftroubles

Duke hung back. This meeting was so much more for Octavia than it was for him.

Claire didn't smile. From what she knew of Octavia so far, a smile wouldn't be calming or reassuring. Instead she nodded to her, giving her a firm, assessing look.

"You must be Octavia."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia was giving her one back. It was odd, putting the voice to a face. She'd never actually had to do that before.

"Yeah, and you're Claire," she rasped. Since they were pointing out the obvious. "Hi."

From:

seaoftroubles

"Hi." Claire gestured to one of the chairs. "Do you want to take a seat?"

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia glanced at the chair, then back to Claire, looking like she had no intention of sitting down.

But then she paused.

And took a second to remind herself why she was here in the first place. Because she wanted to get better, because she needed to get better, and for once it didn't matter that she couldn't tell the difference between those two things. And for any of that to happen, she would have to strip at least one protective layer off herself.

Still couldn't help the vaguely dismissive shrug as she went to take a seat.

From:

seaoftroubles

Claire knew how to recognize small milestones when they happened. And that dismissive shrug couldn't hide the milestone of Octavia actually accepting a step in the process.

"Thank you," she said, and glanced up at Duke. "Do you two want to chat together, or. . . ?"

Duke shrugged, looking at Octavia. "Up to her. I can wait out here, no problem."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia looked back at him, her gaze instantly a lot softer. She gave him a little nod towards the hallway.

"Ai na dula dison op soulou, jaka."

From:

seaoftroubles

"Sha, gona," Duke said. "I'll be right out here."

Claire waited for him to close the door, then turned to Octavia again. "You two have a secret language?"

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia's voice was mild. "Only secret if you're not from the 22nd century."

Which technically made that a 'yes'. (And also, it really wasn't that simple.)

From:

seaoftroubles

"Are there a lot of people from the 22nd century where you live?" Claire asked. Her tone was a little too pointed to be entirely conversational.

From:

okteiviakom

"No."

It'd take a while before Octavia would start elaborating on anything without prompting, probably.

From:

seaoftroubles

"How many people other than you and Duke speak this 22nd century language?" Claire asked, unphased.

From:

okteiviakom

"One," Octavia said. A beat went by, and then she added, "But he's cheating, so it doesn't really count."

Because apparently the Devil spoke all human languages.

From:

seaoftroubles

"Cheating?" Claire asked, looking amused. And "How is that not a secret language?"

From:

okteiviakom

"Because it's not by choice."

From:

seaoftroubles

Claire nodded. "Fair enough. Duke's not from the 22nd century, how does he know it?"

From:

okteiviakom

"Because I taught him," Octavia drawled. "That doesn't make it a 'secret language'. That sounds like something kids would do."

She really wouldn't know, she hadn't had use for one.

From:

seaoftroubles

"It's something people who care about each other do," Claire said. "Having a shared language, just between the two of you."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia shrugged.

"Shared, yes. Not a secret."

Welcome to Octavia's occasional habit of getting hung up on terminology, Claire.

From:

seaoftroubles

"Shared," Claire agreed. "That's an important distinction to you."

Welcome to someone calmly and coolly asking you to explain that habit, Octavia.

From:

okteiviakom

"Because that's what it is," Octavia rasped.

She may have still seemed a little reluctant to talk, but... This was already much more than she'd managed to say on the phone.

Turned out actually seeing the person she was talking to was important for her.

From:

seaoftroubles

Which Claire was definitely making a note of. Video calls weren't quite as nice in 2010 as they'd be by 2020, but she was making a note to look into the technology anyway.

"How did you and Duke meet?"

From:

okteiviakom

"At a bar, in Fandom," Octavia rasped, after a beat to take in the slight change of subject. "I'd been there for a couple of years, he'd been there for a little while. He came over to talk to me."

She'd seen enough movies in this time to know that wasn't a particularly remarkable start to a relationship.

From:

seaoftroubles

Claire smiled anyway. "And you two hit it off, clearly. If you don't mind my asking . . . how'd you end up in Fandom in the first place? I don't quite understand how all that works yet."

From:

okteiviakom

"If that's something you want to understand, you're asking the wrong person," Octavia replied in a dry, faintly unimpressed drawl, though the tone wasn't really directed at Claire, as such. "One minute, I was in the woods, and the next, I was in a different forest, a hundred years earlier."

From:

seaoftroubles

Claire's brows shot up.

". . . So something of a culture shock, then."

To say the least.

From:

okteiviakom

"You get used to those," Octavia drawled, "after the first few."

From:

seaoftroubles

"Were you used to it, when you showed up in Fandom?"

From:

okteiviakom

"A little."

She could guess the next question. But she would let it come to her, instead of rushing to it.

From:

seaoftroubles

Claire nodded. "What about the first time it happened to you? When was that?"

From:

okteiviakom

"I was sixteen."

Octavia looked off to the side, although aside from that, nothing about her demeanor changed. It was mild, like it had been.

"Don't know if Duke told you, but I was born on a space station. The Ark, where having more than one kid was illegal. And I had a big brother." Have. Had. Both worked in this context. And otherwise, too. "At sixteen, I was discovered. My mom was floated into space, my brother was demoted from a guard to a janitor, and I was thrown in prison."

From:

seaoftroubles

"First, it doesn't matter what Duke did or didn't tell me. It matters what -- and how -- you tell me. Second. . . ." Claire bounced her pen in the air for a moment. "Second, that's absolutely batshit nuts and I can't even imagine having to deal with all that at just sixteen."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia shrugged one shoulder. She had more distance between herself and that particular trauma, by now. Mostly thanks to all the more recent things, but still. "Multiverse doesn't care what you can or can't handle."

General 'you', obviously.

From:

seaoftroubles

"Maybe not," Claire said with a shrug of her own. "But that doesn't mean people can't sympathize. So . . . you lost your family and got arrested. But you came to Fandom from a forest. How'd you get there from space-prison?"

From:

okteiviakom

"About a year later, the Ark was failing, and they needed to check if the Earth was survivable yet."

Octavia's tone was so mild and flat that someone might've mistaken it for bored.

"And since the Ark executed all its adult criminals, all they had as far as expendable people went were the juvenile delinquents. So they packed a hundred of us in a dropship, and sent us down to the Ground."

From:

seaoftroubles

"What the fuck?" Claire said.

Sorry, were psychiatrists supposed to be detached and neutral? Claire had never been good at that.

"That is deeply screwed up, I'm sorry. You need so much therapy."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia's eyes flicked back to her, finally. "If that's enough for you to make that call..." she rasped, trailing off.

The implication was that there would be much worse stuff coming up later. Yes.

From:

seaoftroubles

"Oh, I'm sure you have plenty more trauma," Claire said. "But yes, that much alone would be plenty for me to make that call."

From:

okteiviakom

"Well, you're the expert."

From:

seaoftroubles

"I am, yes." The corners of her mouth flicked up in a small smile. "So . . . this is going a bit better this time, isn't it."

From:

okteiviakom

"A little bit," Octavia drawled.

It was going a lot better. She hadn't fallen into a lengthy, stony silence even once!

From:

seaoftroubles

"That's good. Why do you think that is?"

From:

okteiviakom

"Because I can see you," Octavia replied, easily. If still mild. "And that no one else is here." Tiny shrug. "Sure, the whole place could still be bugged, but I'm not that paranoid."

She would generally claim she wasn't at all paranoid, actually, but a recent conversation with Lucifer had left her kind of questioning that.

From:

seaoftroubles

Claire nodded. "We'll get into your paranoia later," she said. "For now . . . what do you think we can do to help with that issue when you're back in Fandom? I can't imagine you want to travel all the way up here once a week just to talk to me. And I'm definitely not traveling down to meet you all the time."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia shrugged again, this time a little more obviously. "Is this still too far back in the timeline for video calls to be a thing?"

Her relationship with tech was wonky, even without getting into her knowing when anything became widespread.

"Seems like an obvious solution."

From:

seaoftroubles

"That's what I was thinking," Claire agreed. "You won't be too worried about someone out of view of the camera?"

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia gave her a dry look. "Like I said," she rasped, "I'm not that paranoid."

Actually having met her now probably helped, too.

From:

seaoftroubles

"I barely know you," Claire pointed out. "I'm still trying to gauge that for myself. Video calls it is. At least then I can read your microexpressions when you go silent on me."

From:

okteiviakom

"Microexpressions?" Octavia repeated, with the slightest raise of her eyebrows. "Don't think I have those."

She definitely did, though.

From:

seaoftroubles

". . . Is that a joke? Because it's hard to tell."

From:

okteiviakom

There was a tiny uptick of one corner of Octavia's lips.

"Better get used to it."

Didn't really reach her eyes, though.

From:

seaoftroubles

Claire pointed at her with her pen. "Microexpression."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia shrugged.

"I'd call it just an expression."

From:

seaoftroubles

Claire shrugged. "Alright. It's still something I'll be able to read easier on a video call than over the phone."

From:

okteiviakom

"Careful," Octavia rasped dryly, after a brief moment of quiet and a small, slow tilt of her head, "or I'll feel you're putting me under a microscope."

Letting anyone poke around her thoughts was bad enough.

From:

seaoftroubles

"Well, we can't have that." Claire tilted her head. "You don't find it easier to maintain communication when you can see the other person's . . . expressions?"

From:

okteiviakom

"Obviously."

Hence the need for this meeting and the possibility of video calls in the future.

"But I don't tell them I'm watching them for that."

From:

seaoftroubles

". . . But you are watching them for it," Claire said. "Most people do, especially the paranoid ones. Only difference is, I'm upfront about it."

From:

okteiviakom

"And it's weird."

From:

seaoftroubles

"Would you rather I pretend? That's not really my style, but I suppose I could try."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia rolled her eyes, the 'whatever' left unsaid but implied.

"So. Video calls."

From:

seaoftroubles

"Video calls," Claire confirmed. "And -- this is a marathon, Octavia. You're not going to be able to just dump it all out there and immediately feel better. An appointment or two sitting silently isn't a bad way to start."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia let that sit there for a short moment.

Then she said, "Okay." It was mild, utterly neutral - and still a good thing. She followed it up with a nod that was oddly stern. (Calling up shades of Blodreina.) "This was useful."

From:

seaoftroubles

"I'm glad." Claire smiled. "Anything else you want to cover? Anything you want to ask?"

From:

okteiviakom

"Nope."

That was both a very casual and a very definite way of saying Octavia was about to hit her limit on this kind of interaction.

Then she rose from her seat.

"I'll tell Duke to come in."

From:

betterthanaplan

Claire nodded and let her go.

Duke looked up when the door opened. "All set?"

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia stopped in the doorway. Glanced back at Claire, then shrugged.

"Dison nou bilaik branwoda."

Glowing praise.

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke smiled. "Sha. Em bilaik stanop." He nodded through the door to Claire. "Thanks."

Claire shrugged. "It's what I do."

From:

betterthanaplan

It just isn't a trip to Haven without someone getting into some trouble. . . .

From:

betterthanaplan

Octavia was taking a moment below-decks after her conversation with Claire, and Duke was giving her plenty of space. He was up on the deck, shuffling a few crates around. He told himself he was trying make the space more inviting, but really he was just giving himself work. It was remarkably warm up here for spring in Maine -- he'd checked not long after they'd arrived, and Haven hadn't done another weird time jump or anything while he'd been gone -- and he stripped down. Letting the sun soak in and unknot his shoulders a little.

If he closed his eyes, he could almost pretend he'd really gone back in time. Not just ten years to Haven in 2010, but a year in his own timeline, back to a time before Fandom, when he was still just a two-bit smuggler, moving art and booze and unmarked crates around for cash.

He didn't miss it, not really. The life of a roving vagabond had been good to him, but so had Fandom, all told. He had real friends again, not just people who'd hear him out before they tried to shoot him. He had work that he enjoyed, instead of just something he'd fallen into because being a criminal put fuel in his tanks and food on the table. He had Octavia.

He didn't want to go back. But it was nice to pretend, for just a minute.

From:

seaoftroubles

Nathan had come right over after leaving Audrey and Ray at the Shiny Scupper. He was pissed, full of adrenaline and jittery rage, and all he could think about was how he couldn't feel it. He couldn't feel a damn thing, hadn't been able to in long enough that he couldn't remember what the world was supposed to feel like.

And it was all Duke's fault.

Everything was Duke's fault. Every terrible thing that had happened in Nathan's life. The last body Nathan had felt against his own had been Duke's and then he'd taken it all away, for some stupid smuggling scheme.

And here Duke was, on his stupid rust-bucket of a boat, flaunting his stupid perfect body and his ability to feel things like he'd never done anything wrong.

Nathan couldn't stand it.

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke heard him climb aboard and turned with a faint groan. "Look, Nathan --" He stopped with a frown when he saw him. Nathan's eyes were swollen and red, and there was a kind of manic look in them that Duke had never seen before.

Well. Not on Nathan, anyway. It reminded Duke painfully of the look on Octavia's face, just before she plastered her blood all over Duke's cheeks.

". . . You might want to consider switching to decaf, buddy."

From:

seaoftroubles

"What's it feel like?" Nathan asked, staring intently at Duke. "The sun?"

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke stayed braced. Nathan didn't look like he was bleeding anywhere, but it wasn't as though Nathan would even know it himself if he was.

That was almost . . . reasonable. Maybe the trouble hunt had gone badly, and Nathan needed a friend?

"Feels good," he said cautiously. He wanted to grab Nathan by the arms and force him to sit. He wanted to fix him, so he stayed rooted where he was. Waiting to see what happened next.

From:

seaoftroubles

Nathan looked in one of the crates lining the deck, pulling out a plaster statue. It looked heavy, but he could lift it easily.

The statue was a liar. Just like Duke. He hated it, just like Duke.

He smashed it into the deck and listened to it shatter.

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke hopped back, out of the way of the flying shards. "Hey! What are you doing?!"

From:

seaoftroubles

"What's it like to feel this?" Nathan asked, and threw a punch, landing it square on Duke's cheekbone. Duke toppled backwards with a grunt, but that wasn't enough. Nathan couldn't feel it.

He picked up the empty crate the statue had been in and threw it at Duke's head.

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke barely managed to dodge the crate. He felt the splinters slice through his cheek, but couldn't worry about that now. Nathan was still coming at him.

He didn't remind him of Octavia anymore, at least. No, this was pure Nathan. Just . . . turned up to eleven.

From:

seaoftroubles

"You want to talk about harassment?!" Nathan bellowed. "What about how you harass me? Showing up here, with that psycho on your arm!"

He threw another punch, but this time Duke dodged, and Nathan's fist went through the side of another crate. This was what Duke did: he ruined everything, but he dodged. He ducked and weaved and everything just slid off him. And then he left.

He never had to stay and live with the consequences of what he did.

From:

betterthanaplan

"Yeah, I don't think you get to call anyone a 'psycho' right now," Duke pointed out, even as he kept backing away. No way had Nathan not managed to cut himself open with that punch. Which meant there was now troubled blood just waiting to meet his skin.

He swallowed down on the urge to tackle Nathan. To grab that hand and soak the blood in and just end all of this, once and for all.

From:

seaoftroubles

"Why did you leave?!" Nathan demanded. He got a hand on Duke's arm and flung him bodily into the wall. "Why did you come back?!"

From:

betterthanaplan

Well. How was that for karma?

Whatever had gotten into Nathan, it had given him a hell of a boost in the strength department. Duke hit the wall like he'd been hit by Nathan's truck, his head rebounding against the metal, making him see stars.

By the time his sight cleared again, Nathan's hands were wrapped around his neck.

Apparently Nathan hadn't managed to cut himself after all. If he had, Duke might've stood a chance.

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia had been considering sending Lucifer another message when she'd heard a crashing sound coming from above, followed by faint yelling. She'd been on her feet in an instant, and now she came barreling out onto the deck.

She wasn't surprised it was Nathan. Of course it was Nathan, but it didn't really matter because the only thing that did were the hands around Duke's neck.

As she rushed them, she went to grab the nearest convenient object - a board that had come loose from one of the crates - fully intending to whack Nathan in the back of the head with it.

From:

seaoftroubles

Nathan didn't notice. He was full of crazy rage and trouble-fueled strength, and a board to the head wasn't enough to even wobble him.

Duke's eyes and mouth went wide as he struggled to breathe in Nathan's grip.

From:

okteiviakom

There were many, many reasons Octavia had not missed Nathan, and not being able to get through to someone who didn't respond to pain because he didn't feel anything was definitely one of them.

The board fell apart like it was nothing.

But maybe kicking him in the back of the knee while screaming "Get your hands off him!" would do something? Even if that something was only drawing his focus to her instead.

From:

seaoftroubles

"You," Nathan growled. "Why are you here? Duke finally found someone as useless as he is?!"

Duke swung blindly at that, fingers poised to rake across Nathan's cheeks. Luckily for all of them, before he could accidentally make Nathan bleed, there was the pop of a taser and Nathan jerked stiffly before collapsing into Duke.

Audrey lowered her taser and hurried forward.

"Sorry I had to do that, Nathan. Are you okay?"

Duke dropped Nathan and sagged against the wall. "Yeah, I'm fine." He wasn't, but he wasn't about to tell an FBI agent that his head was spinning and there were spots slowly clearing from his vision.

From:

okteiviakom

Yeah, Octavia was definitely looking him over pretty closely, at that. It also kept her from indulging the urge to kick Nathan in the ribs. Which was probably a good thing.

After she'd determined he didn't have any serious visible injuries, at least, she turned towards Audrey and snapped, "What the fuck was that?"

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke rubbed the back of his head and winced faintly. "That was . . . more than usual," he agreed.

"Nothing," Nathan muttered into the deck where he lay. "Felt nothing."

"I need you two to keep him here," Audrey said.

"Uh, no," Duke said.

From:

okteiviakom

"He tried to kill Duke," Octavia agreed in a snarl.

And don't think she didn't notice the lack of an actual answer, either, Audrey!

From:

seaoftroubles

"It's not his fault." Audrey watched as Nathan passed out on the deck, then stood. "He's sick."

"He's been sick," Duke said. "Right now he's homicidal."

"It's not his fault," Audrey said again. "Something -- something just happened to him."

"Is he contagious?" Duke asked, eyeing Nathan's red and swollen face. Audrey glared at him. "I'm just asking!"

From:

okteiviakom

"What happened to him?"

Octavia really missed Wonkru, all of a sudden. At least they'd been obligated to give her straight answers, most of the time.

From:

betterthanaplan

Yeah, Audrey wasn't at all impressed with Octavia's yelling. She shot Octavia an assessing look, hesitating.

"This is a trouble, isn't it," Duke said. "Whatever was going on at the Freddy got him, too. We can't be crazy right now, Audrey!"

"I don't know if he's contagious," Audrey said with a sigh. "But I do know someone who is. Which is why I have to go find her, which I can't do dragging Nathan around." She looked between the two of them. "Nathan's talked a lot about you two. This is where you both prove him wrong, right?"

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia didn't even have anything to say to that.

She was just making an extremely unimpressed face. At least by her own standards.

From:

betterthanaplan

Yeah, Duke couldn't really argue with that, either. He barely knew Audrey, but Audrey looked like Lucy, and every instinct in him was screaming at him to help her out.

There was just one problem with that.

"This is a bad idea, Audrey," he hissed, voice low.

"Tie him up," Audrey suggested. "He's not going to hurt you again."

"I'm not worried about him hurting me."

From:

okteiviakom

"Doesn't he have an entire precinct of friends aside from you, anyway?" Octavia asked, pointedly. "Why aren't they coming to get him? How is this supposed to be our problem?"

She had no need to prove anyone anything. Not here.

From:

seaoftroubles

"He's already here," Audrey said, giving Octavia a sharp look. "And you two apparently know enough about the troubles to know that this isn't his fault."

"Call Dwight!" Duke suggested. "He's built like a brick wall, let him wrangle the superstrength with a side of crazy!"

". . . Who's Dwight?"

Duke threw his hands in the air. "Why can't anyone tell anyone anything around here?!"

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia wasn't particularly concerned with whose fault it was. She just didn't like Nathan.

Not that she was saying that out loud.

"Makes you miss Fandom, doesn't it."

From:

betterthanaplan

"Yeah," Duke said on a sigh. "Yeah, it really does."

"Are we good?" Audrey asked, already heading for the dock again. "The trouble should wear off . . . eventually. Dr. Lucassi was back to normal after maybe an hour. I've gotta go."

Duke looked down at Nathan with a groan. "You owe me, Parker."

"Yup!" Audrey called back to him.

"For this and for saving your life!"

"You're the best, Duke!"

And goddammit, if hearing that didn't make part of Duke's poor, neglected heart sing.

He shut his eyes and rubbed his nose. "Right. I'll go get some chain."

From:

okteiviakom

"I'll watch him," Octavia rasped.

She did not sound like she approved of how this had gone, nope.

From:

seaoftroubles

Nathan didn't stir until Duke was just finishing chaining him to one of the posts on the dock. He immediately flung himself into jerking against the chains, vocally straining all the while.

"This is bizarre," Duke said. "He's going to hurt himself."

"Will not," Nathan muttered. "Can't feel it."

"Well aren't you just special, Nate."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia had backed off, gone to sit on one of the crates. She didn't feel like being very involved, but that didn't mean she wouldn't keep watch.

In case anything happened.

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke, on the other hand, couldn't keep his eyes off Nathan. It was surreal, seeing the man chained down and completely out of his mind like that. Even knowing how terrible the troubles could be, his vague memories and minor run-ins so far couldn't prepare him for -- this. This drooling, groaning, flushed and sweaty mess. This total breakdown in everything that made Nathan human.

"Nothing hurts you, does it, Nathan. Even when you try."

"At least I'm not a parasite," Nathan shot back, wild grin on his face. "Like you." He started laughing, loud and full-throated, like he couldn't stop.

Duke laughed along, humoring him. "That's a good one."

Nathan flung himself against the chains again, panting. "Just using people. . . ." He laughed, bouncing in place. "Like you always do. Plan on using Audrey, too?"

Duke took a deep breath through his nose, reminding himself not to rise to Nathan's level.

Nathan kept laughing. "Of course you are. Of course you are, that's what you do! You and your little whore --"

He cut off when Duke's fist collided with his face.

From:

okteiviakom

Over her years in the bunker, Octavia had learned to pack away her feelings when she needed to. It had allowed her to stay impassive when she'd watched her people slaughter each other down in the fighting pits, and it allowed her to stay that way now as she watched Nathan struggle in his chains. She focused on observing, waiting to see whether she'd need to do anything.

Otherwise, her heart would have been aching for Duke.

Nathan's little jab at her, however, would probably not have gotten to her even if she hadn't been keeping a tight rein on her emotions. She'd been called much worse, by people who mattered much more.

But that didn't mean seeing the punch happen wasn't satisfying.

From:

betterthanaplan

Nathan was just so punchable!

The trouble being, Nathan didn't even feel it. That and that punching a guy in the face was a great way to get their blood on you.

Nathan spit and laughed. "Can't hurt me, remember?"

Duke lurched to his feet, eyes glued to his hand and the specks of blood absorbing into his skin. He spun, not wanting Nathan to see. Not wanting to see Nathan, tied down and helpless and so goddamn infuriating, just asking to be ended.

Nathan didn't have any family. Other than the Chief, who'd never shown any signs of his trouble. Killing him wouldn't do anything but put blood on Duke's hands, metaphorically and literally. Duke grit his teeth and wrapped his arms around himself as he staggered down the dock.

Maybe throwing himself into the water would help keep this damn trouble under control.

From:

okteiviakom

The thing about the trick of Octavia boxing up her feelings and pushing them aside was that it only worked until something came along that was too strong and busted right on through anyway.

And seeing Duke react like that, well, it was something she recognized.

She was on her feet instantly, but didn't move. Just -- watched, but now with a heavy weight inside her, a squirming thing of worry.

From:

betterthanaplan

"Gonna cry?!" Nathan shouted after him. "'Run home and cry, baby!' Do you remember that?" He flung himself against the chains, moaning again. "Do you remember telling me that, Duke?!"

Duke ignored him. He made it to the end of the docks and sat abruptly, feet dangling over the edge as he curled in on himself and tried to breathe through the rush. The boards of the dock cracked under his fingers. If he had to get up right now, he'd take chunks of them with him.

Slowly, the rush subsided. And Duke was left with just his bruised throat and aching head, and Nathan screaming and taunting him from the other end of the dock.

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia crossed over onto the dock as Duke moved away, watching him but keeping Nathan in her peripheral vision. Had to watch them, both but for different reasons.

More or less, anyway.

"Shut up," she told Nathan, cold and assertive - and one hundred percent sure it wouldn't do anything.

From:

betterthanaplan

Not a blessed thing. Well, other than making Nathan snarl at her like an animal, anyway.

Duke shivered faintly -- he was still shirtless -- and tilted his head into the sun, his eyes closed. He wondered if he'd ever be able to come back here without running headfirst into his trouble and his and Nathan's past.

He wished he could pretend that meant he wouldn't keep coming back here.

He slowly stood and made his way back over, head still down, hand wrapped around the back of his neck. "So. Naturally, Nathan goes nuts and his first instinct is to come try to kill me."

"'Cause you're a prick," Nathan spat.

"Yes, thank you." Duke waved him off and looked at Octavia. "What do you suppose everyone else in Haven would do if they lost their minds? Maybe we should be on the look out for more attackers."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia wanted to ask if he was okay.

But she knew he wasn't, even without asking. So instead, she cast a glance around. "Maybe," she said. "Though I feel like if we were about to get swarmed, it would've started happening already."

From:

betterthanaplan

"Point," Duke said, ignoring Nathan as he flung himself into his rocking and moaning routine. "And Audrey seemed to think she could get a handle on . . . whoever was running around causing this."

"Audrey likes the strange stuff," Nathan said. "Must be why she seems to like you."

"Jealous, Nathan?" Duke asked.

Nathan hissed wetly through his teeth.

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia squeezed her eyes shut for just a second. But very tightly.

"I shouldn't hit him until he shuts up."

Not a question. She was just telling herself that.

From:

betterthanaplan

"It'd be like punching a brick wall," Duke said, holding up his hand. "Trust me."

Nathan stared at her with a strange grin on his face, still rocking against the chains.

"What did he promise you?" he asked. "Did he say he loves you? He doesn't know what that word even means."

"I'm not opposed to gagging him, though."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia glanced down at Nathan. "You're wasting your breath." And then back up at Duke, with a little shrug. "It's worth a shot."

From:

betterthanaplan

"I'll go get a nice, filthy rag," Duke said, giving Nathan another glare before he turned and walked away, his back ramrod straight, his shoulders pulled in tight.

He didn't like leaving Octavia with Nathan alone. But he also needed to be away from Nathan's goading words and -- more importantly -- the blood still slowly dripping down his chin.

Thrown into a wall. Choked. Blood running down a chin. His trouble going off.

This was all just -- a lot to deal with.

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia already knew she was going to be having another round of nightmares, and none of this had even happened to her.

(This time.)

She watched Duke walk away, and then locked everything down again, crossing her arms.

From:

seaoftroubles

"You're just like he is, aren't you," Nathan hissed with a giggle. "You feed on people."

[I'M NOT SORRY]

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia turned to look at him, her gaze ice cold. Her voice was no warmer, and all edge.

"And don't you forget it."

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke came back, carrying a nice, greasy rag from his tool box. He glanced from Octavia to Nathan and back.

"I see you two are bonding." He held the rag out to Octavia. "Do the honors?"

"You're going to eat him alive," Nathan said, panting through his teeth again. "Good."

From:

okteiviakom

Nice going, trouble. Octavia might've been a little nicer without that last comment.

But now she grabbed the rag, and yanked Nathan's head back, and stuffed the rag in his mouth with very little care for anything except shutting him up and not actually suffocating him in the process.

From:

betterthanaplan

Nathan growled at her, then started rocking back and forth against the chains again.

"Audrey owes us so much for this one," said Duke.

From:

okteiviakom

He would not hear any disagreeing from Octavia, no.

"As soon as this is done, can we just... go?"

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke sighed and nodded. "Yes. Absolutely."

He'd be back in a couple weeks for Bill and Geoff's opening, but he wasn't going to drag Octavia along with him if she didn't want to deal with all of this again.

The flush drained out of Nathan's face and he stopped rocking, blinking and shaking his head like a dog shaking off some water. He looked up at Duke, then around, frown deepening with every moment.

"Well. At least that didn't take a whole hour."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia looked down at Nathan.

"Are you back?" she asked. She didn't want the gag to be removed only for him to start spewing more goading.

From:

seaoftroubles

Nathan scowled at her, saying something muffled through the rag. He tugged -- gently this time -- on the chains, the frown growing ever deeper.

"You got hit by a trouble," Duke told him. "We're your babysitters."

Nathan's response to that was still muffled, but pretty easy to translate anyway.

"Yeah. Same to you, buddy."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia looked like she wanted to roll her eyes, but didn't.

"You realize you're not getting free until you play nice, right?"

From:

betterthanaplan

"We hold him to that and he'll be tied here forever," Duke said. "Which normally wouldn't be a problem, but it is pretty close to my boat."

Nathan muttered into the gag again and went relatively limp, clearly doing his best to 'play nice'.

"Better ungag him at least," Duke said with a sigh. "I need Audrey's number so I can tell her to come fetch."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia's bar for niceness from Nathan was set to him not being openly hostile for about ten seconds, so that had been met, now.

So she removed the rag, yes.

From:

seaoftroubles

"Where's Audrey?" Nathan asked, embarrassed and annoyed, but not quite his full belligerent self. "Did she go after Lilly on her own?"

Duke rolled his eyes. "Does it look like we have that information, Nathan? She wasn't exactly long on details."

From:

okteiviakom

"Don't even know who Lilly is," Octavia agreed. "But she said she thought she knew who gave you this bout of crazy before she dumped you on us, so..."

From:

seaoftroubles

Nathan paled slightly and looked down at himself. His mouth tasted like grease and blood. And it hadn't slipped his notice that Duke was bleeding.

"What did I do?"

Duke shrugged. "Threw punches, called me names. The usual."

From:

okteiviakom

"Nothing to feel too guilty about," Octavia rasped in agreement.

It was probably the nicest thing she was likely to say to Nathan in a long time.

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke waggled his phone. "What's Audrey's number? I'll call her to come fetch you."

Nathan scowled. "Unchain me. I'll call her myself."

"Nope. Not letting you go until the lady with the taser is back. What's her number?"

"Audrey tased me?"

"Yeah, see, you didn't stop choking me when Octavia smashed a board over your head, so I'm just going to play it safe."

"I choked --" Nathan cut off with a long, deep sigh. "Mr. Crocker. I encourage you to file a complaint and press charges."

Duke dropped his head with a sigh of his own. "Not my style, Nathan."

From:

okteiviakom

"Just give him the damn number," Octavia grumbled, "so we can get on with it."

From:

betterthanaplan

Nathan narrowed his eyes at her, then looked back at Duke and rattled off the number. Duke dialed, pacing away a few steps as it rang.

"Audrey. Hey. Sleeping Beauty woke up. Please come get him so Octavia and I can move on with our lives."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia stayed where she was, looking off towards the water.

Nathan wasn't getting any more of her attention than he absolutely had to get.

From:

betterthanaplan

". . . Yeah," Duke said, shooting her a look. "I might know where that boat is. But I want to know what's going on."

Nathan shot him a suspicious glare.

"Because I'm a concerned citizen, Audrey. And this trouble tried to kill me, so I'd like to know if I need to be looking over my shoulder."

And if someone might come along wanting him to kill to stop it.

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia met his look with a resigned one of her own.

It didn't sound like this was over for them just yet.

From:

betterthanaplan

Duke mouthed an apology at her.

This was what you got when you dated a compulsive fixer.

"I'll take you there. We can leave Nathan chained to the docks, I'm sure he'll be fine." He grinned at Audrey's response. "Ugh, fine. If you insist. But if he attacks again. . . ."

He was enjoying teasing Audrey. Which made for two cops now whose presence he might actually enjoy.

What was even happening to him?

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia only barely kept herself from motioning for him to wrap it up.

Instead, she moved to see about unchaining Nathan. Since that was apparently happening.

From:

betterthanaplan

"Yeah. We'll be here." Duke hung up and let out a breath. "Okay. Looks like we've got a little more trouble wrangling to do before we're done." He quirked a smile at Octavia. "We'll get back on the water as soon as we're done."

Nathan hmphed, straightening carefully once the chains were off, and warily eyeing Octavia.

"Did you really hit me with a plank?"

From:

okteiviakom

"Yes," Octavia said, as if it was obvious.

From:

betterthanaplan

"Doesn't hurt," Nathan muttered.

"Jesus, Nathan." Duke rolled his eyes. "We get it. You don't feel anything. It sucks. Move on."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia wasn't going to touch that topic at all.

Instead, she looked up at Duke again. "So Audrey's coming to meet us?"

From:

betterthanaplan

"Yeah," Duke said. "She thinks the troubled woman and her husband might be hiding out on his boat."

"Lilly?" Nathan asked. Duke shrugged.

"I don't know, maybe?"

Nathan shook his head. "I don't know. That doesn't sound right."

Duke snorted. "Man, last time I talked to you, you didn't even think the troubles were a thing."

"Last time you talked to me, you were cuffed to an interview table."

From:

okteiviakom

That earned Nathan a sharper look.

"Do we have to reminisce right now?" she drawled.

From:

betterthanaplan

Nathan gave her a blank look in return.

Seriously, why did Duke have a thing for stoic, withholding people?

Fortunately, Audrey was coming down the dock again. "Everyone still in one piece?"

"Not for lack of trying," Duke said. "Our resident trouble wrangler here says he doesn't think it's Lilly."

"We saw it on the security tapes at the Freddy," Audrey said. "She played the piano, and everyone changed." She frowned at Nathan. "And you said she was playing at the Scupper."

"She was. But I didn't -- go blank until Ray started."

"Ray?" Audrey was already turning to rush back down the dock, Nathan hot on her heels. "We have to find that boat."

Duke watched her go and glanced at Octavia. "You can stay here, if you want. Haven's troubles aren't your problem."

From:

okteiviakom

"No," Octavia agreed. "But yours are."

Did that mean she was eager to join Audrey and Nathan.anyway, though? Not exactly.

From:

betterthanaplan

"It could be dangerous," Duke said. "You saw what happened to Nathan."

What Nathan had managed to goad Duke into doing.

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia's expression turned a fraction more wry. "And that's supposed to dissuade me?" she asked.

She did have a well-established track record of running towards danger, after all.

From:

betterthanaplan

Yeah, but Nathan had also managed to bleed on Duke, and he wasn't sure how he felt about the danger she was running towards being from him.

"Alright. Just . . . wanted to make sure."

"Are you two coming?" Audrey shouted from her car.

"Be right there, Officer Agent Parker!" Duke called back, getting a snort from her. He offered Octavia his hand. "Let's go solve a trouble."

From:

okteiviakom

Octavia had existing first-hand experience being in danger from him. She'd be careful to avoid it in the future, and was for damn sure not going to let that mean she would let him go into danger by himself.

(Sorry, Nathan and Audrey.)

She took his hand, but only to give it a quick squeeze. Then she let it go, and strode towards the car.

Time to solve a trouble.

From:

betterthanaplan

We'll see

From:

betterthanaplan

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