Haven, Maine, Thursday Fandom time

[betterthanaplan]

It took a little while for Duke to convince Evi to come with him to the station. He'd spent the last few days playing nice with her. Letting her think that, with Octavia gone, she really was starting to win him over again. Keeping an eye out for any hints about what, exactly, she had planned with the Rev. And when the day of the boat show came around, and most of the local fuzz would be out closing down streets for the parade that came with it, he let her follow him down to the station.

He pulled Nathan aside into a hallway, keeping his voice low so they wouldn't be overheard. "You know I hate that you're a cop, right?"

Nathan folded his arms with a smirk. "Yeah."

"Yeah. And that I think it's ridiculous that they put you in charge of this place."

"Mm hm."

"But for certain reasons. . . . It makes sense." Duke looked Nathan over. They were standing very close together, he realized with a start.

"Well," Nathan said. "I'm not the Chief anymore, remember?"

"Yeah." Duke circled Nathan, full of nervous energy. "But do you wanna know why you're not the Chief anymore?"

Nathan leaned in even closer. Duke stopped pacing.

"Evi," he said. "She tipped off the Rev about your file on the troubled people. I saw it on her phone."

Nathan was trembling faintly. They were close enough together now that Duke couldn't help but notice. "I knew it was the Rev. But how the hell is Evi involved?"

"You got me," Duke said. "I mean, think how I feel. I'm married to her." He really needed to take care of that at some point. "God only knows what else she's hiding. Look, I figure we do this here, otherwise she'll bolt." Nathan nodded, and Duke went on. "I told her you were helping me with some parking tickets." Nathan frowned and Duke smirked faintly. "It was the best I could come up with."

"Hm." Nathan looked past Duke through the window into the bullpen. "Okay. Let's put her in the break room."

Duke opened his mouth to answer, then spotted something on the floor. "Um," he said, pointing to what looked very much like the trail from a pool of blood, coming out of the bathroom. "What the hell is that?!"

---

What it was turned out to be one of the uniformed officers, dead on the floor of the bathroom from some kind of horrifying contagion. One that had already spread, judging by the greasy black already creeping across Evi's hands. The new Chief, Merrill, declared an immediate quarantine, and locked down the building.

With Duke inside.

He wasn't taking it well. Especially when one of the officers came around and confiscated everyone's phone. At least none of the cops were armed anymore.

He missed Fandom. There, everyone would be getting together to investigate. Not holing up in their own corners, eyeing each other suspiciously. And, loathe as he was to admit it, he was worried about Evi. This thing — this trouble or contagion or whatever — did not look like a nice way to die.

The new Chief didn't last long, succumbing to the contagion mid anti-trouble rant in front of Nathan and Audrey. But not before he'd ordered snipers to shoot anyone trying to leave the station on sight. Nathan had managed to get a line out to talk to Dwight, who told him that someone had tipped off the state police and CDC to treat anyone calling from Haven as a prank call. They were trapped in the building, surrounded by killers, and cut off from the outside world.

And something was making everyone sick.

The doors were all locked down electronically, the only override a keycard Merrill had kept. Audrey went to start interviewing everyone in the station, banking on her immunity to the troubles to keep her safe while she tried to figure out who was causing this. Nathan decided to talk to Evi himself, wanting to know why she'd sold him out to the Rev.

Duke hovered just outside the door, listening in.

"Look," she said. "This wasn't personal. I — I got in too deep. And that's when they asked me to do that thing with your files."

"Who's they? The Rev?"

"He's one of them."

Nathan's voice rose with his frustration. "Why is it so important to have me out of the way?!"

"Because they said it would be helping Duke."

"Explain it to me."

"I can't."

Duke had heard enough. He stepped into the doorway. "Then explain it to me."

Evi dropped her head, tearing up. She was good at that, crying on command, but with the way the contagion trouble was creeping up her arms, Duke wondered if maybe this time it was a little more real. Nathan ducked out, off to take care of something else in the station, Duke guessed. He was glad — he had a better chance of getting the truth out of Evi alone.

"I'm sorry," she said. "These men, they said that I'd be helping you!"

"How does getting Nathan fired possibly help me?"

"I — I don't know, okay? They said that you were important. And that you needed to learn certain things, and Nathan needed to be out of the way because he'd be a problem for you."

Duke sighed and pulled out a chair so he could sit across from her. "How naive are you?" Not this naive, to be sure. "Or did they just pay you a lot of money?"

"Oh my god, it's not about the money." Evi leaned forward. "I believed them, okay? I believed them. Because they told me something that I always knew: that you're special."

Duke sat up. "And what makes me so special?"

Whoever was behind this knew about his trouble, he was sure of that. But did Evi?

"All I know is that whatever is going on in this town? They think that you're in the middle of it!"

She was telling the truth. Duke was suddenly sure of it. He just needed to push her a little farther, a little harder, and he could get to the bottom of this. He exploded out of his chair. "Why?! Tell me! Tell me!"

"I can't!" Evi wailed. "I'm telling you what I know!"

"After everything, you owe me some real answers!"

Evi swallowed a sob.

"So what," Duke continued. "Everything that's happened here, you coming back, driving Octavia off, getting cozy these last few days . . . that was controlled by them?"

"No," Evi said. The tears were coming fast and furious now, messier than he'd ever seen them before. More real. "No."

"You could die," Duke said, soft and deadly serious. "We all could die. There are men out there with guns stopping us from leaving." Evi sniffed and looked away. "And even with all that," Duke continued, searching her face. "You still can't tell me the truth."

She didn't say a word. Duke stormed out of the breakroom, slamming the door behind him.

He should have known better than to expect anything real out of her.

---

Nathan didn't notice Merrill's keycard was missing until Evi was already using it to storm out the front doors of the station. Duke was too far behind her to catch up; he could only watch as she strode out into the street and spread her hands.

"Evi!" he shouted, banging on the doors. "Evi, stop!"

Evi turned to look at him.

"Please." He pressed his hands to the window. He hated her, but he'd loved her once, and he didn't want to watch her die. "Come back inside!"

"No. I got out for you." She spun and searched what looked like an empty street. "I could run, but I'm not going to run anymore! If you want answers, I'll get you your answers!"

Duke dropped his head, breathing hard. And spotted the keycard where she'd dropped it on the floor.

He was out the door and running down the stairs to the street before he even realized he'd decided to follow her out there. He reached her side just as the sound of the single gun shot reached his ears.

She collapsed backwards into his arms, blood soaking the bottom of her white blouse.

"Evi!" He shook her, trying to keep her awake, even as he waited to be taken down himself.

"Hold your fire," he heard, a distant voice over a radio, muffled under the roar of fury and panic in his ears. "Not him!"

They weren't going to shoot. He could get her to safety. He didn't have to lose another person he'd loved.

He'd think about what that "not him" meant later.

He scooped Evi up and carried her as fast as he could back into the station, setting her gently on the floor as soon as the doors were shut behind him so he could put pressure on her wound. "It's okay. You're going to be okay."

"Oh god." Nathan and Audrey had just arrived in the vestibule. "I'm going to get some help." Audrey dashed off, while Nathan could only stand and stare.

"Why did you do that?" Duke asked Evi.

She gasped, her breath and voice trembling. "I'm so sorry."

"Hang on." He didn't want her apologies now. She could apologize later, when she was okay. "Help is on the way."

He didn't see the moment it happened. He was looking at his hands, at the blood seeping from her wound. At the way it touched his fingers, but didn't soak in.

When he looked back up at her, her eyes were empty.

She was gone.

Duke let her go and stood, wiping his mouth with his arm. Evi wasn't troubled. She could have lived her whole life, conning people and having adventure after adventure, never knowing about the horrors of Haven and its troubles, if only she'd never met him.

And now she was dead.

He pulled the keycard from his pocket and started for the door. Nathan blocked his way.

"No, Duke. Not like this."

"Nathan," Duke said through clenched teeth. "If you were ever my friend —"

"You can't just run out there! Be smarter than that!"

"Get the hell out of my way!" Duke threw a punch that nearly toppled Nathan to the floor. Audrey, just coming back to see what was happening, let out a shocked gasp.

"Duke!"

"Audrey," Duke turned towards her. "You —"

He never finished. Nathan slammed his police radio into the back of Duke's head, and the world went dark.

---

Lucifer	There wasn't much that could rouse Lucifer from his bored, numb authority nowadays. Hell dragged inexorably forward, slow, a year for each few hours elsewhere. And every morning, the docket filled up, and by every afternoon, each new damned soul had found its tormentors. Sometimes he visited, if someone perked his interest. The demons even knew what to look for, nowadays. "Sire?" said Murus, his face as stone as it usually was. "We've got another one from Haven." "Right," Lucifer replied. "And does--" "Her name is Evidence Crocker." He sat up. "Take me to her cell," he said. And so Murus did.
Evi	Evi's Hell was like anyone else's, an endless loop of her greatest, most terrible hits, starring the people she'd loved and/or hurt the most. Thing was, Evi didn't feel guilty for most of what she'd done on Earth. There was really only one moment, one key mistake that haunted her here. The teenager slid their hood down off their head and met Duke's eyes. Evi's heart lifted in hope -- and then Duke was shouting. And his girlfriend was on the floor. And Evi realized she'd made a very, very big mistake.
Lucifer	Normally, Lucifer would have watched this whole thing unfold a few times before he'd decide where to insert himself. But Duke was shouting. And Octavia was on the floor. "Stop," he snarled as he stepped inside, waving one hand-- and everything stopped.
Evi	Evi choked on a sob, her hands pressed to her mouth. "What -- what's happening?" She turned to look from the frozen teen to Lucifer. "Is this part of the trouble? What's happening to him?!"
Lucifer	"I don't know, it's your Hell loop," Lucifer snapped. "How about you tell me?" Most of his face was a blank mask. But his eyes were intense, and they were twitching a little.
Evi	"I don't know!" Evi yelled, spreading her arms wide in an unconscious imitation of the last thing she'd done before she'd been shot. (Not that she remembered that. Not that she had any idea yet that she was dead, that Nathan was knocking Duke out and locking him up to keep him from getting himself killed trying to avenge her.) "I don't understand any of this! I just wanted him back!"
Lucifer	"Well, you can't," Lucifer said. Was that petty? Spiteful? Well, if it was, it wasn't anyone but him who knew it. "He's Octavia's. Why on Earth would you insert yourself in that?"
Evi	"Because he was mine first!" Evi looked down at the girlfriend on the floor. "I put so much work into him. He was nothing but a two-bit crook when we met, but I saw his potential. I knew he was special, and now he's becoming what he's meant to be and she gets him?!"
Lucifer	Lucifer stared at her. Some of the anger - all of it, really, ebbed from his features in favor of pity. "Well, you clearly did something to lose him, darling," he said, superficial charm settling over him. "So how about you sit down and tell me exactly what you were up to prior to your untimely demise?" He could've been gentler about telling her she was dead, but he didn't want to be.
Evi	"My what?!" Evi shrieked. Look, this was business as usual for Lucifer, but it was all new to her.
Lucifer	"Your demise," Lucifer specified. He was grinning now. Of course he was. "You died, and are currently very dead." He picked a rickety-looking chair - honestly, Duke, what were your standards? - and sat down on it. "To be even more specific, you're in Hell," he said, "After apparently doing something terrible to two people I care a great deal about."
Evi	"And who the fuck are you, then?"
Lucifer	"Lucifer Morningstar, Lord of Hell," Lucifer said, pleasant in that way where he was grinning with all of his teeth and extremely unpleasant in every other way. "Your jailer for the foreseeable eternity."
Evi	Evi just stared at him for a really long time. "Oh fuck off," she said, storming over to the frozen Duke and snapping her fingers in his face. "Hey! Duke, wake up!"
Lucifer	Lucifer rolled his eyes. "He's a demon," he said flatly, "given shape by what torments you. Which is, apparently, wronging him." The depressing quality of liquor in Hell was almost compensated by his ability to summon it at will sometimes, as a glass of scotch appeared in his hand. "What did you do, miss Evidence?"
Evi	"Oh great, you can summon booze," Evi scoffed. "What a great trick. Do you have any idea the other shit I've seen in this town? It's going to take more than that to impress me."
Lucifer	Lucifer took a sip of his drink. "This isn't for you," he clarified. "It is for me. See, when I left Earth and returned here, I did so in part to keep these two people safe." He set his glass down. "And now I find that some upstart with a big ego has been running about making their lives miserable," he said. His face flashed red. "Please let me inform you of all the ways I can return the favor..." Lucifer.
Evi	Evi jerked backward in shock, terror shooting through her as the animal part of her human mind couldn't help but react to the uncanny being in front of it. She hit one of the wooden support pillars that dotted the bar and leaned heavily against it, her hand pressing to her chest. "Duke -- Duke's friends -- with the actual Devil?"
Lucifer	"Yes," Lucifer said pleasantly, as his face faded back to a nice, British light-pink. "Had a nice Devil's threesome once upon a time, actually." His fingers knotted together and settled over his knee as he crossed his legs. "So we can try this again, and you can tell me what happened here," he said, "Or I just keep coming back for the next few dozen years and see how I can spruce up your Hell loop a bit."
Evi	Evi was starting to shake. She'd been raised a good Christian girl, even if she'd thrown it off the moment she could, preferring to run wild and reckless around the world. There'd been a time, not as long ago as she liked to pretend, when she'd believed wholeheartedly in the Devil. When she'd feared him almost as much as she had his father. "No," she said softly, looking at Duke. The demon shaped like Duke. Had he been a demon all along? Was that what the Rev had meant, when he called Duke 'special'? "No no no. . . ." She trailed off and whirled back on Lucifer. "And if I cooperate? If I tell you everything I know? What do I get then?"
Lucifer	"Well, that's up to you, my dear," Lucifer said, taking another sip of his drink. "Do you think that buys you deliverance from your guilt?"
Evi	"Not good enough. I want guarantees. A -- a token." Something she'd heard once came to mind, an old story about dealing with the Devil. "A favor!"
Lucifer	Lucifer sat forward. "You're dead," he pointed out again. "It's a bit late for favors." He considered her, and her defiance. "This is not a negotiation," he said. "This is your one chance to beg for your afterlife."
Evi	"I don't beg," Evi said, stubborn to -- and past -- the end. Then she looked around the Gull. Around her Hell. And swallowed. ". . . What do you want to know?"
Lucifer	"How about we start with what happened here?" Lucifer said. He was happy to hear out the whole thing. Even if it took a while. To Evi's credit, it took him months to get all the information he needed to send someone. Murus, the implacable one. Felt like a worthy fit for this one's irritatingly defensive body.
Duke and Nathan	Back up on Earth, Duke leaned against the wall of a jail cell, one hand pressed to the back of his head, trying to keep his breathing under control. Evi was dead. Nathan had knocked him unconscious and thrown him into a cell. And by the look of Nathan's lip, it was a minor miracle that he hadn't set Duke off on a trouble rampage when Duke had let loose and punched him in the face. This was not his day. "Nathan, come on." He paced to the front of the cell, where Nathan stood, and grabbed onto the bars. "You can't just lock me in here. I'm not —" He swallowed against his rising panic. "I'm not going to do anything." "You're not thinking right," Nathan said. Before Duke could respond, Nathan's radio went off. Dwight telling him he was coming in with back up. Stupid thing didn't even have the decency to be busted after busting Duke's head. "Great," Nathan said, still staring at Duke even as he spoke into the radio. "Not great," Dwight said. "Our buddies out here must have a scanner, heard the call go out. They're gearing up, looks like they're coming in." "They want to wipe us out before help gets here." And Duke was locked in a cell. Helpless. "They're coming in the back. I've got you covered." Nathan turned to go. Duke lunged, thrusting his hand through the bars to grab Nathan by the arm. "You gotta let me go with you." Nathan brushed him off. "I'm not letting you get yourself killed." "Nathan," Duke said, hating the desperate tone in his voice but unable to stop it. "Wait! Nathan, don't do this to me!" Nathan was gone. And Duke was alone again.
Evi Murus	Not for long. Evi Ryan's body had laid dead for too long, in at least one sense: the life had drained from her eyes. No demon could return a semblance of that spark to those distant orbs, as they turned slowly blue. Still, it probably meant something that her body was shambling its way back into the cells, didn't it? "Duke. Crocker. Pirate."
Duke	Duke jerked back from the bars. "Jesus fuck. Evi?!"
Murus	"He did say you were dumb," said Murus, tilting his head as he looked curiously between the bars. "Lord Morningstar sends his regards and serious doubts about your previous taste in women."
Duke	Duke pinched the bridge of his nose. This was not helping his likely concussion. "Ted?" he guessed.
Murus	"Murus," Murus said flatly. "Ted is the sentimental one."
Duke	"Oh this is so creepy," Duke said. "Um. Tell Luce I said 'hi'?"
Murus	"He's busy," Murus intoned through Evi's mouth. "He seems very unfond of your deceased mate." He considered Duke for a moment longer. "I'm under orders to prevent you from getting yourself murdered," he added.
Duke	"Yeah, well. You -- she -- nope, can't say it in front of her dead eyes." Duke swallowed. Well, at least being in a jail cell wasn't even on his radar anymore? "Glad he's looking out for me. I guess. But Nathan already cold-cocked me and locked me in here to prevent that, so your job is . . . done."
Murus	"This building is under siege," Murus said, his voice a perfect monotone. "You're not technically in a state of safety, for human mortal standards, until you have cleared it." He folded Evi's hands over themselves. "He also has words about a Miss Octavia he insists are secondary to your 'current state of typical disaster'," he added, "But I will get back to those when you are out of potential danger."
Duke	Duke rolled his eyes to the sky. His head throbbed. "Alright. I'll bite. How are you going to solve the building being under siege?"
Murus	"This body is dead," Murus said, implacably. "It can capture many bullets." Surely all you'd ever wanted from life was your wife's dead body shielding you from potential snipers, Duke.
Duke	That was so far from being something Duke wanted. "Yeah, I kind of just watched that body get shot, thanks. You know bullets can go through people, right?"
Murus	"I'm aware of the lethal angles." Murus had been working in Hell for rather a long time, here. "I could simply remain here until the outside threat has been dispersed," he allowed. "If you believe the risk is smaller." He didn't care. He just knew Lord Morningstar would.
Duke	Duke sighed and leaned his head against the bars. "I must've been such a shit head in my past lives." To deserve his dead wife standing there staring at him until Nathan fixed a goddamn siege. Thankfully it didn't take all that long before the sound of rapid gunfire could be heard from the back door to the station. Duke grabbed hold of the bars, yanking at them uselessly. "Nathan!" Was he going to lose two exes in the same day? "Can't you go -- protect him or something?!"
Murus	"Not my concern. Humans die every day," Murus said. He hadn't even blinked. "Most of them don't have two-thousand-year-old monitoring orders."
Duke	"Two. . . ." Duke dragged both hands down his face. "Two thousand. . . . That's how long he's been down there?" He was suddenly feeling very small. And very, very young.
Murus	"He is the First of the Fallen. Time means nothing to him." Unlike Ted, Murus didn't have much of an ability to identify anybody's emotions. "He says you have more enemies than you understand," he added, "Ergo, I am here."
Duke	"Right." Duke swallowed hard. "Because nothing says 'protectiveness' more than the fucking undead staring you down while you're locked up and helpless." There was another commotion, this time from the direction of the bullpen. What sounded like muffled shouting, Audrey and Chris and maybe some others. But no Nathan. Footsteps started back towards the cells. Duke backed up until he hit the back wall, dreading who -- or what -- might come in.
Murus	Something like distrust flitted across Evi's dead face. "Unfortunate," he said. Her fingers found the lock on the door, and then the weakest link-- Snap.
Duke and Dwight	Duke just about jumped out of his skin at that snap. Before he could say anything -- or run out the newly opened door, an enormous figure appeared in the doorway. "Sasquatch?" "Duke." Dwight nodded once, eyes flicking from Duke to Murus without so much as a blink. "Ma'am." His shirt was open, the vest he wore beneath it riddled with bullets. Because he'd apparently had the same plan as Murus here had. "Coast is clear." "Is Nathan --" "He's fine. Audrey cleared up the trouble, too." He frowned faintly, giving Duke a once over. "You look like shit. Why are you in a cell?"
Murus	"He made attempts to rush outside into the enemy," Murus said. His voice was still oddly flat. He did not look at the newcomer. He was making a calculation about whether or not he'd achieved his mission.
Duke and Dwight	Duke pushed the door open just far enough to slip out, careful not to look directly at Evi's pale, dead eyes. "We good?" he asked, figuring one of them would decide he was talking to them and answer. "We're good," Dwight said. "Sheriff's office picked up the snipers. Coroner's coming in to clear out the dead." He gave Murus an odd look. He could have sworn Nathan had said Evi had been shot. And there was way too much blood on that shirt for it to be a graze. . . . "Great." Duke moved to push Dwight back out of the holding area, but paused before he actually touched the beaten up flack jacket the man was wearing. "So . . . you should go . . . help clean. Right?" "Yeah." Dwight looked from Duke to Murus, to the door to the cell. Which was meant to be locked. "I'm thinking I don't want any details here. You two have a good night." And he was off again. Duke sagged a little, then turned back to Murus. "You did your job. Well done. Now . . . there was some message you were supposed to pass on?"
Murus	"You are a fool for hurling yourself at this place once again, especially as it conspires against you," said Murus. Those were probably not the exact words Lucifer had used, so... be grateful, Duke. "You should return home. There is a sinner you owe, and who owes you, a conversation that does not involve gratuitous yelling and irrational displays of emotion." Definitely not the exact words Lucifer had used.
Duke	Duke rolled his eyes. "And what's your boss know of it, huh? He should go home and talk to her, too. But he doesn't, because he's trying to protect us. Well guess what: that's what I'm doing here, too."
Murus	"What you are doing here appears to be getting locked in jail cells to protect you against your own suicidal impulses," Murus said, sounding bored. "I do not understand why Lord Morningstar bothers to invest such resources in watching you at all, but it is not my place to question it." Nobody wanted to end up the way Dromos had for the past two thousand years.
Duke	"This is one time --" Duke brandished his finger in Murus's face -- and found himself looking in those cold, dead eyes. He flinched back violently. "I don't expect you to understand." He'd have hoped Lucifer would understand, but apparently that was too much to ask of the King of Hell. "Fine. Message received you can go tell Lord Morningstar that the guy who ditched his favorite human is still an idiot."
Murus	He was railing at a demon. Murus's kind wasn't exactly known for empathy or understanding. Or figuring out when their boss was hiding 'frantic worry' by barking orders. "I don't know how you humans get anything done with all these irrational and unnecessary emotions," Murus said. Then Evi's body crumpled to the floor.
Duke	“Yeah. Me neither.” Duke crouched down to arrange Evi with a bit more dignity. He considered offering her a few words but — she was in Hell. Getting what she deserved. There was nothing more to say. He stood and went to go find Nathan.

---

Duke stared down at Evi's body on the coroner's gurney. Murus was gone. So was she. It was just an empty shell now. Just. . . . meat.

(Octavia and her people had had to live on that, on human meat, while locked in the bunker.)

He swallowed bile and pulled the sheet up over Evi's head. His head hurt. His heart hurt. Everything hurt, and very little made any sense. He was so angry, and he had nowhere to put it.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Mr. Crocker. I truly am."

He looked up to see the Rev standing at the end of the otherwise empty hall. Well. He could maybe put it there.

"She didn't know anything about this town."

The Rev approached. Duke clenched his fists and his jaw to keep from lashing out at his smugly solemn face. "She was one of the many innocent victims of the troubled. I lost my wife to them too."

"I heard about that." Duke looked down at the sheet covering Evi's face. "Your wife ran off with a merman. It's not really the same thing."

"She was seduced by the unholy," the Rev intoned, coming closer again. "I can help you avoid that same fate, Mr. Crocker. But you'll have to prove to me that you're worthy."

Duke wondered what the Rev would say if he knew he'd actually had sex with the Devil. More than once. "What's your game, Reverend? This all about hate to you? Or are you after something else?"

The Rev turned, his expression never shifting, and began to walk away. "When you prove to me you're worthy, Mr. Crocker. Then we'll talk."

Duke watched him go. He looked back down at Evi, then headed off in the other direction. He could feel Lucifer's attention on him, his judgement, just as clearly as he could feel the Rev's. Nathan's. Audrey's.

All of them wanting something from him. All of them finding him wanting.

[NFB, NFI, OOC welcome. Adapted from 2x09, "Lockdown", with special guest star my_own_advocate. CW for contagion and TV-style quarantine. Also, violence and minor character death. Haven is a trip, yo]