betterthanaplan | Haven, Maine, Monday Fandom time

Audrey was avoiding him. Considering their last conversation had been over a box of murder weapons and a note from Duke's dad telling him to murder her . . . that was at least a little bit fair.

It was also pissing Duke off.

He tried telling her that he wasn't going to do it. The only decent thing his father had ever done for him was arrange for him to get his boat before he died, so yeah, Duke was happy not to live up to that legacy.

Or any legacy, in fact, that required him killing people in cold blood.

She dodged him with a blase joke. Duke was very familiar with that particular defense mechanism. Hell, it was one of the reasons he liked her so damn much (loved her, apparently, judging by what had slipped out in that last conversation). That didn't stop it from getting on Duke's nerves when she aimed it at him.

Nathan spent all his time vacillating between hating Duke and trying to save him. Now Audrey could barely even look at him. With Octavia gone and Evi dead, Duke was rapidly running out of people in Haven who were even nominally on his side.

Maybe he should just give up. Head back down south. Try and patch things up with Octavia. He still had no idea what he'd say to her, how to get past the things he knew now about her, but — well, his past wasn't all that much better, was it. He was a liar, a cheat. A petty thief at the end of a long, long, long line of murderers. There were more descriptions of kills in his father's journal than Duke wanted to think about, going back hundreds of years. Every generation, a new period of active troubles. Every generation, a new Crocker to try to kill them all.

He hopped into the shower, trying to clear his head, but it didn't help. Just made him wet and conflicted. He was just slipping his old whistle back over his head when a voice came out of the shadows.

"Very impressive, Duke."

Duke froze, every muscle in his body locking up.

No.

"Like what you've done with my place."

He stood in the middle of Duke's galley, looking around like he belonged there. Like he belonged anywhere but at the bottom of the grave they'd dumped him in, after fishing his corpse out of the water.

Duke swallowed. "Dad?"

Duke stepped out of his bedroom again, pulling a shirt on over his shoulders, and sighed when he saw his father was still there. "Damn. I really hoped I'd walk back out here to see that you'd disappeared."

Simon Crocker watched his son open a bottle of bourbon. "You're taking this well."

"Yes I am," Duke agreed. "You see, I'm pretty sure that you're the result of some brownies this girl gave me last night. God, what was her name? Tall? Dutch girl?"

"You're not imagining this." Simon reached for the glass of bourbon. His hand passed right through it.

"Says the dead guy I last saw 27 years ago." Duke picked up the glass and gestured with it. "But sure. Let's go with it. Let's say you're real." He took a sip and gave his father a cold smile. "How are you? How've you been? Why are you back?"

"I don't know," Simon said, smirking right back.

"Let me take a guess." Duke set his glass down again. "You're going to disappear for a few days. And I won't have any idea why. And then you'll show back up, bloody and beaten up, and expect me to nurse you back to health!"

"Look." Simon sighed. "I know I was a crap father. And worse husband."

"Check and check. You know, I gotta tell you: you are much smarter dead and imaginary!"

Simon looked away, eyes landing on the silver box still sitting on Duke's coffee table. "You found my weapons." Duke dropped his chin and tried not to scowl. "The troubles must be back."

"Yes they are," Duke confirmed. "You know, this must be a dream!" He knew it wasn't. Too many fucked up, entirely real things had happened to him in the last year for him to believe that for a moment. But he wanted to. So badly. "That's gotta be it. Are there mermaids out there?"

"You cure anybody yet?"

Fuck fuck fuck fuck. Duke decided to play dumb. "Uh, no, not that I know of. You know, this has been fun, but I'm going to go back to bed and hope that I wake up."

"Hey!" his father barked. "You are awake! You know that's real, right?"

Duke turned around, his shoulders tensing. He hadn't seen his father in almost three decades, and he could still make Duke feel like a tiny, idiot child. "Right."

"I know I wasn't around. There was a reason, okay? I was out. Saving people."

"Oh really," Duke snarled. "And how were you out 'saving people'?" He was really going to get a whole holier-than-thou speech, wasn't he.

"When someone from our family kills a cursed person, we don't just kill their body. We kill their curse, too. That's our trouble."

"Jesus," Duke said softly. "You really drank the kool-aid, didn't you. Wow. You really are a piece of work."

"Now I know why I'm here," Simon said firmly. "To make you understand."

Simon harassed Duke until he agreed to take him up to a field of wildflowers above town. Duke hoped that if he let his father say his peace, he'd disappear again, and he could go back to deciding whether or not to run.

"What do you see, Duke?" Simon asked.

Duke sighed and looked across the purple heather. "A field."

"26 years ago, last May, there was a third grade campout up here," Simon said. "Mrs. Holloway's class."

Duke nodded. "Yeah, all those kids died. I knew some of them."

"Remember how they died?"

Duke shrugged. "Food poisoning." Simon looked away, across the field. "Or not."

Nothing in Haven was ever that straight forward.

"The tents were pitched in a big circle," Simon said, gesturing to the flowers in front of them. "Here, around a big fire. Mrs. Holloway told a campfire story. It scared Jenny Mears so bad that her curse kicked in. Fear poured out of her in toxic waves." Duke shut his eyes and licked his lips. He could see where this was going, and hated every second of it. "Twelve kids and two chaperones died."

"What does that have to do with you?"

"I could have saved them." Simon turned to face Duke fully. "I had a chance to kill Jenny's grandfather a week before their trip."

"But you didn't."

"No. I couldn't. The day after it happened, he came to me and begged me to kill him."

"And then you did," Duke said. He understood that. He hated it, but he understood. It'd been the man's choice. That wasn't the same as murder.

"His pain was over in a minute," Simon was saying. "Mine lasted! Every time I saw the parents of those kids. You have a responsibility, Duke! A destiny!"

"You can go back to Hell," Duke growled. "Tell Luce I said 'hi'."

Simon tried to stop him from leaving. Duke walked right through him.

"Hasn't anyone you've ever known died because of the troubles?! Anyone you cared about!"

Duke turned to answer back, but couldn't. All he could think of was Bill's face, blaming himself for Geoff's death. Julia sobbing into Duke's chest as they stood over her mother's body.

Evi, bleeding out under his hands.

"You could have saved them," Simon said softly.

Duke shook his head, his stomach rolling over. He couldn't fix everyone. Couldn't save everyone. This was exactly the shit his dad had always put on him, exactly what he'd spent the summer trying to get past.

But he wanted to. He wanted to so badly.

He turned, waving a dismissive hand back at the ghost of his father without speaking. He was afraid of what he might say if he tried. What ammunition he might give the man to further manipulate him with.

He'd left this town a long time ago. He should never have looked back.

Duke couldn't stand the sight of the weapons cache sitting on his coffee table anymore, so he packed it all up, everything but the journal, and brought it with him to the cemetery. They were his father's things, not his. They should lie with his father's body.

He was just finishing patting the dirt back over the box at the foot of the gravestone when Parker and Nathan came up. There was a new trouble in town, obviously. Ghosts had been getting their revenge on the living. Which was . . . fucking perfect, really. His father's revenge was to guilt him into murdering people.

Audrey hadn't told Nathan about Duke's trouble, but Duke was too tired to bother trying to skate around the topic and filled him in, anyway. Told them about what his father had told him, about the camping trip, the fear trouble, Simon murdering Jenny's grandfather. About how he swore up and down it was Duke's "destiny".

"Let me get this straight," Nathan said, storming after Duke as he headed back towards the parking lot. "You can end a trouble?!"

"Just have to kill someone to do it," Duke said, pointing back at him. "Try not to forget that part."

"Wait. Wasn't your father buried at Seaside?"

Duke sighed. "Seaside is eroding. They moved him here about a year ago."

Audrey whacked Nathan on the arm. "Wait, who moved him?"

Duke shrugged. "Somebody from this cemetery, I guess?"

Nathan had his phone out. "We need to get a hold of the caretaker, find out who buried who. Maybe that's our link." He strode off, already dialing. Duke rolled his eyes and leaned against the gate post, watching Audrey pace.

"Do you ever wonder," he asked. "Why you're here?"

Audrey shook her head. "No. I mean, that's the one thing I don't wonder about anymore. I'm here to help the troubled."

"Yeah, but." Duke bit his lip. "Doesn't it — doesn't it bother you that . . . you never really solve anything. I mean . . . a week goes by. A month. 20 years, whatever. The troubles keep coming back." He looked away, finally letting himself think about the things he'd been avoiding since Gloria first filled him in about the Crocker curse. Let himself think that maybe his father had a point. "People keep dying."

Audrey leaned towards him, her eyes searching his. "I have no alternative," she said slowly.

Duke gave her a quick little smile. "But what if you did?"

She didn't answer right away. Nathan came back before Duke could find out if she was going to answer at all.

It turned out that the man who'd moved Duke's father was the same one who'd buried two of the ghosts that Nathan and Audrey had identified so far: Kyle Hopkins. They had their likely troubled person.

They also had another ghost to contend with. Nathan looked shaken, and headed off again, this time to go talk with the ghost of his father.

Duke hoped Nathan's reunion went a lot better than his had.

Duke offered to chauffeur Audrey around while she went to look for their troubled gravedigger. Instead, she had him pull over in front of a house only blocks from the cemetery. She'd noticed some graffiti on the driveway, like the markings left by utility maintenance when they needed to track cables under the street.

"These have been popping up around town," she said. "I've seen a few of them."

Duke shrugged. "So?"

Audrey would not be dissuaded. Her instincts were good, though; there was a clear sign of struggle on the house's front porch, once they started looking. Duke followed her up the steps, only to freeze when he saw who stepped up onto the other side of the porch.

The Rev.

"You okay?" Audrey asked. She couldn't see the Rev. She hadn't seen the Chief at the cemetery, either. Apparently her trouble immunity protected her from the ghosts by just hiding them from view.

Duke swallowed. She was lucky enough not to have to look the man she'd shot in the face again. He wasn't going to take that from her. In fact, he was going to do his damnedest to keep the rat bastard as far away from her as possible.

"You know what?" he said, unable to even call up a performative smile as the Rev stared at him from maybe a foot away. "If you want to check out the house, I can keep an eye out out here."

Audrey gave him another odd look, but nodded. "Thanks." She ducked inside, leaving Duke facing off against the dead reverend.

Duke glanced after her as he approached the Rev, making sure she was out of earshot before brandishing his finger in the man's spectral face. "You'd better not be here to hurt her."

The Rev smirked. "I've got more important things to do."

"Oh yeah?" Duke lifted his chin. "Like what?"

"I've come back for you."

Yeah, the Rev hadn't gotten any less creepy when he'd died. "Right. My father told me about his 'job'. I'm not interested."

"Your father's here!" The Rev smiled. "Good." He stepped past Duke, who dodged out of the way, even knowing he'd just pass right through him. "Come with me."

Duke backed off. "You know what? I think I'll let the two of you catch up. Maybe you could hit the senior center together."

"Duke, people followed me when I was alive. Think what they'll do for me now."

Duke really didn't want to think about that, actually. He started into the house.

"Come with me," the Rev ordered sharply. "Or I'll take my revenge on Audrey Parker." He turned to walk away. Duke watched him go, then looked into the house.

Audrey couldn't see the Rev. Which meant she'd never see him coming.

He knew what the Rev was doing. He knew that he'd regret following after him. He also knew he couldn't let him hurt Audrey. Maybe — maybe he could finish what he'd tried to start in the woods with the Benton girls. Get on the inside of the Rev's operation and help bring it down.

Maybe he was in all the way over his head, and he'd end up seeing Lucifer in Hell sooner rather than later.

He left Audrey in the house and followed the Rev into the woods.

Danny	Because he'd been having an okay week and that just could not stand, Danny, with a cup of coffee from The Perk in hand, found himself back in Haven. "You've gotta be kidding me," he grumbled, getting his bearings again in a town he'd been to all of once. Time to hunt down Crocker for whatever fresh bullshit was happening!
Audrey	Audrey's thoughts were moving along the same lines, at least with regards to Duke. Who seemed to have wandered off while she was investigating a crime scene. She came out of the house, careful not to disturb the dropped keys and wallet and other signs of struggle on the front porch, and looked around. "Duke!" she shouted. "Where the hell did he go?"
Danny	Well, at least there was someone he knew! "It's gonna be one of those days, isn't it?" Danny asked, carefully coming up to where she was.
Audrey	"It definitely has been so far," Audrey agreed. She flicked him a tired smile. "Detective Williams. Welcome back. Since I can see you, I'm going to go ahead and assume you're not one of our new ghosts."
Danny	"Certainly hope not," he said, touching his own chest for confirmation. "What's happening this time?"
Audrey	"Dead people coming back to take their revenge on the living," Audrey said, like she was talking about the local boat parade. (Which, admittedly, had turned out to be a very exciting and stressful day, but still.) "Pretty much all of them buried by the same gravedigger, so Duke was supposed to be taking me to go talk to the guy." She frowned, looking around, as though Duke might come bouncing out of the woods that surrounded the house with some bullshit excuse. "I had him stop here to check out some suspicious graffiti I've been noticing around town. Houseowners seem to be missing, and now so is he."
Danny	"Oh, that's pretty alarming actually," he said. "Alright, need another set of eyes on this?" Since he was gonna do it anyway. Because Duke.
Audrey	"That'd be great, thanks," Audrey said, and looked up and down the road. "Don't suppose you came with a car?"
Danny	"Just me and my coffee." Thank god for that. "I guess I should be glad I was already headed to work."
Audrey	"That island of yours is so weird," Audrey said, shaking her head. "And that's coming from a place where 'ghosts are taking revenge on the living' is basically just Tuesday." She pulled out her phone to send Nathan a message to come pick them up. "The graffiti is over here," she said, pointing out a freshly painted orange mark on the ground, a circle with an X drawn through it. "There's signs of struggle at the house, but I'm not seeing anything that wasn't already here before Duke wandered off. He was acting a little squirrelly though. And, uh, apparently has had conversations with the ghost of his father today."
Danny	She really had no idea. "Oh, that's great," Danny said, crouching down to examine the graffiti. "I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess he didn't share what those conversations were about." Shocking, really.
Audrey	"He did, actually," Audrey said, giving Danny an assessing look. "His father tried to talk him into using his trouble." Duke had only told Audrey about his trouble after it had been set off in front of her. She wondered if he'd said anything about it to his Fandom friends.
Danny	"Sonovabitch," Danny muttered, pushing himself back up onto his feet. "Okay, let's make sure that doesn't happen then." Duke's dad was sounding like a real Doris, to be honest.
Audrey	Simon Crocker was nowhere near as clever, but otherwise, that was an apt description. "Glad we're on the same page there," Audrey said. "Since his dad also left him a note before he died, telling him to kill me." It'd been quite the few weeks, up here in Haven. "Nathan should be here soon to pick us up. I guess . . . we'll keep heading to the gravedigger's house. Put this trouble to bed before anyone talks Duke into something stupid."
Danny	Danny sighed loudly, very much looking like he was gonna go punch a ghost for pulling dumb shit like this on way too many people he knew. "We'll find him and put his head back on straight too," he promised.
Audrey	"You really care about him, huh," Audrey observed. She bit her lip on the question of just how he did. She'd only just learned that Duke was interested in men as well as women, and he seemed pretty liberal with that affection. And this was the second time Danny had shown up out of the blue when Duke was in trouble.
Danny	Would it help if she knew that Danny had half adopted a series of dark haired idiots, rife with familial issues? It was turning into A Thing. "Course I do," Danny said like it was just that simple. "He's my friend." And Danny was stupid loyal to friends. Like, travel to North Korea loyal.
Audrey	"I've never had friends like that," Audrey said. "Not until I got here." Then she sighed. "Well, that I know of. Lucy probably did. Or Sarah." She shook her head. "Alright. We'll find Kyle, bust the ghosts. Then . . . tie Duke to a chair and beat some sense back into him with a stick."
Danny	"Lucy or Sarah?" Danny had to ask, sort of wondering if this was gonna be some road he didn't need to know about for his own sanity. "Let's try to refrain from the stick beating for now, but I've got handcuffs ready if he gets tetchy about it."
Audrey	Audrey smirked. "I'm sure he'd just love that." Duke always looked so offended when someone cuffed him. "I, uh. Used to be different people. Apparently the memories of the original Audrey Parker, FBI, got copied into my brain at some point. It's a Haven thing."
Danny	Yeah, he probably would. "Ah." Yeah, he didn't really want to know the details on that. But had to ask, "And you think my stuff is weird?" Though his tone was sort of teasing.
Audrey	"I've heard about your squirrels," Audrey said. She perked up and nodded as Nathan's big blue Bronco pulled up. "Here's Nathan. At least he hasn't wandered off yet."
Danny	"Fair," he had to grant her, offering a friendly wave to Nathan. Because the guy was a dick and all, but there were more important things to worry about.
Nathan and Audrey	Nathan leaned out his window and frowned (not that it was easy to tell). "Williams. When'd you get here?" "Maybe five minutes ago," Audrey said. "Apparently his island kicked him out again."
Danny	Wasn't that just his resting expression? "Seems Duke's missing, so..." He gestured to himself in a sort of 'voila'. "Here I am."
Nathan and Audrey	It was two degrees past his resting expression. "How'd you know?" he asked. "Maybe disastrous timing is his trouble," Audrey said. "What do you think, Dan? Are you a magnet for danger?"
Danny	Big difference! "Wow, no." Then he had to pause and really consider it. "No, it's usually the people around me who run head first into danger."
AUDREY1 Nathan	Audrey laughed and eyed Nathan knowingly. At the same time as Nathan muttered "Know that feeling." "Excuse me," Audrey said. "Which one of us thinks because he can't feel anything he can't get injured?" Nathan just tilted his head at her. "You ran into a fire the other day. To save someone whose sweat mummifies people." "I'm immune to troubles!" "Not immune to fire."
Danny	Oh god, he needed to apologize to Steve for disappearing on him now. Stupid other people making him realize stuff. "Both valid points of running into danger," Danny granted them. "But let's focus on the most pressing one right now." If he was here too long, the odds of his own personal trouble magnet showing up rose.
Audrey and Nathan	"Getting rid of ghosts," Audrey said, nodding. "And finding Duke." "Why do we think he didn't just ditch you?" Nathan asked.
Danny	"Because Haven," Danny suggested. "I mean. This'll only be the second time I've been here, but..."
Nathan and Audrey	"It's Haven," Nathan agreed. "It's also Duke." Audrey shook her head, climbing into the passenger seat. "Give him a break, Nathan. He's been through a lot."
Danny	"Yes, that is who we're looking for. Very good," Danny said, taking the backseat here.
Nathan and Audrey	Nathan's scowl deepened another two degrees. "Looking for Kyle Hopkins, actually. He's the one making the ghosts." Audrey eyed him. The revelation from Duke that they used to be lovers had cast a whole new light on Nathan's animosity. And his story about how his trouble was activated. Now she found herself wondering if maybe some of his coldness towards Danny wasn't a little bit of jealousy. "We can do both," she said lightly. "And maybe even figure out those orange Xs while we're at it. You know, with detective work."
Danny	"Catch me up on the rest of the case as we go," Danny suggested, having very little time for weird jealousy issues.
Nathan and Audrey	Nathan nodded and put the car into gear. Then stayed quiet and let Audrey do the actual catching up. "Started out as just a shooting. A woman was shot by her neighbor, who claimed he was in her house with a gun because the ghost of her dead husband told him she was in danger. Which sounds like it could be standard perp babble —" "Until you factor in the neighbors seeing the husband, too," Nathan added. "Turns out, the woman and the neighbor were having an affair when the husband died. Little while later, we had a kid taking revenge on his sister's rapist, saying his sister's ghost told him to. Both the husband and the sister were buried at the same cemetery by the same man." "Kyle Hopkins," Nathan said. "Who it turns out moved Duke's father's grave when the cemetery he was originally buried in started eroding." "Still not sure how my dad fits into it," Nathan said. "Buried him myself."
Danny	"And the graffiti?" Danny asked.
Nathan and Audrey	Nathan shrugged. "First I've heard of it." "I've seen it a few times around town today," Audrey said. "Always at the end of people's driveways. And at that last house, there was a clear sign of struggle. People don't just leave their front door open, their wallet and keys on the ground. Even in Haven." "You think there's a ghost behind it?" Nathan asked. Audrey nodded. "Someone who felt wronged by a lot of people, maybe." "Duke's father was a serial killer." Audrey hummed, frowning harder. "There's Kyle's house," she said, pointing off to the right. Nathan pulled up to the curb a little ways down the road. Audrey stayed his hand when he reached for the ignition. "Keep the engine running, Nathan, in case something happens." She opened her door. "Dan, you're with me."
Danny	"Danny," he replied dryly, falling into step with her once he was out of the car.
Audrey	"Danny," Audrey muttered with a nod. "Sorry." She was terrible at names, unless you were troubled. He was lucky she hadn't called him Don. Or Roger. A woman stepped out the front door of the house as they were walking up. Marissa Hopkins, Kyle's visibly pregnant wife, looking like she was in a rush. There was orange paint on her hand, the same color as the suspicious graffiti popping up around town.
Danny	It was better than other things he'd been called at least! "Her hand," Danny whispered, nodding up at her in a greeting to cover it up.
Audrey	Audrey looked and gave the faintest of nods. Marissa frowned at them. "Can I help you?" "Hi!" Audrey smiled. "We're looking for, uh. 134 Draper Place? The Gundersons?" "Don't know them," Marissa said, narrowing her eyes a little. "And this is Park Street." "Oh, wow." Audrey shook her head sheepishly. "I am so sorry." She backhanded Danny. "I told you to ask for directions!"
Danny	"We don't need directions," Danny said, playing up exasperated husband without missing a beat. And the accent was more pronounced as an out-of-towner than it had been before. "I know where we're going." He projected a vibe of not at all knowing that.
Audrey	Audrey was impressed! She rolled her eyes and groaned, looking at Marissa with a heavily implied 'husbands, am I right?' as she said "He does this all the time." Marissa just pushed past them, heading for her car. Once Audrey was sure she was no longer paying attention, she started back for the Bronco. "Good eye on the hands," she muttered. "Looks like the graffiti and the ghosts are definitely connected."
Danny	"We following her?" Danny asked tracking the car as long as he could on the way.
Audrey and Nathan	"Damn right we are." Audrey hopped into the Bronco. "She's involved in the graffiti," she told Nathan. Nathan nodded, waiting just long enough for Danny to get in as well before pulling back onto the road to tail her.

Audrey and Nathan	Marissa headed into the woods that surrounded the town. As Audrey watched the trees along the side of the road get thicker and thicker, she thought back to the last time she and Nathan had headed out this way. ". . . Who buried the Rev?" she asked. Nathan's jaw clenched. "Crap."
Danny	"Who?" Because this was just gonna be A Thing, wasn't it? Wasn't it?
Nathan and Audrey	"Local religious leader," Nathan said. "Audrey shot and killed him in the line of duty last week." "Local murderous asshole," Audrey said. "Who was trying to hunt and kill a teenager and had been getting people riled up about 'getting rid' of troubled people." Yeah. It was 100% A Thing.
Danny	"Okay, so if that asshole is involved, why grab Duke?" Danny asked. "Was he involved in that stuff?"
Audrey and Nathan	Audrey bit her lip. Nathan huffed softly. "Duke was working with the Rev." "He was . . . pretending to," Audrey said softly. "Trying to infiltrate his operation." "Did a piss-poor job." "Well, Nathan, maybe if you hadn't knocked him out with your radio, he would have trusted you enough to ask for your advice."
Danny	"Jesus christ," Danny said, tossing his hands up in the air. "Are the two of you adults or pissed off grade-schoolers?" That was aimed at Nathan and Duke, so Audrey was safe from his annoyance on this.
Nathan and Audrey	"He was going to get himself killed!" Nathan said. He was absolutely still about eight years old when it came to Duke, good call, Danny. "That was for his own damn good —" "She's stopping," Audrey said, holding out her hand, as Marissa's car pulled onto the shoulder next to a seemingly unremarkable stretch of woods. Nathan drove slowly past, watching until the woman had gone past the tree line before pulling the Bronco over as well.
Danny	"Alright, try not to knock people out with a radio unless her or I give you some approval first," Danny said, checking to make sure his gun was ready for whatever they were gonna find in there. "Just a thought."
Nathan and Audrey	Nathan grumbled something about being the Chief of Police. Audrey didn't bother replying that she agreed with Danny. Marissa hadn't gone too far into the woods before she happened upon a very busy clearing. Audrey ducked behind a bush, tugging Nathan along after her and trusting Danny's instincts to do the same. The clearing was centered around an old wooden shed. There was an open padlock on the shed door, and two men armed with rifles flanking it on either side. An unmarked, dirty white van was pulled up to the clearing's edge, back-end first, and two more armed men were pulling an unconscious prisoner out of it, pausing to press a rag over the prisoner's face before continuing to the shed. Between the van and the shed was a collection of gas cans, and several more people putting together what looked like molotov cocktails. As the men carried the prisoner into the shed, at least a dozen others could be seen lying on the floor inside it, their eyes closed, their hands and feet tied together. "Those people must be troubled," Audrey whispered. "That's what the graffiti was, marking the homes of troubled people." Nathan nodded, expression dark. "They're going to burn that shed to the ground."
Danny	Danny took a deep breath and took the safety off his gun. "Jesus, how did he get so many people in on this plan," he grumbled. "I'm guessing none of 'em are just gonna come along peacefully because we're cops, right?"
Audrey and Nathan	"No," Audrey said. "They won't. And we still don't know who we can trust back at the station not to be on the Rev's side." "They've been building up to this a long time," Nathan said. "Must've started before the Rev died. Probably before the lockdown, too." Audrey opened her mouth to reply when Nathan stiffened. "There he is." He gestured with his chin to the figure who'd just come walking out of the trees on the other side of the shed. A man all in black, with a priest's collar, whose passage didn't disturb the greenery in the least. "Rev's definitely here." Audrey looked, but of course she couldn't see the Rev. She did see Duke, though. Unrestrained, unharmed. "Dammit, Duke."
Danny	"Is he doing what he was before or not is the question," Danny said, squinting over in that direction. Duke, you were gonna get yelled at a lot over this.
The Rev and Duke	To be fair, Duke was still nursing a minor concussion from Nathan's radio trick. Which had only gotten worse when Dwight clocked him in the head with a solid silver trunk. Though they were too far away to hear the details of his conversation, he was gesturing like he was disagreeing with whatever the Rev had to say. It'd be hard to find out more than that just yet, though, as three men armed with pistols stepped out of the greenery behind the detectives. "You're gonna wanna drop any weapons you might have," the one behind Danny said. And cocked his pistol with an audible click.
Danny	Well. It would get them closer to what was going on, at least. Not that Danny looked any happier with the circumstances. "I really dislike your town," he informed Nathan, raising his hands to show he wasn't a threat. You know. Until the action-packed finale.
Duke and The Rev	"You tell me what's happening, or I'm out of here," Duke said, getting up in the Rev's face. The Rev nodded to the shed. "Take a look." Duke did. "Oh my god. What have you done?!" "They're not dead, just unconscious. Couldn't risk their curses causing us problems." "You're insane!" Duke swung around to point at the gathered group. "All of you! You're all insane! I'm not going to stand here and let you burn these people!" "Oh, they're not going to burn," the Rev said. "You're going to save them." One of his men grabbed Duke by the wrist and shoved a knife into his hand. Duke grabbed onto it instinctively, the adrenaline he'd been riding since the Rev led him away from the house cresting over. He swung the knife around, driving everyone back, and spun — just in time to end up brandishing it at Audrey as the men holding guns on the detectives led them into the center of the clearing. "Duke!" Audrey shouted. She'd only been able to catch half that conversation, and had no idea what Duke might be thinking. "What are you doing?" "You working with the Rev?" Nathan asked. Duke looked from him to the knife in his hand, then back over at the Rev. "What? No! Of course not!"
Danny	"Yeah?" Danny asked, taking the whole scene in. Then maybe help them out a little here. You know. With the whole cult thing happening again.
Duke and The Rev	Duke didn't even know why Danny was here. He looked from Danny to the knife in his hand, as though he'd just realized it was even there. It felt a little like he did. There'd been too many shocks lately — and too many blows to the head, let's be real — for him to properly process much of anything right now. He rounded on the Rev and threw the knife to the ground. The Rev simply stared back at him, that little self-righteous, self-assured smirk of his firmly in place. "I remember when you preached forgiveness, Reverend," Nathan said. The Rev shook his head faintly. "I'm all out of forgiveness."
Danny	"So, what? Your answer is mass murder?" Danny asked, trying to get closer to Duke to get a hand on him and confirm he was okay. Because, man did he look rough.
Nathan and Audrey	The Rev's man behind him tightened his hold, pressing his gun at Danny's temple. The one holding a gun on Audrey looked across the three cops, full of nervous energy. "You want us to put them in the shed, Reverend?" "No, you should let 'em go," Nathan said, shooting the man a dark look. He couldn't feel his own guard's gun press into his neck. "You don't need to take orders from a dead man." "Especially since you're the one who brought him back, Kyle." Kyle Hopkins tensed and lifted his gun a little higher. "What are you talking about?"
Danny	"The ghosts," Danny said, going still again, resisting the urge to lift his chin in defiance here. It wasn't gonna do any good. "They're caused by you, right?"
Audrey and Simon	"Everyone who's come back," Audrey said, nodding towards Danny. "They have one thing in common: you dug their graves." Kyle scowled. "So what? I dig a lot of graves." Simon Crocker stepped up next to Duke, leaning in as though sharing a secret. "They always fight the truth at first," he said. "No," Kyle said. "No no no no no no no no. Reverend, tell them it's not true!" The Rev simply watched him, not saying a word.
Danny	"You don't want to do this, Kyle," Danny continued, inhaling sharply at the whole devil on the shoulder bullshit happening with Duke there.
Simon and The Rev	Excuse you, Danny. The Devil was pretty anti Duke actually using his trouble, thank you. Kyle's expression was falling. "Then they have that moment," Simon said. "When they realize why all their lives, they felt different." Kyle leaned past Audrey to look where his wife stood, watching. "Honey! They're wrong, I swear!" Marissa looked down at her pregnant belly. At the unborn child inside, who would have Kyle's same curse. "And then they start to beg," Simon said. "Marissa," Kyle said, helplessly. "Reverend Driscoll, please!" "Sorry. Can't help you, Kyle." The Rev did look sorry, that was the kicker. Until he pointed to Duke. "But he can."
Danny	"Duke." Don't you do this.
The Rev and Duke	"He can save your child from that terrible curse!" The Rev crowed. "No." Duke shook his head. "No, wait, wait, hold on." "Save him," the Rev insisted. Duke pressed his hand to his forehead, his head spinning. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. Someone shoved the knife into Duke's hand again, and he turned slowly away from the Rev, staring down at it ~~as the dramatic music swelled~~. Had Octavia gone through something like this? When her people were starving in the bunker? Had she had people breathing down her neck, urging her to kill, kill!?
Danny	"Duke," Danny snapped, straining to get free of the idiot with the gun now. "Don't listen to them."
Duke and Kyle	Duke looked up and caught his eye, giving him a little shake of his head. He wasn't. He wasn't, he didn't want to kill anyone — Then Kyle broke away from Audrey, dropping his gun. He grabbed Duke's wrist before anyone could react and yanked it forward, plunging the knife into his own gut. Duke let go of the knife as soon as he realized what was happening, but it was much too late. Kyle's blood was already all over his hand, and Kyle himself was already collapsing down to the ground. Duke trembled as the blood soaked into his skin and vanished.
Danny	Yeah, the struggling turned into straight on elbowing the guy in the face and taking his gun from him with a twist on his wrist. Because this was all bullshit. "Jesus, someone check on him," he snapped, gun pointed down for now.
Audrey and Duke	Audrey dropped to her knees on one side of Kyle, Marissa on the other. That was hopefully who Danny had meant, because for sure no one was going to check on Duke. "Kyle," Marissa said, a sob in her throat. "I love you." Kyle looked up at Duke and gave him a shaky smile. "Thank you. My son will be safe now." Duke could only stare down at him, his mind gone completely blank. There was no rush to hold back this time, no sudden burst of strength. Just a strange, indescribable sensation as Kyle's breath started to fail, as the ghosts began to glow and fade. As Duke's trouble broke down Kyle's and absorbed it, just as his skin had absorbed Kyle's blood.
Danny	For the moment, it was what he'd meant. "Duke," Danny said again, keeping an eye out for anyone who was still on the 'let's commit mass murder' train. Because this was a bad day and he wasn't in a great mood.
Duke and Simon	The only happy people in this clearing were dying or dead, let's be real. Duke didn't hear him. He glanced up, catching Nathan's eye, just in time to see Nathan stare back at him. To see recrimination and a kind of calculating horror on Nathan's face. Not far away, like fading echoes, Nathan's father and Duke's stared each other down, too. "I know you helped her kill me, Garland," Simon said, nodding to Audrey, who was trying to staunch Kyle's wound. "No." Garland shook his head. "She just beat me to it." He looked to the Rev. "Hear she killed you, too." "At least he's got a taste of what he's capable of," the Rev said, looking proudly at Duke. "That's all that matters." "Well, she'll kill him too," Garland said. "Not this time." Simon glared. "She may have taken me and my father out, but she can't stop my son." Duke swallowed thickly, refusing to look at any of them. "I have a son too, you know," Garland said, looking back at Nathan. "Damn good one." He gave Nathan a faint nod. "Just take care of our girl." Nathan nodded back, just as faintly. Then the light went out in Kyle's eyes, and the ghosts vanished from the clearing.
Danny	Danny brought the gun up after that bit of foreshadowing that he may or may not have heard. Because it was foreshadowing. "Alright, weapons down!" Because they still had a load of kidnapped people to get out of here.
Audrey and Duke	Audrey drew her own gun and got smoothly back to her feet, covering anyone Danny wasn't able to. "You heard the man, guns down!" The people who weren't already setting their weapons down did so. Everyone raised their hands. Audrey let out a little sigh. "You're all under arrest." Duke finally broke eye contact with Nathan and turned to walk quickly out of the clearing.
Danny	Danny watched him for a moment, mouth going tight in annoyance. "You two got this?" he asked, glancing at Audrey. Someone needed to go talk to him and Nathan wasn't gonna be the best option here.
Audrey and Nathan	Nathan opened his mouth to object, but Audrey beat him to it. "We've got it." She flicked Danny a small smile. "You don't have jurisdiction here anyway." "Make sure he doesn't go far," Nathan grumped. "Still have questions for him." "They don't have a car, Nathan," Audrey said, rolling her eyes. "Calm down."

Duke	Once Audrey and Nathan had the Rev's little cult back under control, and all their victims had been roused and soothed and taken care of, Duke convinced them to let him go home. Well, actually, Audrey convinced Nathan. Duke wasn't doing a whole lot of talking, even when Nathan started making threatening noises about locking him up for manslaughter. But that would just be even more paperwork, and Audrey and Nathan still had evening plans, so Duke did, finally, manage to make it home. Where he immediately busted out the largest bottle of liquor he could find.
Danny	"Gee, thanks for leaving me at the station," Danny called out once he got aboard the boat. Because at least he knew where to find Duke. He honestly wasn't surprised or that upset about it.
Duke	Duke got up to swing the door open for him, then went back to his ~~brooding~~ spot at the galley's bar without saying a word. What the hell was there to say, really? He'd just killed a man. After being blackmailed and harassed by a couple of ghosts. And learning his boat was actually a gift from his dead, serial killer father, his girlfriend was a cannibal despot, and one of his best friends had been in Hell for 2,000 years. . . . He was going to need more booze.
Danny	Danny followed him inside, silently watching him for a moment longer before sighing and going around to look for food to shove at Duke that would probably be ignored, but he had his ways of expressing his caring. "Tell me you've got something other than booze here."
Duke	Duke shrugged. Danny would find the kitchen reasonably well stocked, though. Mostly of leftovers he'd brought back from the Gull in the last few days. So, rather a lot of taco fixings. He sat back down and refilled his glass, his free hand coming up to rub the back of his neck. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this . . . done.
Danny	Well, he was getting tacos then. Danny could be perfectly patient in this regard, having more than enough practice with Steve these days. At least Duke wasn't prone to going to an active warzone or anything. So, once that was done, he put a plate down in front of Duke. "Eat. You'll hurt my feelings if you don't."
Duke	Oh just wait. Haven would get to "active warzone" status eventually. Duke blinked at the plate like he didn't entirely know what it was for. Then mechanically picked up a taco and took a bite. Chewed. Swallowed. Washed it down with his liquor. "When'd you get here?" Oh hey! At least he was speaking again.
Danny	Hey, words were progress! "Earlier today. Ran into Audrey right as they must've snagged you," he said, taking a seat across from Duke to give him intense once over to catalog his mental state from a clinical stand point for a moment.
Duke	Duke set down the taco and the glass and stared at them for a long moment, too preoccupied to notice that stare. "Didn't 'snag' me," he said. "I went off with the Rev on purpose." Because he'd threatened Audrey to make him do it.
Danny	"And that purpose was to stop him, correct?"
Duke	"Yeah," Duke said. Then "I don't know." Then "Yeah" again.
Danny	"Alright," Danny replied with easy acceptance. "So, that was your dad?"
Duke	"You mean the fucker monologuing as that kid decided his life was over?" Duke asked. "Yeah. That was Dad."
Danny	"Yeah," Danny said quietly, looking down at his hands on the table. "You okay?" Dumb question, he knew.
Duke	Yeah, Danny was getting a major Look for that one. "My dead father, who was apparently killed by one of my best friends' previous lives, just tried to manipulate me into killing a guy. Who then committed suicide by literally running into my knife." He took a long sip of his drink, still giving Danny that look. "Oh yeah, I'm great." ...Fuck. That meant Lucy had been nice to him all those years ago because she felt bad for killing his dad. She'd been basically the only adult who'd paid attention to him, and it was because of that. He didn't have enough booze for this. The amount of booze he needed for this had not been made in all of humanity's history of booze making. He tossed back the rest of his drink, then leaned forward to rest his head on the table.
Danny	"Bad," Danny said, not unkindly. "We'll go with bad. But that's kinda important for you to actually say out loud." Because no to repression here.
Duke	"Fine," Duke said into the table. "I am doing very badly." He picked up his head just enough to rest his chin on his arms. "Is saying that supposed to make me feel better?"
Danny	"Oh yeah, that's just how it works," Danny replied, getting up to go around so he could hug him for that. "No, you putz. It's a long, shitty road."
Duke	"Oh my god, get off me," Duke said, even as he leaned into that hug. "Shouldn't you be arresting me for something?"
Danny	"Oh, now you want me to arrest you? Talk about mixed signals," he teased gently. It wasn't a Magnus hug, but it was still a pretty good one.
Duke	Duke huffed softly and leaned his head against Danny's shoulder. He'd had a headache for days now, and right now he wanted nothing more than to fall asleep curled up against someone. But Danny wasn't Octavia (or Lucifer or Audrey or even Rey). That wasn't how their friendship worked. So after a moment, Duke sat up again and pulled away. He reached for the tacos again, figuring that was a way to signal that he was okay. He wasn't, but trying to hide that fact was so ingrained into him it was almost instinctual. "You, uh. Ever kill anyone?"
Danny	Yeah, good try at pretending at least. He took a breath before settling back where he's been sitting before. "Yes."
Duke	Duke nodded. "You're a cop. Of course you have."
Danny	"Doesn't make it easier, honestly," Danny admitted with another heavy sigh. "Because I think that's what you actually want to know."
Duke	Duke put the taco back down without actually taking a bite. "How do you deal with it?"
Danny	"The first time? Not well," he replied, glancing away. "One of the worst days of my life. But counselling was mandatory and then... then I had a baby to focus on."
Duke	Duke huffed again. "Therapy's your answer for everything."
Danny	"Yeah, yeah. And you'd rather tough it out," Danny replied, waving him off. "I get it. It's dumb, but I get it." Thanks, Daniel. You're so kind. "How about... sharing time instead. You be honest about this and I'll be honest about whatever you wanna talk about in return." Therapy adjacent!
Duke	Duke shrugged and nodded, staring out the porthole. He never looked at Claire when he talked to her, either. "Don't really know what to say." There was too much to talk about. He had no idea where or how to start.
Danny	"Start basics. 'I feel...'" He gestured toward Duke even though the man wasn't looking at him now.
Duke	Duke closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead. "Tired," he said eventually. "And — old. Or young, or —" He swallowed. Looked out the porthole. And said, very softly, "I just want to go home."
Danny	"What's stoppin' you?"
Duke	The noise Duke made was halfway between a laugh and a sob. "I don't know where it is." He picked up his drink again. "I fucked things up with Octavia. Lucifer's — gone. Nathan and Audrey both think I've gone off the deep end. I don't know where to go."
Danny	"You gotta focus on you here," Danny said with a plaintive look. "You're ripping at the seams. You know that, right? Focusing on everyone else isn't gonna help you feel better."
Duke	Duke scoffed. "Focusing on myself is how I ended up married to Evi." He was not the best decision maker, no.
Danny	"No, that's still focusing on someone else."
Duke	"It is not! I left Haven, went sailing off around the world doing . . . things. . . . And got married to a hot con-woman for shits and giggles. That's totally selfish."
Danny	Danny rolled his eyes at 'things' because c'mon now. "And yet you're still defining yourself with her," he pointed out. "Selfish, yeah. Maybe. That's not the same as focusing on you. That's just more avoidance."
Duke	Like he could think clearly enough for more plausible deniability right now. "She's dead," he said, looking out the porthole again. "You know that? Got shot by one of the Rev's men. For trying to help me figure out what they wanted from me."
Danny	"Duke, I'm sorry." In the middle of all the bad blood with Rachel, something like that would have gutted him.
Duke	"Still almost listened to the bastard about killing that guy," Duke said. He let out a sharp laugh and took another swig of his drink. "Maybe I have gone off the deep end."
Danny	"Or maybe you've run yourself into the ground and just a break," Danny said, bringing it back to his original point here.
Duke	"You know, I said something like that to Audrey once. That she needed to learn how to 'clock out'." He shook his head. "Troubles don't take breaks." It was possible that he literally didn't know how to properly center himself in a conversation. Claire had been banging her head against this kind of thing for weeks.
Danny	"Life doesnt take a break, no," Danny agrees. "But you wanna get shit together and find something stable? You have to do that. I can't do it for you, no one can. You have to want it." Advice that could apply to probably a lot of people.
Duke	"Man, I'm not sure I'm even sure what stable looks like." He lived on a boat, Danny. He finally managed to take another bite of that taco, at least. "I should just — head back to Fandom. Even if Octavia and Lucifer are gone. Lived there now longer than anywhere else since I was a kid. It's probably the closest to 'stable' I'm going to get."
Danny	"Wanna know some advice my pop gave me?" As Danny was possibly the only person who came from a healthy, stable home environment. On the whole island maybe.
Duke	"If it doesn't involve murder or two-dollar hookers, it'll already be better than anything mine ever told me," Duke said. "Shoot."
Danny	Danny was graciously letting that one slide. "You can't build your foundations on other people. They can help you, but they can't be all that holds you up."
Duke	Duke let that sink in for a long moment, thoughtfully chewing his taco. "You'd think that'd be easier for a guy who couldn't count on anyone but himself for most of his life," he mused, then set the taco down again and rubbed his hand down his face with a long sigh. "Something I've been figuring out lately. About — relationships with people. I'm kinda." He waved his hand around his temple, not quite the full gesture for 'crazy'. "I'm not good at halfway. Like . . . I'm either all-in, folding myself in half for people, or I'm the dickhead who doesn't think about other people at all."
Danny	Look at him being emotionally aware! "Well, there's the thing to work on."
Duke	Duke gave him a little smirk. "I should introduce you to Claire while you're here. She's Haven's trouble therapist. You'd love her." She was the one who'd helped him figure out the all-or-nothing thing.
Danny	"Thanks, I've got a shrink on this coast again," Danny replied dryly. "Finish your food and then we can discuss meeting your shrink. I gotta freshen up after getting held hostage by crazy cultists. Again."
Duke	"Yeah, man, that's fair." He twisted in his seat and pointed down the galley. "Head's through there, on the right. Have a ball."
Danny	"If I'm spending the night, you better have a spare room!" Danny called back as he went to go investigate.
Duke and Nathan	"They're called cabins!" Duke replied, and settled back with a smirk. Which quickly faded as he sipped his bourbon, and his thoughts wandered back to . . . everything. He looked up with a frown as Nathan came storming into the galley. "Where is she?" Nathan all but growled. Duke stood. That look on Nathan's face had never boded well for him. "Where's who?" "Audrey." Nathan stalked towards him, murder in his eyes. "What did you do with her?!" "She's missing?" One of these days Duke would stop feeling like he was playing catch-up, right? "Nathan, I swear, I didn't do anything to her." "You were in her apartment." "No. I wasn't." Nathan pulled something from his pocket. It was Duke's whistle, the leather string it hung from broken like it'd been yanked off. Duke swallowed and started backing up. "Now think," he said. Nathan threw the whistle aside, and Duke backed up faster. "Think. Why would I hurt Audrey?" "You got five seconds," Nathan said, his hand landing on the butt of his pistol. Duke looked away with a snort. "Four." Nathan pulled the gun from its holster and stepped closer. "Nathan, if I was going to hurt her —" "Three." "— I would have been waiting for you." Duke took a chance and grabbed for the gun. There was a short tussle as they struggled for the gun, and then Nathan managed to swing Duke around and throw him to the floor. Duke reached for the pistol he kept taped under the galley table even as Nathan aimed his own for Duke's head. Duke froze. There was something on the inside of Nathan's left forearm, something that hadn't been there before. A fresh tattoo. Of a maze. With little people at all the compass points. When you die, it'll be because I killed you myself. Looked like Duke's time had come. Figured it'd be because someone decided to frame him. He swallowed, staring up at Nathan in confusion. Nathan scowled back. "I'm done counting."
Danny	You know what? Danny knew Wo Fat and you were still the most needlessly dramatic idiot around, Nathan. Still. "Weapons down," Danny said, aiming his gun at Nathan with the most annoyed expression possible. "Now."
Nathan and Duke	"Stay out of this." Nathan turned that death glare on Danny next. "Audrey is —" Duke gave up on reaching for the pistol under the table and just grabbed for Nathan's again while he was distracted. Nathan jerked away, sending the gun across the room, and jabbed his elbow at Duke instead. Duke blocked him and rolled to his feet, only to get grabbed by the collar and shoved back into the stove. He came back swinging. The two of them were the same height, similar build. And they'd been fighting with each other since they were children. They knew all each other's moves, and had counters for all of them. But Nathan couldn't feel it when Duke hit, and Duke was only trying to buy himself some distance while Nathan was still intent on taking Duke down.
Danny	"Hey! Hey! Are you grade schoolers?!" Danny shouted, holstering his sidearm so no one got shot because these morons couldn't use their damn brains. "Break it up!"
Duke and Nathan	"I'm not —" Duke started, and cut off with a grunt when Nathan threw him to the floor. So, again, grade schoolers was not a bad analogy here. "Nathan —" This time he cut off as Nathan's hands locked around his throat. "Only good thing about not feeling anything," Nathan said. "I can do this all day." It also meant he couldn't feel the blood dripping from his nose. It wasn't much, just a few drops. But one of them landed directly in the middle of Duke's forehead. His eyes went silver, and Nathan flew back across the room.
Danny	"Oh, great," Danny muttered, rushing in to try keeping them apart now. "Just freakin' great."
Duke and Nathan	Duke appreciated that, but once he got to his feet, he was backing off in Danny's direction, braced for Nathan's next attack. "You might want to run." And then — something happened. Something very distinctly Haven. Every metal object in the room not bolted down went flying into the air and stuck to the ceiling. Including Nathan's gun. ". . . Huh. That's new."
Danny	"...can one thing be normal in this town or is that just too much too ask?" Danny snapped, looking up at the ceiling.
Nathan and Duke	"Normal for Haven," Nathan muttered, glowering up at the ceiling. He stared at Duke. "What'd you do?!" "Seriously, Nathan?! This isn't me!" "Where's Audrey?!" "I don't know!"
Danny	"Calm down," Danny snapped before turning all that annoyance on Nathan for the moment. "Act like a civilized human being for a change." Or else Danny would knock his goddamn teeth in. "Both of you."
Duke and Nathan	"Are you kidding me?" Duke asked Danny. "I'm not the one who just showed up here with that — thing on his arm!" He pointed to Nathan's brand new ink. "The hell is that supposed to mean, man?" "If you're supposed to die at the hands of somebody with this tattoo," Nathan barked, "I need to be on the approved list!" "Nathan! I am not the enemy!"
Danny	"Sit! Both of you!"
Duke and Nathan	Duke and Nathan continued to glare at each other, just like they had when Audrey had tried to get them to stop pointing rifles at each other in the woods before the Rev died. And just like then, Duke broke first, moving to sit on one of the booth benches. "Your father," Nathan said, and Duke froze, wary. "Your grandfather. His father before that. They all killed troubled people to wipe out their curses. You don't think any of them had any doubts? You just think you're special?" In a particularly impressive bit of serendipity, whatever force was holding all the metal things on the ceiling went away at that moment, dropping Nathan's gun straight into Duke's hand. ". . . I'm going to go with special, yeah." He immediately flipped the safety on the gun, and with a glance at Danny, held it out butt first towards Nathan as a peace offering. "I'm not my father, Nathan."