The Cape Rouge, Port of Fandom, to points in Haven, Saturday

[betterthanaplan]

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

The name on the caller ID didn't help.

"Nathan," he said, through faintly clenched teeth, staring out over the water where he stood at the gunwhale on the deck of the Rouge. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

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

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

Another few moments of listening to the other end.

"Thanks."

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

Octavia	Octavia had only caught half of that, but it did not bode well. "Who was that?" She had a feeling she already knew.
Duke	"Nathan," Duke said, biting the name off as fear and guilt wrapped themselves together and came out as anger. "Wade's active."
Lucifer	"Nathan's radioactive?" Lucifer called inquisitively from the galley. He'd only heard snatches, busy as he was cooking up lunch.
Octavia	And there the feeling went, settling into a mix of dread and an odd sliver of hope. (Not for Nathan, or Wade. But for Jennifer, and Gloria.) "Haven's getting through again?"
Duke	"Yes," Duke said, then shook his head, eyes squeezed shut, and raised his voice to call back to Lucifer. "No! Could -- fuck. Luce, we gotta talk!" He started towards the door to below decks. Hope for the people still living back in Haven hadn't quite sunk in yet for him.
Lucifer	Lucifer looked up towards the door from the stove with a frown, and-- look, if he'd known they'd be having serious conversations, he wouldn't have worn the Kiss the Devil-apron and a pair of black-and-red oven mitts, but Duke would just have to deal with it. "What?"
Octavia	Octavia followed close on Duke's heels. "It's Haven," she provided, for the quickest explanation.
Duke	Duke gave a little "what she said" shrug and wave as he immediately started pacing. "Nathan," he said again. "Just called. Wade's active."
Lucifer	"As in murdering people?" Lucifer asked, indicating his mild, disturbed confusion with a wave of the spatula.
Duke	"I hope not?" Duke said, both hands coming up to shove through his hair. "Nathan said 'active'. Like . . . got blood on him and went silver-eyed. On -- on purpose."
Octavia	"... What?" How did Haven manage to do the worst things, every time?
Lucifer	Lucifer sighed, and dropped the spatula in the sink. "Well, that figures."
Duke	Duke gave him a sharp look. It was a very Lucifer-ian response but it felt . . . underwhelming in light of how he was feeling right now. "Nathan promised not to go after him. I -- we have to go, right? This is -- he's my brother. I'm the only one who can talk him down." He was barely managing not to say things like "this is my fault" and imply that he needed to do this alone. Be proud of him! Therapy was working!
Octavia	Octavia inhaled sharply through her nose, because him saying that did nothing to ease her dread. But this was what Haven did: it reached out and squeezed and dragged Duke back. She knew better than to try and argue in favor of not going. Even if that meant she found nothing at all to say, even as her brow pulled together hard.
Lucifer	Lucifer ignored the sharp look. "Of course we're going," he said instead. "You're going to be bloody miserable if we don't, and it's your brother." Sorry, Octavia.
Duke	Duke had definitely expected more pushback about this. The sharp look switched to a sidelong one at Octavia for her silence, even as he nodded. “I’ll, uh. Get the portal set up.”
Octavia	What was there to be sorry at her for? Lucifer had merely said what Octavia had already been thinking. "I'll go pack some things," she said.
Lucifer	"I'll finish lunch," Lucifer said, "And perhaps pack us some snacks and a light dinner for the road..." Don't forget the juice boxes, Lucifer.
Duke	Duke frowned. "What road, man? I'm booking a portal. Wade could be --" He cut himself off and shook his head. "Whatever. Do what you gotta do. Just be ready to go in, like. Twenty minutes." He didn't like to think about what Wade could be doing while they dithered. Or what the Guard could be doing to Wade. He was a douche, but he still didn't deserve any of that.
Octavia	Octavia did not know what he was thinking, but she still reached out and gave his arm a quick squeeze. And then went away, to pack and to curse Haven within the confines of her mind.
Lucifer	Please just let Lucifer exert control over this one thing with as few questions as possible, Duke. "Twenty minutes," he echoed, and picked up the spatula. "On it." There would be so many artisinal egg sandwiches lying ready by the time they were ready to go.
Duke	That was fair. Duke was just . . . extremely prickly at the moment. And redirecting it into poorly aimed anger at basically everything. Therapy wasn't magic, okay? "Fuck. Okay, soonest portal isn't for another 40 minutes." He looked up from his phone as he came back in. "I knew I should have stuck around. . . ."

---

Duke	The portal opened just down the beach from the Grey Gull, between a handy little grove of trees that protected it from general view. Duke stepped out, looked around to get his bearings, then made a beeline for the bar. "Wade!" he yelled. "We gotta talk!"
Octavia	Octavia was a lot more openly wary about stepping through the portal and into Haven. But she couldn't muster up much more than a sense of resignation at seeing Duke bolt for the Gull. "There he goes," she muttered under her breath.
Lucifer	Lucifer sighed, watching him go off. "Egg sandwich?" he asked, already offering her a shrink-wrapped set of triangles. "I have a feeling we can all use the fortification."
Octavia	Octavia took the sandwich, even though she had little desire for eating anything right now. Haven could do that to a person. She was still looking towards where Duke had run to. Her voice was low, her mild tone a forced cover for her concern, as she asked, "Do you think we should've fought him on coming here?" Not doing that had seemed to obvious in Fandom, but now, now they were actually here, and she remembered viscerally how last time had gone.
Lucifer	Lucifer let out a quiet sigh, unwrapping a sandwich for himself. (He didn't particularly feel like eating it either. But perhaps if he pushed himself, he would.) "Do you think there would have been a point?" he said. "Truly?"
Octavia	"I think the last two times were --" Traumatic enough that they'd almost been pulled apart by it both times. Octavia trailed off, rubbing absently at her upper arm with her free hand. "We should go after him," she said, instead, hitting a more convincing mild tone, this time. "'Fore he finds something horrible on his own."
Lucifer	"He'll just resent us for overruling his choices if we do, and then next time, we won't be able to help," Lucifer said, and reached for her hand. "But yes. Let's."
Octavia	Octavia let him take her hand, although past the initial squeeze, her grasp was faint. She was already steeling herself for whatever was to come. But it was enough to tug him along to follow Duke, either way.
Duke & Jennifer	"Wade!" Duke yelled again. They'd arrived early enough in the morning that the bar wasn't open yet. He paused and peered through the windows. "Wade, come on, man, where are you?!" "Duke!" Jennifer bounced over and opened the door. "Hey, you're back!" "Uh, yeah. Is Wade around?" "Haven't seen him. Hey, so." Jennifer rolled her shoulders back and dropped her chin. "Question: glasses on?" She stuck a little pair of rectangular glasses on her face. "Or off?" She took them off again. Duke shook his head, thrown by her cheerful energy. "What?" "Which look says that I no longer hear voices in my head and I am ready for steady employment?" ". . . At a bar?" Jennifer snorted and whacked Duke in the chest. "At the Haven Herald! I'm a journalist, remember?" "Uh," Duke said. "Right. Well, they'd be lucky to have you either way." "You're sweet," Jennifer said, smiling. "Anyway, what are you doing here? I thought you and your partners were leaving for awhile?" "We . . . did," Duke said slowly. "How, uh. How long has it been?" Jennifer shrugged. "I don't know. Not quite a week?" Duke squeezed his eyes shut. "I can't decide if it's reassuring or not that Haven insists on not going too long without me."
Octavia	At least when Octavia and Lucifer finally made it to the bar, it didn't look like Duke had found trouble just yet. Or Wade. Octavia supposed that was reassuring. And of course then she saw Jennifer, and remembered -- a rage, a numb feeling, and then a deep loneliness after there were no more arms around her, not holding her back, not holding her. The creeping-towards-stony mildness on her face wobbled a little.
Lucifer	"How much of a disaster did we miss this time, and how much is still impending?" Lucifer asked, as always the more verbal of the two. His hand gripped Octavia's.
Jennifer & Duke	"Hey guys!" Jennifer greeted, bouncing a little on her toes. "Octavia, you look . . . better?" Than the flailing ball of fury she'd last seen. It . . . wasn't a high bar. "Um, no disasters," she said, shrugging. "But I guess it hasn't been as long for us." "A week," Duke said, shaking his head. "Apparently the multiverse thinks this place can't function without me."
Octavia	A week, since Octavia's control had fully slipped. It was a weird thing how knowing that seemed to bring it closer to her, too, even though it had been more than a year. She looked away, feeling her shoulders tense.
Lucifer	"It's probably better off not functioning," Lucifer said, mouth set in a thin line.
Duke & Jennifer	Duke bobbed his head in a silent "fair" at Lucifer, then looked back at Jennifer. "Have you seen Wade?" "Not in awhile. Is there something wrong?" "He, uh. Activated." "Oh." Jennifer frowned. "I take it that's . . . bad?"
Octavia	"It might be," Octavia put in. Trying to re-focus back on why they were here, instead of how things had been when they'd left.
Lucifer	"Potentially homicidal," Lucifer agreed.
Jennifer & Duke & Wade	"Oh," Jennifer squeaked faintly. "Yes, I'd say that's, uh. Bad." She looked past Duke up the hill and let out another squeak. "There he is! Um, good luck!" She darted off into the restaurant, clearly not excited to be hanging out with 'potentially homicidal'. "Wade!" Duke shouted, shifting gears determinedly as Wade's black SUV shut off. The sooner they got this done, the sooner they could all get out of town again. "We gotta talk!"
Octavia	Octavia only glanced towards Jennifer again once her back was turned. She probably had the right idea, right now - though it would've been even better to just leave Haven altogether. Then Octavia turned her attention back on Duke, and Wade in the distance. "This should be fun," she muttered.
Lucifer	"Or cause an enormous headache. The man's a wanker," Lucifer muttered. He hadn't let go of Octavia's hand yet. "Well, here goes."
Wade & Duke	"Duke," Wade said. He seemed . . . pretty normal, for Wade at least. "You're back. Gonna argue with me about running this place some more?" "Actually, I'm here to drag you the hell out of Haven," Duke said, jaw tight. "You can't stay here. You get that now, right?" "Look, can you find me some rags while we fight?" Wade asked. "Soda spilled in my car --" "Nathan says you almost killed a troubled guy! The only reason that you are standing here and not in jail is because I told him I would handle it!" Wade dropped his gaze and nodded. "It won't happen again," he said. "I was acting crazy. I just wanted what you had. . . . What Dad gave you."
Octavia	Oh, right, this guy was a wanker. And unlike with Jennifer, Octavia had no problem with whether Wade remembered she'd gone feral in front of him or not. "You don't want that."
Lucifer	"You realize Duke has spent an innumerable amount of time hoping to get rid of it," Lucifer said flatly.
Wade & Duke	"No, actually," Wade said, getting riled up. "Seems to me like he's spent all that time making sure I don't know anything about it." "You're right," Duke said quickly. "And that was a mistake. I get that now. But Wade, you and I both know how troubled blood makes us feel. You really think you can control it?" Wade deflated a little. "Yeah. Look, I -- I messed up. I get that. Just . . . give me a couple days to figure out where I'm going to go, okay?"
Octavia	Octavia eyed Wade. It was a harsh look, and she didn't seem convinced.
Lucifer	"Or we could lock you up in the trunk and drive back to Fandom," Lucifer said, helpfully, "Where troubled people are in rather shorter supply."
Duke & Wade & a drunk	"Which we don't want to do," Duke said. "But we will if we have to." Wade rolled his eyes and shook his head. "I can take care of myself. No kidnapping necessary. Now, do you mind? I have soda to clean up, and it looks like you have a customer to wait on." He tipped his head towards a bench just around the corner from where Duke and the others had come from. Duke frowned and went to look. A drunk man was passed out on a stack of Heralds, snoring faintly. "Goddammit," Duke muttered. "Freddie! What part of 'you don't have to go home but you can't stay here' don't you understand?!"

---

Duke	Wade was, supposedly, getting his affairs in order to skip town. Duke was doing his best to trust his brother -- the same trust he'd spent ages demanding from everyone else around town -- and went to go check on the Sanguine Moon while they waited, make sure it stayed in ship-shape since Jennifer was staying there for the time being. It was . . . actually kind of a nice way to spend the morning. Boat engines could be fiddly, but they were seldom complicated. You fixed the broken stuff, oiled the stuck stuff, and everything worked the way it was supposed to. Way easier to deal with than obnoxious brothers.
Lucifer	"It's been a while since I've seen you go full sexy greasy mechanic." Lucifer had... well, he hadn't been trying to give Duke space. He knew that was a terrible idea. He was also very bad at it. But he had, at least, tried to give Duke an hour or so to fuss over the boat. Until now. Now he'd just be over there, lurking. Watching. Commenting, because he was still Lucifer.
Duke	Well, he didn't have the same kind of bond with people in Haven as Octavia did -- well, Octavia had one with one person in Haven anyway -- so what else was he meant to be doing? Duke had expected little else. He stood upright, wiping his faintly greasy forehead with a more than faintly greasy hand. "You saying I've been falling down on the job back home?" He meant it to come off teasing. It came out . . . half-teasing. Mostly tired.
Lucifer	Lucifer's mouth curved into a smile - a smile that would have been bigger, had Duke not looked just a touch run-over. Worn out. "No, darling, I'm just calling attention to my ogling of your very pretty filthy self."
Duke	Duke always looked at least a bit worn out, these days. Though it'd been getting better since he'd started seeing Dr. Solares. He gave Lucifer his best eyebrow waggle anyway, and a little shimmy of his hips as he located a rag to properly wipe his hands and forehead with. "Glad to be of service, babe. Someone's got to look after this old girl."
Lucifer	Yes, Duke. He remained worried about you. "How's she doing?" Lucifer asked.
Duke	That was unfortunately likely to be his default state for awhile here. There was only so much that medication and therapy could do in the face of Haven. Sorry Luce. "Not bad. Needed some degreasing, and there's barnacles that need scraping, but I figure I'll give Jennifer a service she can call for that one." It was less sexy work than engine maintenance. "I'll be excited to get back out of here."
Lucifer	"I think we can all heartily agree with you on that," Lucifer said. He straightened up a bit, the fresh towel under his arm moving with him. "Frankly, I can barely wait." He cleared his throat. "Now, I thought you might want to exchange that dirty rag for something nicer. Cleaner. Better thread count."
Duke & Dwight	Duke chuckled and tossed the rag aside to accept the towel. "Of course you did. Thank you." He leaned in to give Lucifer a peck on the cheek -- and spotted a truck pulling into the marina parking lot. "Aaaand it looks like Haven's decided it's given us enough of a break." Dwight -- this Dwight, anyway -- stepped out of the truck, a concerned frown on his face, and started towards them.
Lucifer	Lucifer half-turned to face the new arrival. "Ah, Sheriff Lumberjack," he called. "What brings you here?"
Dwight & Duke	Dwight looked at him with a sigh. "I think I prefer 'Sasquatch'." "You heard him, then, 'Squatch," Duke said with a smirk. "What's up?" "Frederick Gonsalves is dead." When Duke gave Dwight a blank look, he continued: "Freddie. Your barfly? You asked Nathan to let him crash at H.P.D." Duke hissed through his teeth. "Maybe I really should have just let him sleep it off outside the Gull."
Lucifer	Lucifer winced. "Where did you find him?" he asked. "And do you have any idea of the cause of death?"
Dwight & Duke	Dwight gave him a faint lift of his chin in acknowledgement. "Killed in his sleep," he said. "It looked like a bear attack, only he was locked in his jail cell. And nobody heard or saw a thing, so. . . ." "A trouble got him in his sleep," Duke finished for him. He shoved his hand into his hair. "Oh my god of course it did. Why does anyone live in this goddamn town?"
Lucifer	"Yes, we do wonder why anyone comes here quite often," Lucifer said, tossing Duke a quick look. "Right, so... some kind of trouble that can kill you in your sleep, or kill you by walking through walls, or perhaps possession, or..."
Duke & Dwight	"We've done possession," Duke pointed out darkly. "It didn't look like that." "I definitely don't want to meet a possessed bear that can walk through walls," Dwight said. "Hang on." Duke snapped his fingers. "I remember Freddie from last time we were in town. He always wanted to watch Animal Planet with me, but only when they had bear shows on. Grizzly Week." Dwight tilted his head. "So he had bears on the brain."
Lucifer	"So-- what, he dreamed a bear, and it mauled him?" Lucifer said, frowning.
Dwight & Duke	"It's a hell of a coincidence if not," Dwight mused. "He got family?" Duke asked. "Folks who need a heads up about going to sleep?" "We'll check," Dwight assured him. "Hey, uh. . . . Have you talked to Jordan at all?" "Not if I can help it. But we've only been in town a couple hours." Duke flicked a glance at Lucifer, not liking where this change of subject was going. "Why?" "Her car was found not far from here," Dwight said. "And nobody's seen or heard a thing from her."
Lucifer	"Well, then she's likely been murdered." Lucifer. Don't sound so matter of fact about it. "Considering Haven."
Dwight & Duke	Dwight's mouth thinned into a hairline, his jaw twitching visibly. Duke suddenly wondered if Dwight had more than just friendly feelings for Haven's resident angry goth. "We haven't seen her," he said carefully. "But, like. It's not like we're BFFs or anything." Dwight didn't look relieved. "What about your brother?" "Wade?" Duke made sure to look skeptical, even as his stomach sank. "C'mon, man. You know how she feels about my family."
Lucifer	"I can't really remember the last time 'the murdered party didn't like the murderer' ever stopped anyone from committing homicides," Lucifer said. Helpfully. Oh god, Luce, stop helping.
Dwight & Duke	Dwight started towards Lucifer. "If you know anything --" Duke planted himself between them, grin broad and empty, hands up. "Hey! Hey, it's cool, man. We don't know anything about Jordan. We're here to get Wade out of town. Make sure he doesn't murder anyone. Okay?" Dwight's eye twitched as he stared at Lucifer a moment longer, then nodded. "Fine. If I find out Wade did something to her, though --" "We are handling it," Duke said again. "He's active, yes, but as far as we know he hasn't killed anyone yet. Really rather you not end up on his list, buddy, okay?"
Lucifer	"We're planning to drop him in the trunk and drive him all the way to Maryland if he doesn't come willingly," Lucifer added. His own grin wasn't empty, per se, but it sure screamed 'devil may care' in the most literal of ways.
Dwight & Duke	Dwight clearly had no idea what to make of that expression on Lucifer's face. "You know what? That sounds good to me." He shook his head, stepping back. Duke didn't lower his arms until he was clearly heading back to his truck. "Keep me updated, alright? So I don't have to keep the station on high alert." "Will do," Duke said, saluting jauntily. Then turned to Lucifer. "Babe, I respect the hell out of your principles, but that honesty thing is really irritating sometimes."
Lucifer	Lucifer looked at him, blinking. "What?"

---

Duke	When he woke, Duke would wonder at the fact that the dream took place on the Rouge, a place Wade had never been and, if Duke had his way, would never be. His boat had become his refuge, a place Haven could no longer touch. A place for him and Octavia and Lucifer where they could get away from what their various worlds always tried to do to them. In his dream, though, Wade stood at the Rouge's sink like he belonged there, washing blood and fish scales from a long knife. "Look at you," Wade said with a friendly smile. "You got a date tonight?" Duke flicked him a small smile. "You and me." He gestured to the carefully set table beside him. "Last supper." "Sorry," Wade looked down at the knife in his hands. "I, uh, got plans." "Come on," Duke wheedled. "You're leaving soon. Look, I want . . ." he looked at the table setting. What he'd originally thought was a carefully folded napkin turned out to be his father's journal. Their father's journal. "I want to show you something." He flipped through it quickly, looking for the right page. "It's Dad's journal. I should've shown you earlier, but . . ." But he'd thought he needed to keep it to himself. "Look. He talks about the rush that troubled blood gave him." He knew the entry was in here somewhere. He flipped faster and sliced his thumb open on the edge of a page. "Ow!" He jammed his thumb in his mouth and glanced up at Wade. Wade stared at him. Licked his lips. "Wade?" Duke asked. Wade lunged. Duke threw his arms up to block, but Wade's eyes were somehow already silver, his attack somehow already insanely powerful. And he had that knife. "No. Wade, man, stop!" The knife bit into his arm, deep, slashing down across the meat of his forearm. The pain was shocking, bright and angry and he shot awake with a shout. "Wade!"
Octavia	The desert was vast and empty, but Octavia thought she could feel something moving under the sand. Slithering, biding its time. One more reason they couldn't stop, one more reason Octavia was ushering Jennifer along, as if the horizon would eventually come closer if they just.... kept... going. But it never did. And the sandstorm rose in two blinks of an eye, all around them. And when Octavia grabbed Jennifer, desperate to shield her, no no no take me instead, you can't have her, the crystallized shards of the storm tore through her cape and slashed razor-sharp at her back, at her arms. And then someone was shouting. Jennifer? Her? No, someone else, someone -- She startled awake, alert and wide-eyed. "Duke?" (Her back and her arms stung. She did not really notice, no.)
Lucifer	Was there a sound? Some sort of prompt? Oh-- of course. "--mggh, pass the suntan lotion, Duke, Octavia's getting impatient--" Lucifer mumbled into his pillow as something yanked him towards waking.
Duke	Duke pushed himself upright between them and hissed as his arm yelled at him. When he lifted it up, the slash Wade had given him in his dream was bright and gaping, just starting to bleed. "Shit!"
Octavia	Octavia stared at his arm. The light was dim in the room, but... That was definitely an injury. "Is that -- what?" She reached out for his arm. The sting of the cuts along the outside of hers continued to fail to register.
Lucifer	"Buh?" Wait. They were not on the beach, and Octavia wasn't being charmingly impatient, that was-- Lucifer veered up abruptly. "Octavia, no!"
Duke	It was dark. They were all groggy. Duke was already in pain. He didn't notice the blood on her arm until a bit of it smeared onto his. His instinctive hiss of pain turned into a choked whine as the rush of his trouble hit. The slashes on her weren't deep, but they were right there and there were so many of them! He slammed his eyes shut moments after they went silver, and shoved himself down into the mattress, mindless of his own arm. Resisting the urge to snarl and tackle her off the bed to get more at that blood.
Octavia	Lucifer's voice had startled Octavia, just not quite in time. The side of her wrist touched Duke's skin, and then -- well, that. Octavia scrambled backwards at the first flash of silver, her own eyes wide. Her arms and her back screamed at her, now, but she couldn't look at them when her gaze was nailed to Duke. The sheets were stained where she'd been laying just a second ago.
Lucifer	"Oh, for the love of all that is-- bloody Haven," Lucifer snarled, shoving himself across the mattress. Sort of-- launching himself between the two of them. It was an awkward move, but it was the best he had.
Duke	Duke managed to collect himself enough to roll in the opposite direction, though not very far yet. He wasn't actively absorbing the blood out of the bedding now, at least. He curled around his injured arm and breathed through his clenched teeth. And maybe regretted always sleeping naked. Just a little bit.
Octavia	Octavia scooted all the way to the edge of the bed. "I'm sorry," she breathed. "I'm so sorry." What for? She finally looked down at her arms. Had to... turn them to even see what was happening. "Oh."
Lucifer	"I am already thoroughly done with this trouble," Lucifer growled. He moved to form a more solid barrier between Octavia and Duke, his eyes full of agitated concern as he watched Duke.
Duke	Duke focussed on breathing, forcing down the manic, euphoric rage. "I'm okay," he said, forgetting his arm for the moment. "Is she -- Tavi? You alright?"
Octavia	The correct answer was probably 'yeah', wasn't it? It wasn't quite what Octavia said after swallowing, though. "It's -- there are a lot." Of cuts. But he already knew that. "But they're shallow."
Lucifer	Lucifer glanced over his shoulder. "Are there bandages in the nightstand?" he asked.
Duke	"I'll check." Duke pushed himself up off the other side of the bed, hissing through another wince as the cut on his arm protested. (It was bleeding . . . kind of a lot. He was still more concerned with Octavia, though.) "Probably won't be enough for all that, though. Maybe the bathroom?"
Octavia	"It's not that bad," Octavia tried, her eyes following Duke - but his arm, in particular. "Duke, you need to wrap something around that."
Lucifer	"You both need to wrap up," Lucifer sighed. Now that the danger seemed to have gone, he slid off the bed. "I'll try the bathroom. Duke, get a t-shirt on that wound or something."
Duke	Duke finally took a look at his arm, keeping well back from Octavia (though all he wanted to do was rush over and help her). "Fuck," he muttered. "Damn trouble is making dreams come true in the worst way possible."
Octavia	Oh, Octavia was staying sort of huddled up on her side of the bed, trying to make herself small just out of caution. (She also wanted few things more than to be helping Duke.) "Well," she said, sounding like her throat was dry all of a sudden. "Least no one's dead?" Don't mind her, she'd just realized how much more the sandstorm in her dream could have done. (The members of Wonkru dead from protecting her with their own bodies --)
Duke	"Yeah," Duke said, a bit absently. (Wade's eyes going silver, Wade lunging for him, knife raised. . . .) He found a t-shirt and started wrapping it around his arm as best he could. At least it was his right arm that got cut. He nodded to her with his chin. "Dreamed about the Ground?"
Octavia	It was the first thing that actually made Octavia's gaze fall away from him, and down to her arms. Which she was now holding kind of awkwardly against her knees, sitting cross-legged, trying not to -- Well, bleed all over everything. "Yeah," she said. "I did."
Duke	Duke swallowed the urge to ask if she wanted to talk about it. "Right," he said instead. "So . . . no more sleeping for a bit."
Octavia	How could she have explained all the bodies, anyway? (Somehow that was all Octavia could think about when she thought about trying to say anything about it, and it hadn't even been in the dream.) "Looks like," she said weakly. "Are you okay?"
Duke	Duke wiggled the fingers on his cut arm a little. “Nothing some bactine and a bandage won’t fix. Is it sad I’m not even surprised?”
Octavia	"It's Haven," Octavia replied, finally looking up at him again, though only through her lashes, without raising her chin. "None of this shit is surprising, here."
Lucifer	"Right, I have found every bandage in the bathroom," Lucifer announced, stomping back in with several rolls of bandages and packaged sanitized-- things. "Octavia, yours has the most potential for causing further trouble, so get in position please."
Octavia	"I don't know what that means," Octavia murmured. But her best guess appeared to be just getting up off the bed.
Duke	"I think he just means let him see your arms and back," Duke said, wincing as he pulled the shirt away from his arm a little to look at his own injury.
Lucifer	"How's your bleeding?" Lucifer asked him, as he approached Octavia. "And yes, I meant sit or stand in a way where I can see the injuries."
Octavia	Octavia turned her back to him. The baggy t-shirt she'd been sleeping in was stained red, though mostly at her upper back and the backs of her shoulders. There were a bunch of shallow cuts, like she'd been slashed with something. They went down the backs of her arms, too.
Duke	"It's fine," Duke said idly, watching her move. "Take care of her first." It was still bleeding, but not as bad now.
Lucifer	"As long as you're not feeling faint or about to pass out," Lucifer said. He reached for Octavia's shirt. "I'm going to take this off now, darling." And he did.
Octavia	Octavia gave a hiss when the damp fabric tugged on the cuts as it went, but at least she managed to keep it relatively quiet. The stinging was finally beginning to break through to her.
Duke	"Yeah." Duke gave her a small, rueful smile. "Just breathe through it."
Lucifer	"Sorry," Lucifer said gently. "This... may likely sting." He opened up one of the packages with the sterilized bandages.
Octavia	"It always does," Octavia muttered. Was that reassuring? She was looking at Duke, suddenly feeling desperate to hold his hands. Instead, hers just turned to fists at her sides.
Duke	All they could hold right now was eye contact, but Duke was at least doing that with a vengeance?
Lucifer	Her arms first, then. Lucifer pressed the soft part of the bandage to the first wound, and began to wind it up along her arm. And then another.
Octavia	It hurt, but Octavia had had worse. A realization she had seemed to sting worse. It pulled at her expression as she kept locking eyes with Duke. "I won't be able to sleep in the same bed with you." Not that they could go back to sleep in the first place, right now.
Duke	Oh. Well shit. "We'll be really careful," Duke offered. "Luce can have the middle for a bit." Or he'd take the couch. He wasn't going to kick her out of bed.
Lucifer	Lucifer eyed both of them. "Or neither of you sleep until we solve this bloody thing and then no one bleeds again," he said, moving on to the next arm. "I have cocaine." Of course he did.
Octavia	"I don't want cocaine, Lucifer," Octavia muttered, trying to fight a tired helplessness that tried to slip into her tone. She was mostly successful. "I can handle this." She had zero confidence in being able to help solve anything, though.
Duke	"Let's try caffeine first," Duke suggested. He aimed his chin at Octavia. "Finish her up? I'll call Audrey to let her know what's up. Maybe she'll track whoever this is down and fix it quick."
Lucifer	Lucifer sighed. "Just no sleeping," he said, "I don't want either of you mauled by rainbow-colored monsters from after the apocalypse, thank you." He was already moving on to her back.
Octavia	Now, Octavia's gaze had finally fallen towards the floor again. Audrey. She thought she felt a faint ache in her knuckles. And her voice was mild. "Are we supposed to keep pretending she's not herself?"
Duke	"That . . . is a good question," Duke said on a sigh. "I'll ask." He tucked his injured arm against his chest to keep pressure on the wound, and went to go dig through his discarded pants for his phone with the other.
Lucifer	The stickier bandages went on the wounds along her shoulders and back, and... finally that work was done. "You," Lucifer called to Duke. "Stand over here while you phone and don't use that bloody arm."
Octavia	"Make sure your hands are clean before you touch him," Octavia muttered, as she ducked away to dig for a clean shirt from her bag.
Duke	"I'm not using my arm," Duke assured him, pulling his phone out and having to kind of . . . fling the pants around to do so one-handed. "I promise." He was going to wait for Lucifer to wash his hands before holding his arm out, though.
Lucifer	Lucifer sighed. "I'll be a moment," he said, and vanished into the bathroom. Soon, the water was audibly running.
Octavia	Octavia waited until she heard the water before continuing to carefully pull the shirt on. She wouldn't have been able to explain why. It wasn't as if she thought Lucifer wouldn't actually wash his hands.
Duke	They were all having a very weird night. "Audrey," Duke said when she picked up. "We know what the trouble is. Dreams. Octavia and I both got hit. . . . And yes, survived. How many --" Duke cut off with a wince. "Jesus. Okay, yeah, we can do that. See you in the morning." He laughed. "Yeah, we're definitely not going to be doing that again any time soon. Bye."
Lucifer	Lucifer stepped back out of the bathroom with clean hands and a disinfectant wipe in hand. He made a beeline for Duke.
Duke	Duke held his arm out without protest. The bleeding had mostly stopped, though it promised to start up again sluggishly when the shirt was pulled away. “Apparently we’re the only survivors of this thing so far. She’s going to check on Nathan.”
Lucifer	"I'll be buying energy drinks in bulk, then," Lucifer muttered, taking Duke's arm with one hand. With the other, he swept the wipe across the wound.
Octavia	"You didn't ask about the pretending," Octavia murmured, seemingly more to herself than anyone else, as she began to pull the bloodied sheets off the bed. It was just as well: it wasn't like Octavia had any plans to actually talk to or about Audrey, anyway.
Duke	Duke hissed a soft wince, as much at his error as at the burn of disinfectant. “Crap. Sorry. We’re, uh. Gonna meet them in the morning. See if we can figure out the trigger. I’ll ask then.”
Lucifer	Lucifer would really rather they just got out of here, but he wasn't stupid enough to say so. Rather, he got out the bandages and began to swaddle Duke's wound carefully. "No rush," he said.
Octavia	Octavia said nothing. She bundled up the sheets instead, with the stained part carefully in the middle.
Duke	Duke sat carefully on the edge of the newly bared mattress, watching Lucifer wrap his arm. He wanted to apologize for dragging them into this, but the words got caught in his throat. It wasn't as though any of them had had any illusions about how a "quick trip" to Haven was ever going to go, after all.
Lucifer	They didn't. And so as soon as Lucifer had tied up the bandage and tucked the knot in neatly, he leaned in to press a gentle kiss to Duke's mouth.
Octavia	While Octavia, with her back turned, slipped out of the room to take the sheets for a soak in cold water. It wasn't like she could have participated in the kissing, anyway.
Duke	Which meant she missed Duke’s attempt to reach back for her. Instead he found himself reaching for empty air. His return kiss went a little extra melancholy as a result.
Lucifer	"She's just taking care of things for you, darling," Lucifer said softly, and pressed his forehead against Duke's.
Duke	“This going to go to her head,” Duke said back. “That we — can’t even touch or something.”
Lucifer	"Do you mean her head, or yours?" Lucifer challenged him quietly.
Duke	Duke clenched his hand against the mattress. “Either way.” Both ways, in fact.
Lucifer	"Duke," Lucifer said, cupping Duke's cheek to make sure the man was looking him in the eye. "Stop borrowing trouble. We've got enough bloody trouble to worry about in this town without jumping at each other's shadows, all right?"
Duke	Duke swallowed and nodded, wishing it were that easy. “We’ll get out of here soon,” he said. “I promise.”
Lucifer	"Whenever you're finished dealing with what you need to deal with," Lucifer agreed. "And then hopefully we can finally put this whole mess behind us." He pressed a kiss to Duke's forehead.
Duke	Duke shivered, just a little. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Lucifer	Lucifer's mouth curved into a small smile. "Well, do me a favor and don't forget that the feeling is mutual," he said softly. "Considering."
Duke	Duke kissed him in response. A thank you, an apology. A promise to stick around. An excuse not to have to answer out loud.
Lucifer	And Lucifer-- lingered in it for a moment, brushed his fingers through Duke's hair. Hoped Octavia would come back, wouldn't make it a thing that could set off Duke's terrors again. He wasn't going to say any of that out loud.
Octavia	It had taken a moment to figure out what to stuff the sheets in to soak. It had taken an even longer moment for Octavia to make sure her hands were scrubbed clean, beyond any possibility of any blood anywhere. But once that was done, she came back. Padded quietly back into the room - and to them.
Duke	Duke pulled back from Lucifer again, just far enough to try offering her his hand. "Hey," he said softly. "You okay?" Maybe a stupid question. But one he still felt he had to ask.
Lucifer	Lucifer looked away from Duke to look her over, too. What a bloody night. Literally.
Octavia	Octavia took Duke's hand slowly, but without hesitation. Her fingers brushed along his palm before curling around his hand. "As okay as anyone in Haven is." Give or take a few fresh wounds, stinging under their bandages, and the knowledge that she couldn't go back to sleep.
Duke	Something unknotted in Duke's chest when she took his hand, and he flicked her a tired, grateful smile. "Yeah, that's fair." He tugged on her hand, wanting her closer. "So. Guess we're settling in for sleeplessness for a bit."
Lucifer	"I'll run to the shop and pick up those energy drinks in a few minutes," Lucifer said, shifting so he could be close to both of them.
Octavia	Octavia stepped more into their space, with the tugging. The little nod was the best she could do.
Duke	It was all Duke could ask for. “I’m really glad you’re here,” he said softly. “Both of you.”
Lucifer	Lucifer's mouth managed the smallest twitch of a smile. "Wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the universe right now, love," he said, and meant it.
Octavia	And Octavia just bent down to press a kiss to Duke's forehead. No, she didn't know that Lucifer had just done that, too, moments prior.
Duke	Duke closed his eyes, leaning into it. He didn't mind the repetition. It all just made him feel . . . oddly safe. You know, as much as he could when he'd just had his arm cut open in a dream and woken up to his trouble getting triggered.

[Adapted from episode 4x07, "Lay Me Down", and preplayed with the inimitable my_own_advocate and okteiviakom, who have both been INCREDIBLY PATIENT with my general lack of brain since last fall. I love them dearly. LET'S TRAUMATIZE OUR CHARACTERS, WOOOO!>

[also, phone call fine for broadcast, the rest NFB due to distance, natch. NFI, OOC welcome.]