Haven, Maine, Sunday FT (part 2)
Jul. 2nd, 2023 12:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
betterthanaplanThe only decent thing about digging a grave by yourself in Haven, Maine, was that it tended to be misty and cool. So you didn't overheat too quickly.
Duke didn't regret insisting on leaving his partners behind for this, though. Not when he jammed the shovel he picked up at the hardware store on the way up to the bluff into the damp earth by the field of lavender. Not when he scooped up the first shovelful of dirt.
Not when he scooped up the 147th.
His hands hurt, but he ignored it. His shoulders ached, but he ignored them. His eyes burned and his vision blurred and he ignored all of that too until finally he had a hole he thought might be deep enough. He dragged Wade's body — cold and damp to the touch in the misty air and starting to stiffen — from the trunk of the rental and laid it the best he could next to the untidy grave and wished he had the time to do it better.
He'd watched his grandfather die too. Felt the rush of his blood on his hands. Who'd buried him? A professional, like Kyle (the first one to throw himself on Duke's knife)? Or was it a guard member? That death had at least made the papers. How many Crockers had died like Wade, ground up by Haven's secrets and conspiracies? Were they buried by family, or the Guard? By love, or by anger?
Or guilt?
No more. Duke tucked their father's journal into the tarp with Wade. To be buried with him. Like he'd buried the weapons with Simon.
The Crocker trouble was over.
This — all of this — died with him.
"Wade Osborn Crocker."
He stared out over the grass, waiting for the words to come. Something that meant something. Something that could encompass his obnoxious, arrogant, asshole brother — who'd only wanted to get closer to their dad. To be friends with Duke. To live for a minute.
There weren't any.
He let out a slow breath and rolled Wade over into the grave, then pushed to his feet and started shoveling again.
He didn't so much sit when he finished as crumple, flopping to the grass on the edge of the small mound of disturbed earth. He wiped grimy hands down his thighs and closed his eyes.
When he got back to town they were leaving. And he was never coming back. He couldn't do that without finding at least something to say.
"You come to Haven," he started slowly, thinking back. Years for him, weeks for the town. For Wade. "Maybe not happy, but — normal at least. And given the circumstances, I'm moderately pleased to see you."
He couldn't do this sitting. His muscles screamed, but he pushed to his feet again anyway, thinking to pace — and just stood. Hovering over the grave, unsure what to do next.
"You're the one living Crocker I can halfway stand to be with." His throat threatened to tighten down, but he swallowed and kept going. "But I know. I have to get you out of Haven so you can live."
He'd always known it would come down to this. He knew every time his phone rang with Nathan or Audrey on the other end, somewhere along the lines, it would come down to this. Him, standing over a grave. Mourning a loss. A friend, or a brother, or just another piece of himself.
And he kept coming back.
"I sacrifice." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I'm a martyr, that's what Lucifer always says. So I sacrifice and I come back to save you — and yet here you are. Dead."
He crouched, scooping up a handful of dirt. Weighing it in his hand.
"And still in Haven."
He tossed the dirt aside.
"See, that's the thing about this town. In Haven, you always lose." He spread his hands, looking down at them. Any of Wade's blood remaining had been scrubbed away by the work of digging, but they weren't clean.
Even with his trouble gone, he'd soaked up too much blood by now to ever be clean.
"So why even bother trying."
It was time to go home. For good, this time.
[Follows this. Adapted from 4x08, "Crush", and 4x09, "William". Preplayed as always with the delightfulmy_own_advocate and okteiviakom. Contains all the usual Haven badness plus grief and charcters losing their ability to connect to reality. FUN!]
[NFB, NFI, OOC welcome! OMG Y'ALL THIS PART IN PARTICULAR TOOK FOREVER I AM PROUD OF US]
Duke didn't regret insisting on leaving his partners behind for this, though. Not when he jammed the shovel he picked up at the hardware store on the way up to the bluff into the damp earth by the field of lavender. Not when he scooped up the first shovelful of dirt.
Not when he scooped up the 147th.
His hands hurt, but he ignored it. His shoulders ached, but he ignored them. His eyes burned and his vision blurred and he ignored all of that too until finally he had a hole he thought might be deep enough. He dragged Wade's body — cold and damp to the touch in the misty air and starting to stiffen — from the trunk of the rental and laid it the best he could next to the untidy grave and wished he had the time to do it better.
He'd watched his grandfather die too. Felt the rush of his blood on his hands. Who'd buried him? A professional, like Kyle (the first one to throw himself on Duke's knife)? Or was it a guard member? That death had at least made the papers. How many Crockers had died like Wade, ground up by Haven's secrets and conspiracies? Were they buried by family, or the Guard? By love, or by anger?
Or guilt?
No more. Duke tucked their father's journal into the tarp with Wade. To be buried with him. Like he'd buried the weapons with Simon.
The Crocker trouble was over.
This — all of this — died with him.
"Wade Osborn Crocker."
He stared out over the grass, waiting for the words to come. Something that meant something. Something that could encompass his obnoxious, arrogant, asshole brother — who'd only wanted to get closer to their dad. To be friends with Duke. To live for a minute.
There weren't any.
He let out a slow breath and rolled Wade over into the grave, then pushed to his feet and started shoveling again.
He didn't so much sit when he finished as crumple, flopping to the grass on the edge of the small mound of disturbed earth. He wiped grimy hands down his thighs and closed his eyes.
When he got back to town they were leaving. And he was never coming back. He couldn't do that without finding at least something to say.
"You come to Haven," he started slowly, thinking back. Years for him, weeks for the town. For Wade. "Maybe not happy, but — normal at least. And given the circumstances, I'm moderately pleased to see you."
He couldn't do this sitting. His muscles screamed, but he pushed to his feet again anyway, thinking to pace — and just stood. Hovering over the grave, unsure what to do next.
"You're the one living Crocker I can halfway stand to be with." His throat threatened to tighten down, but he swallowed and kept going. "But I know. I have to get you out of Haven so you can live."
He'd always known it would come down to this. He knew every time his phone rang with Nathan or Audrey on the other end, somewhere along the lines, it would come down to this. Him, standing over a grave. Mourning a loss. A friend, or a brother, or just another piece of himself.
And he kept coming back.
"I sacrifice." He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I'm a martyr, that's what Lucifer always says. So I sacrifice and I come back to save you — and yet here you are. Dead."
He crouched, scooping up a handful of dirt. Weighing it in his hand.
"And still in Haven."
He tossed the dirt aside.
"See, that's the thing about this town. In Haven, you always lose." He spread his hands, looking down at them. Any of Wade's blood remaining had been scrubbed away by the work of digging, but they weren't clean.
Even with his trouble gone, he'd soaked up too much blood by now to ever be clean.
"So why even bother trying."
It was time to go home. For good, this time.
Duke & assorted Havenites | The first sign that something wasn't right on the residential street — other than that it was a street in Haven, of course — was a smashing sound on the road ahead. Duke slowed and pulled to the curb, peering through the windshield. A sharp pressure hit his ears, and he stopped completely. Down the block, a streetlight shattered, showering glass down onto the empty street below. "That's not good," Duke muttered. He climbed out of the car and started forward slowly. The man who'd been in the car ahead of his got out, carrying a bag of groceries, only to collapse with a groan, clutching his head. Duke winced, both in sympathy and in actual pain as the pressure on his ears intensified. It felt like he was dropping deep underwater, though he was just standing in the middle of the street. The way the man's spilled groceries imploded only added to the general air of very not good. Duke wobbled in place, torn between the urge to help the man on the ground and turn and run. While he hesitated, the windows on the man's car shattered. Several trash cans, both metal and plastic, imploded and collapsed in on themselves. He had just decided to turn and run when a twelve year old girl started into the street, bouncing a basketball ahead of her. "Oh come on, can't I just leave?!" Duke asked the universe. And darted forward. The pressure increased with every step. More car windows shattered and tires blew. The girl's basketball went abruptly flat just as Duke scooped her off her feet. The pressure in his ears hit truly agonizing levels, and he bent at the waist even as he turned, trying to work out where they could even run — And then it stopped. The air returned to normal and Duke could think and breathe again. He set the girl down and sucked in a breath. "You okay?" The girl nodded. She looked around at the destruction, then dashed away without speaking. "Yeah. You're welcome." Duke sighed and dug in his pocket with his phone to call 911. "There was some kind of accident at the intersection of Mills and Lumley," he told the dispatcher, pausing to check on the man with the groceries. "At least one person injured — make that dead." He hung up before she could ask more questions. She wouldn't mind. A Haven dispatcher was used to those kinds of calls. "Duke." Jack Driscoll headed down the street towards him. "I know it's been awhile, but you don't have to destroy the place." Duke shook his head. "Jack, you all right?" "I'm breathing, which is more than I can say for this guy," Jack said, gesturing to a man lying collapsed over his steering wheel in a nearby car, blood streaking from his ear. "Gotta be a trouble, someone that can crush things from a distance." "No, it's some kind of pressure." Duke waved his hand by his ear. "My ears popped. Look at this, his eardrums burst." He picked up the man's wrist to check for a pulse, but wasn't surprised when he didn't find anything. "Watch face is cracked. It's pressure-proofed to 300 feet. What —" "It takes a lot more pressure than that to shatter car glass," Jack pointed out. "This was like — like a couple of thousand feet underwater." "Yeah, without the water." "Gotta love Haven," Jack said. Duke huffed. . "Say you love Haven, Duke!" Dave staggered up, grinning like a drunkard. "Dave?" Duke frowned. "You all right?" "Get the f-fire ants off my neck!" Dave begged, pulling his hat off and flapping it around. "My elbows gonna explode," Vince moaned, coming up behind him. "What the hell is wrong with these two?" Jack asked. "All right, confusion," Duke said, "itchy neck, joint pains. They -- they're acting funny because of the pressure. They got the bends." "I'm standing straight as an arrow," Dave said. "No, you're really sick." Duke grimaced. "If we don't get you treatment, you're both dead." |
Duke | After helping Jack load Vince and Dave into his hyperbaric chamber, Duke backed off and pulled out his phone. Lucifer and Octavia were expecting him back, the least he could do was let them know he'd taken a detour. As he waited for Lucifer to answer, he couldn't even muster the energy to be surprised. Because why wouldn't a new trouble pop up the instant he was ready to leave for good? Haven just refused to let him go. |
Lucifer | Lucifer had whittled the bottle down to a fraction of its earlier contents. Octavia still puttered about angrily elsewhere in the boat. It shouldn't be taking Duke this long. So when his phone rang, the first words out of his mouth were, "Where on Earth are you?" |
Duke | "Yeah, sorry honey, but my car got a flat." Four flats. And all its windows smashed in. They were not getting their deposit back on that rental. |
Lucifer | "You must be bloody joking!" Oh, Lucifer was absolutely going to have to pick up another bottle on the way to rescuing Duke from wherever. |
Duke | "Of course I'm not." Duke sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Another trouble hit. I'm at Driscoll Salvage, other end of the docks. You can't miss it, we've got two old guys in a pressure tank getting detoxed from the magical bends." |
Lucifer | Lucifer pulled the phone from his ear. He needed to. How else was he going to angrily gesticulate at it with his finger otherwise? "I am going to-- find a way to-- blow up--" That strangled noise was mostly warranted frustration and only a little bit repressed whatever, thank you. "We're on our way. Octavia!" |
Octavia | If sitting right outside the door with her phone was considered 'puttering angrily', then yes, that was what Octavia had been doing. Though she would have called it trying to book a portal and also checking the map to see whether it would've made sense to not wait for Duke and just walk back to the hotel to get all their stuff together. That sound got her yanking the door open fast, though. "What is it?" |
Lucifer | "Duke has a flat tire and apparently another trouble hit," Lucifer said, throwing her a Look that wasn't so much about her as about-- everything. "We need to go pick him up." |
Octavia | Well, what was Octavia going to do, object? She gave a terse nod. "Okay, let's go." |
Duke & Jack & Dave | Duke, meanwhile, was watching Jack work, waiting for another shoe to drop. "All right," Jack was saying. "Brought 'em down deep again. Now we just bring 'em up slowly, and give their bodies time to expel the nitrogen." "Until then, they're drunk as skunks," Duke said. "Mm-hmm." Jack flipped a switch on the tank's intercom, and Dave's sing-song voice echoed in the air. "The soft spot," he sang. "We ripped it wide open! The Mi'kmaq prophesized doom, Vincent." "What the hell are they talking about?" Jack asked. Duke shrugged. "I never know what they're talking about." |
Lucifer | "So what in the bloody Haven are we dealing with now?" Somewhere along the line, Lucifer's earnest desire to help Duke had metamorphized into anger and frustration. All the better to cover up the mess with, really. And Haven was being so accomodating in giving him something to be angry about. Angry enough to characterize the way he was walking towards them as a bit of a storm, really. |
Octavia | Octavia was stalking after him, her expression grim in a faintly resigned sort of way - except for the moment her eyes found Duke, quickly looking him over for any reason to -- well, get angry. Angrier? This day just refused to end. |
Duke & Vince | Would Duke's faintly relieved smile do anything to temper their anger? Maybe not. But it was there, all the same. "Giant pressure bubbles," he said. "One took out our rental car. And at least two other people. Jack, me, and an eleven year old all made it out in time, but the Teagues got the bends so we're decompressing them." "Shut up, Dave!" Vince howled over the intercom. "You look like a turtle!" |
Lucifer | "Lovely," Lucifer said, in that way that made it clear it wasn't lovely at all. "Right, so is there any reason at all why we shouldn't just get in a portal right now and leave?" |
Octavia | No relieved smiles could wipe away the knowledge of what Duke had been doing right before, so it didn't do much for the anger, no. "Yeah, this looks handled to me," Octavia agreed. God, had they even found whoever had been causing the nightmares, yet? |
Duke & Jack | Maybe. Probably? Fuck if Duke knew. “No argument here. You guys get one scheduled?” “You’re leaving?” Jack asked. He gestured Duke over with his head. “Are you seriously abandoning Haven right now?” |
Lucifer | "Pardon my French, but why the fuck shouldn't he?" Lucifer asked flatly, and he looked at Jack as if he'd finally registered the man even existed. "You think this man owes this shithole as much as another bloody second of his time?" ... yeah. Yeah, Lucifer was feeling some kind of something. |
Octavia | "What he said," Octavia agreed, evenly. With a glance up at Duke. |
Jack & Duke | Jack gave Lucifer an equally dismissive look. "I'm not talking to you." He reached for Duke's arm, pulling him aside. "Driscolls and Crockers, Duke, we're what keeps this town together. I saw you back there, how quick you reacted. You saved that kid's life. You helped me save those two idiots." He gestured to the hyperbaric chamber. Duke pulled away from him. "I'm a business man, Jack. I'm tired of being the idiot who always gets roped into helping everyone. So yeah, my partners and I are leaving." Just as soon as they could get a portal out. |
Lucifer | Well, Duke had just saved Jack from getting the full red eyes treatment. Instead, Lucifer looked to Octavia. "When's the portal coming?" |
Octavia | Octavia got her phone out, and glanced at it. "Little under an hour," she said, really wishing it had been less, right now. "It wouldn't let me book anything sooner than that." |
Duke & Jennifer & Dave | "Great," Duke said. "Let's spend it getting drunk at the Gull." "Hey guys!" Jennifer came bouncing up, waving, drawn by the crowd. "What are we all doing over here?" Dave's voice rose from the intercom on the hyperbaric chamber. ". . . GRAVE DANGER!" ". . . Oh." Jennifer frowned. "So . . . I guess that's kind of the usual, huh?" |
Lucifer | There was very little it would actually accomplish besides making him feel better, but Lucifer turned towards the intercom regardless, and barked "NO," in a tone that could flatten buildings. No, no, no grave dangers, thank you. |
Octavia | Octavia ignored both that and the urge to ask Jennifer how much caffeine she'd had to still be that bouncy. "We're leaving," she told Jennifer instead, in a flat but definite rasp. "Invitation's still on the table for you to come with us." |
Jennifer & Jack & Duke | "Oh." Jennifer blinked. "Really? Is --" She looked towards the hyperbaric chamber and lowered her voice. "Is the trouble that bad?" "It's a pressure bubble trouble," Jack explained. "Extremely deadly without the right protection and equipment." "Which our local diver Jack here has covered," Duke said firmly, clapping Jack on the shoulder. "So we're out." Jennifer nodded, then frowned, still looking a bit confused. "Oh." |
Lucifer | Lucifer leaned sideways and shot her a look that practically reeked of impatience. "And?" |
Octavia | "He's a diver," Octavia said. And her eyes, sharper now, were turning towards Jack for the first time. |
Jennifer & Duke & Jack | "I just mean," Jennifer said, and paused to shrug. "I mean, you guys usually try to help with troubles, right?" "Yeah," Duke said dryly. "And what exactly has that gotten us so far?" "Yeah I'm a diver," Jack said, giving Octavia a sharp look in return. "What of it?" |
Lucifer | "Every time we decide to stick around and 'help with with troubles', something horribly traumatizing has happened," Lucifer said flatly. "There is a limit." |
Octavia | Octavia appeared to be adamant about ignoring the soft guilt tripping that was happening. "Just interesting that a diver would happen to be around for a trouble that sounds like it's doing deep-sea things to people," she told Jack, in a low rasp. |
Jennifer & Jack & Duke & etc. | Jennifer would feel terrible if she found out Octavia thought she was trying to guilt Duke. She was just grappling with a shift in her mental perception of him! "I'm a Driscoll," Jack said with a snort. "No Driscoll has ever had a trouble, going all the way back to the founding of Haven." "It's a -- thing," Duke said, waving his hand idly. "Jack Driscoll!" Someone shouted. Jack glared past the group towards the parking lot. Duke squeezed his eyes shut with a sigh. Nathan and Audrey walked up, in full "trouble cop" mode. |
Lucifer | "And there is the cavalry," Lucifer said, gesturing in their general direction. "So now there really isn't any reason for us to not be in a bar drinking heavily, thank you." |
Octavia | Octavia wasn't sure she bought the whole 'never had a trouble' thing. Seemed far too lucky for Haven. But, except for one last dry look at Jack, she didn't bother getting hung up on it. (Out loud, anyway.) She glanced back, and felt no surprise at seeing who she saw. "Yeah, that looks like our cue to leave." |
Havenites | "Aw, but you guys have the right idea," Audrey -- "Lexie" -- said, giving Octavia a smirk. "I don't know how anyone lives around here sober." "Yeah, it's about time to let the Teagues out," Jack said, heading for the hyperbaric chamber to open the door. Lexie jogged up to him, asking idle-sounding questions about what had happened to them. Nathan was frowning at Duke. "You're a SCUBA diver," he said quietly. "Right?" "I'm aware, yes," Duke said, moving to push past him. Nathan stopped him with a hand on his chest. "We could use your help on this one." Duke let out a sharp, bitter laugh. "I liked it so much better when you hated me." |
Lucifer | Lucifer took a step forward. He couldn't really bodily get between Duke and Nathan right now, but he clearly wanted to. "Don't you think you've had quite enough of his help?" |
Octavia | Octavia chose to stand back, casting glances towards the hyperbaric chamber. Lucifer spoke for both of them, here. |
Nathan & Duke | "Duke can speak for himself," Nathan said. "You're right, I can. I'm really good at it." Duke pushed himself into Nathan's face. "You know, how the hell did we get here?" "Get where?" "I'm supposed to be the selfish one!" Duke gestured wildly. "Now all I do when I'm in town is put my ass on the line for the two of you. You're supposed to be the cops who protect this town. But lately, the only people you seem to be protecting are yourselves!" |
Lucifer | "Meanwhile, not a visit to this godawful place goes by without harm to Duke." Lucifer loomed over Duke's shoulder, eyes narrowed. (This defensive anger felt like the only thing he could do that-- well. The only thing he could do.) "But neither of you seem to care overmuch to prevent that." |
Octavia | And now Octavia's attention was trained on Duke again, a flicker of surprise going across her face before she tamped everything down again. It was just... not something she'd expected him to say this plainly. Not to Nathan, of all people. (And yet still not to Audrey.) |
Havenites | Audrey was a bit busy. "You were at the center of the pressure attack," she told Jack. "But you weren't affected." Jack shrugged. "Guess I got lucky." "Maybe it wasn't luck," Audrey pressed. "All signs point to this being your trouble." Duke looked back when he heard that, watching his friend carefully, his instincts on full alert as Jack laughed uncomfortably. "What is it, April Fools?" Jack asked. "I'm afraid not." Audrey gave him a sympathetic smile. "We think that you caused this pressure." "No, I --" Jack shook his head hard. "No way. That's impossible." A nearby inflatable buoy imploded, then an empty gas can. Vince, seated on a bench with Dave, pressed his hands to his ears. "It's happening again!" Duke backed up, grabbing for Octavia with one hand and Jennifer with the other. |
Lucifer | And then there was Lucifer. "Oh of course," he bellowed, his hands flying into the air with a deeply tangible indignance. "Go ahead, spend the next 24 hours in bloody denial - literally - while we clean up your murders and possible suicide! I'm sure that'll help! Anyone else have any repressed troubles they'd like to get out?! Go ahead! We're leaving, so it's clearly time for everything and the kitchen sink!" |
Octavia | Octavia stumbled back with Duke, completely failing to register the sting of him grabbing her arm where some of the cuts were, as her free hand went up to cover her ear. It did nothing to the sudden piercing pressure, though. "What do we do now?" |
Duke & Jack | "Jack, you gotta calm down!" Duke yelled. Audrey was doubling over now, her hands to her ears, and Vince and Dave were moaning and writhing. Only Nathan, numb as he was, looked unaffected. Jack swallowed, looked around, then ran for the hyperbaric tank. "Someone has to close me in!" |
Lucifer | "Well, finally, a plan," Lucifer snarled, dashing after him. He did not, it had to be noted, feel at all bad about slamming that door shut behind Jack the second he was inside. |
Octavia | The pressure seemed to let up soon after. Octavia shook her head a little, like that could help her with the lingering unpleasant feeling in her head. "So it's definitely him," she muttered. |
Duke & Jack | Duke pulled away from her and Jennifer, heading for the chamber, unable to resist the urge to check in on his friend. Jack and his brother Aiden were two of the few people who were always cool with him. Sure, it turned out that was because they were True Believers in the Crocker Curse, but, well. He'd process that revelation later. "Look at this," he said, tapping the panel. "2,000 feet of pressure. 10 times deeper than most scuba dives." Jack was shaking his head. Duke made sure the intercom was still on. "This can't be happening!" Jack said, more confused than in any further denial. "I'm not troubled. My uncle was Reverend Driscoll. My family's pride is all about not being troubled." |
Lucifer | "Well, surprise it is, then," Lucifer said, rolling his eyes. "Wouldn't be the first time parents kept terrible secrets from their children." |
Octavia | Reverend Driscoll? That explained why the name had sounded familiar - and now explained the extra sour note in Octavia's expression. She kept her thoughts to herself, hovering right behind Duke. |
Havenites | "Carrie Benson," Audrey said thoughtfully. "Her trouble changed. Before, it only affected the women in her family. Then she was kidnapped, and her trouble spread all over the county." Duke frowned, looking back at her. Nathan lifted his chin. "Dream trouble." "That one's handled, then?" Duke asked. Nathan nodded. "She was attacked by two men," Audrey continued. "Jack, were you attacked?" Jack swallowed. "I wish I could say no, but it's possible. I -- I passed out last night. I was drinking with my brother Aiden, and then I woke up in a ditch by the side of route 4. I hitched a ride into town with Mrs. Nunis, and she almost ran over the Teagues. That's -- oh god, that's what must have caused the first bubble." |
Lucifer | "Oh, now we've got magically changing troubles, too," Lucifer said, darting a look towards Duke. "Of course. Haven just has to Haven on our way out." |
Octavia | "We should get on that," Octavia added, her voice a tight rasp. "Leaving." |
Duke | Duke took a sharp breath, the reminder of just why he was so ready to leave hitting him like a physical blow. His jaw tightened and he nodded shortly. "Yeah. Have fun with . . . all this," he said, backing away from the tank and waving his hand in an all encompassing circle. "We've got a portal to catch." And he had some heavy drinking to do at his bar while they waited for it. |
Lucifer | Relief hit Lucifer like a sledgehammer. Duke-- was actually sticking with this. "Let's go," he agreed, walking after Duke with more speed in his step than he was willing to admit to. |
Octavia | Octavia eyed the others, for a second. Not trusting this situation much. But yeah, she was obviously going, too. |
Havenites . . . & Duke | Audrey let out a noise of protest, and Vince and Dave looked shocked. Duke ignored them all, hunching his shoulders and determinedly leaving them all behind. He'd probably break down about this later. But for right now. . . . It was time for him to take care of him. |
Duke | The Gull was fairly quiet. Sometimes it seemed like the people of Haven, even for all their many layers of denial, could tell when shit was going down somewhere and they should hunker in for the duration. Duke didn't much care. (Duke kept telling himself he didn't care.) He was here to toss back a glass in honor of his fucking dead brother and then he would never see this place again. He just had to make sure not to think about Jack's face when he realized he was troubled. Or what would have happened to that little girl if he hadn't been there to grab her and run back out of the pressure bubble. Or what would happen and who Jack would end up hurting because he had no real idea how to actually handle a trouble and Audrey and Nathan were too busy making goo-goo eyes at each other to keep on top of things -- He needed more bourbon. The only way to stop this line of thinking was with lots and lots of bourbon. |
Octavia | Octavia had a glass in hand, too. It was only a moderate pour of brandy, but still: not necessarily Octavia's typical response to things for the past long while. She knew she should maybe have been taking the chance to try and talk to Duke, tell him why she'd flinched, but all of that... felt a little far away, right now. Getting back to Fandom was a more pressing issue. She'd barely managed to make herself re-dress some of the cuts that hadn't taken well to all the commotion on the dock; they could talk once they could breathe again. So what she eventually came out with was just, "Really tempting to try for a nap right now." |
Lucifer | Finishing up their little trifecta, Lucifer had just grabbed two bottles of scotch from the wall, though he had been civilized enough to grab a glass to go along with them. He wasn't brooding about much. Most of that had been shut down after his own personal insecurities and Duke's needs had sort of collided at high speed in his head. He just felt angry, and impatient, and like he needed to keep drinking as much as possible. "And then Haven will come up with something that shuts down the entire portal network five seconds after our portal disappears." |
Duke & Nathan | Duke shuddered faintly. He was trying not to think about that, either. "Yeah, well. Good riddance." Which was, naturally, when Nathan came in and made a beeline towards them. "Was worried you'd already left." "Alas," Duke said. "Neither of us is that lucky." |
Octavia | Octavia hadn't expected her nap thoughts to gain much traction, but it seemed particularly cruel of the multiverse to lead Nathan back to them right now. Although, at least it wasn't Audrey. (Yet, anyway.) She just took a big gulp from her glass. It didn't really mask her disdain - nor was it supposed to. |
Lucifer | Lucifer let his glass dangle between his fingertips as he shot Nathan a deeply annoyed, and exhausted, look. "Why are you here?" |
Nathan & Duke | Nathan spared little more than a glance at either of them. He seemed convinced that if he just ignored them hard enough, he'd get Duke back to himself again. Or . . . something. "Jack's brother Aiden. He's got the pressure trouble too." Duke sucked a breath in through his teeth, then tossed back his bourbon. "Well, that -- sucks pretty hard for you all, then." "We can't get to him, Duke," Nathan said, urgency coloring his voice. "We need your help." |
Octavia | "What is Duke supposed to do about that?" |
Lucifer | "Did you not get the part where Duke told you that he's out?" Lucifer asked, cold anger slipping into his voice. "That he's not going to run errands for you anymore?" He waved his glass at Nathan. "You and the other one are supposed to be clever people, so go be clever." |
Nathan & Duke | "We can't get to him," Nathan repeated. "The bubble's already taken out the generator at the fire station. It's getting close to the hospital. Hundreds of people are going to die, Duke." Duke waved a hand towards Octavia. "And what am I supposed to do about it?" Nathan glanced away, then back. "It was Jack's idea," he said quietly. "No one wants this. But we don't see another way." |
Octavia | Octavia was on her feet before she even realized she'd made the decision to move. Here they were again: asking Duke to take on more pain and trauma. It didn't even matter to her that Duke wouldn't have been able to provide anymore, anyway. Because Nathan didn't know that, so -- She exploded. "He is not your sword to wield!" |
Lucifer | Well. Took the words right out of Lucifer's mouth. He took a venomous sip, and set his glass down. "What he is, is a human being, currently telling you to stop." |
Duke & Nathan | Duke dug his fingers into the soft spot where his skull met his spine, squeezing his eyes shut. Wishing he could summon the same righteous fury his partners were demonstrating. He stood up from the stool, slipping between Lucifer and Octavia to look Nathan in the face. "So what you're saying is," he said, voice soft and dry as paper, "Jack is willing to die to end one trouble, while you -- you decided that your life is worth more than all of the troubles." Nathan's head twitched slightly, the smallest shake of his head. "Hey --" Duke didn't realize what he was about to do until his knuckles had already slammed into Nathan's jaw. |
Octavia | Well. Octavia had nothing to add to that. Although if pressed, she would have admitted to being surprised. |
Lucifer | "... Couldn't have said it better myself," Lucifer said, blinking. He swept his drink off the bar and leaned back to watch. |
Duke & Nathan | Duke backed off a few steps, breathing hard. Telling himself that it wasn't like he'd actually hurt Nathan or anything. Nathan pressed his fingers to his face, then looked at the blood on them with a frown, already backing up himself, bracing himself for the fury of the Crocker trouble -- Only to look up at Duke's face and see his eyes their usual warm brown. He looked at Duke's hand, and the traces of blood that simply sat on his knuckles without vanishing. Duke turned sideways, backing up another step, eyeing Nathan warily. "Your trouble's gone," Nathan said. Duke swallowed. Nathan took a step towards him. "How?" Duke turned, pushing through the doors on the other side of the bar, out onto the decking that overlooked the bay. He was going to be sick. |
Octavia | ... That wasn't good. Familiar, though, in a way that twisted Octavia's guts a little. She threw Nathan a glare. "Back off," she spat - then hurried after Duke. |
Lucifer | Should he rush after Duke, as well? Or stay here and make sure Nathan didn't get any more funny ideas? Lucifer waffled, glancing from the door and back to Nathan. He rose from his seat. |
Nathan & Duke | Nathan turned to Lucifer then. "How?" he asked again. Outside, Duke folded over the railing, swallowing convulsively. Wade was dead. Now hundreds of others were going to die. Because Duke had fucked it all up. |
Octavia | Octavia stepped up to him, carefully and gently putting her hand against his back. "Jaka?" she murmured, concerned. |
Lucifer | Lucifer sucked in a breath, weighing his options. "You're a police officer of sorts," he said finally, "Think about Duke's trouble for five seconds, you'll figure it out." And then he moved towards the doors. |
Duke | Nathan didn't follow. Just turned to head back to Audrey with the news that, once again, Duke had let them down. It surprised him on some level. Just how much that let-down surprised him. Outside, Duke closed his eyes. Octavia would feel the tension in him under her hand as he fought down his gag reflex and tried to breathe. "He's right," he bit out. "That trouble . . . they're all going to die." |
Octavia | "It's their job to stop that," Octavia replied, quiet and mild but not unkind (and not letting on how much her heart was breaking again, all of a sudden). She rubbed a light circle against his back. "They'll figure out another way, because they have to." Because their most convenient option was unavailable. |
Lucifer | It was likely a good thing Lucifer hadn't stuck around for that phone call of Nathan's, or he might have been tempted to throw in another punch, for good measure. He opened the door slowly, carefully. Let it shut that way behind him, too. |
Duke | Duke looked up at Octavia, shaking his head, mouth curved into a rictus of a smile. "You of all people know that sometimes disasters can't be stopped." Because of people. Selfish, fucked up people making selfish, fucked up decisions and breaking the world. (Could Aiden's trouble get that big? Who the fuck even knew? It didn't matter. It was heading for a hospital. A disaster that size was big enough.) |
Octavia | Oh, good, Octavia really needed that expression in her nightmares the next time she actually managed to get any sleep. But her tone stayed even. "I of all people know that this isn't a nuclear reactor melting down, it's one person. And one person can be stopped." (Did she actually believe that? She wasn't sure.) |
Lucifer | "Absolutely," Lucifer said, as he approached... still with care. And slowly. "Frankly, I think they've gotten so used to thinking they can throw you at the problem that they've stopped being able to think outside the bubble, so to speak." |
Duke | Duke shook his head, wiping the back of his hand over his mouth, though he hadn't actually managed to throw up. "Audrey's immunity only goes so far. Even a bullet's not going to do much at the kinds of PSI we saw coming off Jack. They'd need diving suits or --" He straightened up, eyes wide. "Luce, you have to do it. You're celestial, the air pressure might slow you down but it won't hurt you, right?" |
Octavia | Startled, Octavia looked from Duke to Lucifer. "You... didn't seem affected by the pressure, last time," she hazarded, if warily. |
Lucifer | "Doesn't even tickle," Lucifer said, tilting his head. "Frankly, most to all of your troubles do very little to me." Well. That was one way out of this mess. "Where did they say this poor bastard was again?" |
Duke | "They didn't," Duke said, pulling out his phone. "But Nathan said it took out the fire station, and was headed for the hospital. I'm guessing it's . . . here." He held up the map app on his phone. "Park by the police station. Same place the firefighter you talked down was." |
Octavia | "Convenient," Octavia said, a little curt, a little dry. Settling into the... inevitability of this all. "You should go, I'll try to reschedule the portal." No trouble was going to be nice enough to them to let them leave at their planned time. Not when they chose to get further entangled in it. |
Lucifer | "Lovely," Lucifer growled. But that was all; if he could make anything easier on Duke at all, he would. And so he sprinted back towards the car as fast as he could. |
Duke | Duke dashed after him, telling himself he just wanted to see his boyfriend in action. It wasn't because he still cared about Haven. And if he kept telling himself that, maybe he'd eventually believe it. |
Octavia | The only reason Octavia followed them (with a heavy sigh) was that she couldn't really let Duke out of her sight, right now. As much as she would have preferred to stay back. |
Lucifer | It would be so much easier on all of them if Duke could just. Let go. Of Haven. But since that wasn't about to happen any time soon, Lucifer got into the bloody car and got the engine running. |
Duke & Nathan | Look, that frustrated Duke as much as it did his partners. Especially right now. But at least he wouldn't be leaving knowing the whole town might literally implode. He directed Lucifer through the streets until they ran into a police blockade, a couple blocks from the station. Duke spotted Dwight and Nathan and had Lucifer stop, then hopped out. "Duke," Nathan said, a faint smile of relief on his face. "Lucifer's gonna take care of Aiden," Duke said, indicating Lucifer with his head. "Then we're leaving." |
Octavia | Octavia grunted something vague while poking at the Portalocity app. She could not have looked like she wanted to be here any less. |
Lucifer | "I'll just knock him unconscious, then?" Lucifer offered. He was not, it had to be said, in a 'talking someone down off the ledge' sort of mood. Frankly, he was rarely ever in that kind of mood, and usually only accomplished anything by pure accident. |
Dwight & Duke | Dwight bobbed his head a little and shrugged. "Should do the trick, yeah. Jack can share his deep breathing trick with him when he comes to." Duke flicked him a relieved smile. The faster they got this done the faster he could get out of here. (And the less likely another building was to explode.) |
Lucifer | "Easy enough," Lucifer said, struggling out of his jacket. "Lumberjack? Keep an eye on this for me, will you?" He held it out for Dwight without bothering to wait for a response. "There's an excellent flask in there I don't want to lose to these pressure shenanigans." |
Octavia | Octavia looked up, to try and catch Lucifer's eyes. "Ste klir, niron." This didn't pose much of a threat to him, no. She was going to say it anyway. |
Dwight & Duke & Nathan | Dwight held the jacket awkwardly, frowning. ". . . Okay." Duke tucked his hands into his pockets, feeling faintly awkward and useless now that they were here and all he was doing was watching Lucifer do his thing. Nathan leaned in. "Your Trouble's gone," he said, voice low. "Did you kill Wade?" Duke swallowed. "I didn't have a choice." Nathan nodded. Looked out across the roadblock. "What you said before. Do you really think Audrey should kill me?" Duke looked down at his feet. "How I feel about Audrey. . . ." He risked a glance in Octavia's direction. "It's complicated. But no." He sighed and shrugged at Nathan. "I was angry." He smiled, the old instinct to lighten the mood rearing it's head again. "I mean, I'm selfish, but I'm not that selfish." Nathan looked back at him very seriously. "That's funny." A tiny smile. "In so many ways, you're the least selfish person I know." Duke opened his mouth. Shook his head. "Yeah, that's, uh. A weirdly popular opinion these days." |
Lucifer | Lucifer ignored the drama behind him. They could have their little moment because he was about to do what was needed. (Funny, really, he had much less of an issue with Duke asking him to be his weapon than other people asking Duke to be their weapon.) He strode into the bubble, and felt it push his nice clothes a little harder than he was comfortable with. But that was all. "Hello?" he bellowed. |
 Aiden | "Who are you?!" the stressed out young man in the park asked. As Jack had told him to before his phone had spontaneously crushed itself in his hand, he was staying right where he was. "What's going on?!" |
Lucifer | "I'm Lucifer Morningstar, and I really don't have time to explain the details to you right now, because you're creating a very large pressure bubble currently threatening to kill half the people in this city if you keep it up," Lucifer said. He opened up the buttons on the wrists of his sleeves as he approached. "This isn't personal, we just need you to stop." |
Aiden | "I don't understand," Aiden said. "Jack said this was me, but we're Driscolls! We don't have troubles!" |
Lucifer | "You do now," Lucifer told him flatly. "Some odd thing or another is going on, and now both you and your brother have a murderous trouble. Now, just stand still..." He was almost there. |
Aiden | Aiden had absolutely no idea what was coming. And why should he? He'd never seen this weirdly dapper guy before in his life. "Just -- fix it," he said. "Please! I have a son!" |
Lucifer | Lucifer rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to kill you," he said. He just wasn't of a mind to even bother to talk this one down at the moment. A simple tap, that was all the man's fragile body would need. So Lucifer obliged him, with an easy jab of his fingers. |
Aiden & Duke | Aiden crumpled. The pressure bubble vanished. At the edge of the bubble, Duke's ears popped. "Great," he said. "We're all set, right? 'Cause we have a portal to catch." They had a portal they'd missed. But he could at least pretend to be optimistic about catching another one sooner rather than later. |
Octavia | "Hopefully," Octavia muttered under her breath, rubbing at one ear with her free hand. |
Lucifer | Lucifer lifted Aiden's prone body up and slung it over his shoulder. He marched back towards the others with the kind of grimness you expected from a man who'd just gone to work. "Right, that's done," he said flatly. "Anyone want to take this mess off my hands?" |
Havenites | "Uh," Dwight said. "I got him." He moved to take the man from Lucifer's shoulder. "I'll drop him off at the hospital. Thanks for your help." Jack nodded, swallowing and hurrying after him. "Great." Duke gave a double thumbs up. "We'll be at the Gull. Please don't come find us if you need us." "Duke --" Audrey started, but cut off when he turned his back on her, heading for the car. He was done. |
Octavia | "Don't," Octavia said, flatly. It was the first thing she'd said directly to Audrey on this trip, and she was hoping it would be the last, too. She looked to Lucifer (exhausted, grateful) before turning to follow Duke. |
Lucifer | Lucifer spun around to head after her, and-- "Wait, where on Earth is my jacket?" he said, turning back 'round to glare at Audrey, as if she had any answers. |
"Lexie" | Audrey gave a lazy shrug, Lexie-ing it up. "I think Sasquatch still has it." Dwight was already pulling away in his truck. |
Lucifer | "Oh for me's sake," Lucifer groaned. He stared after the truck. "Lumberjack! You have my jacket!" He hated Haven. "I hate Haven so much," he snarled at Audrey, and sprinted after his partners. |
Duke | They'd been gone for just long enough to end up totally missing their portal. Duke was now angrily poking away at his phone, trying to find something that would get them out of town before the next trouble struck. "Three hours from now, with a layover in the world without shrimp. How can that possibly be the best they can do?" |
Octavia | "At least it's giving you something that's earlier than tomorrow," Octavia drawled with a faint demonstrative raise of her own phone. "Starting to think we should just take the car and get out of town the old-fashioned way, grab a portal somewhere else." |
Lucifer | "I can't believe the lumberjack took my jacket," Lucifer growled. It was not the first time he had said so, no. |
Duke & Jennifer & the Teagues | "Yeah, that's definitely the worst thing that happened today," Duke growled. Look, he was either going to hold tight to anger or he was going to melt down completely. He let out a soft groan as he heard voices approaching from outside. ". . . And they really had human eyes?" Vince was asking. "They really did!" said Jennifer. "It was so creepy. I mean, crabs are creepy anyway, but this was like. Double the creepy." "We're closed!" Duke yelled through the door. |
Octavia | "Leave," Octavia added, just for good measure. Maybe Duke's anger was contagious? (Oh, no, she had plenty of her own.) |
Lucifer | "Go," Lucifer added sharply. He got up from his seat and stormed towards the door, gesticulating at them to do exactly that. They were all on the verge of breaking something. |
Duke & the Teagues | "Duke!" And there was Dave, completing the little journalistic trifecta. "You're still here!" Duke shook his head. "No, I'm not." "Dave," Vince started. "We don't have time for this!" "Correct," Duke said, flicking them both a broad, fierce grin. "So leave." "We need your help!" Dave insisted. Duke threw his hands in the air. "Oh for fucksake." |
Octavia | Octavia looked ready to throw things. It was a subtle thing, for now, but. Yes. "Are you fucking kidding me?" |
Lucifer | "There's 'not reading the room' and then there's not listening to the room yelling something in your face multiple times!" |
Jennifer & Duke & the Teagues | "Dammit, Duke!" Dave cried. "We don't have time for your hurt feelings!" He thrust a battered old book in Duke's direction. "This is the handwritten journal of the explorer Sebastian Cabot, who spent the winter here in 1497 with the local Mi'kmaq Indians." "Get to the point, Dave!" Vince said. "We don't have time for this!" "This book says there's a great evil coming," Jennifer broke in. "A time of great suffering, agony, and evil," Dave said, nodding. "And -- and I've already seen some of the signs it mentions. Like horseshoe crabs!" "Horse --" Duke started. "With human eyes!" Jennifer said, cutting him off. "I mean I know horseshoe crabs probably aren't that weird but most of them don't have those, do they?" "Okay." Duke lifted his hand. "That's -- you guys have to handle this one yourselves, okay? I told you, I'm done." He was, however, eyeing that journal. ". . . This guy doesn't specify something we can do about it, does he? 'Cause a solution to suffering beyond imagining would be, you know, useful. . . ." |
Octavia | "Useful, but not our problem," Octavia drawled. While very carefully not looking at Jennifer. No reason. |
Lucifer | "That just sounds like something my Father's doing for shiggles, honestly," Lucifer said. He shook his head. "Do I have to start throwing things to get any of you bastards to listen?" |
Jennifer & Duke & the Teagues | Alas, the Teagues were pressing the advantage of Duke's hesitation, both of them crowding towards him again. "The Mi'kmaq only gave Cabot a riddle," Dave said, flipping hurriedly through the book. "Now hang on, let's see if I can find it. . . ." "Hurry, Dave!" Vince said, leaning over his brother's shoulder. "We tried calling Lexie and Nathan," Jennifer explained to Octavia, "but neither of them were picking up. You guys haven't seen them, have you?" |
Octavia | Octavia's returned glance at her was... brief. "Not since the park," she rasped. "Would prefer to keep it that way, too." |
Lucifer | "We have also told them to piss off. Repeatedly," Lucifer added helpfully, as he walked to Octavia's side. "They seem to have actually grasped the meaning of those words." |
Jennifer & Duke & the Teagues | Jennifer had the grace to look chagrined. (She was also pretty hurt by Octavia ignoring her. She thought they'd gotten to be kind of friends, before!) "Here it is," Dave said, turning a page in the journal and tapping it with his finger. "'What was once your salvation is now your doom!'" He looked up at Duke expectantly. Duke looked back, unimpressed. "That's it? Salvation is our doom?" "Well, what do we think of as our salvation?" Vince asked. When Duke didn't reply he took on an exasperated tone. "We think Nathan dying will end the troubles!" Duke nodded a little, sucked in despite himself. "But if this is right, Audrey can't kill him now." |
Octavia | Jennifer was the one reminder actually present in the room that Octavia didn't and couldn't really hate Haven as much as she was currently making it seem. She was dealing with it in a less than ideal way. (It hurt. Or it would.) She looked on stonily, only frowning faintly first at the ridlle, then at the mention of Audrey's name. |
Lucifer | Perhaps Lucifer should simply throw Duke over his shoulder and make a run for it. Just keep going until they crossed county lines. "You're all talking gibberish," he said. "I'm getting a drink." |
Vince & Duke | "Of course," Vince said. "She mustn't!" A beat. ". . . Wait, why did you call her 'Audrey'?" Before Duke could reply, he was interrupted by a noise from upstairs. A gunshot. Duke moved without thinking, pushing between the Teagues and rushing out the door towards the stairs. Dammit, Nathan, he didn't actually want you to get killed! |
Octavia | Octavia immediately took off after him. "Duke, be careful!" Funny how that sounded like an order. |
Lucifer | "Oh, for the love of--" Lucifer snarled, but he too could do nothing but take off in pursuit. |
Havenites | It was quite the crowd heading after Duke up the stairs; the Teagues followed too, with Jennifer bringing up the rear, grumbling about how dumb it was to run towards gunfire instead of away. Duke burst through the doors to Audrey's apartment to find Nathan -- alive and well, thankfully -- standing in the middle of the room, Audrey nowhere in sight. "Hey," Duke said breathlessly. "I heard gunshots. What happened?" For once, Nathan was visibly -- to Duke at least -- discombobulated. He gave a tiny shake his head, eyebrows flicking up a fraction to see Duke. "There was an intruder," he said, voice level despite the shock. "Audrey went after him." He started towards the bathroom, waving Duke towards the apartment's opposite door. "Take the back." Duke nodded and hurried over. "I'm on it." "Audrey went after him?!" Vince asked. |
Octavia | Octavia darted after Duke, because like hell was she going to do anything else. Especially explain Audrey. |
Lucifer | "Oh for crying out loud!" Lucifer was getting quite sick and tired of this, he reflected, as he rushed after them. |
Havenites | "Duke called her Audrey, too," Dave mused. "She's Audrey," Nathan said. "I'll explain later." Vince grabbed his arm roughly. "You'll explain now!" Nathan grit his teeth. "Audrey was gonna shoot me. That guy got in the way. When she gets back, she will kill me." "No!" Dave cried. "She can't!" Outside, all Duke and Octavia found was Audrey, holding her gun and shaking her head, already heading back into the apartment. "That was one of the men who came into the Barn," she said. "There were two of them, the other was short and weaselly." "Okay," Duke said. "So we're looking for two guys. That'll narrow it down. . . ." |
Octavia | "We?" Was it beginning to show that Octavia was rapidly getting to be over this whole thing? Terribly sorry. |
Lucifer | "Alternatively, we stuff her in a safe room with the tall boring one and leave," Lucifer said as he arrived behind them, harried. "Let the less-suicidal part of the local police department handle it." |
"Lexie" & Nathan & Duke | "These guys got into -- and out of -- a magic barn," Audrey said dryly, in a very Lexie tone, Duke noted. "Anyway, these were the same guys who attacked Carrie Benson, altered her trouble." "The same ones who gave Jack and Aiden troubles?" Nathan guessed. "Great," Duke said with a sigh. "Even better." He rubbed his forehead. "When does our portal leave again?" Not soon enough. Haven was too determined to screw with him some more for a portal to get him out of here just yet. |
Octavia | "In three hours," Octavia replied, grimly. Glaring. At Audrey, in particular. |
Lucifer | "A magic barn that might be related to these three guys," Lucifer said, rolling his eyes. "I'm bloody God, I think I can build a bloody safe room!" |
Havenites | Nathan frowned. "I thought you were supposed to be the Devil." "Look," Audrey said, meeting Octavia's glare with a stare of her own. "You don't have to like me. And you don't have to stay." She switched her gaze to Duke, her expression barely softening. "This isn't your fight. Not anymore." Duke swallowed, but didn't look away. "So find your safe house. Do what you need to do. And let us do what we need to do." Nathan nodded. "Let Audrey and I finish --" "No!" Vince shouted. "Everything's different now!" "We found a local Mi'kmaq Legend," Dave said, shaking Cabot's journal at them. "It says that, once the soft spot is torn open, what was once our salvation is now our doom. Audrey killing you now will only bring destruction to Haven!" Duke smirked, shaking his head. "That is if the horseshoe crabs with human eyes, evil, and agony don't get us first. It's a fun read." He smacked Nathan's arm with the back of his hand, turning towards the door. "You'll love it. So about that safe house, Luce?" Please ignore the way he was turning faintly green as he turned his back on Audrey, folks. He'd get past it. Eventually. |
Octavia | "I can't follow any of this bullshit." Just so everyone knew. She could still follow Duke, though. Physically. |
Lucifer | "Right, I'll need some metal and a welding torch," Lucifer said, "And a place very, very, very far away from this bloody-- horseshoe crab-infested disaster town." |
Havenites | Duke nodded, pinching his nose and trying to ignore the feel of Audrey's judging eyes on the back of his neck. Or maybe that was his own conscience, yelling at him that he should still be trying to help. "Okay," he said. "Okay. I think we can --" "Hang on," Nathan suddenly said. "Shh, shh." Duke looked back at him just in time to see him hold up his phone, putting it on speaker. Dwight's voice came from it, as well as another. "Where's the big guy going? Sight-seeing?" Dwight asked. "He's not really the tourist type," said the other. Audrey's eyes had gone wide. "That's him," she said softly. "It's the guy from the barn, the short one. They have Dwight." |
Octavia | Octavia was going to scream. Octavia was going to grab that stupid phone out of Nathan's hand and throw it into the ocean. Octavia was going to -- Reach out very quietly to take Duke's hand. |
Lucifer | Lucifer wanted to get out of here very badly, and he was about ready to just scoop Duke up and run for it, and-- And. They have Dwight. "Shit," he said. |
Havenites | "All kinds of local treasures," Dwight was saying. "There's old man Murphy's tackle shop. Lucille's bakery." "He's giving us clues to where they took him." Nathan frowned hard in concentration. "Murphy's and Lucille are out on route seven on the way out of town." "Then there's less legal attractions. There's a guy, he runs a high-stakes poker game. I'm not supposed to know anything about it. Cash, girls. Bunch of other things." The other voice, the one Audrey said was from the Barn, chuckled. "How hard did you hit your head?" Duke raised his hand. "Uh, I know where he is." When Nathan looked up at him, he shot him a grin and a shrug. "I just played poker. Okay?" He gave Octavia an apologetic glance, then swallowed and nodded to Audrey. "Come on. I'll show you where." |
Havenites | Dwight had been rescued, thanks to shotguns loaded with rubber bullets, yes, but also thanks to Lucifer just giving no more fucks at all. The two toughs had been taken down, and Nathan and Audrey had uncovered a second hostage while doing a sweep of the old warehouse they were hiding out in -- a man Audrey recognized from the Barn as well, one who'd helped her. So now they were all converging on the police station, to put the two toughs in cells and figure out just how they and William, the handsome helper, had managed to escape. And there were still at least two hours until the portal that would let Duke and Lucifer and Octavia skip town and get away from all of this nonsense. |
Lucifer | At this point, Lucifer was going to lock them all in a little room and melt down the key so no one could get to them and drag them into another mess. In a minute. "Hello," he called as he kicked open the door to the station, a stack of not one but two irritating criminals in his arms, "Special delivery! Anyone?!" |
Octavia | While Lucifer was being Lucifer, Octavia reached out to touch Duke's arm, to stop him for just a second. "I'll be out here, okay?" She didn't see a pressing need to be inside the station, so she was just... choosing not to. "Don't get into any trouble." |
Duke & Dwight & Nathan | Duke nodded, grabbing her hand to give it a squeeze. "You too." There was plenty of trouble out here too, after all. "We'll be --" He closed his eyes and shook his head. "We'll try to be quick. I guess that's the best we can promise, huh." Inside, the uniformed officers were exchanging glances and then looking at Dwight and Nathan for confirmation as they trailed after Lucifer and his oversized cargo. "You heard him," Dwight said. "Go open the cells." "Little one in an interview room," Nathan suggested. "Got questions for him." |
Lucifer | Lucifer rolled his eyes, but he obligingly took the correct turn towards what he assumed was the interview room. What? The little one was the top of the stack. It only made sense. Rolling him onto the table like that probably didn't, but again: there were few fucks left here. |
Octavia | Outside, Octavia gave Duke's hand a squeeze in return. Then, she let go. Gave him a little push. "Go." The sooner they were done with this, the sooner they wouldn't have to be hanging around the station anymore. |
Havenites | Duke flicked her a faint smile and hurried in. Inside, Audrey was shrugging off questions as she got William settled into Nathan’s office and Dwight ordered the uniforms to get a cell ready for the big guy still slung over Lucifer’s shoulder. “Good to see Haven’s finest is still shipshape as usual,” Duke snarked, hurrying to catch up to Lucifer. “You know it’s super hot watching you carry Sasquatch’s bigger, uglier brother around like that?” Dwight let out a faint squawk of protest. |
Lucifer | "I had an inkling, but I'm happy to have it confirmed," Lucifer told him. He didn't particularly bother to hide the relieved smile on his face at the sight of Duke, though the annoyance remained present in his expression. "Though I'd prefer to just dump this cretin in a cold cell and be done with it." |
Havenites | "No argument from me," Duke said. "Drop him off and let's grab Tavi and go --" "Duke," Audrey called, drawling his name in her Lexie voice. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, then turned to look back where she was leaning out of Nathan's office. "You think you could give Jennifer a call to join us again before you dine-and-dash?" "Seriously?" Duke asked on a sigh. "Well, yeah. Cheekbones has Weasel-Face, the big guys are gonna deal with each other, and I've got Amnesia Boy back here. And she's Little Miss Barn Girl and these assholes are all Barn-Adjacent, right?" She kissed her teeth and smirked. A little viciously, in Duke's opinion. "And she actually likes to help, so. . . ." Maybe more than a little viciously, actually. Duke held her gaze for a long moment, trying to shore up his armor and remind himself that he had his partners, and had nothing to prove to Audrey. (Oh, but he really, really wanted to prove so much to Audrey!) Then he grinned (with that sharp little shark edge that drove Octavia a little wild) and pulled out his phone. "Sure. Yeah. I'll go ahead and do that." Audrey smiled back, sharp and brittle as glass. "Great, thanks!" |
Lucifer | A wild and deeply tempting vision passed through Lucifer in the flash of a moment - it would be so very easy to pin Audrey to the ceiling, wouldn't it? Fling her about a bit. His eyes flashed red before he caught himself. "Well, that was whatever the opposite of 'charming' is, but I'm sure there are more useful people for you to be insufferably passive-aggressive at," he said. "In fact, since we all appreciate helping, why don't you help me with the last few feet?" Oh god. Lucifer. Don't go to Audrey. Don't-- okay, you've gone to Audrey. Well, if you do, then don't drop an entire adult goon on top of-- Even Lucifer's narrative, regrettably, had little power over him. |
Havenites | "Luce, what --" Duke realized what Lucifer was about to do just too late to actually stop him. And then he was just rubbing his hand down his face as several uniformed cops went to go try to restrain Lucifer and Dwight let out a bellow and rushed to haul the big guy -- Heavy, let's call him that -- off of where Audrey was now sprawled on the floor. William, for his part, had crawled up onto one of the desks in Nathan's office and was now staring at Lucifer like he wasn't sure if he wanted to hide or kiss him. . . . Which, you know what? Fair. Duke could not blame him for that at all. "Wow," William said, staring wide-eyed at Duke, as he wandered over to make sure Audrey wasn't, like, permanently broken. "Where'd you find that guy?" "Playing piano at a bar," Duke said. "Now we live together." William pursed his lips and nodded. "I can respect that." |
Lucifer | "Sorry, did I overestimate how much you're capable of handling?" Lucifer yelled, over the shoulder of one man or another. There were cop hands on him, and he let them haul him away - job done, after all. "I'm sure if you just focus on helping very hard, you'll find the inner strength to lift him!" |
Havenites | His point would probably land better if Audrey weren't busy rubbing her head and squinting from where it had smacked against the floor. Duke would offer her a hand up, but Jennifer had just answered the phone. . . . Well, William had recovered from his shock enough to come help her, anyway. "Hey, Jennifer," he said, turning away from the chaos a little and ducking his head. ". . . Heh, yeah, never a dull moment in this town. We found those guys from the Barn? . . . At the station. Aud -- um, Lexie was hoping you might be able to help." He swallowed and nodded, though she couldn't see him. "You know you don't have to, right? . . . Alright. We'll see you soon." Behind him, Heavy was coming to himself, giving Dwight an easier time getting him to the cell. The uniformed officers, seeing that Lucifer was cooperating and no one was actively telling them to arrest him for assaulting a -- whatever the heck Lexie was to them as not-Audrey-but-apparently-not-really-a-civilian-either? -- and that he was clearly one of Those People and thus someone they were better off dealing with as little as possible -- let him go. "Right," Duke said, hanging up and tucking the phone away. "Jen's on her way. I guess . . . we'll head out when she gets here?" |
Lucifer | "We will," Lucifer affirmed, dusting off his jacket as he walked back towards Duke. "And I will personally lock you in the back of a van until our portal is here." |
Duke & Jennifer | “I don’t know if we need to go that far,” Duke said. Though he was briefly distracted by Nathan, who was giving him the strangest look as he came out from the interview rooms. Thankfully Jennifer hadn’t been far from the station and it wasn’t long before she was trotting up to where Octavia stood guard. “Octavia! Hi! Duke said you guys found the Barn people?” |
Octavia | "... I guess," Octavia replied, eyeing her with some frowny concern. She'd had time to let some general apprehension brew as she'd been standing out here. Seeing someone she cared about show up did not actually help with that. "Why are you here?" |
Jennifer | Jennifer’s step lost a bit of bounce and she bit her lip. “Because. Barn people. And — and my trouble is all — Barn-connected. It made sense when Duke called.” |
Octavia | What the hell, Duke. "And now you need to go in?" |
Jennifer | Jennifer shrugged. "I mean. Is it -- is it dangerous?" |
Octavia | "It's Haven," Octavia said, looking back at the door. Jennifer could make her own mind up about that. Octavia would just -- Curse in Trig under her breath, then turn all the way, to push through the door. "Come on." |
Duke & Jennifer | Jennifer hurried in after her. Duke gave Nathan a bit of side-eye as he jerked the door shut to his office, closing himself in with Audrey and William, then turned to Octavia and Jennifer. Dwight was looking scowly himself as he headed for his own office, but well. He'd just watched Lucifer dump a giant on Audrey, so Duke didn't worry too much about that. "Hey," he said, giving the women a wan smile. "Sorry to drag you into all this. Uh, Lexie's got kind of a bug up her ass today and I think these guys coming out of the Barn's woodwork has everyone else on edge, too. You think you can try talking to them, see if you, I dunno, hear anything extra the rest of us might miss?" Jennifer looked from him to Octavia and gave a little shrug, clearly picking up on the very tense vibes. "Um. Sure?" |
Lucifer | "And please step on it." Lucifer walked up to them with a tenseness of his own, annoyance bordering on anger writ large across every movement in his body. "This has been a bloody nightmare and we would like for it to be over." |
Octavia | "Do your best, I guess," Octavia added, milder. But tense. In a way that didn't really lessen any as she looked up at Duke, then at Lucifer. |
Duke & Jennifer | "Thank you," Duke said, giving her a much softer smile than he'd given . . . just about anyone since he'd gotten back from burying Wade. How the fuck had all of this happened in only a couple of hours? |
Octavia | "Yeah," Octavia said, her tone even and a little flat, but entirely lacking any hesitation. It wasn't as if she hadn't already given up on expecting them to be able to leave right away, anyway. Or on trying to give Jennifer the cold shoulder, like she'd half-heartedly tried to at the docks. And it wasn't like she'd let anyone do anything to Jennifer if she could stop it. (Except Jennifer herself, since she wouldn't just leave this hellhole.) |
Jennifer & Duke | Jennifer took a deep breath and centered herself, bouncing on her toes and nodding. "Right. Okay then. Let's, um. Let's do it!" She looked around, then leaned towards Duke. "Where do we do it?" Duke chuckled, then gestured with his head towards the cell Dwight had wrestled Heavy into. "Over here." He offered her his hand, then looked over at Lucifer. "You okay holding the fort down out here for a minute?" |
Lucifer | "Irritated, but okay," Lucifer said, eyeing Heavy. And then Duke. "For My sake, don't let them drag you into anything heinous." |
Octavia | "I wouldn't allow that," Octavia rasped. Reassuringly? |
Jennifer & Duke | "And I'll do my best," Duke said, wishing he could make a promise with a little more weight. He offered Jennifer a tight smile and led the way back to the cell where Heavy waited. The big man gave a sharp grin when he saw them coming. Jenner stared back, doing her best not to look intimidated. "Hey!" she barked. "Do you know me? Do you know who I am? How did you escape the barn?" Her interview technique could use a little work, but Duke wasn't about to criticize her here in front of the enemy. He just crossed his arms and stood beside her, a little behind, backing her up. |
Octavia | Octavia also considered telling her to maybe stick to just one question at a time. But, she was a little busy giving the guy a steady, icy look. "I would answer her if I was you," she drawled. |
Havenites | Heavy turned his wide-eyed, manic gaze on Octavia. "Would you?" he asked, his voice like gravel. Then he lunged against the bars, much quicker than a man his size should be able to move, grabbing for Jennifer and Octavia both. Outside in the bullpen, Dwight came storming out of his office, his head down, eyes darting from side to side, muttering under his breath about a knife, brushing past Lucifer as though he weren't even there. |
Octavia | One of Octavia's hands attempted to shove Jennifer back, while the other shot up and through the bars towards Heavy's neck, as if wished she could tear out his throat. Not her smartest move, but -- "Don't touch her!" she snapped. |
Duke & Jennifer & Heavy | Duke pulled Jennifer back just as quickly, putting himself between her and Heavy, trusting Octavia to handle herself. He didn't see either of the black balls that floated out, one to Octavia's ear, the other slipping into Jennifer's. "He seems to care about you, little one," Heavy said, still grinning. He flicked his eyes towards Octavia. "What do you think he's really after?" Jennifer blinked several times. Her vision had gone a bit fuzzy around the edges. "This was a mistake," Duke said, shaking his head. "Let's get out of here." To Jennifer, it seemed he turned to her and smirked. "So I can get you back to the psych ward where you belong." |
Octavia | To Octavia, it looked like he turned to her, and said, casually yet with an edge, "Before you get too much joy out of hurting him." She startled, and stared at him. |
Duke & Jennifer | . . . Okay, why were they both staring at him? "Come on," he urged. "He's locked up, Tavi. We can let Dwight and his pals deal with him. Right?" Wasn't the plan to get out of here as soon as possible? He'd been pretty sure that was the plan. Jennifer shook her head sharply, as though trying to shake something loose. "Yeah," she said. "Sure. Fine." |
Octavia | He wouldn't have said what Octavia thought she'd heard, right? Her head felt wrong - but maybe that was the spike of panic inside her chest. She turned, rather sharply, to dart out of the room. |
Duke & Jennifer | Okay. They were now leaving. That was . . . progress. Good. He flicked Jennifer as much of a smile as he could and nodded for her to follow. Jennifer shot Heavy a glare and did so -- rather stiffly, Duke felt, but he wasn't going to complain. The guy creeped him out, too. "Well, that was a bust," he called to Lucifer. "Big guy was a creep and put everyone on edge. I'm thinking we should have just got the hell out of here." "-- And left Crazy Girl here behind again," Jennifer heard him say. She stomped her foot and glared at him. "Hey!" Duke frowned. "What?" |
Octavia | Octavia's eyes darted to Jennifer at the stomping. Her head felt like there was a pressure in it. She rubbed at her temple. |
Lucifer | "Yes, we should get the hell out of here," Lucifer bellowed back. What were tenses? Eh. |
Duke & Jennifer | “Not disagreeing,” Duke said. “Just need to . . . finish tying up loose ends.” Jennifer blinked hard. She could swear he was wearing a straitjacket now. “By getting you into one of these!” “Oh no!” she backed up a few steps. “Octavia, are you really letting him talk to me like that??” |
Octavia | That was not what Octavia heard. Or saw, because Jennifer looked much more... perky to her, just now. Almost obnoxiously so. "Maybe they'll take me with them!" she cooed. "You know, instead of you, obviously." Octavia didn't even know how to react to that. |
Lucifer | "Or we ignore the loose ends and just go," Lucifer said. He frowned, eyeing the girl. "Though perhaps we can get her a strong drink on the way." |
Duke & Jennifer | “Yeeeeeah. This was all a pretty terrible idea, huh.” Duke heaved a sigh and shoved his hand through his hair, then gave Octavia a quizzical look. “Are you okay, gona? You look a little. . . .” He trailed off, but Jennifer definitely heard an end of that sentence. It was all about how they didn’t need Octavia going as crazy as Jennifer already was. She let out an angry, high-pitched growl and stalked off, right back out of the station. Duke squeezed his eyes shut but otherwise decided it was best to ignore her. |
Octavia | Octavia also heard an end to that sentence. "-- like you wanna go back in there. You're not happy 'til there's blood for you to paint your face with, are you?" Octavia backed away, one step, two, looking hurt. "Wh-- why are you saying that to me?" Her eyes darted to Lucifer, but all she saw on his face was contempt. It cut her like a knife, forcing out a gasp. "Is that what you both think?" |
Lucifer | What on Earth? Lucifer's eyes darted from that odd stalking girl to Octavia, and blinked. "What, that you look a bit off right now?" he said, "Well, yes, you do look a bit off right now..." |
Duke | Yeah, Duke was feeling a little like he had whiplash here. He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Okay. I kind of need you to hang in there just a little longer here, Tavi. Just so not everything is imploding at once?” |
Octavia | Octavia would have loved not adding to the imploding, but she heard exactly none of that. Instead, she heard sharp Trig from Lucifer. Something derisive and cutting from Duke, making her feel like she was dirt under his shoe. Red Queen. Cannibal. And her ability to withstand the already oppressive police station environment - to even breathe in it - just snapped, and she bolted past them for the door. |
Lucifer | ... Well, that wasn't good. "What on E-- Octavia!" Lucifer turned with the movement, eyes wide with alarm. "I've-- I'll get her," he said. He was already on the move as he spoke. |
Duke | "Fuck," Duke said, staring after her. "Yes. Thank you." He was speaking to Lucifer's back by the time he even fully processed that Octavia had stalked off. Which, naturally, was when his phone started ringing. "What?!" he barked. Then sat down sharply. "Oh for -- great. That's just." He hung up and pushed to his feet, shoving his hair roughly out of his face. "If anyone needs me," he told the bullpen at large, "I'll be dealing with the maniac who apparently decided today was a good day to break into one of my boats. Because of course I fucking am. . . ." It just never stopped around here, did it. |
Octavia | Octavia had all but sprinted right out of the station. And then just kept going, barreling onwards and onwards and onwards down streets on pure desperation, even though she didn't even know where she was really headed except as far away from the station as she could get. Only reason she finally skittered to a stop on the edge of a park was that she needed to -- Hyperventilate a little bit? Something like that. |
Lucifer | Where on Earth was she going? Lucifer had come out of the station and found himself needing to sprint. Following her throughout the street, and-- "Octavia?" he called after her. He was desperate. His voice was perhaps a little tight. It was starting to feel like he was all they had to keep everyone together and that was not-- his strongest suit. |
Octavia | 'Desperate' was not what Octavia heard. She gasped for breath, but flailed an arm back violently in his general direction, in a general 'fuck off, leave me alone' kind of gesture. |
Lucifer | "Octavia, what's the matter, for-- me's sake?" Lucifer asked, dodging that arm without as much as a blink. Then he reached to grab it. |
Octavia | "Don't touch me," Octavia croaked (oh good was the difficulty breathing because she was already crying?) as she turned to try and yank her arm away from his grasp. "How dare you touch me!" |
Lucifer | Hurt and confusion battled for control over Lucifer's expression. He let go immediately. "I-- Octavia. It's me!" |
Octavia | Octavia yanked her arm to herself and cradled it like it was hurt. (A part of it was. The cuts really weren't loving all this, in particular the one from Wade's knife.) "Yes, I know it's you," she spat. "Go back." |
Lucifer | "Absolutely not," Lucifer said, staring. "Not until I figure out what's going on with you." |
Octavia | "Absolutely not," she heard him say, yes. But then: "I'd much rather stay out here and torture you some more. Isn't that what you like, anyway?" Explained the wounded noise, the harsh stare back. Or would have, if he'd actually said that. |
Lucifer | "What?" Lucifer asked. Definitely desperate. What was up with her face? "Why are you looking at me like that?" |
Octavia | "Because you're being an asshole." Much worse than that, actually. They'd just about shredded her into pieces, inside. "You and him both." |
Lucifer | "... By coming after you to make sure you're okay?" Lucifer said. "I know I've done my fair share of rather dickish, devilish trolling over the years but I wouldn't exactly rank that alongside any of them." |
Octavia | Octavia heard none of it. In fact, she got to hear how he'd actually been pretending to like her all this time (Lucifer never lied, she knew that, but maybe that was the biggest lie of all), just because even after all his millennia in Hell with all the wretched souls it was just so fascinating to see how far one of them could fall, in just how despicable a way. Just the Dark Year alone -- "Shut up!" Octavia screamed, right in his face. "Don't you ever bring up the Dark Year to me again, you weren't there, you have no right." |
Lucifer | ... Right. Well. Right. Talk about going beyond delusional. Lucifer stared at her for a second longer. "Right." And then just-- pulled her into a hug. |
Octavia | "What are you -- no." Sorry about all the struggling to escape, Lucifer. |
Lucifer | "I am not bringing up the Dark Year," Lucifer told her. "Haven has done something to you and you're hearing things." Would saying that help? He had no idea. He'd just hug her more firmly in hopes that might help. |
Octavia | It would have helped a lot if Octavia had heard it. But instead there was something about how much she'd deserve getting her neck snapped, so... She was still trying to writhe and shove her way into freedom. |
Lucifer | "Does any of whatever you're hearing even sound like me?" Lucifer held on. He brushed his lips against her cheek. |
Octavia | Octavia shuddered away from it. Well, tried to, anyway. |
Lucifer | "It's me." Lucifer-- well, now that he knew something was wrong, he didn't take it quite so personally. (Part of him still wanted to.) |
Octavia | At least he couldn't hear what Octavia was hearing. That was going to be Octavia's one source of solace once this was all over. Once she stopped hearing these horrible things, and also stopped swinging wildly between the grief and the fury that both seemed to be driving her towards trying to run away. |
Lucifer | "Octavia, Octavia, Octavia, please, it's me," Lucifer babbled, holding on, wanting for it to work, not to have to-- well, do anything else. |
Octavia | It wasn't working. And it wasn't going to work, not for as long as there was a little black trouble ball lodged in her brain. So Octavia seemed to just be getting more and more agitated. "Let me go let me go let me go, please!" |
Lucifer | Well. That hurt, in every conceivable way. "Right," Lucifer said-- deflated. He lifted her up and flung her over his shoulder. |
Octavia | ... Hope you enjoyed carrying a banshee, Lucifer. Because there was a lot of kicking and screaming after her world suddenly turned upside down. But then, this was hardly his first time. |
Lucifer | No. Sadly, this was something of a familiar position for Lucifer to be in. He sighed. "You're absolutely going to have trouble with your voice tomorrow, niron," he said, as he turned back towards where he'd left Duke and the others. |
Octavia | At least the screaming drowned out whatever it was he was saying about locking her up where she belonged? That was a plus. Not much else about this was. |
Duke & Dwight | Duke wasn't sure who exactly he expected to find on the Sanguine Moon when he got there, but Dwight was not it. "Wow, cleaner to Chief, to cat burglar. It's been a big year for you." Dwight peered up at him through lowered brows, then squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. Duke frowned, spotting a streak of red on the man's shoulder. "Dwight, you're bleeding." Dwight flashed a knife at him. "Stay back." Fuck. "What you got there, squatch?" "Murder weapon." Dwight wobbled the blade in the air like a conductor before an orchestra. "Did you use this to kill all those missing people?" He was speaking crazy fast, eyes wide and intense. "Did you kill Jordan too?!" This day just got better and better. "No," Duke said firmly. Not that he expected to be believed. Dwight stood, staring down at the knife blade, which he was still treating far too casually for Duke's peace of mind. "You don't tell me the truth, I'm gonna cut it out of you." "Whoa, whoa, whoa, look, I have been arrested a bunch of times, and this?" Duke flicked his hands in the air, as though by talking like this was just an ordinary day would somehow snap Dwight out of whatever weird — thing — he was stuck in. "This is not proper procedure. I'm just —" "Why do you have this?" Dwight asked, then scrreamed: "Why?!" Duke swallowed. Okay, casual was not going to work. "I don't know." He looked at the knife in Dwight's hands. Pictured it in Wade's. Wade thrusting it into the people he and Lucifer had found at Wade's dumping ground. People who were dead because Duke couldn't do his job properly. "To torture myself," he said. "To punish myself. Frankly, I probably should have thrown it away. I'm a little surprised Lucifer or Octavia didn't. But I didn't kill anyone, and neither did they." "Then whose knife is this?" Dwight asked, sounding — almost — like himself. "Come with me," Duke said, backing towards the door. "I'll show you." Driving up to the bluff with an insane police chief who kept eyeing you wildly and clutching at his weapons was not Duke's idea of a good time, but — well, what in Haven ever was? Thankfully it didn't last too long. Not with the way Duke was driving, anyway. "We're here," he said, and jumped out. He kept his distance from Dwight as he headed for the grave, constantly keeping the other man in his periphery as he pulled his pocket knife out. Which was when Dwight yanked out his taser. "This is a good spot to bury you if you make me do something you won't live to regret!" Duke squeezed his eyes shut for just a second. "You know, it's times like these that make me hate the phrase, 'Funny you should say that.'" He held up both hands, pocketknife held loosely, as he crouched down. He dug into the edge of the rock he'd placed at the top edge of the grave, flipping it over. "'Crocker'," Dwight read. He kept the taser up and aimed. "What is this?" Duke stared at him, watching his expression closely. Dwight was clearly off his rocker on something, probably trouble-related, but underneath, he was still reacting . . . kind of how he normally would. Jordan's death had him rattled. She was Guard and Dwight took that personally. How he reacted here might give Duke an idea of how the rest of the town would react when they found out what he'd done. Nathan had taken it okay, but Nathan had never reacted to anything appropriately in his life. "This is where I buried Wade," Duke said slowly. He raised his hands again and eased back to his feet. "I put a knife in my brother's chest and then I put him in the ground." Dwight stared down at the grave, his aim with the taser wavering. Duke wondered if he should take the opportunity to grab for it and try to disarm Dwight, but there was too much space between them. "Wade murdered Jordan, didn't he?" Dwight asked. Duke nodded. "Maybe if I had told him the truth from the beginning, he wouldn't have." Dwight twitched, fury twisting his features again out of nowhere. Like he was listening to something Duke couldn't hear. "Dig him up," he ordered. Duke stiffened. "What'd you say?" "How do I know you're not lying?" Dwight shouted, gesturing broadly with the taser. "That it isn't Jordan in that hole? Dig him up!" Duke shook his head. "Hey, Squatch. Dwight, stop!" He had to try to get through to him. This had gone on long enough. "You got to be affected by some kind of Trouble. You're messed up." "Your brother isn't here, so you . . . you need to pay for Jordan, for the others." Dwight bared his teeth. "Now dig him up!" Duke held his ground. "I'm not digging him up." "Fine!" Duke didn't get the chance to process that response, or the buzzing of the taser as Dwight fired. All he knew was that his entire body suddenly locked up, his skin burning from the inside, and then he was on the ground, unable to get his brain and body coordinated enough to fight back as Dwight grabbed his wrist and locked a cuff around it. This was not even remotely his day. |
Duke | "I can't believe you actually tased me," Duke muttered, still trying to shake off the wooziness of the jolt as Dwight cuffed him to the table with that same strange, single-minded intensity. "Is anyone else seeing this?" He looked around the station, but none of the uniformed cops would meet his eye. "I'm being arrested, and for once I really didn't do anything!" |
Lucifer | Lucifer wanted to burn this town to the ground, he really did. He returned to the station with Octavia slung over his shoulder and deep irritation prevalent in his gaze. "Everyone's losing their bloody minds!" Just in case someone had missed that fact. |
Octavia | At least Octavia had stopped wailing and trying to kick him in the junk? Well, more or less. There was still the occasional attempt to full-body flail her way out of his grip, but her throat was really getting to be a little too hoarse for much except sobbing. (Besides, she'd thrown a giant fit right at the door, complete with trying to claw at the walls because she did not want to be back in here.) |
Duke & Dwight & Audrey | Duke looked briefly hopeful when Lucifer came in, then saw the state of Octavia over his shoulder and his whole face fell again. He shot to his feet -- only to be brought up short by the handcuffs. "Yep," he said dryly, collapsing back into the chair. "Got that memo." He swung around to point at Dwight with his uncuffed hand as Dwight aimed his taser at him again. "Tase me again and I am definitely suing someone!" Audrey darted around Dwight, putting herself between him and Duke. "What do you mean 'tase you again'?" "Dwight's decided I'm a murderer. I think he's being affected by his captor's trouble." Duke jerked his chin -- a bit spasmodically -- at Lucifer and Octavia. "Tavi too, I'm guessing?" |
Lucifer | "Seems to think we're telling her terrible things about her past every time we speak," Lucifer agreed. He looked-- equal parts determined and exhausted. "Lumberjack, I don't particularly care to deal with you at the moment. Please step aside and let Duke bloody leave." |
Octavia | All of their voices just sounded like a chorus of taunts directed at Octavia. She tried to block it out by pressing her hands over her ears, and whimpered. |
Duke & Audrey & Dwight | "Fuck," Duke said, his voice cracking. That whimper hurt in ways he couldn't even quantify. "She probably got hit too," Duke said, swallowing hard. "She and Tavi started going off at about the same time. When we talked to Heavy." |
Lucifer | Lucifer made a deeply irritated noise. "Do we need the lumberjack?" he asked. |
Audrey & Duke & Nathan | "Don't hurt him," Audrey said sharply. "This isn't his fault!" "Uncuff me," Duke said, showing her his cuffed wrist. She nodded and dug out her keys -- and then Nathan was pushing his way between them, glaring. "You," he growled. "No, Nathan --" Audrey started, but he wasn't listening. Not that that was a surprise, when did Nathan ever listen to anyone? The gun was a bit much though. "Get away from her!" he barked, shoving the barrel in Duke's face. Duke flailed back into his seat and cast a helpless look back at Lucifer. How many of these guys could he put down at once while still hanging onto a miserable Octavia? |
Lucifer | Time to find out. "I am very tired." Or rather, time for some efficient people management. Shifting Octavia's weight further onto his one shoulder, Lucifer grabbed Dwight with his free hand and physically hurled him at Nathan. |
Octavia | So Octavia was hearing things that weren't real, but she could still feel things just fine, so -- There wasn't much of a disturbance for her in Lucifer's movement, but she still yelped, and her hands left her ears to grab onto Lucifer's jacket for dear life. |
Audrey & Duke | "Oh my god!" Audrey yelled, actually hopping up onto the table to keep out of the way. Duke chuckled weakly. "I mean, we're operating under a certain amount of plausible deniability right now, but -- yeah. Probably." Audrey stared at him. He showed her his wrist again. "Cuffs?" She unlocked him, hands shaking a little. |
Lucifer | "Can we solve this thing already?" Lucifer said, turning towards Audrey. "You're good at solving these things." |
Audrey & Duke | "William and I know where the box is," Audrey said, nodding. "Cool," Duke said, nodding back. "What's the box?" "It's what the men who took William and Dwight were after. We'll go get it. You guys. . . ." She frowned, looking at Dwight and Nathan unconscious on the ground, then at Octavia on Lucifer's shoulder. "Can I ask you to keep an eye on things around here or will I get someone thrown at me?" "We're not going anywhere until Octavia's okay," Duke told her. "Just -- hurry." |
Lucifer | "I won't throw anyone at you if you don't do anything that warrants having someone thrown at you," Lucifer said, rather more testy than Duke. "So far, your track record in that regard isn't exactly fantastic, is it?" |
Audrey & Duke | Audrey glared at him, then flicked a little smile at Duke. "We'll be quick," she promised him. She gave his shoulder a quick squeeze and hopped off the table, heading for the door. Duke watched her go, looked over at Nathan and Dwight on the floor, winced, then looked up at Lucifer and Octavia. "There's a couch in Nathan's office. Think if we put her down there, she'll run again?" |
Lucifer | "I think she'll run the second I let her go," Lucifer muttered. "Unfortunately." |
Octavia | Octavia was starting to feel a little woozy from being half upside down for so long. Not that she could really tell the difference from her otherwise addled state. At least there were fewer voices now? But they were just as mean. "You can't put me in a box!" she whimpered. "Please." |
Duke | Duke’s heart broke at the pain in her voice. “We’re not going to do anything to you, Tavi. I promise.” Not that she was hearing what he was really saying. Any more than Dwight heard or processed anything he’d said at Wade’s grave. |
Lucifer | "She won't know what you're saying," Lucifer said regardless. He sighed, tightening his grip on her. "That Audrey character had better fix this quickly." |
Octavia | No, in her head they were still berating her, though the latest was about how they should have traded her in for Audrey years ago. She felt betrayed and alone and it was all crushing her. Lucifer's tightening grip brought on another fit of squirming and flailing, but it lacked a lot of the spirit it had had outside. |
Duke | “This is all my fault,” Duke muttered, even as he got up to cuff Dwight and Nathan together. “We should have left ages ago. Fuck, I never should have dragged you two into any of this in the first place.” He leaned against the table and stared down at the floor. “This place poisons everything it touches.” And Duke was already filled with it. |
Lucifer | "Just promise me no more diversions after this is fixed," Lucifer said, sort of... awkwardly taking a few steps because he could hardly sit down with Octavia over his shoulder. |
Octavia | Oh, he was moving again. Octavia may have been reaching some sort of a limit on how long she could stay slung over someone's shoulder without consequences, because something in her guts protested right now. She made a soft noise in her throat. "I don't feel good, think I'm gonna be --" |
Duke | “Shit.” Duke couldn’t quite get up the energy the expletive deserved, but he did dart over to grab a trash can for her to be sick into as needed. Thankfully, that was right around when William, out on a bluff not too far from the station, showed Audrey what was in the box. And little black balls pulled themselves from Nathan and Dwight’s ears to go rushing out the door. Unlike when they went in, they made no effort to be subtle about it, either. “Okay,” Duke said. “What the fuck are those?” |
Lucifer | Lucifer was a bit preoccupied with-- "Please not on my suit--" |
Octavia | Octavia was now preoccupied with another unpleasant feeling, namely something sliding out of her ear. And then flying away. The world seemed to... settle, somehow. Somewhat. "Put me -- put me down." |
Duke | "We can't, gona -- woah." Duke looked up at her just in time to see a black ball headed off from her general direction. "Did that one come from her? Did Haven literally poison them?!" |
Lucifer | "I'd say I'm surprised, but I'd be lying," Lucifer said, sounding pained. He glanced at Octavia (as well he could), and added, "Darling, are you going to scream and accuse us of saying terrible things if I do?" |
Octavia | Octavia's voice was a mutter, but much more even than it had been for a while now. "No, but I might actually throw up on your suit if you don't." Shaking off what she could only have described as a film of distortion over her entire consciousness had helped a lot, but she really wanted to be right side up, now. |
Duke & Dwight | Duke's knees felt soft, and he was tempted to just sit down sharply on the floor out of relief that she was okay -- but he forced himself to turn towards Dwight and Nathan instead. Nathan wouldn't feel it, so he kicked Dwight in the shoulder. "Hey, 'Squatch. You still want to tase me?" Dwight groaned. ". . . What?" |
Lucifer | Octavia's not-quite-a-threat was enough to spur Lucifer into quick action, as he shifted her off of his shoulder and onto the ground. "Right," he said. "None of that." Did he protectively stroke his suit as he said so? Absolutely. |
Octavia | Octavia was touched, truly. But she was also pretty busy sinking slowly all the way to the floor to sit down, because... yeah. There seemed to be a not-zero chance of her fainting, otherwise. (It was almost comforting, having something else to worry about for a second instead of trying to unpack the last while.) |
Duke & Dwight | "Good," Duke said, deciding that Dwight wasn't going to tase him. "You might want to roll off Nathan." Dwight frowned, then cursed and scrambled to do just that, rubbing his head. "What the hell just happened?" Duke shrugged. "Gas leak?" |
Lucifer | Lucifer sighed, leaning down to lay a single, comforting hand on her back. "There, there." |
Octavia | Octavia had her eyes closed, and was taking a few slow, controlled breaths. They pushed her back against his hand a little. Or maybe that was just her. "Is Jennifer okay?" |
Duke | Duke shrugged. "She left. We'll call her, make sure." He met Lucifer's gaze. Hopefully Lucifer could read the 'on the way out of town' part he left unspoken. |
Lucifer | Lucifer let out a long (and long-suffering) breath. "Sure," he said, "But may I suggest we get out of here very quickly before yet someone else's crisis wanders around to further annihilate what is left of our sanity?" |
Octavia | Octavia wondered why she still felt like crying. Maybe it was just the way her eyes felt all puffy and sore from all the previous crying? Maybe. She rubbed her hands over her face. |
Duke & Dwight | "Yes please," Duke said in a bit of a rush. He shot a glance back at Dwight. "Assuming I'm not . . . under arrest still?" Dwight closed his eyes and waved his hand. "No. You're -- you're fine. We're fine. Won't say we won't miss you, but -- get out while the getting's good." |
Lucifer | "Are you all right to get up?" Lucifer asked Octavia. "I promise it won't be far." Get out first. Deal with the trauma after. |
Octavia | Octavia drew another breath, then opened her eyes. "Sure." And started slowly clambering up onto her feet again. |
Duke | Duke went to give her a hand, then paused a foot or so away, not sure she'd welcome his assistance right then. Because she'd thought he'd been accusing her of terrible things a minute ago. (And because he'd done a pretty terrible thing, not all that long before that. And then she'd flinched.) |
Lucifer | Lucifer wasn't thinking about any of that. He held out his arm for her, instead. She could take it if she wanted it. |
Octavia | And here was Octavia, not really looking at either of them as she was getting up. She could do it fine on her own. Maybe needed to, too. Even if she did take a second, once she was fully upright, to stand very still and wait for any nausea or dizziness that might still hit her. But nothing came. "Okay, let's go." |
Duke | "Yeah." Duke shoved his hands in his pockets and headed for the door, forcing himself not to look back at Dwight or Nathan -- who he could hear just starting to stir. They could handle themselves. Or Audrey could handle them both. And Audrey -- Audrey would do what Audrey was going to do, with or without Duke around to help. He didn't have a trouble anymore. He didn't have any family left in town (he didn't have any family left). It was time to go. |
[Follows this. Adapted from 4x08, "Crush", and 4x09, "William". Preplayed as always with the delightful
my_own_advocate and okteiviakom. Contains all the usual Haven badness plus grief and charcters losing their ability to connect to reality. FUN!][NFB, NFI, OOC welcome! OMG Y'ALL THIS PART IN PARTICULAR TOOK FOREVER I AM PROUD OF US]