Chapter Text
Audrey chuckled as a coffee cup appeared in her field of vision.
“I figured you could use it after last night,” Nathan told her.
“Yeah, that was a rough one,” Audrey agreed, taking a sip of her black coffee. The trouble the night before had been a child bringing her nightmares to life. Add to that an abusive father and her nightmares had been enough to kill.
“You should go home, get some sleep,” he told her, taking a cautious sip of his own coffee.
“I will, I just need to finish this lovely bit of fiction that I’m going to pass off as my report.”
There was a knock at the door and they both looked up to see a young brunette woman standing in the door.
“I’m sorry,” she said, grinning. “I was looking for Nathan Wuornos, but you can’t possibly be him. He’s a geek with, you know, bad skin and a sullen look…around the eyes.”
“Katie.” Nathan grinned and stood up, hugging the other woman as he reached her. “When did you get back to town? I thought you were never coming back.”
“I wasn’t,” she agreed, hugging him back before pulling away and shoving him roughly, “until I was on stage three nights ago and every thought in a twelve-mile radius came rushing into my head. I almost passed out before I got it under control. You couldn’t pick up a phone? ‘Hey, Katie, you know how your family likes to go crazy every generation? Whelp, it’s time again and you’re up!’.”
“Sorry, Kate,” he told her sheepishly.
“You are so lucky my family has always been up front about our trouble, since it takes basically nothing to trigger it. One good bout of stress and poof! Instant telepath. Thousands of people, screaming in my head. It was like a tsunami of sound.”
“I’m so sorry, Katie.” Nathan told her. “I never thought…”
“Yeah, well, luckily my parents borderline abusive mental training is actually good for something,” she said with a wave of her hand. “I put the tour on hold, which is going to cost me so much money, but I decided it was better to lose the money then have a mental break on stage. I do not need that kind of publicity.”
“Hi,” Audrey interrupted, standing up and holding out her hand. “I’m Audrey, Nathan’s partner.”
“Oh!” Katie seemed to have just realized she was there. “I’m so sorry! You know, I was just kidding with the telepathy – “
“It’s okay, Katie,” Nathan assured her. “Audrey knows all about the Troubles.”
“Oh, good. I had no real idea about how I was going to explain my little rant.” She took Audrey’s hand. “Katherine Stevens. Everyone calls me Katie.”
“Nice to meet you.” Audrey said, smiling. “I take it you’ve known Nathan for a while?”
“We grew up together.” She confirmed. “I escaped this wackadoo town when we graduated.”
“But now you’re back.”
Katie shrugged. “Less people means less voices if I lose control. And family around who know how to help. My manager is pissed as hell.”
“You’re a musician?” Audrey asked, leaning against the desk.
“Of the rock variety,” Katie confirmed with a nod. “My band is understanding, I sited mental health issues. We’ve been friends since college, they know I’ve had issues in the past.” She glanced at Nathan and smiled at his worried look. “Calm down, Nate. Just some depression that was balanced out with the help of god’s gift to pharmacology, the antidepressant. But they saw me through it, so they can easily believe that it’s gotten worse with the stress of touring.”
“How long are you planning on sticking around?” Nathan asked.
“Until I’m sure I can get up in front of a crowd and perform without loosing my mind,” she replied. “Mom and Dad offered me my room, but since I’d rather chew off my own arm than walk back into their loving embrace, I guess I’m at the B&B until I can find a lease.”
“I’ve got a spare room,” Nathan told her. “You can stay with me until you find something more permanent.”
“Your dad won’t care?”
Nathan looked away and Katie looked confused for a moment before understanding dawned on her face.
“Oh, Nate. I’m so sorry.” She reached over and lightly punched him on the shoulder. “You should have called me.”
“There wasn’t anything you could do.”
“I could have been your friend.”
“I didn’t want you to get drawn back here.”
“Ha! I knew you didn’t just ‘forget’ to call me and tell me about the Troubles.” She shoved his shoulder again. “You were just trying to protect me.”
“Yeah,” he admitted sheepishly. “I was hoping your Trouble would stay dormant.”
“Idiot.” She reached over and pulled him into another hug. “But thanks for trying.”
After a moment, he pulled away and grabbed his keys off the desk. “Go ahead and stash your stuff at my place and then Parker and I will take you out to dinner when we get off duty.”
“We can go to the Grey Gull,” Audrey said brightly. “They have great margaritas.”
“I don’t think – “
“Someone actually opened a new place in the town time forgot?” Katie said with a laugh, taking the keys from Nathan’s hand and heading towards the door. “I’ll meet you back here at five!”
She skipped out the door before Nathan could stop her and he leaned back on his desk with a sigh.
“What’s wrong?” Audrey asked, looking at him curiously.
“Nothing,” he replied. “You, me, and Katie…at the Gull. I should probably call the fire department.”
“Why?”
“Katie has…history in this town,” Nathan replied. “Let’s hope it doesn’t rear its head.”
“Nathan – “
“I’m sure it’ll be fine, Parker.”
“Hey, Nathan, I got caught up buying groceries, cause your fridge was just depressing,” Nathan rubbed his head as he listened to Katie’s message. “Doreen at the store gave me directions to the Grey Gull. I’ll meet you guys there!”
“Seriously, Nathan, why are you so worried about her going to the Gull?” Audrey asked as they grabbed their coats.
“I said Katie has a history in this town,” He replied as they headed out into the night, “I didn’t mention that that history is with Duke specifically. They didn’t part on the best of terms.”
“How ‘not best of terms’ are we talking?”
“There’s a reason I mentioned the Fire Department.”
“Oh, goody.” Audrey muttered as she climbed into the Bronco.
They arrived at the Gull and Nathan slowly got out. “Well, nothing’s on fire.”
“Seriously, is that an actual possibility, ‘cause I live above this place, if you recall?” Audrey pointed out.
She followed Nathan inside and they spotted Katie at the bar.
“Hey!” she called, waiving. “You’re right, these are great margaritas.”
“Katie, are you sure you don’t want to go eat in town?” Nathan asked as Audrey slipped into the seat next to her.
“Nah, I already got us a table!” she said happily. “Hey, do think the owner might let me sing here? It’d be a good way to find out if I can handle it.”
“I’m sure he would,” Audrey told her. “He’s pretty good about anything that might make a better party.”
“I’m not sure that’s the best idea, Parker.”
“What’s not the best idea, Nathan?”
Nathan sighed as Katie went still.
“Who’s the newcomer, Nathan?” Duke continued as he carried a case behind the bar. “Another Audrey Parker?”
The bar went silent as a margarita went flying past Duke’s head and he ducked at the last moment. He slowly stood back up and stared at the bar.
“Kat?”
Audrey looked at Katie to find her shaking with rage. She spun to face Nathan.
“You should have warned me.” She hissed. “You should never have brought me here.”
She grabbed her jacket and stormed out.
“What the hell, Nathan?” Duke demanded. “You didn’t tell her this was my place?”
“I didn’t have a chance.” The other man defended himself.
Duke growled and dropped the case, following after Katie.
“Kat!”
She wrenched open her car door. “Get the hell away from me, Crocker, or I swear to god I will finish what I started fifteen years ago.”
“Kat, will you just listen to me?!” He grabbed the door before she could shut it.
“I stopped listening to you when I was seventeen years old,” she hissed. “Why should I start now?”
“You were a stubborn bitch when you were seventeen, glad to see nothing’s changed.”
“Rot in hell, Crocker.”
She wrenched the door away from him, slamming it shut before he could stop her.
“Will you just let me talk?” he demanded through the window.
“When hell freezes over.” She started the car and he barely had time to get out of the way as she peeled out of the parking lot.
Duke ran his hands through his hair, turning back to the crowd that was watching. “Shows over, folks. Back inside.”
The crowd dispersed until it was just Nathan and Audrey.
“Duke…” Audrey trailed off.
“You should have told her, Nathan,” Duke said angrily. “You shouldn’t have brought her here without warning her.”
“I thought she would have, I don’t know, mellowed in the last fifteen years.”
“Kat? Mellow? Are you and I remembering the same girl?”
“Yeah, I knew it was a pipe dream.”
“What exactly is her problem with you?” Audrey asked curiously. “What, did you break her heart or something?” She laughed lightly but the laugh drifted off as the two men looked away awkwardly. “Seriously?”
“Apparently, she’s holding a grudge,” Duke grumbled. “We’re lucky her aim hasn’t gotten any better.”
“I should go check on her,” Nathan said. “Make sure she doesn’t decide to actually set fire to anything.”
“Just…” Duke trailed off. “Just tell her…I’m willing to talk if she is.”
“I will.” He turned to Audrey. “Sorry about dinner.”
“Go check on her,” she ordered. “Tell her we’ll have lunch tomorrow.”
He nodded and headed for the Broco.
“Come on,” she said, wrapping her arm through Duke’s. “Buy me a drink.”
“You should have warned me that it was his place.”
Nathan sighed, closing the door behind him.
“I was going to, but then you didn’t come to the station,” he replied, hanging his coat up and sitting down on the couch next to her. “I kind of thought maybe you would have forgiven him after all these years.”
“Have you forgiven him?” she demanded. “He put you through just as much shit, have you forgiven him?”
“No,” he admitted. “My Trouble…it came back during a fight with him.”
“Yet you drink at his bar.”
“He’s helped us recently.” Nathan sighed. “Things have been hard here with the Troubles. You should get yours out of control and get out of town as quickly as you can.”
“I don’t think it’s going to be that easy,” she told him. “It’s easier here, with family nearby, but this is worse than when we were kids. My range has gotten wider and it’s harder to block it all out.”
“I’m sorry,” Nathan said softly.
“It’s like…a torrent of sound at all times,” she whispered. “Too many voices to make sense of it. If I let my defenses down for a moment, I can’t separate myself from the voices and I start to lose myself.”
“Doesn’t anyone in your family know how to stop it?”
Katie shook her head. “Once the Trouble’s activated, no one has ever switched it off. It only ends when the Troubles end.”
“It’s like mine, always on.”
Katie nodded. She reached over and took Nathan’s hand.
“I’m sorry it came back, Nate. No one deserves to feel everything this world has to offer more than you.”
She squeezed his hand once before letting it go.
“He said to tell you he’s willing to talk if you are.”
Katie scoffed. “I never want to talk to him again.”
“Maybe there’s another explanation for what happened that night.”
“Are you seriously trying to defend Duke Crocker to me?”
“Never.” Nathan leaned over to press a kiss to the top of her head. “Get some sleep. We’ll get lunch tomorrow…somewhere other than the Gull.”
She nodded and he got up and headed to his bedroom.
“How was Katie?” Audrey asked as Nathan put a cup of coffee in front of her and held his out for her to check.
“Annoyed with me and worried about having to stay here because of her Trouble,” he replied as she handed it back, indicating it was safe to drink. “I should have tried harder to warn her about the Gull. I just honestly thought she would be…not okay, but less angry.”
“What exactly happened between her and Duke?”
Nathan sighed and sat down on the couch.
“Katie grew up with us,” he told her. “She and I were always fairly close and Duke floated in and out of our circle. Katie’s parents are…strict. Like she said, they’ve always been upfront about the fact that they’re Troubled, they have to be since there’s never been a cycle where at least one of them didn’t get triggered. They teach their children strict mental discipline so that when the Troubles come back, they have a better chance of surviving their Trouble. According to her family lore, quite a few of her ancestors have gone mad when their Trouble triggered.”
“What triggers it?”
“Curiosity.” Nathan chuckled. “The story is that the first Stevens was a terrible gossip. She needed to know everyone’s business. Her Trouble gave her more information than she could handle and she jumped from the Lighthouse to get the voices to stop. Ever since then, when the Troubles come, a Stevens gets too curious about something and then has to go into the wilderness until they can control it.”
“But Katie came straight to town.” Audrey pointed out.
“She’s already gone to the wilderness,” he replied with a shrug. “The last time the Troubles were here, she wondered too much about whether a boy liked her or not and then the voices started. She was gone for a semester before she could come back into town.”
“Did the boy like her?” Audrey asked with a smirk.
Nathan laughed slightly. “Yes, but she didn’t know that until years later.”
“Was it you?”
Nathan shook his head with another laugh. “God, no. Katie is like a sister. One time someone suggested we should be a couple and she didn’t stop threatening to throw up for several hours.”
“But she and Duke were an item?”
He nodded. “Her parents were really strict and Duke was everything they hated. It would be easy to say that they were together because she wanted to annoy them, but she really cared about him. And he cared enough about her to agree to go to prom with her, which was very much not a Duke thing to do.”
“I can’t even imagine Duke at prom,” Audrey said with a laugh.
“Neither can anyone else,” Nathan replied, anger leaking into his voice. “He stood her up. She spent the whole night at my house, crying in her fancy dress. The next school day it was all around town that he had stood her up to hook up with another girl. We graduated a few weeks later and Katie left town. She hasn’t been back since.”
“That’s awful.” Audrey shook her head. “I can’t believe Duke would do that.”
“He never denied it. Just moved on immediately.”
“Poor Katie.” Audrey sighed. “But it’s been, what? Fifteen years?”
“I told you, her Trouble triggered when she was eight because she wanted to know if a boy liked her,” Nathan sighed. “I think she had decided that the pain had been worth it because he did. His betrayal meant that none of it had been worth it. Also, Katie’s just really good at holding a grudge.”
“And she hasn’t spoken to him since?”
He shook his head and a thought occurred to her.
“Does she know about Evi?”
Nathan opened his mouth and closed it a couple of times before swiping his hand over his face.
“Well, this should be interesting,” Audrey said, leaning back in her chair.
“Because interesting is something we’re missing around here,” he replied dryly, making her laugh.