Haven Fic: Time (Has Numbered My Days) - Chapter 02/?? [Nathan + Claire, (Nathan/Audrey)]
Author: 
siricerasi
Fandom: Haven
Story Characters/Pairings: Audrey + Claire + Nathan + Duke + Jordan + Dwight (friendships, relationships, anti-relationships, introspectives, just about everything?)
Spoilers: Through 3.06 (Real Estate)
Story Summary: It’s all so fucked up, so far from where they’d started, so far from where they should be. And she’d take all of it back, she’d forgive everything, if he could just be here right now.
Chapter: 02/??
Chapter Word count: 1388
Chapter Rating: T
Chapter Warnings: Language
Chapter Summary: 'You have a partner, do you remember that?' It seems he’s never going to get a full sentence in around her. 'Name Audrey Parker, ring any bells?'
Author's Notes: Written for my hc_bingo prompt "disappearing".
This chapter is still canon, by like 4 hours lol. Basically, Claire is a BAMF and Nathan is a jackass. Also featuring Claire's stake.
The whole story is going to be Mumford & Sons themed, because literally every fucking song on their new album SCREAMS Haven to me. Song for this chapter is "Whispers In The Dark".
you hold your truth so purely
swerve not through the minds of men
this lie is dead
and this cup of yours tastes holy
but a brush with the devil can clear your mind
strengthen your spine
Nathan doesn’t fear much. A lot of that probably comes from not feeling; not only does he not have to worry about things hurting, but it leaves him already somewhat detached from the world. But when Claire Callahan comes storming into his office, still in her vampire slayer outfit looking quite ready to… well, slay him - yeah, Nathan’s scared.
She slams the door shut, stalks the two feet to his desk. “So I’m trying to decide if you’re being cruel or just absolutely oblivious,” she growls, no preamble. Nathan blinks.
“What-”
She steamrolls over him. “And honestly, Chief, I don’t know which one is worse.” Nathan feels a headache coming on, pinches the bridge of his nose. He may not be able to feel it on his skin, but the pressure is welcome.
“Look, doc,” he starts, but she cuts him off again.
“Don’t call me that.” He sees fear flick across her face, wonders for the thousandth time if he really, really knows Jordan.
“Alright, Doctor Callahan, I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about. It’s late, it’s been a very long day, and-”
“You have a partner, do you remember that?” It seems he’s never going to get a full sentence in around her. “Name Audrey Parker, ring any bells?”
Nathan likes sarcasm. Nathan is the king of sarcasm. But he really, really doesn’t like this. So he reverts to stoicism, monotones, “Parker’s fine, so I don’t-” He breaks off at the look on her face - a mix between disgusted and shocked and horrified - and suddenly there’s a panic in his gut, a ringing in his ears.
“Audrey should be in a hospital,” the therapist snaps, and Nathan’s throat closes over and he thinks he might throw up. “Instead she’s at home because she’s so damn fixated on saving you, and here you are with no fucking idea.” Nathan can’t breathe. It’s like all the air left the room, like his lungs seized up and his chest collapsed. He wants to ask what the fuck she’s talking about, he needs to ask, but the words just cannot form.
Luckily, she saves him the trouble, and plows on with terrifying venom. “You honestly don’t know.” Yeah, he’s pretty sure they’d established that. “While you were busy with Jordan, Audrey was having flashbacks to being Lucy. Flashbacks that were so intense they made her pass out and her brain start to bleed.”
Oh, god.
Claire’s voice just keeps going, ringing in his ears. “Do you even know how we got out? How Audrey knew what to do?” He stares dumbly. “While we were all busy trying to kill each other, Audrey went back to the secret room where the Holloway women were - she found them, by the way, which I assume you missed - because she knew Lucy had been trapped there before, and had gotten out. She knew the flashbacks were hurting her, maybe killing her, but she went back anyway, to save us.” His brain tells him numbly that yes, that certainly sounds like Audrey. “Hell, Tommy had to practically carry her back to us, which you might have noticed if you’d spared her a glance, Nathan. Maybe you might’ve noticed she was bleeding.”
For a moment Nathan thinks he might actually pass out. Because he really can’t breathe, and his thoughts are spinning as fast as Parker’s do, and Claire is glaring at him like he’s some kind of monster. Which, in retrospect, maybe he is.
How had he not noticed? Sure, she’d looked pale when he’d found her with the doctor while looking for Jordan. But they’d all probably looked like crap, and he’d known she could take care of herself. Right? She always takes care of herself. She doesn’t want his protection, she doesn’t need it. She told him that much. And sure, he hadn’t listened, had continued researching the Colorado Kid and the bolt gun killer, but…
But she doesn’t want his help. She’s made that abundantly clear.
Still, how could he not have noticed? He’d been angry, protective of Jordan. She’d only been there because of him, and the rest of them certainly didn’t trust her. If she’d died, he would’ve lost all connections with the Guard permanently.
But Audrey…
Claire finally stops pacing, seems to deflate in the face of his silence. She sinks into a chair with a sigh, tells him, “Look, whatever else is going on with you two, she’s your partner. And I know you both have serious communication issues, but if you don’t start talking to her she’s going to self-destruct.”
That almost makes him laugh. Because everyone seems to forget she’s not his partner anymore, that technically he’s her boss and he actually finds it pretty damn hilarious that she doesn’t listen to a word he says. As though he could ever, ever make her do something, or talk her out of something she’s set on.
And that just makes him angry and hopeless all over again, so he just bites, “You’re not my therapist.”
“No, I’m hers,” she snaps right back. “And that’s why I’m here. Because the way she’s going right now, she’s going to get herself killed before she has a chance to disappear.” Nathan flinches, his stomach a knot. Granted, Audrey’s always running around making impulsive decisions that nearly killed her. He had met her when she’d been about to fall off a cliff…
“I’m serious,” Claire continues, watching him. “These things she’s remembering, they’ve been physically blocked in her brain. Every time she pushes at one, she bursts those walls. Literally. Like, blood out her nose literally.” Nathan almost gags, takes a few rapid, shallow breaths. “I’m afraid she’s going to keep going, to keep trying to find out what happened to the Colorado Kid. To make sure it doesn’t happen to you.”
Oh god.
“Why… why would she…” It’s the only thing he can get out, choked around the massive lump in his throat.
Claire just looks at him. “She’s trying to protect you. And normally, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. But these are not normal circumstances, and I’m seriously concerned she’s going to get herself badly hurt or killed. And I’m pretty sure you’re the only person who can stop her from doing that.”
He wants to laugh all over again. “She doesn’t listen to me.”
Claire just gives him an are-you-serious look. “You’d be surprised how much your opinion matters to her,” she asserts wryly, like to a stupid child.
But he still can’t get over the fact that she’s doing this to protect him. Him. His first thought is about how extremely unfair it is that she’s allowed to do that while he’s not allowed to do it for her, and his second is protect him from what, and his third is that she’d said the Colorado Kid and Lucy had loved the Colorado Kid and that could only mean…
Oh, god.
He remembers the look on her face when he’d taken Jordan’s hand, the way she hadn’t even been able to take her eyes off their entwined fingers. How she’d looked ready to cry. But he hadn’t taken it seriously, because she knew. She knew it was only a cover.
But if he can’t even convince himself of that anymore, he can only imagine how she feels.
How had this happened? How the fuck did they get here?
Claire is still staring at him and he still can’t say anything, can’t force words past the lump in his throat, the anvil on his chest. Finally, she stands, a sad look on her face. “Someone needs to stay with her tonight, make sure she doesn’t bleed to death in her sleep.” His stomach wrenches, his head spins as the edges of his vision go white, and he still can’t say a fucking thing.
“I’d rather it be you,” Claire is saying, and he wants to speak, to say of course, but his mouth opens and the first words that come out are, “I need to check on Jordan,” and he thinks Claire might actually stab him with her vampire-slaying stake. (Why the hell had she even brought that thing? Was she expecting to kill him?)
Claire walks out without another word, and he’s pretty sure her silence is worse than anything she could’ve said.
and fingers tap into what you were once
and i'm worried that i blew my only chance
whispers in the dark
steal a kiss and you'll break a heart
siricerasi
Fandom: Haven
Story Characters/Pairings: Audrey + Claire + Nathan + Duke + Jordan + Dwight (friendships, relationships, anti-relationships, introspectives, just about everything?)
Spoilers: Through 3.06 (Real Estate)
Story Summary: It’s all so fucked up, so far from where they’d started, so far from where they should be. And she’d take all of it back, she’d forgive everything, if he could just be here right now.
Chapter: 02/??
Chapter Word count: 1388
Chapter Rating: T
Chapter Warnings: Language
Chapter Summary: 'You have a partner, do you remember that?' It seems he’s never going to get a full sentence in around her. 'Name Audrey Parker, ring any bells?'
Author's Notes: Written for my hc_bingo prompt "disappearing".
This chapter is still canon, by like 4 hours lol. Basically, Claire is a BAMF and Nathan is a jackass. Also featuring Claire's stake.
The whole story is going to be Mumford & Sons themed, because literally every fucking song on their new album SCREAMS Haven to me. Song for this chapter is "Whispers In The Dark".
you hold your truth so purely
swerve not through the minds of men
this lie is dead
and this cup of yours tastes holy
but a brush with the devil can clear your mind
strengthen your spine
Nathan doesn’t fear much. A lot of that probably comes from not feeling; not only does he not have to worry about things hurting, but it leaves him already somewhat detached from the world. But when Claire Callahan comes storming into his office, still in her vampire slayer outfit looking quite ready to… well, slay him - yeah, Nathan’s scared.
She slams the door shut, stalks the two feet to his desk. “So I’m trying to decide if you’re being cruel or just absolutely oblivious,” she growls, no preamble. Nathan blinks.
“What-”
She steamrolls over him. “And honestly, Chief, I don’t know which one is worse.” Nathan feels a headache coming on, pinches the bridge of his nose. He may not be able to feel it on his skin, but the pressure is welcome.
“Look, doc,” he starts, but she cuts him off again.
“Don’t call me that.” He sees fear flick across her face, wonders for the thousandth time if he really, really knows Jordan.
“Alright, Doctor Callahan, I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about. It’s late, it’s been a very long day, and-”
“You have a partner, do you remember that?” It seems he’s never going to get a full sentence in around her. “Name Audrey Parker, ring any bells?”
Nathan likes sarcasm. Nathan is the king of sarcasm. But he really, really doesn’t like this. So he reverts to stoicism, monotones, “Parker’s fine, so I don’t-” He breaks off at the look on her face - a mix between disgusted and shocked and horrified - and suddenly there’s a panic in his gut, a ringing in his ears.
“Audrey should be in a hospital,” the therapist snaps, and Nathan’s throat closes over and he thinks he might throw up. “Instead she’s at home because she’s so damn fixated on saving you, and here you are with no fucking idea.” Nathan can’t breathe. It’s like all the air left the room, like his lungs seized up and his chest collapsed. He wants to ask what the fuck she’s talking about, he needs to ask, but the words just cannot form.
Luckily, she saves him the trouble, and plows on with terrifying venom. “You honestly don’t know.” Yeah, he’s pretty sure they’d established that. “While you were busy with Jordan, Audrey was having flashbacks to being Lucy. Flashbacks that were so intense they made her pass out and her brain start to bleed.”
Oh, god.
Claire’s voice just keeps going, ringing in his ears. “Do you even know how we got out? How Audrey knew what to do?” He stares dumbly. “While we were all busy trying to kill each other, Audrey went back to the secret room where the Holloway women were - she found them, by the way, which I assume you missed - because she knew Lucy had been trapped there before, and had gotten out. She knew the flashbacks were hurting her, maybe killing her, but she went back anyway, to save us.” His brain tells him numbly that yes, that certainly sounds like Audrey. “Hell, Tommy had to practically carry her back to us, which you might have noticed if you’d spared her a glance, Nathan. Maybe you might’ve noticed she was bleeding.”
For a moment Nathan thinks he might actually pass out. Because he really can’t breathe, and his thoughts are spinning as fast as Parker’s do, and Claire is glaring at him like he’s some kind of monster. Which, in retrospect, maybe he is.
How had he not noticed? Sure, she’d looked pale when he’d found her with the doctor while looking for Jordan. But they’d all probably looked like crap, and he’d known she could take care of herself. Right? She always takes care of herself. She doesn’t want his protection, she doesn’t need it. She told him that much. And sure, he hadn’t listened, had continued researching the Colorado Kid and the bolt gun killer, but…
But she doesn’t want his help. She’s made that abundantly clear.
Still, how could he not have noticed? He’d been angry, protective of Jordan. She’d only been there because of him, and the rest of them certainly didn’t trust her. If she’d died, he would’ve lost all connections with the Guard permanently.
But Audrey…
Claire finally stops pacing, seems to deflate in the face of his silence. She sinks into a chair with a sigh, tells him, “Look, whatever else is going on with you two, she’s your partner. And I know you both have serious communication issues, but if you don’t start talking to her she’s going to self-destruct.”
That almost makes him laugh. Because everyone seems to forget she’s not his partner anymore, that technically he’s her boss and he actually finds it pretty damn hilarious that she doesn’t listen to a word he says. As though he could ever, ever make her do something, or talk her out of something she’s set on.
And that just makes him angry and hopeless all over again, so he just bites, “You’re not my therapist.”
“No, I’m hers,” she snaps right back. “And that’s why I’m here. Because the way she’s going right now, she’s going to get herself killed before she has a chance to disappear.” Nathan flinches, his stomach a knot. Granted, Audrey’s always running around making impulsive decisions that nearly killed her. He had met her when she’d been about to fall off a cliff…
“I’m serious,” Claire continues, watching him. “These things she’s remembering, they’ve been physically blocked in her brain. Every time she pushes at one, she bursts those walls. Literally. Like, blood out her nose literally.” Nathan almost gags, takes a few rapid, shallow breaths. “I’m afraid she’s going to keep going, to keep trying to find out what happened to the Colorado Kid. To make sure it doesn’t happen to you.”
Oh god.
“Why… why would she…” It’s the only thing he can get out, choked around the massive lump in his throat.
Claire just looks at him. “She’s trying to protect you. And normally, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. But these are not normal circumstances, and I’m seriously concerned she’s going to get herself badly hurt or killed. And I’m pretty sure you’re the only person who can stop her from doing that.”
He wants to laugh all over again. “She doesn’t listen to me.”
Claire just gives him an are-you-serious look. “You’d be surprised how much your opinion matters to her,” she asserts wryly, like to a stupid child.
But he still can’t get over the fact that she’s doing this to protect him. Him. His first thought is about how extremely unfair it is that she’s allowed to do that while he’s not allowed to do it for her, and his second is protect him from what, and his third is that she’d said the Colorado Kid and Lucy had loved the Colorado Kid and that could only mean…
Oh, god.
He remembers the look on her face when he’d taken Jordan’s hand, the way she hadn’t even been able to take her eyes off their entwined fingers. How she’d looked ready to cry. But he hadn’t taken it seriously, because she knew. She knew it was only a cover.
But if he can’t even convince himself of that anymore, he can only imagine how she feels.
How had this happened? How the fuck did they get here?
Claire is still staring at him and he still can’t say anything, can’t force words past the lump in his throat, the anvil on his chest. Finally, she stands, a sad look on her face. “Someone needs to stay with her tonight, make sure she doesn’t bleed to death in her sleep.” His stomach wrenches, his head spins as the edges of his vision go white, and he still can’t say a fucking thing.
“I’d rather it be you,” Claire is saying, and he wants to speak, to say of course, but his mouth opens and the first words that come out are, “I need to check on Jordan,” and he thinks Claire might actually stab him with her vampire-slaying stake. (Why the hell had she even brought that thing? Was she expecting to kill him?)
Claire walks out without another word, and he’s pretty sure her silence is worse than anything she could’ve said.
and fingers tap into what you were once
and i'm worried that i blew my only chance
whispers in the dark
steal a kiss and you'll break a heart