betterthanaplan | Haven, Maine, Thursday Fandom time

Duke & Jennifer & Nathan	Last night had been . . . rough. To say the least. But they were still apparently on a clock when it came to getting Audrey back in Haven -- and that was still one of Duke's ultimate goals even if his partners found her problematic. So he'd brought them and Jennifer out to Kick'Em Jenny Neck, the place where the Barn had vanished, and called in Nathan to join them. "I hate this place," Nathan grumbled. "The Barn crumpled to nothing. How can Audrey still be inside?" Duke gave him a Look. "The magic, time-traveling, bigger-on-the-inside barn that works like something out of Mister What? That Barn?"
Lucifer	"You're from a town in which everyone is cursed with homicidal superpowers, she's from a post-apocalyptic future, and I'm the Devil," Lucifer added brightly, and sing-songed: "Don't overthink iiiit."
Octavia	Octavia said nothing. She hadn't been saying much all day, so far. It was half the lack of sleep, half the... everything else. Too tired to, inside and out. She was sticking by Jennifer. No reason.
Jennifer & Nathan & Duke	Jennifer was 100% not complaining. Especially considering the intense looks she was getting from Nathan. Nathan, for his part, was studiously ignoring both Lucifer and Duke's snark. Staying focused on Jennifer and the promise of getting Audrey back -- and having her kill him -- as soon as possible. "There's a door?" he asked. "There's a way for Audrey to get out?" Duke nodded. "That's what Jennifer heard, but her connection wasn't great. I thought she might do better out here." "The place where we last saw the Barn." Nathan nodded back, approving. "You landed in Fandom. Audrey could come out of that Barn anywhere."
Lucifer	Nathan needed to stop ignoring their snark. The snark was the only reason Lucifer was managing to slap on this chipper face in the first place. "Well, the faster our elven friend here can tune in, the faster we'll know how and where," he said, "And the faster we can get out of here." He clapped his hand. "So let's get a move on, shall we? Or, well. You." He looked at Jennifer.
Jennifer & Nathan & Duke	Jennifer's shoulders were creeping up around her ears. "I'm not hearing anything here, okay?" "Listen harder --" Nathan started. Duke put himself between him and Jennifer. "Back off, okay?" He shot a glance at Lucifer. "Both of you."
Octavia	"It's not like there's a switch in her head for this," Octavia agreed, dry and mild. And maybe an inch or so closer to Jennifer than she had been before, but you couldn't prove anything.
Lucifer	Lucifer let out an irritated breath through his nose, but he fell silent. What? It wasn't like he had a magical switch for this either.
Jennifer & Duke & Nathan	"Sorry," Jennifer said. "She's right. And I'm not good with pressure." "You're doing great," Duke assured her. "Just keep trying." As he spoke, Nathan pulled his phone out, bringing it to his ear and stepping away to talk. "Right," Jennifer muttered. "Trying to listen to a magical barn. Wheee."
Octavia	Octavia eyed Nathan as he stepped away, then looked at Jennifer again. "Just try to relax, I guess," she said. The dry tone was her main mode right now, but also served to acknowledge that this was not a relaxing situation by any stretch of the imagination.
Lucifer	Lucifer reached into the inside pocket of his jacket to pull out-- "Whiskey?" he offered Jennifer.
Jennifer & Nathan & Duke	Jennifer wrinkled her nose a little and shook her head. "Ew." She was not a straight liquor kind of person. "That was Dwight," Nathan said, hanging up the phone. "A second kid's gone missing, another 4-year-old." He sighed, visibly frustrated. "But Audrey could walk out here at any second!" Duke made a face and held up his hands again. "Look. Usually when Jennifer hears Audrey, she's been relaxed. Now, getting her to relax is something that you suck at." He spread his hands. "But what don't you suck at?"
Octavia	"He needs to go do his job." Yes, Tavi, that was what Duke had been getting at.
Lucifer	"They're telling you to fuck off," Lucifer retranslated, helpfully.
Nathan & Duke	Nathan frowned hard at him. Duke shrugged. "Basically. So you go find the kids. We will get her to calm down. We will find Audrey, and we'll all live happ —" He broke off and cough. "— You know what I mean."
Octavia	Good save, Duke. Octavia was already back to watching Jennifer out of the corner of her eye, and wondering how anyone was supposed to calm down with all this pressure. Even without Nathan here.
Lucifer	Lucifer looked from one to the other to yet the other. "Right," he said. "I'll go plunder the Gull's liquor storage, then, shall I?"
Duke & Jennifer	Duke looked at Jennifer, who now had her eyes squinched shut, her nose wrinkling, as she clearly tried very hard to listen to something that wasn't there. "Yeah. Can't hurt."

Duke & Jennifer	"And breathe in." Duke raised his arms in time with his breath, stretching them up over his head. Across the rug from him, on the deck outside Audrey's old apartment, Jennifer swung her own arms up in the air gamely. "And breathe out." Duke lowered his arms, exhaling audibly. Jennifer flopped her arms to her sides. Duke didn't let it bother him. "Yoga is about the mind controlling the body. That's why we don't feel the cold right now." Jennifer sighed (she really wasn't trying very hard to do the breath work). "But do you really think this is gonna help me hear things?" "Absolutely," Duke said. "You see, by focusing on your breath, you can do anything!" He dropped into a forward fold, lifting his legs into the air into a careful, steady handstand. It felt amazing. He hadn't done nearly enough yoga of late.
Octavia	Octavia had her own makeshift mat out. It was a decent moment for trying to get some of her own sorely neglected practice in. If that happened to encourage or distract Jennifer into relaxing a little, good. ... Though, of course, right now she was just watching Duke. But could you blame her?
Lucifer	Lucifer could have told Duke the yoga would be utterly useless, but as he stepped onto the deck, he... paused. And tilted his head. Ooh. Pretty.
Jennifer & Duke	Jennifer was not at all as distracted by the feat as they were. Maybe because she hadn't seen Duke naked. "Like this?" she asked, when he'd resumed his feet. And flung herself forward on her hands, sending her lower body careening up and over. Duke barely avoided getting a heel to the nose as he stepped in to catch her legs. "Alright," he said, at a loss. "Yeah, that was good. That was great. Maybe . . . slower next time." Jennifer harrumphed, but dropped her legs back to the ground.
Octavia	"A lot slower," Octavia put in. Helpfully? She was going to go back to focusing on her Warrior poses for a moment, here. (And definitely had not snorted Jennifer just flinging herself into it, just now.)
Jennifer & Duke	Jennifer raised her hands, clearly looking to throw herself into a handstand somehow slower, and Duke held up his own. "You know what? Let's give meditation a shot. Sometimes trying to move just gets distracting." Jennifer dropped her arms and shrugged. "Okay. You're the boss!"
Octavia	Octavia had her doubts about how well that was going to work. But she was yet to come up with a better suggestion. So... She would keep watching them, out of the corner of her eye, as she transitioned towards Warrior III. (A shitty Warrior III, but still.)
Duke & Jennifer	"Okay." Duke didn't have his usual gear -- he hadn't exactly packed his Tibetan singing bowl to come rescue Audrey -- but he could work with this. "Okay, so sit down like this." He settled into Lotus position. Jennifer did her best to copy him, and nearly toppled over. ". . . You can just sit however's comfortable." Jennifer sighed in relief and flopped her legs out into a straddle. "Okay!" Duke nodded. "Right." This was going to go terribly.
Lucifer	"Well, this is going to be a lot more boring," Lucifer sighed, and retreated back indoors to find the drinks.
Octavia	Octavia watched him go. And then focused back on her split task of fixing her pose and watching the other two. (Watching the way Jennifer sat. Like a kid.)
Jennifer & Duke	"Your boyfriend's cranky," Jennifer observed. "Maybe he doesn't like all the fog horns." Duke hadn't noticed any fog horns, but he shrugged it off. He spent his life on the water. He'd probably just blocked them out. "Ignore them," he advised. "Close your eyes and clear your mind. Picture an empty bowl." Jennifer closed her eyes, huffing through her nose. Duke watched her for a moment, then shook his head a little. Yeah, he didn't have a lot of confidence in this method yet, either.
Octavia	Octavia thought the fog horns thing was just another bit of slang she didn't know. She was kind of used to ignoring that, these days. Her gaze flicked from Jennifer's closed eyes to Duke's, though. Like she wanted to ask what he thought about how this was going. But that little head shake of his said a lot.
Jennifer & Duke	". . . Should I be chanting?" Jennifer asked after a moment. "I really feel like I should be chanting." "We could . . . try a mantra," Duke said. "But let's just focus on our breathing first." "Right, right." Jennifer nodded, brow scrunched in concentration. Then let out a little "oooooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm" under her breath.
Octavia	She was being kind of adorable. Not that Octavia had much of the energy necessary for actually acknowledging that, beyond a random thought that flickered through her brain. She really wondered if this was working. Her little flow of poses wasn't relaxing her, anyway.
Duke & Jennifer	Duke huffed softly at that cartoony mantra -- and then his phone rang. "Dammit, Nathan," he muttered. He dug it out and answered. "Hey man! We're totally making headway." Jennifer slumped as he hopped up and started pacing while he talked Nathan down from deciding to come over and harass Jennifer into hearing things. She looked over at Octavia. "I am so not zen. Do you have any ideas?"
Octavia	"Not really," Octavia replied, bringing her arms down from her pose. All the better to shrug with, really. "I mean," she added, with a slight drawl, "you don't really look like the type who'd get much out of sparring." No offence. "And it seems to be the only thing I'm coming up with."
Jennifer	"Sparring?" Jennifer echoed. "Like . . . fighting? For fun?" Yeah, she was definitely not the sparring sort. "There has to be something between sitting still and handstands or hitting people."
Octavia	Fun didn't necessarily enter into it (anymore), but that didn't really feel worth saying. So Octavia just shrugged again. "Maybe Lucifer will have a better idea."

Lucifer	"Right, so, relaxation," Lucifer said, pouring something hot pink into a shaker as he gestured with the other hand. "I see two ways to do this. There's the easy way, which is where we get you drunk and possibly dancing to the Spice Girls or a similarly cheerful 90s bop." He shook the shaker thoroughly.
Jennifer	Jennifer, who had been wilting steadily since they started with yoga, perked up a little. "Like college!" She turned her head and looked at him sideways. "What's the hard way?"
Lucifer	"The literal hard way," Lucifer specified casually. One last shake, and he popped the cap from the shakers. "We all have sex until you can't feel a single bone in your body." He poured a glass.
Jennifer	Jennifer opened and closed her mouth several times. She looked around at the three of them. ". . . Pass." She grimaced. "Not that you're all not, like. Insanely hot or anything, but. I don't. And you. . . . Yeah. Pass."
Octavia	"Lucifer," Octavia said, in what was at best a deeply resigned tone. She didn't even have more to say about it. The tone said it all.
Duke	Duke was just going to bury a laugh -- at Lucifer and at Jennifer's reaction -- into a polite cough off to one side.
Lucifer	"What?" Lucifer said, honestly confused. "It's the most efficient and fool-proof path to relaxation I know of." But he held out the glass with the sweet pink concoction. "But here. We'll try the slower path instead."
Jennifer	"Not in my experience," Jennifer said quietly, accepting the pink thing. "What's in this?"
Lucifer	"Then you haven't been having the right kind of sex." Lucifer. Leave it. He cleared his throat, nodding at the drink. "That's just a simple Cosmo. Citron vodka, Cointreau, cranberry juice, some lemon and simple syrup. I thought we'd start you off easy."
Octavia	Octavia's glance towards him seemed to agree with his narrative. But, then she looked to Jennifer, and shrugged. "He makes nice drinks, at least."
Jennifer & Duke	Jennifer nodded as she sipped the drink. "You know, if we really want this to be like college, we should play a drinking game." Duke chuckled. "Nathan would murder me. Let's do it."
Lucifer	"Excellent," Lucifer said, beaming. "Never Have I Ever?" Oh no.
Octavia	"What's that?" Did she even want to know? (If she'd gone to some more of the parties on the island, she already would have, yes.)
Jennifer & Duke	"Yes!" Jennifer said, raising her cocktail. "Never have I ever . . . had a boyfriend and a girlfriend at the same time." Duke snorted and grabbed himself a beer so he could take a swig.
Lucifer	"Too bad, I can recommend it," Lucifer said brightly, taking his flask from his pocket for a happy sip.
Octavia	"Right," Octavia drawled, dryly. She would probably be sitting this whole thing out, yes.
Jennifer	"Who's next?" Jennifer asked brightly, looking between the three of them. "I mean, I'm pretty sure all of you are way more experienced than I am in . . . most things. But you can get me with 'I've never written an article about a community dog show' or something."
Lucifer	"I've never... had a primary school education?" Lucifer offered. What? He hadn't been born in a time with primary schools.
Jennifer & Duke	"Oooo," Jennifer said appreciatively. "Good one!" She raised her glass and drank. Duke took a decent sized sip of his own.
Lucifer	"And now it's your turn," Lucifer informed Duke. "Get her to drink more."
Duke & Jennifer	"Aye-aye," Duke said, giving Lucifer a jaunty salute, and did his best to obey. It didn't take many more rounds before they figured out that they were all from much too different backgrounds to make Never Have I Ever work for long. Eventually they moved on to quarters, which Jennifer was weirdly good at. "See?" she said proudly, as she sunk another quarter, making Duke drink. "This I can do!" She grinned at the three of them, sipping her latest drink just because she enjoyed it, then froze, eyes wide, as she heard something. "Okay." She squeezed her eyes shut. "Ah, here we go. . . ." Your friends need you, a voice said, remarkably clearly. Not one she recognized, but whatever, it was a voice! Success! "Guys, I can hear it!"
Octavia	Octavia had been slumping a little further in her seat the longer the drinking games she barely understood (but hadn't cared enough to ask a second time about) had gone on. She straightened up just about immediately now, alert again, her eyes on Jennifer. "And?"
Jennifer & Duke	Jennifer hissed and flapped her hand, shushing her. She squeezed her eyes shut even harder, listening frantically. ". . . We need to find a door." "A door?" Duke asked. And got his own round of hand flapping and shushing.
Lucifer	"A door," Lucifer echoed dubiously. "Well, we've got a few million of those, be more specific."
Jennifer & Duke	Jennifer scowled, shaking her head. "Stupid -- fog horns --" Duke reached for her hand to steady her. "Ignore them. Focus on the door thing. What kind of door?" Jennifer shrugged with her entire body. "I'm not sure. Um. Adjoining motel rooms?"
Octavia	Octavia frowned faintly at the repeat of the unfamiliar slang. But that wasn't worth focusing on, right now. (Even though it kind of niggled at the back of her mind, anyway.) "Not like the door into the barn?"
Lucifer	"Not by the sounds of it. Barn doors are very distinctive."
Jennifer & Duke	"Not a barn," Jennifer said. "And -- and not a motel room. A . . . a bar?" She gritted her teeth, frustrated. "Those fog horns are really not helping!" Duke frowned. "Jen, I don't hear any fog horns."
Octavia	"... That's not a saying?"
Lucifer	Lucifer blinked. "No, they're noisemakers used by boats," he said. "They're very loud." And very much not here.
Jennifer & Duke	"How can you guys not hear it?" Jennifer asked. "Ughhhhhh." She blew a raspberry and leaned forward to rest her chin on her hands. Then her eyes went wide and she sat up again. "Oh my god, if we don't find our door Audrey's going to die!" Duke pressed his fingers to his nose. "Hang on, what?"
Octavia	Octavia was still looking at Lucifer. Couldn't quite let go of the fog horns that quickly.
Lucifer	"What?" Lucifer's question was aimed at multiple people at once.
Jennifer & Duke	“Audrey has to open her door,” Jennifer said. “And we have to open our door. Like the motel doors. And if we don’t she’s dead.” Duke yanked his phone out of his pocket. “Hold that thought. Nathan’s calling again.” He strode out towards the lot as he answered. “Oh! We have things to tell him now!” Jennifer said, and hurried after him.
Octavia	Leaving Octavia to turn back to Lucifer, after staring after them for a second or two. "Am I the only one who thinks she's not just randomly hearing fog horns?"
Lucifer	Lucifer blinked and looked at her, trying to parse that. "You think it might be related to all the-- barn-snooping she's been doing?"
Octavia	Octavia glanced towards Jennifer again. "We're taking the rest of what she's hearing as being related to the barn," she pointed out. "Why not that, too?"
Lucifer	"You may have a point," Lucifer admitted. He looked thoughtful. "If she's hearing fog horns that are related to this whole-- situation, then that means... whatever we're looking for shouldn't be far from port."
Octavia	"Maybe," Octavia muttered, still thinking it over. "I mean, it's the best lead we have, for wherever this -- door is." Since it wasn't good enough to just know there was one.
Lucifer	"We'll have to ask Duke in what area you can hear the fog horns," Lucifer said, nodding. "It's worth a shot."
Octavia	Octavia nodded. And got up. They needed to talk to Duke and Jennifer.
Nathan & Duke& Jennifer	Nathan, being the physical embodiment of lack of chill that he was, had called Duke repeatedly throughout the day. Somehow, the fact that Jennifer had actually heard something didn't make it any easier to take this particular call. "Duke, what's Jennifer heard?" Nathan asked, the moment Duke answerred. "Lots of good stuff!" Duke said with false enthusiasm. Jennifer popped up on her toes to call "We have to find a —" only to cut off when Duke jerked his hand up at her. ". . . Duke, are you there?" Nathan asked. "Yeah, could you just hang on a second, please?" He pressed the phone to his chest and looked at her. "You've met Nathan." Jennifer nodded. "Yeah." Duke nodded back at her. "Now, do you think we really want him to know that if we don't find the door that Audrey dies?" Jennifer's eyes went almost cartoonishly wide. "Probably not." "Probably not," Duke agreed, and brought the phone back up. "Nathan, find the kids. We're doing great." Nathan bit back a sigh. "Okay, I'll call you back." The sound of his police siren came through the phone loud and clear, and Duke tried not to flinch. "We're doing great," Duke assured him again, then widened his eyes and hung up as something occurred to him. "Son of a bitch. The foghorn." Jennifer shook her head. "What?" "The foghorn," Duke said again. "I thought I couldn't hear it because I'm used to them. But what if only you can hear it because it's coming through the Barn?" "Why would the barn play a foghorn?" "No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Not from the Barn, through the Barn." Jennifer still looked confused, so he hurried on. "Look, I'm saying the Barn is located near a real-world foghorn." Nothing. "Okay, just now I could hear a police siren coming through Nathan's phone. One way to find Nathan would be to find the actual siren." He could see the moment Jennifer caught on. "Find the foghorn, find the door." "Find the foghorn, find the door," Duke agreed. "Great." Jennifer nodded. "How?" Duke raised his finger as he thought. ". . . I need my charts." [if you want to have your guys interject anything in all this just let me know what and where and I'll add it in post!]
Octavia	And that was about when Octavia strode over. "Duke, where around here would someone actually hear fog horns?" So, hey. They were all just about on the same page.
Duke & Jennifer	"Already on it, gona," Duke assured her, as he headed past her. ". . . Did he just call you a goner?" Jennifer asked, sotto voce.
Octavia	"A warrior," Octavia muttered, watching Duke go. She wasn't going to like whatever happened next, was she?

Duke	The fog horn had led them to a bluff not far from Kick'em Jenny Neck. Really, Haven's surroundings had an abundance of not-yet-developed bluffs to choose from, so Duke couldn't even be surprised. He stood next to Jennifer not far from an electrical pole in a broad, open field of grass, and stared at . . . absolutely nothing. "Nathan's on his way, and I'm still not seeing the door," he said, then glanced at Octavia and Lucifer. "Anyone else seeing this door? Luce?"
Lucifer	Lucifer had already raised his hand by the 'anyone else' part. "It's very dull," he offered, "But it's definitely a door."
Jennifer & Duke	"Glad to know I'm not crazy," Jennifer said, offering him a quick smile. "Is it open?" Duke asked. "That'd be a no." Jennifer jiggled the knob. "I think it's locked."
Octavia	Octavia's gaze darted from Lucifer to Jennifer to the empty spot where they apparently saw the door. Then she shook her head a little, like she was shaking something off. "Maybe Audrey needs to open it from the -- other side." Inside? Whatever.
Lucifer	"I could try it," Lucifer suggested. "I do have a way with locks."
Duke	"Yes, please," Duke said, hands pressed against the back of his neck. "Nathan is going to hate this."
Octavia	"As opposed to the rest of us, who love this?" Sorry. It was a tense situation. Octavia couldn't help the dry. (Not when there wasn't anything she could actually do.)
Lucifer	"This isn't the time to start an argument," Lucifer said. He strode forward to the door - it really did seem unassuming, were it not for the fact it was standing in the middle of a bloody field for no reason. He reached for the doorknob. Gave it a twist. And... "Hm," he said. "That's interesting."
Duke	It was a good thing Lucifer had said that, as Duke had been about ready to take the bait and yell. "What?" he said instead, at Lucifer's reaction. "Can you open it or not?"
Lucifer	"I can't," Lucifer said, stepping away. "It's as if it's-- incomplete."
Duke & Nathan	"What the hell does that mean?" Duke asked, even as Nathan came striding up the bluff from the trees. "I thought you said you found the door?" he asked, voice hard. "We did." Duke held up his hand. "Only Jennifer and Luce can see it, and they can't get it open."
Octavia	"Apparently it's locked," Octavia added, mildly. "Or 'incomplete'."
Lucifer	"Something else needs to be done before this-- thing will open," Lucifer said, waving at it. "And I'm not sure if it's us or it's-- well, her."
Havenites	"I think Audrey closed her door on her side again?" Jennifer said, shrugging. "What do you mean she closed her door?" Nathan asked, getting somehow even more agitated. "What, did she change her mind? Is she not coming?!" "I don't know!" Jennifer said, arms wrapping around her chest. "Stop yelling at me!" "Nathan, that's enough." Duke pulled Nathan away from her by his shoulder. "Look, we found the door, okay? She's gonna come out any minute. We just --" He broke off, spotting movement by the trees. "Shit. How the hell did they find us?" Armed men were walking out from the treeline, led by Jordan McKee.
Octavia	And that was how easy it was to make Octavia very aware of just exactly where her knives were on her. She squared her shoulders as she looked towards Jordan and her Guard goons. Wary, but not in an obvious way.
Lucifer	Lucifer's eyes had remained on the door a bit longer, but the urgency in Duke's voice did eventually draw his attention away. "Haven't you figured out by now that your goals are accomplished much more smoothly if you stay home, watch some telly, and don't show up to glower at us?"
Havenites	"And we should just take your word for it?" Jordan asked. She aimed he gun at Nathan. "We followed you, Nathan, in case you got cold feet. Give me your gun." Duke shook his head, grabbing Nathan's arm as he started to disarm. "No way. Nathan, don't do this." "You don't get a say in this, Crocker." Jordan scowled at him. Not that it was much different from any other look she ever gave anyone. "He made a deal."
Octavia	Octavia was just looking more unimpressed by the second. (It was only because she was.) "Don't all of you think this could wait until after we've dealt with the door?"
Havenites	Jordan frowned. "What door?" Jennifer jumped and started flapping her hands at everyone. "She's opening her door!" And then, just like that, the door was there. Visible for all to see. Duke opened and closed his mouth once, then pointed. ". . . That door."
Lucifer	"Well, don't just stand there," Lucifer sighed at Jennifer. "Open it!"
Octavia	Something told Octavia it wasn't going to be that easy. But she turned her attention towards Jennifer all the same. (Not all of it, though: there were far too many people with guns here right now.)
Havenites	Nathan was already ahead of them, having grabbed for the knob the moment the door appeared. "I can't," he said, frustration written in every line of his body. He was inches from a full meltdown. "Maybe it has to be me," Jennifer said, coming up next to him. She reached for hte knob, and -- "Nobody open that door!" Dave Teagues came dashing out of the trees, trailed by his much larger brother. "Dave," Vince said. "Put the gun down. I tried to stop him, but he's got some crazy notion in his head from reading the archives!"
Lucifer	"Can we please not turn this into a whole drama?" Lucifer asked. He stepped in front of the gun with a roll of his eyes.
Octavia	Look, this town was all drama all the time, which explained why half the town seemed to be here, now. Was Octavia trying to put herself in front of both Jennifer and Duke a little bit? Of course.
Dave & Duke	"I'm not crazy," Dave insisted. "Or dramatic!" (Duke snorted at that, even as Vince rolled his eyes.) "Opening that door could unleash powers far beyond our control!" Duke tilted his head at his partners. "She's a warrior from a post-apocalyptic future and he's the literal Devil. You might be underestimating our control, here."
Lucifer	"Just put the gun down," Lucifer sighed. "As you are also underestimating my willingness to manhandle firearms away from seniors."
Octavia	"Also there seem to be a lot more people here in favor of opening the door than... just you, against it."
Havenites	"You don't understand!" Dave wailed. But Nathan had already turned back towards the door, and Jennifer was turning the knob. "Hey," Duke hissed, touching Nathan's arm. "When Audrey comes out, I'll start throwing punches. Give you two a headstart." "No." Nathan shook his head. "The troubles end now." He lifted his chin to Jennifer. "Go on." Jennifer swallowed and nodded and pulled the door open. A thick, roiling wind tousled her hair. The doorway opened several hundred feet above a dense green mist, below an endless gray sky.
Lucifer	Lucifer's gaze darted towards the door for an instant. "Well, that's promising," he muttered.
Octavia	Octavia's hand against the back of Jennifer's leather jacket - ready to grab for her if it came to that - might have been unnecessary, but it was an urge she went with, just in case. They didn't want anyone falling in, did they?
Havenites	Duke was pretty sure they very much did not, yeah. "Okay, starting to see how one might think of that place as evil," he muttered. Nathan wasn't thinking about any of that. He leaned into the door, past Jennifer, not even noticing the wind. He couldn't feel it anyway. "Audrey!" he shouted. "Audrey!!" Off in the distance, far enough away that you could only guess who the people were by hair color and clothing, was another open doorway, suspended in the air. In it crouched two blondes, one with long hair, the other short. The long haired blonde braced her hands against hte door frame, rocked back once, then flung herself across the gap. Then both doors -- and the eerie space between -- vanished with an explosive burst of air, a shockwave hard enough to knock every non-celestial person on the bluff down and out.
Lucifer	... and sent a large gust of wind flying into Lucifer's face. "Oh for--" His hands shot up to shield his face, instinctively. The shockwave had left as quickly as it had appeared, and Lucifer was left standing exactly where he had been standing all along. Desperately trying to work his hair back in order. "Really?!"
Duke	Meanwhile, the rest of them were all sprawled across the grass, angled out from where the door had stood. Duke let out a faint groan, having landed face first. It'd take him a moment to get his bearings back.
Octavia	There was a faint ringing sound in Octavia's ears, and she felt like all of the head injuries she'd sustained over the years were trying to remind her of themselves all at once. Her eyes snapped open, though, even if all she saw was the grass in her face. And even that was still sort of spinning.
Lucifer	Lucifer finally got his hair into some kind of shape, and looked towards-- "You," he called. "Your name wouldn't happen to be Audrey, would it?"
Nathan & . . . Audrey?	"Audrey," Nathan echoed, scrambling over to said blonde woman on his hands and knees. "Audrey." Duke pushed himself up, shoving his hair out of his face, and watched as the woman -- Audrey -- sat up, a faint frown creasing her brows. Nathan gave her a watery smile. "Hey. You made it." ". . . Hi," Audrey said faintly. "Hi," Nathan answered. And pulled out his gun.
Octavia	Octavia was getting up right as that happened. Even with how woozy she still felt, it got her to her feet quick.
Lucifer	"Everything's got to be a bloody soap opera with you people, doesn't it?" Lucifer sighed. He raised his voice. "Oi! Numb in the nuts! Couldn't wait a few seconds, could you?"
Havenites	Duke was on his feet only moments behind Octavia. His heart sank when he saw the gun. "Nathan." It came out strangled. The Guard were getting to their feet behind him, but he didn't take his eyes off Nathan and Audrey on the ground, the way Nathan was wrapping Audrey's fingers around the gun and pressing the barrel to his own chest. He couldn't watch. But he had to. It was the Barn all over again, watching Audrey sacrifice herself for Haven and knowing it was her choice. Now it was Nathan's, and though Duke thought it might just kill him too, he had to let him make it. "The Troubles haven't ended," Nathan said, smiling shakily. "I know what Howard told you. Killing me is the only way now. Please. Please, Audrey." "I'm not killing anyone. . . ." Audrey said slowly, pulling back as best she could with Nathan's hands holding hers in place. "Certainly not someone I've never met before." "What?" Nathan was shaking. Duke sucked in a sharp breath. "And who is Audrey?" the blonde woman asked. "My name is Lexie."
Octavia	What. Octavia stared at -- the woman. One part of her wondered whether they should have seen this coming. Another wondered whether they could trust this.
Lucifer	"Right," Lucifer said, and threw his hands up high. "Perfect." He turned away from the scene abruptly. "I need a drink."