Crash

Setting: Vaguely late Season 2.

There was a moment before she heard the screech of the breaking car when Audrey knew that something was wrong but her conscious mind hadn't yet registered what it was, just a peripheral sense that something bad was happening, and happening fast. The screech of the tyres conjured up the memory of her Groundhog day, that horrible day when she'd heard the same sound before watching Duke die, and then again, before watching Nathan die. Oddly, in that moment her grief was not for herself, it was for them, for the memory of losing them, and on some level she realised that their roles had been reversed and this time it would be Nathan or Duke crying over her.

"Audrey, Audrey, wake up!" the familiar voice reached out to her through the fog of her conclusion. The puffy white clouds in the sky above swam mysteriously in the blue summer sky.

"I'm not asleep Nathan," her voice rasped groggily and she tried to sit up. Everything hurt and she almost lost her tenuous hold on consciousness.

"Stay still. The ambulance is coming," Nathan's warm voice soothed her, she was vaguely aware that it was holding her shoulder and stroking her hair.

Then in an odd moment where fantasy collided with reality Nathan's face dissolved and it was Vince hovering over her. "Vince?" Audrey asked, bewildered.

"Dave called Nathan, he'll be here in a minute, you just stay with me girl," Vince instructed. "This town isn't ready to lose you again."

"I'm not ready either," Audrey rasped. She couldn't understand why she was thirsty, she'd been hit by a car not gone out for a jog, why was she so thirsty? "Nathan?" she asked again as another silhouette swam into view.

"Sorry to be a disappointment but it's just me, Dave. Your young man will be here momentarily though, don't you worry about that," Dave reassured her. Audrey nodded slightly and tried to crack a smile over Dave's choice of words. She didn't have the energy to argue that Nathan wasn't really "her young man."

"Audrey?" a panicked voice joined the crowd. Urgh, Audrey thought to herself, someone should be moving onlookers away, there was never a cop around when you needed one, she thought ironically. But then Duke's head popped into view and she was glad to have more company. "What happened?"

"Near as I can see car hit her, nothing mysterious about it, old Mrs Woodsen's sitting over there polishing her glasses and crying, I'd say the old bat needs to hand in her licence, should get a bicycle, much better for the environment anyway," Dave explained.

"Okay Grandpa, but how's Audrey, can you move?" Duke asked anxiously.

"We told her not to move until the ambulance gets here," Vince interrupted with a tone that said he didn't think much of Duke's attitude. "She'll do more damage to herself if she moves before she's been checked out."

Duke nodded with understanding and stoked her hair, just as Vince had a moment before. "You'll be fine," he reassured her. "I didn't like that blouse anyway," he joked and then swallowed hard, trying to hide how much seeing the blood splattered on her shirt. He was fairly certain that the wounds were only superficial, he noted the grazes on her arms and the gash in her head but still, he worried, what if there was more, what if something inside was broken and it couldn't be fixed? Audrey was the one person who really believed in him, it was selfish but Duke needed Audrey, she brought out the best in him, he knew if she left he'd slip back into his old ways and the self-confidence he'd built up since Audrey had come to town would gradually erode away until he was the worthless wreck he'd seen in the mirror before he'd started helping her out, running The Gull, and generally aiming to be less than pond scum.

"Too Officer Agent Parker?" Audrey winced.

"Just a little, how about I take you shopping for a new one, I'm free Friday how about you?"

"You'll have to ask the Chief," Audrey smiled.

"Here he is, you can ask yourself," Duke responded and stepped back, because anyone who stood between Nathan and Audrey was going to find themselves flat on their back.

"Audrey," Nathan began, crouching and bending over her, he stroked her forehead and then cradled her cheek, Audrey leaned against his warm hand and smiled. She closed her eyes and relaxed. "Open your eyes Parker!" Nathan snapped the order and Audrey dragged her eyelids open. With his other hand Nathan felt her pause, it was weak but steady so when she gripped his hand he held onto it.

"Duke wants to know if I can have Friday off work to go shopping," Audrey whispered.

"What?" Nathan asked, confused and annoyed with Duke, now was not the time, but Duke shot him a look that said play along you idiot, so he did. "I don't know Parker, I'll have to check the roster, you're not asking for special treatments are you," he teased. "People might start to talk," he winked. It was hard trying to stay calm with his Audrey lying here looking shattered and vulnerable. There were so many things he wanted to tell her just in case, but instead he would stay strong for her, he would be there for her, he would comfort her in any way he could. "Do did you get a look at the driver?" he asked knowing it would distract her from the pain.

"No mystery there, it was old Mrs Woodsen, Duke says, she gave herself up, she wasn't even troubled, just driving while old and dotty. Make sure the medics check her out for dementia, she might need some sort of assessment."

"Not your problem Parker. So she wasn't…?" Nathan left his question hanging, knowing she would understand what that implied.

"No I don't think she's troubled. Probably would have been better for me if she had been, I seem to be protected from the troubles, from motor vehicles, not so much," she added dryly.

"You're a survivor Parker, you'll be fine," Nathan cajoled.

"I said the same thing myself," Duke joined in, "now if you'll step aside I think these lovely men in the cool outfits would like to check her out." Somehow the blare of the ambulance siren had barely registered with Nathan, he had been so focused on his Audrey, memorising her face, monitoring every breath and heartbeat nervously.

Nathan moved aside slightly and jumped into a long description of Audrey's condition, stressing that she'd almost lost consciousness and giving them lots of unnecessary suggestions like check her out for shock, she might have a concussion etc. The paramedics filtered the relevant from the irrelevant automatically as they got straight to work on her, calling assurances to Nathan to ensure the Chief stayed out of their way. They were serious and focused but from what Nathan overheard Audrey was doing okay. Still he hovered, his heart racing, sick in the stomach with worry. They brought out a stretcher but explained it was only a precaution until they could get x-rays. When they loaded her up, both Nathan and Duke volunteered to go with her but there was only room for one and it didn't take a second glance at Nathan's face for Duke to decide that Nathan was the one to go. Duke knew his place. "I'll meet you there," Duke promised. Nathan nodded curtly, his focus still on Audrey.

A/N: I'm thinking about making this part one of two, thoughts? (btw a big thankyou to everyone who asked me to continue "Time to Be Honest" that's always lovely. I'm thinking about it but the words haven't come to me yet. As far fetched as this sounds I handwrote "Time to Be Honest" in the car on the way home from work - well the first half of it - half way through we had a very minor car accident where noone got hurt except for my car, and being the twisted writer I am I was compelled to write a fanfic about a car crash, the imagine in my head of a worried Nathan running to Audrey's side was way too cute to ignore, Lucas must eat big bowls of cute for breakfast ;-) I think that's the longest author's note I've ever written! For much such musings check out thegreygull on tumblr).