Title: Nine

Author: Karolyn Gray

Fandom: Haven

Summary: Nine brushes with death.

Main characters: Nathan Wuornos, Duke Crocker

Other characters: Garland Wuornos, Audrey Parker, Lucy Ripley

Rating: T+ (varies from K to T+ from chapter to chapter)

Disclaimer: Haven, characters, and related indicia is owned and copyrighted by E1 Entertainment, Syfy, NBC Universal, and Stephen King and all related parties. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a work of fan based fiction and is not endorsed or affiliated in any way, shape, or form to the owners and/or copyright holders.

The Painted Man

by Karolyn Gray

Nathan doesn't remember the first time he nearly died. Instead it comes to him in nightmares that leave him breathless and terrified for years after and only fading to some distant, vague shadow in his mind by the time his childhood affliction comes and goes.

In his nightmare he and his mom are playing silly little games, laughing and smiling, when the Painted Man comes, black with rage. His mom's laughter turns to screams and she shrieks at him to run, hide in the dark so the Painted Man won't find him. He runs, hides, but always no matter how quiet he is or how dark a place he hides, the Painted Man finds him and drags him out into the cold night over muddy ground splashed with red. Sometimes he cries for his mom or dad or anyone help him, breath frosty in the night.

Usually that's were the nightmare ends because he's woken in terror but sometime it goes a little longer. Those times the Painted Man slaps him or punches him or simply ignores him because a few steps later there is an old ramshackle shed he vaguely remembers from their first home. He never liked the old shed with its cracked and peeling white paint and blue trim, but he doesn't remember why. The Painted Man opens the door and tosses him in, sometimes with an extra kick, and always the warning to be quiet or else. The door is then slammed shut and Nathan finds himself freezing in complete blackness, alone and terrified.

This night the longer version of his nightmare doesn't end with the door slammed shut and he shivering in terror in the dark. Instead he has a knife in his hand, the one his mom uses in the kitchen and he is never to touch. He cuts the Painted Man and there is red on the monster's arm and blackness in his eyes. He roars and hits Nathan, who feels like his teeth are shaking and his vision blurs. He blinks and sees more red covering him and splashed on the ground with the Painted Man laughing, promising Nathan he would get more as he slams the door shut.

And Nathan is left sitting, curling into himself, shivering in the night once more as he begins to cry.

Tonight Nathan woke to his mom's gentle shakes and soothing voice and instantly he is in her arms crying. He's trembling so hard she passes him to his father who reassures him in a sleep gravelly voice that all is well, that he'll protect Nathan from the monsters. It takes time for Nathan to calm but he finally does, feeling safe and loved in his parent's arms, the nightmare fading with each minute.

When his dad asks him what his bad dream is about, he doesn't want to answer. He's six years old and he not a baby anymore. He wants to be big and strong and confident like his dad, not a little boy crying over a dumb dream. His dad coaxes him a little and he finally tells his parents it was the Painted Man dream again adding how it was different this time.

Nathan doesn't see his parents exchange worried, knowing looks even as they once again reassure him that all is well. He doesn't even care that he's not being a big boy when his parents tell him he's sleeping with them for the rest of the night. He happily snuggles down between them as they watch over him in his slumber.

Nathan didn't know that some of his nightmare was real. He didn't remember the abuse of Max Hansen, of being locked in the old shed by Max when he cried, of being shaken or beaten or left hungry, or of his mother suffering worse abuse to protect her son from even more cruelty at the hands of his own father.

For Garland Wuornos, one of his greatest fears was Nathan, his little Nate, would remember that terrible day he and his partner had found the four year old boy in the shed. He worried Nate would remember Max beating his mother or the beating the little boy took before being locked in the shed for three days and two night. He worried Nate would remember being so hungry by the time the cops had found him he had been eating dirt. He worried Nate would remember that the week he spent in the hospital recovering from pneumonia was in reality the time he spent recovering from his near death exposure and injuries.

What Garland sometimes wished for his adopted son was to remember standing up to Max Hansen. Nate, little four year old Nate, had done what no other in Haven had dared and it had nearly cost the boy his life despite all of Garland's efforts to protect Nate and his mother. He wanted nothing more than to show Nate how proud he was of him and tell him it was because of Nathan he had made sure Max Hansen never hurt anyone again.