Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Stephanie McCann arrives in Haven once again. Entering the city feels different now than it did 7 years ago when she came to do an internship at the Haven Herald for 4 months but didn't end up leaving until two years later.

As she drives around town, she can see the changes it went through. The type of changes she sees are not ones a visitor would notice, not even a summer person who came to Haven over and over again for years. (Not that Haven had many of those the past few years.) But Stephanie notices them. Because she was one of them, for a while.

But she didn't stay. She feels guilty about that now. Thinking of all the people she couldn't say goodbye to. But she wasn't the only one who escaped back then.

She parks her car on Main Street, careful to avoid the spot that gets your windshield written on, on account of that poor Gibson girl in 1987. Or maybe not, since Eleanor is not there anymore to remind people.

She takes in the changes, the damage. She sees the Herald office is still standing but she doesn't go in yet. She has to go somewhere else first.

She steps inside the police station and is greeted warmly by Laverne, who at least is still here. She remembers where the Chief's office is, and though the name plate is the same, a very different man than the one she was used to sits behind the desk.

"Hi, Nathan, " she says loud enough to startle him even though he knew she was coming today.

"Hi, Steph!" Nathan Wuornos says as he steps from behind the desk and hugs her. This both is and isn't new, but Stephanie hugs him back like it hasn't been almost five years since they last saw each other. It's been even longer since they hugged.

They pull apart and Stephanie takes stock of Nathan. He's older, of course, as is she. But she can see the toll the Troubles and all the loss has taken on him. But he also seems happy. More like the man she first met than the man he was becoming when she left. "It's so good to see you. You look well."

"Thanks. You look good, too."

While Stephanie takes a seat and Nathan goes back to his, she has a moment to think how to move from this. Nathan has barely sat down before she blurts out,

"I'm sorry I left."

Nathan makes a dismissive hand gesture, "You had to go. I understand. Not everyone can deal with Haven things."

Stephanie smiles and nods at him. Then she falls silent, looking around the office (still have those weird lamps apparently) before her gaze finds the window and she ends up staring out of it. Nathan doesn't say anything, just lets her wallow in her thoughts and memories. Nathan's always been good at that. But his words don't affect her guilt.

She was supposed to be a journalist. And she could deal with those stories from around New England, with one mystery keeping up people's interest years and decades later. Stories like the Coast Lights at a little league game or the almost empty boat Pretty Lisa or the poisoned picnicers. She could even deal with the mystery of the Colorado Kid and his strange death with dozen questions and vague answers.

But she couldn't deal with the Troubles. She couldn't deal with all the unanswerable questions. Of constantly having to lie in articles because people wouldn't accept the truth. Even though they didn't always even know what the truth was that they were hiding. But she became tired of the constant mysteries and lack of answers.

But the real reason she had to leave sits in front of her. A part of it, anyway. She arrived in Haven and they became quick friends. Nathan helped her get to know the town, gave her story tips and Stephanie was always willing to listen to him rightly complain about his Dad the Chief. It was a good friendship.

Then Duke Crocker arrived back in town. Steph had a crush on the guy, she won't lie. He was cute and flirty and he had traveled the world, and she loved to hear his stories. She's been to a few states besides Maine and her native Ohio but Duke had been seemingly everywhere.

Nathan tolerated it but often told her to keep her wits about her. And she did. Nothing much ended up happening before Nathan and Duke's ill fated fishing trip. Steph had been surprised that Nathan was going to go in the first place. He rarely had anything good to say about Duke. He had sighed and told her he wanted to give Duke another shot. Maybe he had changed.

But Duke hadn't, not much anyway. Nathan came back Troubled. Completely numb with nothing but a diagnosis of idiopathic neuropathy to explain it. Stephanie never called it a Trouble, though. No one really did. The Teagues let her in on only a few secrets, never all of them. But Stephanie paid attention, heard the murmurs. Nathan took the vague diagnosis and ran with it. Stephanie figures she might have done the same, in his shoes. Even though both of them knew differently. Knew that something unexplainable was going on in Haven.

After his injuries from the fight faded, you wouldn't have known there was something different about him. But there was, and Stephanie saw the change happen. From body language to behavior to mood, Nathan transformed, and not in a good way. His relationship with his father got worse. Despite his height, he became smaller, somehow. She ended up finding an article about his sledding accident from the '80s one day. They never talked about that.

She had a front row seat to seeing what the Troubles could do, the damage they could inflict, even if she didn't quite know what to call it or why it was happening. Stephanie couldn't stay to find out. She said her goodbyes and left for New Jersey in 2007. It had felt like the savest option, at the time. And she had been safe from people with supernatural powers they couldn't control. But the real world has it's own dangers.

She shakes her head a little, comes back to present day. Nathan is smiling his crooked smile. "It really was OK. If I hadn't been Troubled, I might have left too."

Stephanie lets out a sad laugh, "No, you wouldn't have."

Nathan just nods. "So, where did you end up?"

"I finally went to Jersey. I got a good job, traveled the world, wrote about every possible thing there is to write about."

"And now you're willing to give all that up to run a small town newspaper?" Nathan asks with just curiosity in his voice, no judgment or incredulousness.

Bringing up the reason for her return brings a lump into her throat. She loved the Teagues brothers. They were like uncles to her, teaching her so much about journalism and the newspaper industry. They still kept in touch over the years. She read the online version of the Herald , they called her when her articles hit it big. They never judged her for leaving, and she will forever be grateful to them.

"Yes. They left it to me, and I don't want to be responsible for wasting their legacy without at least trying to keep it going. They taught me so much. I think I can make it work."

Nathan smiles gratefully, "I really appreciate it, Steph. It's nice to keep our own paper. Helps things get back to normal in here."

"Things really got awful over here in the end, didn't it?" There was a while she couldn't follow what was happening in Haven anymore, it was too much. The epidemic that killed a dozen people in a day might have been the last straw for her. She's not quite sure but she might have actually forgotten Haven for a while. She's too scared to ask about that yet.

"Yes. We lost too many people. But Haven will pull through. We always do. And you and the Herald can help with that."

Stephanie looks around the office again. There is a plaque on the wall, commending people for their service to Haven. Duke is on that list. Nathan has a photo framed on his desk with himself, Duke and a blonde woman. They look friendly.

"He did become your friend, then. Eventually."

Nathan looks confused for a moment before he checks where he gaze is pointing to. "Yes. We dealt with somethings. He was a good man, in the end." Nathan touches his neck weirdly but Stephanie doesn't comment on that.

Behind him on the wall is a picture of his Dad, looking just the way she remembers him. "I'm sorry about your Dad."

"It's been a while already. I've made peace with it, mostly."

"He was always too tough on you. I remember drinking at the Rust Bucket while you complained about him."

"He didn't change much, in the end. But I did gain a new understanding of him. Did you know he was Troubled?"

Stephanie is taken aback, "Really? No way. Garland Wuornos?"

"Yep. You might have been around for the first weird crack on the ground."

"Localized earthquake puzzles harbor's dogwalkers. I remember. That was him? That explain a lot."

"I know, right?"

Nathan opens a drawer and digs out familiar looking keys. "Wanna go to the Herald to check things out? The lawyer is going to come tomorrow to talk inheritance with you but you should make sure what you're getting into."

"Sure. We could walk. I'm sure you still have your Bronco but I'm even more worried about how well it works now than five years ago."

"Walking's fine. She has been a bit moody lately."

Stephanie offers her arm and Nathan links his with hers. They walk and Nathan tells Stephanie about all the changes that have happened on the Main Street and Steph wants to hear about all the rumors but Nathan doesn't know many.

It doesn't take them long to arrive at the steps of the Herald and suddenly Stephanie is nervous. She follows Nathan up the stairs and through the door. Except for the mess, a lot of things are the same. The desks are cluttered, there are newspaper clips everywhere. The King Tut is still there. It's weird how impactful those two years feel now. It's like she's arrived home.

"You can go now, if you have to. Leave me the keys and I'll lock up after myself," she would like to be alone here for a bit.

"Right. OK." Nathan leaves the keys on a tack on a board and that brings Stephanie's focus to a particular newspaper clipping.

"The Colorado Kid. Did you ever figure out that mystery?"

Nathan is almost out the door and his face gets a weird expression. "Yeah. I'll have to tell it to you some day, because it's a long and complicated story."

"I'll hold you to that," Stephanie tells him cheerily.

She remembers nights spent awake, trying to figure out the Colorado Kid mystery. She definitely wants answers at some point but those can wait. Now she will just take a deep breath and smell the scents of a newspaper, mixed with the equally familiar smells of Haven. She's finally home.

Chapter Text

Nathan stares at the phone as he widdles with a piece of paper with a name and a phone number. (It's weird how papery paper feels. He forgot that, over time) A part of him is happy to make the call. Because Stephanie was his friend, back in the day. But the news are bittersweet and it has been five years.

But lunchtime is quickly approaching, and he has his own plans for it, and he's sure Steph has too. So, he dials her number and then he waits.

"Stephanie McCann speaking."

"Hi. Steph, it's Nathan. Wuornos." He mentally slaps himself.

"Hi! It has been a while."

Nathan can't quite make out all the tones in her voice. She probably somewhat knows why he's calling. And maybe she feels guilty for leaving all those years ago. But she also seems happy to hear from him. Lots of emotions for a short sentence.

"Yeah. Did you hear about the Teagues?" Best to just get right to it.

"I did. It was sad to hear about their passing. But at least they went almost the same time. It's what they would have wanted."

Nathan will probably tell her the truth at some point. But the phone is not the place for that.

"Yeah. Things have been messy here for a while, the Herald especially, but we finally found their wills. They both left their half to you." Afterwards Nathan figures he maybe should've eased into this.

"Oh! Really?"

"Yeah... You don't have to accept. We can figure something else out, if you don't---"

"I do!"

Nathan is surprised by the quick enthusiasm in her voice. He will have to ask her about that later.

"Great. Can you come to Haven soon? There's still paperwork to sort through with a lawyer."

"I can come this weekend, if that's OK."

"Sure. If you come on Friday, you can settle things with the lawyer on Saturday."

"That works for me," Stephanie sounds really excited.

"See you on Friday then."

Nathan is about to end the call when Stephanie says, "I'm really looking forward to seeing you, too, Nathan."

Even though Stephanie can't see it, Nathan smiles, "Me too. Come to the police station first and we can talk."

"See you Friday. I'll let you know my ETA later."

"Bye, Steph."

"Bye, Nathan."

The call ends just the right time. As Nathan is about to get back to work, his stomach grumbles (it's really weird to feel that again) and Paige appears at the door, holding James in her lap. "Ready for lunch, Nate?"

Nathan hasn't always liked that nickname but from her mouth, he's always happy to hear it.

"Yes, I am," he puts down his pen and gets his jacket and they are off to lunch.

***

Although Nathan knows that Stephanie should arrive basically any minute, he is too caught up in his work to actually notice her arrival.

"Hi, Nathan," Stephanie says by the door, and Nathan finds himself getting a bit startled at her.

Despite that mishap, he is still happy to see her, "Hi, Steph!" he steps from behind the desk and hugs her. He can tell Stephanie is a bit confused about his reaction. He wasn't a very huggy person anymore by the time she left. But she does hug him back, and it's nice and familiar.

They pull apart and Stephanie seems to stare at Nathan a bit too long. Trying to see how he’s changed, probably. Well, he looks at her too. She’s about 30 now and the age and the time away from Haven looks good on her. Nathan feels slightly self conscious about how he looks himself. It’s been five years, but they weren’t easy five years. But it doesn’t matter. He smiles at Steph and she smiles back at him. She tells him, "It's so good to see you. You look well."

"Thanks. You look good, too."

Stephanie finds herself a seat and Nathan goes back behind his desk and before he has managed to sit down again, Stephanie is talking again, blurting out,

"I'm sorry I left."

Nathan sits down and waves his hand dismissively. "You had to go. I understand. Not everyone can deal with Haven things."

Stephanie smiles and nods at him, though Nathan’s pretty sure his words were not enough to sate her guilt. Then silence falls in his office as Stephanie takes in the (lack of) changes there. Instead of continuing to talk, Stephanie ends up staring outside Nathan’s window. It’s OK. Nathan doesn’t mind the quiet company. He has some idea what she’s thinking about, but he lets her think at her own pace. He does feel slightly awkward, just waiting for her to speak, not wanting to stare. But going back to his work would be rude. So, he just waits for her to work out her thoughts, playing with his pen. Coming back ‘home’ can be difficult. He remembers what it was like when he got back from college.

Nathan didn’t keep track of the time Stephanie was stuck with her thoughts, but it doesn’t matter. He has time. She shakes her head a little, and Nathan smiles at her crookedly when she is free from her thoughts and turns to look at him again. "It really was OK. If I hadn't been Troubled, I might have left too."

Stephanie lets out a sad laugh, "No, you wouldn't have."

Nathan knows she’s right, so he just nods. "So, where did you end up?"

"I finally went to Jersey. I got a good job, traveled the world, wrote about every possible thing there is to write about." Stephanie sounds happy, and Nathan is glad. But given her happy life, why would she come back to Haven?

"And now you're willing to give all that up to run a small town newspaper?" Nathan can’t help his curiosity.

A sadness overcomes Stephanie’s face. She was close with the Teagues, even after she left. Losing them must be hard to think about.

"Yes. They left it to me, and I don't want to be responsible for wasting their legacy without at least trying to keep it going. They taught me so much. I think I can make it work."

Nathan smiles gratefully, "I really appreciate it, Steph. It's nice to keep our own paper. Helps things get back to normal in here."

"Things really got awful over here in the end, didn't it?"

Nathan doesn’t know how much Stephanie knows about what went on in Haven after she left. Other than the deaths, and the clear damage you can see all around Haven if you know how to look, and Nathan knows Stephanie can. He can also tell she has questions she’s not ready to ask, and Nathan is glad. He’s still not quite ready to talk about a lot of what happened.

"Yes. We lost too many people. But Haven will pull through. We always do. And you and the Herald can help with that."

Stephanie looks around the office again. Her gaze takes in a lot of things but Nathan is not sure what piques her curiosity until she mentions them.

"He did become your friend, then. Eventually."

Nathan is not sure what she’s referring to until he sees her looking at the one and only photo he has of Duke. Audrey is in that picture too. It was before she found out she was going away with the Hunter. He managed to smile for the camera, even though he and Duke weren’t really friends at that point. But he would have done anything for her. He still does. Paige doesn't mind the picture, even though it does weird her out a bit.

But being reminded of Duke is not always a good thing. "Yes. We dealt with some things. He was a good man, in the end." Nathan can’t help but touch his neck, and he’s glad Stephanie doesn’t ask about it, though she does give him a look about it.

Her gaze moves again, this time to the back wall. "I'm sorry about your Dad."

He turns to look at the photo. It’s one of the happier ones he had of Garland. "It's been a while already. I've made peace with it, mostly." Meeting a young version of him when he himself was an adult helped a lot. But Nathan’s not sure he’s really that close to being over Garland’s parenting. He just hopes he can do better by James.

"He was always too tough on you. I remember drinking at the Rust Bucket while you complained about him."

Nathan smiles slightly at the memories, "He didn't change much, in the end. But I did gain a new understanding of him. Did you know he was Troubled?"

Stephanie is taken aback, "Really? No way. Garland Wuornos?"

"Yep. You might have been around for the first weird crack on the ground."

"Localized earthquake puzzles harbor's dogwalkers. I remember. That was him? That explain a lot."

"I know, right?" Nathan smiles, but hearing it being put like that clicks something in his brain. It was around the time he was first Troubled again. Did that trigger Garland’s Trouble? He needs to shelf that thought for later.

Nathan opens a drawer and digs out the keys he needs. "Wanna go to the Herald to check things out? The lawyer is going to come tomorrow to talk inheritance with you but you should make sure what you're getting into."

"Sure. We could walk. I'm sure you still have your Bronco but I'm even more worried about how well it works now than five years ago."

"Walking's fine. She has been a bit moody lately." Nathan doesn’t appreciate the dig at his car, no matter how appropriate. He is worried that she won’t last long.

Stephanie offers her arm and Nathan links his with hers. They walk and Nathan tells Stephanie about all the changes that have happened on the Main Street, like the destruction of the Rust Bucket, and Steph wants to hear about all the rumors but Nathan doesn't know many. He’s glad she doesn’t ask about his love life. That is a complicated story that needs a very different atmosphere.

When they arrive at the Herald Stephanie’s steps seem to falter a bit, like she’s nervous, but she follows Nathan inside all the same. She takes in the mess that the Herald office has succumbed over the past six months or so, but she still looks happy as she looks around. Content.

"You can go now, if you have to. Leave me the keys and I'll lock up after myself," she tells him, and Nathan does understand her need to be alone.

"Right. OK." Nathan leaves the keys on a tack on the cork board near that almost too familiar picture. He’s kinda surprised it’s still there in such a good condition. His pause brings Stephanie next to him. Nathan hopes he doesn’t have to talk about it, so he starts to leave before she can comment,

"The Colorado Kid. Did you ever figure out that mystery?"

He’s really not ready to talk about that one either. He’s sure Stephanie can tell, but the only thing he says today is, "Yeah. I'll have to tell it to you some day, because it's a long and complicated story."

"I'll hold you to that," Stephanie tells him cheerily.

Nathan just nods, and leaves her alone in the office. He walks back to the police station, because he does have some work he still needs to finish before the day is over. But he feels glad to have Stephanie and the Haven Herald back. It feels right.

Chapter Text

Stephanie is sitting at Nathan's office once again. Since she moved back to Haven, she has spent a lot of time with him. He is her only friend here, and while she plans on checking out the resumes for the Herald's next interns and reporters later today, she is still settling into Haven. She hasn't even moved out of the Over the Way B&B yet. But today, they will have surprise company.

While Nathan stepped out of the office to finish some case or another, Stephanie sits on the visitor's chair when a woman with dark hair comes into the office.

"Hi, Nat--, oh he's not here."

"But I am. Hi, Stephanie McCann," she gets up from the chair, and from the moment she gets a good look at her, there is something familiar about the woman.

"Hi, Stephanie. You must be the new owner of the Herald and Nathan's old friend. He's told me a lot about you, and I was hoping we'd meet. I'm Paige Cross."

"Nice to meet you. I have to be honest, Nathan hasn't said much about you. But he is rather secretive about his private life."

Just then, Nathan enters the office, and Stephanie is not quite sure what to make of his expression. "Oh. You two met. Were we supposed to have lunch today?" Nathan asks Paige.

"Yes we were," Paige tells him, though she's smiling and gives him a quick kiss on the cheek. Now Stephanie has no problem recognizing Nathan's expression: he's straight up blushing. She holds in her 'aww' reaction, just barely.

"We can reschedule. I'm a big girl, I can have lunch alone," she tells the couple.

"Don't be silly, I'd love to properly meet you," Paige's offer sounds genuine, and Stephanie is hungry so she'll gladly accept.

"Okay then, and same to you," and Stephanie takes her jacket and follows Paige out to Nathan's car. It takes him a moment to adjust but soon Nathan follows behind them.

***

The lunch has gone great. Paige and Steph get along great, regaling stories about their lives before Haven, and sharing Nathan stories. But Steph has a thought that won't leave her alone.

"You know, it has been bugging me this whole time, but I swear I've seen you somewhere. You look so familiar, for some reason, but I can't put my finger on it."

Paige's demeanor turns uncomfortable but before she says anything, Nathan interjects, "She used to be blonde. "

"Really?" She looks at Paige again, and for some reason she has trouble imagining it. But then it hits her.

"The photo on Nathan's desk. That means you must have known Duke, too."

"Yes, I did. He was a good friend."

Stephanie assumes a part of Paige reaction is grief and she doesn't ask anything more.

"Well, it was lovely to meet you Steph. But I need to get back to the school. I'm subbing for Literature today."

"You too. We should do this again soon. I love Nathan, but I need more friends."

"I know the feeling," Paige says smiling and she and Nathan share a brief kiss. "Bye."

"Bye," Nathan says, looking and sounding absolutely smitten. Even though most of the lunch was Steph and Paige getting to know each other and a lot of it was ribbing on Nathan, but he doesn't look like he minded much.

He shakes his head a bit after Paige is gone, and turns back to Steph.

"You need a ride?"

"Nah. I can walk back to the station and my car. That ride did not make me trust your car any more."

"My car has years left, trust me."

Steph just laughs and shakes her head.

"Paige is great, by the way. I don't know how you managed to nab someone like her."

"I don't know either." Again, there is something in Nathan's eyes that she can't read.

"Why didn't you tell me about her? I've been here, what, 10 days, and you haven't mentioned her at all."

"We've had more important things to talk about than my love life."

"I guess." She accepts his point, though still, she wonders. "Well, I should get back to work too. Even if the Troubles are gone, I still need someone else to help me with the Herald ."

"Right," Nathan says, becoming monosyllabic again and picks up the check.

"See you soon!"

"Yeah."

***

Stephanie has a long day going through resumes and writing samples. She doesn't want to make the break between issues to be too long, so she should get someone to help her soon. But even though Haven is back to being a normal small town, it doesn't mean it's past still doesn't need hiding. She needs to be sure she gets a suitable person to help her. She wonders if she should try to contact previously Troubled people with writing skills. Either way, the interviews should be interesting.

It's nearing midnight when she finally looks at the clock. She can't help but smile. She remembers the late nights she used to spent in this office, when she was younger, full of energy and enthusiasm. She still doesn't lack for both, but things are different now. She is getting older, slowly but surely. Though she still has decades to go in this business, if she gets to do it as long as the Teagues did. But she still should go home.

She gets her stuff and is about to do just that when something catches her eye. It's not a new thing. She looks at the Colorado Kid picture all the time. She used to know all the details, asking the Teagues over and over again who the people in the picture are. She talked about it with the previous Chief Wuornos multiple times when she lived here. But no one ever told her who the Colorado Kid was, or who the woman holding Duke's hand is. Duke always claimed he didn't remember her.

Yet while she's been back, she hasn't asked about it, not after the first time she stepped foot in this office and Nathan promised to tell her about it. She's seen the picture, glanced at it. But Nathan's right, they have been other things to deal with since she moved back. But something is different this time. Because now she knows the woman in the picture. Her name is Paige.

***

She just stares at the picture. The hair isn't quite the same, now it's darker, thicker, more curly. And since the picture was taken almost 30 years ago, it's more likely that she's an aunt or another relative. But for some reason she doesn't even entertain the idea.

She's called Nathan enough over her time in Haven that she only needs a cursory glance at her phone to pick his number. She holds the phone on her ear, still staring at the picture.

Someone picks up the phone, but Steph is too overwhelmed to pay attention to the voice.

"Does Paige have something to do with the Colorado Kid?"

She can hear upset breathing but for a moment no one says a word. Until,

"Hon, it's for you."

Paige's voice. Of course. They are a couple. They spend their nights together. That is really not how she wanted to continue her friendship with Paige. She can only hope she actually knows the situation.

"Hello?"

Even with the situation being beyond weird, Steph can't help but note how much Nathan sounds like Garland. She made more than one early morning phone call to the Chief, inquiring about cases for her articles. He always sounded annoyed, but Steph is pretty sure Garland liked her.

"Is Paige somehow connected to the Colorado Kid?" She finds her voice again after that moment of reminiscing.

"You really looked at the picture, huh?" Nathan says, clearly sleepy but not surprised.

"Yep."

"Right. Look it's late. Come by my office in the morning and we'll talk about this. Okay?"

Steph doesn't feel like she can wait until morning. But it is late, and she doesn't plan on barging in on Nathan's home at this hour. So, she's just have to deal and wait until morning. "Okay. Bye"

***

As she drives back to her room at the B&B, she tries to make sense of what she knows. The woman with straight brown hair at the beach when the Colorado Kid died is the same woman as the blonde in a photo with Nathan and Duke is the same woman with darker brown hair who she just had lunch with today. Probably. Something like that makes sense. As much as any of this makes sense.

She has just made it home and has sat down on her bed when her phone rings. It's Nathan.

"Hi?"

"You're not sleeping, are you?"

"Nope. Just got home."

"What room are you in at Over the Way?"

"Um, 8."

Before she can ask for clarification, Nathan continues, "You won't be able to sleep, right?"

Even though Steph feels tired, she can't see her brain shutting down enough for her to get much sleep tonight. "No."

"I could come by, in like 20 minutes?"

"Are we gonna talk about this? Or have you decided you need a mistress too?"

"What?"

Steph sighs. Nathan was never really good at those types of jokes. "Nothing. I'll be here. See you soon."

***

Steph knows Nathan is punctual, but still the wait seems to take forever. She's had time to make coffee and snacks for herself. When she hears Nathan's Bronco arrive, she goes to stand by the door and look at him through a window.

He doesn't come in immediately, and Steph wonders what's keeping him. He picked up a folder from the passenger side door but for some reason he won't move from that side. Soon Steph finds out why. He opens the back door and picks up a... is that a baby?

Steph opens the door before Nathan even gets near enough to try to knock on her door.

"This is for you," Nathan says with a tired smile, holding out the folder to her. "And this is Jamie. He refused to go to sleep and I was hoping a drive would help but not yet apparently." Nathan's talk is just barely above baby talk but Jamie seems to enjoy it just the same.

"Hi there! Are you giving your parents a hard time?" Steph says and her tone is definitely baby talk. It's hard not to talk like that when you are in the presence of such cuteness. Jamie just laughs. "He looks like you." Steph says and once again, Nathan has a weird reaction. She does briefly wonder if Paige has been in Haven long enough for the timing to work out.

"He's mostly good, just sometimes he gets restless. That's from his Mom. You can meet him again at a better time. Say bye to Auntie Steph. We can talk about what's in that folder in the morning."

"Are you sure you don't want coffee?"

"Nah. I need to drive around for a bit with this guy before we can all sleep again. See you in the morning."

"Bye."

Steph watches Nathan drive away and the appearance of a baby almost made her forget the other revelations tonight. "Another thing he didn't tell me about. Weird," she mumbles out loud. This whole thing just gets weirder and weirder.

***

Steph puts the folder on her tiny desk and picks up her coffee cup. She really has no idea what she's going to find when she opens the folder.

What she finds is a thick stack of pictures and articles. At the top is the same Colorado Kid murder scene, except the woman is the focus of the picture. And unlike her photo, this one has some writing on it. Lucy Ripley. Steph takes out her notebook and starts writing. Most of the rest of the pictures are either photos or from articles from Herald. Immediately she ends up going back over a century, to a woman in a crowd of a mass funeral. Veronica, 1901. She does a quick calculation in her head. It could fit with the Troubles.

Next she finds another one about Lucy, about her disappearance in 1983, and a few random photos. She doesn't quite recognize any of the other people in the photos, but from the writing behind one, she realizes that Garland knew this 'Lucy' version. "Like father, like son," she mumbles.

The next version is a red head. There's a photo with her and Dave Teagues. And an article about a veteran called Stuart Moesley arriving in Haven. A familiar looking woman was his VA nurse. Sarah Vernon, 1955. She can't help but think of these women, who they were, where did the identities come from. But those thoughts leave her head when she sees the next print out. It's a terrible photo, probably taken with a cellphone. It's clearly Sarah, and... is that NATHAN!??! What?!?

She doesn't know how to take possible time travel, so she keeps looking through the pictures. Finally, the blonde is back in the picture. There are dozens of clippings of her, from both 2010 and 2011. At first, she's an FBI agent, then a Haven PD detective. She worked with Nathan a lot. There must have been a story there. Her name was Audrey Parker. Not Paige Cross.

The mystery of the woman of many hair colors and names engrosses her enough that she's almost forgotten her real reason for digging through these papers, but it doesn't take long before she finds first a birth certificate, a wedding photo of Arla and James Cogan and then a missing persons report. James Cogan. Born in 1956 to Sarah Vernon. No father is mentioned, but Steph can see the resemblance easily from the missing persons picture. The photo of Nathan and Sarah looking cozy also helps. Even though intellectually she knows that nothing was really impossible during the Troubles, but still her mind doesn't quite let her properly make the conclusions. She really needs to talk to Nathan about all of this.

When she tries to settle all the papers in some type of order that will help her mind make sense of all of this, she finds a photo she previously missed. It's not a very good one, probably from a surveillance camera. A woman, who Steph assumes is part of the continuum of Lucy, Sarah, Veronica, Audrey and Paige, is entering the police station but she can't make out much else. The name, Mara, is clear though.

***

For the rest of the night Steph organizes the papers in different orders, trying to think of an explanation that isn't what she's thinking of. Eventually, she does fall asleep for an hour or so, napping with her clothes on on her bed, her dreams still filled with women who are copies of each other, with sons who are both alive and dead. When she wakes up, she quickly changes clothes before warming up her leftover coffee and leaving for the station. She hopes Nathan will be there early.

As she drives to the station, her mind is still trying to deal with her theory. She knows some of the years fit with the Troubles. Possibly all, since the Troubles were never really 'regular'. The 27 year cycle fits. Except Audrey was here longer, some of the articles were from last year, when the cycle should have ended in 2010. Then again, the Troubles are now over for good, so maybe something was changed. But how does Paige fit in?

She is in luck, because Nathan is waiting for her in his office when she arrives.

"Morning. Did you get any sleep?"

"I napped for an hour just now. You?"

"Jamie needed just 30 more minutes of driving around. He slept like a log the rest of the night. Me?" Nathan shrugs. Stephanie doesn't imagine he's eager to tell her everything. That must have kept him up too.

She sits at the visitor's chair again and finishes her coffee.

"So. What are your theories?"

Steph remembers that Nathan was never much for small talk but even so she's taken a little off guard.

"Is school in session?" She can't help but smile at the memory.

But it just leaves Nathan confused, "What?"

"Oh, the Teagues always tested me. It was almost a game we played. They wanted to know I had the right instincts."

"OK. Think of this as a test. What do you think all these papers mean?"

Stephanie takes a deep breath, figuring out how to start. She takes a page (pun not intended) from Nathan's book and just starts bluntly talking.

"Paige has been other people before. Veronica, Sarah, Lucy, Audrey. Maybe Mara? Lots of others, too. Her presence has something to do with the Troubles. She appears towards the end of the cycle, by months, sometimes even a few years. She seems to disappear around the time the Troubles do. There's probably a connection."

Nathan always had a good poker face, so she doesn't really get anything out from him, but she gets the vibe that she's on the right track even if she's not completely correct.

"The Teagues never told me much about the Colorado Kid. Maybe if I had stayed, they would have told me what they knew, but as it was, they never told me more than what was in that article, and that he was buried in Lot 301. I visited it a few times. It wasn't much. People were very eager to hide who he was. I have an idea of why, now. His name was James Cogan, husband of Arla, born in 1956, to a version of Paige called Sarah Vernon. Somehow, you met her, and there's a photo of your meeting... He looks a lot like you."

Now Nathan is showing a reaction. Stephanie doesn't know whether she should continue. She doesn't have to decide when Nathan starts talking.

"A man named Stuart Moesley could sent people back or forward in time. Somehow, he always has sent me to 1955, where I met Sarah. Duke took the picture."

"You're James Cogan's father?!?!?" Even though that was a theory that seemed possible in the world of Troubles, it still feels weird to hear it being spoken of so casually.

"Yes. I didn't know who James was when I met Sarah. It's complicated."

"It must have been," she can't help the incredulousness in her voice. At Nathan's reaction, she decides to change the topic, "OK, but how did he die? There was no autopsy record, and everything I heard was that there was no indication of cause of death. He was just 27 years old, laying on the beach, dead. With no indication of how or why?"

Nathan face and voice are made of stone as he tells her, "His maternal grandfather sucked the Aether out of him, partly for the Aether and partly to make sure Lucy won't kill him and ruin his plans."

Stephanie has absolutely no idea what the hell any of that means. "What?!!"

Nathan rubs at his face, and ends up telling her the whole story. Of Mara and William, her mother Charlotte's punishment, her father Croatoan. Of how the Troubles could have ended. Of how they did end them. What role Garland, and the Teagues, and Duke played in all of this. Stephanie must admit, she thought things were complicated with Paige and James. The reality is nothing she could have imagined.

"Audrey left with Croatoan and Vince in the Armory. I thought I'd never see her again. But a month later she reappeared, as Paige with baby James in the backseat of her broken car."

"Wow," Stephanie is speechless. Well, almost. "That would make a great book. Maybe even a TV series."

"Steph..."

"Sorry. I know, I know. Very traumatic, and complicated." She takes a moment to let everything sink in. "So, you think your Jamie is James Cogan, reborn?"

"Yes. I'm still not quite sure how. Paige doesn't... she doesn't remember certain things... not what happened in the Armory after. Or why she's here."

"But she remembers *this?*" Steph gestures vaguely at the folder and all the other little memorabilia around Nathan's office relating to everything he just told her.

"A lot of it, yes. Not all of it. But she knows all of it. Everything we know, anyway. You didn't bring this up to her out of nowhere. She read the same folder you did. She told me it was okay for me to tell you this."

"Wow," Stephanie says again. "She seemed remarkably well adjusted, considering."

"She has good days and bad days. We all have."

"Right. I have to say, I didn't think... I don't know what I thought would be the answer. Not until I figured out the Lucy-Paige connection. And even so, this is so much... it's a lot."

"Yeah."

Stephanie doesn't really know what to do with all this information. Maybe she can write a little something, just for herself, trying to make sense of all of this. It does make for a great local myth. But there is something she has to ask Nathan.

"Are you happy?"

Nathan is taken aback by the question. "I mean. You loved Audrey. I know you connected briefly with Sarah, and Lucy and I guess this Lexie version? But Paige is different."

Nathan takes a moment to think about it, "It's complicated. I do miss Audrey, as much as I do love Paige. But Audrey chose this. Paige wouldn't be here if she hadn't. And we have Jamie. She always wanted him to... she wanted to have this. So, I am. Happy, I mean."

Steph decides to ignore Nathan's appearance and take him at his word. It hasn't been an easy morning. Everything else she's seen does also bear out the truth in his words.

"I gotta say, I wish I'd met her."

Now Nathan does smile, "You would have gotten along great. And she and Paige are more alike than you might think."

"I look forward to getting to know her better. But I think I should actually go back to my room and crash. I really didn't get enough sleep."

"You need a ride?"

"I think I'm gonna get a taxi and pick up my car later."

"Alright. Talk to you soon."

They share a brief hug before Stephanie leaves. By the time she's walked past Laverne, she has already called her a cab. God, she does love this town.

As she waits for her taxi on the steps of the police station, she can't shut off her writing brain. She knows she's never gonna publish any of this. She can't do that to Haven or Nathan or any version of Paige or anyone else in this town. But she can't help being a little tempted.

By the time she's back home at her room (she really should go over Haven's real estate situation), she's already thought of some ways to make the mystery palpable to outside audiences. Just keep the mysterious death of a stranger in a small town and lose the supernatural. Before she falls asleep, she already knows the title she'd use: The Mystery of the Colorado Kid.