Title: Possible

Pairing: N/A (from the perspective of Dave Teague)

Rating: K?

Disclaimer: I in no way own, influence, or interact with any part of this show. It's probably best for everyone that way, as I do my best work past the point of exhaustion.

Prompt: "When her time comes, Nathan chooses to disappear with Audrey. 27 years pass and they re-appear and reconnect." - bluebanrigh

A/N: I'm not sure this is exactly what you invisioned bluebanrigh. And I'm not sure that I know the definition of drabble. But it was so much fun to try my hand at, so thank you!

"So you're saying that it's possible." Nathan's tone is loud, more desperate than inquisitive and is laced with something that sounds faintly like menace. He pushes the sleeves of his Henley farther up his forearms.

Dave stills, his body angled slightly away and the forgotten daily. He's never been accused of outright bravery, but neither is he a frequenter of cowardice. He can feel the latter clutching at his chest, and despises it. He doesn't, however, step out of the shadow of his larger brother.

"Nathan," Audrey's plea has something of desperation in it as well, but it's tired. Clearly they've had this conversation before, but not even her attempt to interlace her fingers through his where they wrap around his elbow is enough to draw his eyes away from the Teagues.

Vince recovers first, ever the dreamer; the man will never see reason when it comes to matters of the heart.

"Well, possible, but Nathan, you can't be thinking about this seriously about this,.."

"It'd be sheer lunacy, Nathan," Dave steps forward now, an indulgent smile, a shake of the head, and only the faintest traces of fear, but he cut's his brother off and his anxiety begins to get the best of him.

"It's. Possible." Nathan repeats himself slowly, evenly. Like the world is riding on the response.

Because his is.

"The barn only comes for her," Vince's statement is haunted, mantra-like. His face mirrors the distress on Audrey's.

"No one has ever," he pauses glancing to Dave for support that will not come, "No one has ever gone in with her."

Nathan nods once - the tense set of his shoulder's, suddenly gone.

Dave's agitation becomes more apparent, and it stands out starkly against Vince's immediate sober silence.

"Nathan," he shoves his glasses back up the bridge of his nose, as if this one small act will bring order and rationality, "ya can't do this. We don't even know if you'll survive, much less if you'll end up with her. Even if everything goes right, you might not even recognize each other in the end."

Dave takes up pacing manically about the cluttered Herald office, and an old resentment has seeped into his voice, because she keeps coming back, taking and taking from their little town. She can never just leave them in peace.

He might like Audrey well enough, but he'll never trust her, never forgive her past.

She had no right to meddle in the lives of others.

It's no use, in the end, because Nathan's attentions are focused fully on Audrey. The long fingers of one hand find hers, as the second comes up to tuck a wayward lock behind her ear. She's looking at him like he's the last sane piece of her existence.

And the intimacy would be touching if it wasn't so ludicrous, but the words he's trying to form won't come, and instead Nathan's gravely response echoes with finality in the small space.

"Doesn't matter."

It manages to sound like desperation and assurance all at once; in that moment, Dave feels his rabid protest falter on his lips.

They look like two kids facing the world. Two kids in love.

And he remembers having that. Once. Before Sara came and his ordered life slid into chaos.

He remembers that it felt like hope.

Hope.

The Hunter comes in two days, bringing with it the barn, and the end of this cycle of Troubles; it leaves, in its wake, a broken town – families torn apart, loved ones lost – that needs someone to hold it together. Again, they'll be left with a town waiting for the next wave of unavoidable devastation.

He's getting too old for this.

And he finds himself hoping

Maybe, just maybe, this will be the catalyst they've been looking for all along.

Maybe if Nathan goes with her, they'll somehow be forgiven whatever cosmic wrong they've committed that's brought on this pestilence.

Then again, maybe not.

But today, the air is tinged with hope.

A/N: This was surprisingly more difficult and rewarding than I'd thought possible. Dave's an interesting case study because we know so little about the Teagues, but his interactions with Sara/Lucy/Audrey were/are obviously so character forming. I can never think of either Teague as potential lovers for her, but this let me speculate about what surrounded Dave associating Sara as his worst fear (in a world of rabid dogs and dead husbands) and I got to touch on that here.