hey it's good to be back home again

[somanyadjectives]

[It's been a while since Stefan has been back in Mystic Falls, but he wasn't going to miss the twins graduation. He knew that coming home was going to be complicated. He was bringing his girlfriend to meet people. He was bracing himself for Damon's judgement about him dating a vampire slayer the entire ride from the airport.

What he hadn't expected, was getting ambushed at a gas station while filling up his car by a hunter.

According to Damon, there haven't been hunters in Mystic Falls in years. They knew that the school would be a beacon, but they also took precautions for that to protect the kids. Most hunters understood that they were trying to reduce deaths, rather than concentrate them. This isn't to say that Mystic Falls is perfect, but they're doing better than they used to.

Stefan doesn't kill him. He's caught off guard enough that he doesn't immediately go for the kill, and Buffy catches the hunter off guard enough that the guy decides to retreat and regroup rather than push his luck against a slayer and a vampire. This isn't, unfortunately, before he manages to plug Stefan with a few wooden bullets. And those hurt like a mother.]

Gotta love coming home.

[He groans as he sinks back against the car, trying to keep an eye on their surroundings, before glancing down at the bleeding holes in his shirt.]

I liked this shirt.

Comments

[somanyadjectives]

[You brought this upon yourself, Damon.

Stefan turns and shakes his head, before watching as the very tall man unfolds himself from the other car.]

Hi, Katherine. How was the drive?

[shreds]

Longer than anticipated, but that's what happens when we do friends favors. Stefan. Damon.

( He points with her phone in her hand. )

Did you hire a lawyer?

[somanyadjectives]

[Stefan glances back over his shoulder and shakes his head.]

That's Castiel. Says he's a friend of the Winchesters.

[Does he have any context for this? No. But he'll just parrot whatever information he's given until the Winchesters themselves get here to explain themselves.

[shreds]

Hello, friend.

( Katherine walks along the gravel, eyeing the house. )

It's not the boarding house. But, it'll do. What do you think, Damian? Good enough for the weekend?

[gambled_ourmistakes]

Certainly better than where we slept last night.

[He turns to Damon, who's closest, and holds out a hand.]

Damian Jericho. Nice to meet you.

[unforgivably]

Damon Salvatore.

( Paling around with Katherine's partner is not on Damon's list of things to do this weekend, but, plans change. He shakes Damian's hand.

Katherine has a type, alright. Though, it's gotten taller. To Castiel. )

That's -- someone. So, you're a hunter.

[gambled_ourmistakes]

That is what they put on my business cards. If I were the type of person to have a business card.

[Which, for the record he is, but he hasn't had need for them.]

Really is a nice place though.

[Speaking of nice things, Stefan's eye is immediately drawn as a '67 Chevy Impala comes into the driveway and he's immediately intrigued. Stefan and cars. It's a thing.

"Is that a ...?"

It gets cut off when Elena pops out the passenger side, less then pleased. "I told you to loop Katherine in, not bring her here."]

[unforgivably]

( The Salvatores don't either, and aren't, so he's in good company. )

Thank you. It pales in comparison to what we had, but, donate your home for a good cause. There's no upgrade from that.

( Damon looks back, then. That is a Chevy Impala, and following it is Dean in the smaller, sadder, perfectly acceptable practical car.

Katherine smiles, folding her arms.

"This is me looped in, Elena. And brought here. Get over it. Katherine says, eyeing the tall one in the driver's seat of the Impala and then Dean who she remembers vividly.

"Well, don't you two age like fine wine." she says.

The ridiculous car train ends with Buffy, in Stefan's Buick, practically sticking out onto the cul de sac. She, too, closes her door and joins the group.

"Geez, Damon. You'd think you should've hired a valet for this weekend," she says, evaluating who must be who. She's heard about Katherine, and she sees Elena, so, that must be Katherine. And the two brothers, one beside Elena and the other one moving through and past.

"Cas, I said meet us here." But, he meant. Not ... before they get there. Obviously. )

This is like bad improv...

[braveandstupid]

[Elena rolls her eyes before surveying the line of cars in confusion. This ... is a mess and Dean is still bleeding and there's a hunter in the trunk.

There's a tell-tale thunk-thunk from the trunk reminding her that she can be sulky about Katherine later.]

Okay. You - [She points to Stefan.] - get the hunter from the trunk and get him downstairs. Everyone else, we need this to not look like we're throwing a house party or Mrs. Morris will definitely call the sheriff and that's the last thing we need. If someone could handle my car, Dean has a cut on his arm that needs a little medical attention. Sound good?

[Stefan is already moving to fish the hunter out of the Impala's trunk, opening the back and smiling down at the person inside. "Hi, there. Remember me?"]

[attainathons]

( Buffy posts up at the back of the Impala, helping Stefan's new prisoner out of the trunk. )

Aw, thanks, Honey. How did you know I wanted a hunter gift wrapped for graduation?

( Dean is impressed with Elena taking charge and just exchanges a look with Sam. His eyebrows go up.

"Last one in, last one out," Dean says. "Sammy can follow whoever to Elena's."

Katherine rolls her eyes, raising her hand. "If I can drive the Impala, I'll drive behind Elena's idea of small town luxury."

Damon steps out, bringing Katherine's arm down.

"Katherine, inside. Not Dean, follow me in your Impala. The rest of you, pull the rest of the circus into one of my garages. There's alcohol on every level. Buffy, you can assign rooms. Nobody compel a hunter before I get back." He moves to Dean who drops Elena's keys into Damon's hand.

Elena has her own key, as does Stefan, so Damon's going to start walking back toward Elena's car. )

[braveandstupid]

[They all begin to shuffle their way to their various paces, Elena takes Dean by the arm and leads him to the bathroom. Sweeping her way back up into a ponytail, she nods towards the toilet.]

Sit. Take off your shirt so I can see.

[And she'll go fish out a first aid kit so that she can stitch him up.]

[cholesterol]

( That stern tone doesn't abate. Dean's not about to shirk her request, so off goes his jacket, his button down, and then he's pulling his t-shirt up and over his head before taking a seat on the toiler. )

You know I have a literal angel on the payroll. You don't have to do this.

[braveandstupid]

I didn't know, actually.

[You still haven't shared very much of your life with her, Dean. She flips open the top on the first aid kit, before glancing back at him.]

Would you prefer they take care of this?

[cholesterol]

No. Cas can stand down.

( She's right, though. Elena knows next to nothing. )

You were real take charge back there.

( He likes a woman that can, that gives the orders, and knows what should be done. They just kept showing up, one after another, like monkeys in a barrel. )

[braveandstupid]

Someone had to, or we might have wound up standing there, bickering forever.

[She makes her way closer and begins her examination, the routine means of patching things up. The bleeding's slowed at this point, so she grabs the tools she needs to start cleaning it.]

This is going to sting.

[cholesterol]

Far from my first time. Do your worst, Nurse Ratchet.

( This is bush league when it comes to being hurt. So, he doesn't wince, doesn't make a face, or hiss, or cry out. He would want some alcohol after this to numb what will hurt after. But for now he's the model patient. )

So... you and Katherine. You're not close.

[braveandstupid]

[There's a bitter sounding laugh at that, before shaking her head.]

She dedicated a good chunk of her time to trying to ruin my life once upon a time, and I returned the favor by shoving the cure for vampirism down her throat. So no. We're not close.

[And honestly, she doesn't want to be.]

[cholesterol]

I wouldn't be either, if anybody Single White Femaled me.

( Interesting she was called in as cavalry, but Dean can read tone when he wants to. )

Technically, it did happen once, but it was more about framing me and then another time framing both my brother and me. Shapeshifters. Nasty pieces of work. ( But. ) I was a serial killer, a bank robber, and a jailbird thanks to them. Met my future self once, too. ( Talking through it doesn't help the burn from antiseptic, that stops his ramble. ) But uh, yeah. That look you first shot me back at the gas station. That's the, "I've seen a ghost" look.

[braveandstupid]

Probably because I thought I was.

[She keeps her eyes focused on the wound for the most part, but she does glance over to his face occasionally, trying to gauge how much she can trust here.]

Last I heard anything about Dean Winchester is that he got blown up in a police station in Colorado.

[And then, she stopped listening for him. Because, you know, he was dead.]

[cholesterol]

( The future self, not a part of this particular story, but he says it anyway. )

Helicopter crash. It didn't happen.

( Clearly. )

An FBI agent, Henriksen, he covered for us. Demons attacked the precinct. He was possessed and then after that, he let us out. Let us help. We exorcised em all using a recording over the intercom. One of our more inspired moves. ( And not the last time they used that. ) Anyway, he died a few days later. This other demon, Lilith. She torched the entire town.

( This is one of fifteen years worth of actions and consequences that weighs on Dean. Had they stayed even two more days, could they have prevented her from doing it? Maybe not. Lilith was powerful. And she kept hidden for a reason. That was a vicious year. )

That was... probably twelve years ago now.

[braveandstupid]

[That is a very sad story, and she feels terrible about all of that. It sounds like some of the points that Klaus would try to make, back when he was an enemy, not an ally.]

Guess time really flies. I didn't see anything about you coming back to life, so I lost track of you.

[cholesterol]

Then we did something right. We're still Most Wanted, even if the shitty reboot did not do its legacy justice. ( So short-lived. ) We couldn't do anything we do while being on law enforcement's radar. We've had too many close calls. Went to jail once, too. For a case. We'll always be in the system.

[braveandstupid]

[She nods, and finishes the sutures, before placing a bandage over it. She doesn't know what to say about his brushes with the law - probably because she needs to sit on it for a bit, so she'll give herself the space to do that as she steps away.]

All done.

[cholesterol]

( He doesn't know what he expects from her, if anything. Most people they bring into this just take everything at face value once it's clear the supernatural is real. This is nothing like that, for either one of them.

Dean gets up from the toilet, jacket in hand and stands for a second. )

Thanks. Been a long time since I've been actually patched up by a doc.

[braveandstupid]

[She smirks as she finishes putting everything away.]

Take care of it and it might not even scar.