everyonelives | hey it's good to be back home again

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hey it's good to be back home again

[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.

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I said our paths crossed. She's a hunter, too. And believe me, if our paths would've crossed when she was Katherine Pierce, the vampire, things would've probably ended differently. ( Considering the stories. ) I'm not dictating to you what a monster is. The monsters we hunt are monsters. Vampires that use a human lure, werewolves that prefer to eat human hearts over cow, vengeful spirits who are dead long enough they get insane and violent. The hunters we've been hunting. I know it's not all black and white, Elena.

[She purses her lips as she keeps her eyes on the menu.]

So it's me you don't trust. You think I'm too naive to make that assessment for myself?

[She's just trying to figure out where they stand. She wants to believe that he and Sam may be an ally, but she won't run too fast into it and put her family at risk.]

I didn't say that, either.

( The hostess comes back - at this inopportune and tense moment. She, great at reading a room, lets them know they can take a little more time. But, then asks who wants coffee.

That she can take care of. Dean holds a hand up. Waits to see if Elena does, too.

He's wishing that Sam was at the table, able to undercut or redirect. There are things Dean doesn't falter on. And big things happening. )

Do I trust you? I thought I knew you. But you were sixteen and your parents died and I was nineteen. You're right about us not knowing each other and not knowing what we've been through. You need me to, I'll give you the gory details. When I say something like, "It ends bloody," it doesn't means I don't trust your judgment, it means everything I have been through, everything me and Sam have been through, it ends bloody. With vampires on our side. With demons. Witches. You name it, it ends bloody.

Do you need me to say it? Witches. Werewolves. Vampires. They are people, too, Elena. Another ex-hunter we know shacked up and became a werewolf, he has little werewolf children. They're good people. Sam and I are not the authority on good or bad wolves. Or, monsters, or people.

We've just been doing this all our lives. Fifteen years straight of doing it together. You were raised in the dark, you got to have your childhood. I got to learn how to shoot a gun when I was 4. I spent most of our childhood in motel rooms.

My best friend's an honest to God, angel. And the three of us raise the same son, a Nephilim named Jack. He's half-angel. What we've seen. What we've been through. It's not about trusting you.

I can only imagine what you've been through. I wouldn't dream of judging that. Your friend's a vampire who's paling around with a vampire slayer. That's them. That's not me. Trust doesn't just happen with me, Elena. I trust you. I trust Sam. Cas. Jack. And there some days, I don't. But, that's me.

( That's all him.

The hostess returns, turning their two coffee cups over and pouring them each the coffee. She keeps a professional smile on her face as she moves the coffee fixings organizer to the middle of the table for however they want their coffee. Sugar, Cream. Etc. )

This? This isn't personal. It's dangerous. These hunters, they're more dangerous than some of the more sadistic monsters I've ever taken down. Because, they believe they have nothing to lose. They believe that every day a vampire does get to go to school, that they're in danger.

( That's not him. )

Things get dangerous around us and they stay dangerous. People you care about go to that school, someone we care about does, too. We're on the same side.

[She takes all that in, and weighs her options as the coffee comes and she goes through the motions of fixing it to her taste. It's not as though she doesn't have a history of trusting people enough to get them through similar circumstances and deciding what any of it means on the other side.

So she hopes this means that they can work through this without any infighting. Which means ... she'll have to talk to Damon. But Damon's not as volatile as he used to be.]

Okay.

[She won't ask for specifics or details, but she'll extend that tentative line of trust, and hope that he and Sam won't break it.]

I didn't know Jack was your kid.

[Supernatural kids do not often need doctors, but Elena's usually on call for that sort of thing, trading off with Jo.]

( Dean only recently started calling it like he sees it, like it is. They've gotten past a lot and there are still days Jack is less his kid than Cas' or Sam's. But, Dean would give his life for that Nephilim every time. )

For a few years, now, yeah.

( That'll be a hilarious moment when all of them come face to face with Alaric Saltzman or Caroline Forbes. )

It started out, we needed someone on the inside. Turns out, he likes it there. And we trust him.

He's a sweet kid.

[She hasn't gotten to know him well, but she knows that Josie likes him, so he's come to the occasional family barbecue.]

I'm not sure we knew how to help him, but sometimes they just need kids like them that they can be social with, you know?

( He doesn't know. Not actually. Jack let some sleeping lies -- lie. But, he does understand. )

He spent most of his time alone where we all lived or, on the road with us. It's good he has a place to call home. We miss that kid.

I'm sure he misses you too.

[Because it's hard not to miss people when they're far away.]

But he'll be coming back to you soon. He's graduating too, isn't he?

He is.

( And you've hit the original reason why they came to town, and rolled through a few times before then. )

If we stop whoever has it in for them. Which is why Sammy is diligently working with his toys.

[Elena shifts, turning so that she can see where Sam is working, and then smirks a bit.]

I have a couple friends he would really get along with.

[Mostly Ric and Dorian.]

Please introduce him to more geeks with which he can geek with.

( Dean laughs at that, full taking advantage of the coffee. He's forgotten about the dessert menu with the serious topics on the table. )

Well, if we're going to be working together on this, I'm sure he'll meet them. And he'll love the library at the school. Dorian's worked really hard on curating an impressive collection.

[About all things supernatural.]

Sammy might have you beat with that one, but he'll have fun cross-referencing. You might have to give him some privacy if you have a truly curated collection.

( They have quite the curated collection themselves. If they ever needed to put their heads and book collections together. )

With working together, you're going to be coming with us when we locate the car? We can call you when we have an update.

[She nods. She intends to see this through to the end.]

I want to come. The less information I get second hand the better.

Ever been on a hunt before?

( It's better than asking if she's used a gun or a knife before. Being around vampires all her life means she's probably had to defend herself once or twice. But, having to and being good at it. Two different times.

Is she their liability all of a sudden.

Is she going to get in the way. )

I can take care of myself.

[Which isn't a direct answer to the question, because if she had to answer directly, the answer would probably be no. She hasn't. But she has spent a fair amount of her life having to fight back against various supernatural creatures, so she has learned how to defend herself.

And she's got a number of vampire hunting tools in the trunk of her car. A gift from Alaric, just in case.]

Don't worry.

( "Don't worry." Yeah. Okay. He nods. )

Let's see what Sam's found, then.

( Did you think he was going to walk over there? Him? Nah. He's just going to pick up a sugar packet, throw it up once in his hand to test its weight, and then launch it at Sam who's headphone deep in whatever thing he's found.

As soon as it leaves his hand, he retrieves his coffee and takes a sip from it.

Who threw that? )

[The sugar packet hits him square in the forehead and he startles up like a cat who's afternoon nap was suddenly interrupted by a vacuum cleaner. He squints at his brother and rolls his eyes, before gesturing for he and Elena to come closer.]

( Dean just grins, grabbing his suit jacket and moving with Elena to Sam's table. He slides beside Sam so Elena can have her own space.

The waitress returns -- looks around -- and then comes over to Sam's table and puts Dean's check down, and Sam's check. If her feathers are ruffled because they've moved she smiles through it. )

Whadya got?

So the license plate headed the opposite way it came, back up the highway and to a local watering hole.

[He turns the laptop around to show the car pulling up in front of a bar called Grady's.

"That place is still open?" Elena frowns. "I thought it closed years ago."]

It did. Around the same time it turned into a hunter bar.

( He thinks, with pulling as big a job as they expect, he would lay low. )

Do you think they run a clinic out of the back? Underneath?

( Only reason he'd be this obvious. Unless he thinks blending with the crowd is the right thing. )

He's injured. We know what to look for.

I wouldn't be surprised, given they're trying so hard to fly under the radar.

[He closes his laptop before glancing around the diner.]

We've been keeping our affiliation with the Argents fairly low-key. Maybe we could go in and check it out?

( Dean doesn't like it, especially not with Elena Gilbert in tow. But, she's already told him she's not going anywhere. )

At least get eyes on him. ( He considers it, pursing his lips. ) We roll up, I got the wrong end of something's claw. ( They could. He's cut himself for less. He looks to Elena, though. ) Let's pay and then regroup outside.

( And by regroup, he's going to get Elena a little more Katherine. She'll need to take her hair down, run her hands through it, maybe flip it back. No earrings. Maybe she has heels or something different in the trunk.

But, he'll tell her this once they get outside and back to the Impala. Sorry, Elena. He doesn't mean you're not good enough, he just means -- you need to be able to fit in. And Katherine has a look to her. )

Are you good with that?

[She makes a face as he lays out his plan to have her be Katherine. Yes, she's less than pleased with the idea, but if it gets the information they need, then she can pretend to be her doppelganger.

It's not as though Katherine hasn't tried to be Elena more than once.

She reaches up to tug out her ponytail and makes her way over to her car to pull out a change of clothes and a make up bag, usually saved for rushing to a Founders event after finishing a shift at the hospital.]

You have to tell me everything she's been doing. If I'm going to be her, I have to do my homework.

Her partner's Damian Jericho. They travel. Worked jobs for the last ten years. Damian's a tall, Armie Hammer type. All shoulders and eyes. ( Shut up, Sam. He likes his rom coms, too. ) Sam, you know more about Damian than I do.

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