there are prizes all around you if you're wise enough to see

[praevaricatio]

Comments

[founderscouncil]

You see the coincidence. That you happen to be in a relationship with Dean Winchester, when the last we remembered, we had him and his brother under our roof. And you happen to have reconnected, enough that you moved here to Kansas to practice medicine and help him burn witches bodies.

( Which still sounds like hunting.

"Dad, Elena isn't drawn into all of this, she's dragged. It's how it's always been. But, it's also who she is, and I'm proud when she can help. When she stands up for people. And sees them as people."

Like vampires, even though it did take him a few years. He looks to his sister. Neither parent has even touched on Elena falling in love with one. )

It's a lot to process.

[braveandstupid]

[Jeremy gets a grateful look from his sister for that, because she appreciates him standing up for her as she tries to stand up for herself. But she also senses that they've unloaded a lot on them and maybe they should take a break.]

It's been a long day. Maybe we should take a break and talk more when you've had some time to adjust?

[Miranda desperately wants out of this conversation, even though she knows she's walking into another landmine once her children leave her alone with her husband, so she nods. A break would be good.]

[barely]

I'm not going anywhere until all this is sorted out.

( He pulls himself out of his chair, one leg at a time. He puts a hand on his mom's shoulder and leans down, kissing her cheek. )

I need a shower - and, if possible a change of clothes.

( But, he catches up to Dean as he's leaving the kitchen, donut-in-mouth, exchanging pleasantries, a shake and then ducks in after Sam next. Can he borrow something for the night?

Grayson sits, not really knowing what to do with his hands, but nods, agreeing they've gone pretty far today.

"Love you," he says, once Elena gets up herself. )

[braveandstupid]

Love you too, Dad.

[Elena steps away, feeling some of the tension she's been holding in her shoulders ease. Some of the harder things are out of the way, and while she doesn't know how it will land when they really get back to what she said at the start. That there was a vampire, and she loved him. Still loved him, even if not in quite the same way.

She catches sight of Dean near the kitchen and she meets him halfway, sliding her arms around his waist as she leans into him.]

Thank you, if I haven't said it already.

[cholesterol]

Come on.

( Pack of donuts in hand, mouthful, he walks Elena over to his room, kicking the door behind them closed. He drops the pack of donuts and the pack of beers down on the desk, swallows the donut in his mouth and then turns and draws her in close. He holds her there until she extricates herself. )

You guys get far?

[braveandstupid]

Didn't get to the me becoming an actual vampire part, but we got through most of the big points.

[She shifts to settle in comfortably, closing her eyes as she tries to relax. Nothing about that conversation felt safe, and she has no idea how that's all going to shake out in the end.]

I also feel a little bad because ... there's nothing left really, of the Mystic Falls they knew. All their friends, their family - they're all gone.

[cholesterol]

There's time for everything.

( They got through the basics with their mom, but it took months for them to all get on the same page. )

Hey. You didn't do that. And you can't take that on. They're going to deal. Figure it out. Navigate the losses. You can be there for 'em.

( But she doesn't have to lose sleep over them losing their life. )

Anything land with a thud or did they take everything...

[braveandstupid]

Some stuff they didn't really respond to.

[Mostly the stuff about Stefan. They have a lot to process and she can't help but feel that they're going to look at her differently for it.]

And I didn't think it was right to tell them about Caroline or Tyler so ... who knows how well that's going to go. But they have a lot to think about.

[cholesterol]

I reiterate, however they take it, whatever they do - not on you.

( He knows it's a cold comfort, but he's been there. )

Mom came back to us and her adjustment period - it was a long one. But, you see her here, right? Babysitting? You'll get there. You'll get somewhere. all of you.

( He just doesn't know where, and can't really help there. Well, he can. But not right now. And not magically. But, he knows if he's the early riser and sees Miranda, he'll make nice. Answer what he can. Make coffee. Just be there for her. )

[braveandstupid]

Yeah, I know.

[She takes a deep breath and if she knew his line of thought, she'd say he was helping by just being there for her. For reminding her of that fact - that it's not on her how they react to things. They weren't there - they didn't have to make her decisions.

They didn't know Stefan, all they knew was that he was a vampire. And while Stefan's history is damning, she also knows how it felt to be loved by him, and by Damon, and both of those things were things she needed at the time.

She glances up at him with a small smile.]

Just keep reminding me if it feels like I'm starting to take on too much. Or forgive me if I use work as an escape sometimes.

[There may be a few long ED shifts in her future.]

[cholesterol]

Already forgiven.

( Dean's had his fair share of coping mechanisms. Still does. Things aren't dire, and it helps to focus on others, on Elena. But, he'll circle back to his bad habits. He always does. Hopefully, she forgives him in advance, too. )

[happiness_elude]

[Miranda sits wordlessly next to her husband, trying to process all of that, as well as all the ways her children have changed. All the things she's missed.

And all the secrets she thought she was taking to the grave - but when the grave isn't permanent, nothing really stays buried.]

Well. Sounds like according to our children, we made all the wrong choices.

[founderscouncil]

No. I'm not owning that. I stick by us doing what we thought was right.

( Including keeping secrets from each other, apparently. )

I... ( Died. But, also, ensured she lived. ) set into motion our daughter falling in love with a vampire.

[happiness_elude]

[Miranda has opinions on that. But after taking a moment to make sure that no one is listening, she can't help but joke:]

Is that better or worse than a Winchester?

[founderscouncil]

Worse. ( He lowers his voice. ) The Dean here, in that cave, he's a far cry from the kid without table manners.

( And nobody's mentioned their father. )

He wouldn't be my choice, but neither would a hero vampire.

[happiness_elude]

He did save her. And she's still here.

[Meaning he probably didn't eat her. But there's something else that they said that sticks with her.]

Jeremy said she sees them as people. And he seems to think that's a good thing.

[founderscouncil]

I know.

( And he is grateful for that. But, the other stuff. )

I heard him.

( It was a dig at their legacy, at how he was raised, at everything he knows. )

She sure wanted us to know.

[happiness_elude]

I think that she's had that bottled up for a long time, and it's hard to confront someone with it when they're dead.

[She doesn't think that was Elena's intent, to confront them with all of this, but she can't help but feel like these things were bubbling for her for a while.]

It seems we have a lot to adjust to.

[imnot_likeyou]

[Sam glances up from the research he's doing, seeing if there's anything else that can give them an edge, before nodding.]

Yeah, man. Sure. Let me grab it.

[barely]

Thanks.

( He grabs his bag and another beer, following Sam back down the hallway and waits in the doorway. As Sam rummages, he speaks. )

Elena mentioned your mom came back, too? From the dead?

[imnot_likeyou]

Yeah.

[He tips his head back and nods to where Irinia has conscripted both her and Ezra into a tea party - no Mary was not allowed to leave once Ezra showed up.]

It took some time to adjust. Both for her and for us.

[barely]

She came around to everything she missed out on?

( Things she missed, but tried to comprehend. He feels bad, too, because forget what they missed of his life and his decisions. Elena's life was far more complicated, and hopefully, not disappointing, like his sister thinks. )

How'd you guys deal?

[imnot_likeyou]

Eventually.

[He takes a breath as he passes over the change of clothes, trying to figure out how to put it into words.]

Well, Mary was a hunter, and hunting is one of the few things that hadn't changed in forty years, so she went back into that for a while. She needed her space to figure things out. But the great thing about the modern age is that we still had ways to communicate. She and Dean played Words with Friends while she was on the road. It helped.

You just have to keep talking to each other, and they'll figure it out.

[barely]

( He takes the clothes under his one arm. )

And if everything we've done goes in the face of what they believe? ( He leans against the doorway. ) My dad was taught to hate vampires. He was on the council, I don't -- know if you and Dean knew that stuff, then, or what he was doing there with you guys but -- that's how I was supposed to be raised. And, for a time, I hated them, too. But it wasn't my choice.

( They still hadn't gotten around to Jeremy, the Hunter - or when Elena was a vampire, too. Her stint with Damon. And Jeremy had even more. Anna. Disappointing and betraying Bonnie. And lying about leaving in the last place.

"Art School." )

[imnot_likeyou]

Yeah, that you're not going to be able to fix for them. They have to figure that out themselves.

[And Sam remembers the way his father talked about the Council. A group of old money locals posing themselves as protectors of the people, while a lot of the less important members of the town got eaten.]

They're going to have to figure out how to deal with Caroline eventually, because I doubt that she's going to stay away from her best friend forever. And the Salvatore School sitting in their home town. And the fact that their kids are immersed in the supernatural, whether they like it or not. Especially if Elena stays here with Dean and you and Buffy's sister keep doing what you're doing which means Stefan is going to be part of things too.

[A pause.]

Eventually they're going to have to choose. And if they love you enough, hopefully they'll choose you over their prejudices.