Thicker Than Water (BtVS/SPN)
Title: Thicker Than Water
Rating: MA15+
Characters and/or pairings: Dean Winchester, (Dean/Buffy), Buffy Summers, Sam Winchester, Dawn Summers
Warnings: Violence, adult situations, suggestions of incest.
Disclaimer
Spoilers: Set post-'Chosen' and approx season three SPN but no major storylines used.
Summary: Dean and Sam discover that they have a sister, Buffy, who was abducted at birth and her disappearance covered up. Surprises just keep coming though when they find out that she's also a Slayer, a mystical warrior with a destiny, and travel to Cleveland, the only known collective of Slayers. Trouble is, the Slayers are also in trouble and with the fate of the world in the balance, things can't possibly get worse. Unless you count the fact that Dean seems to be falling in love with Buffy...
Authors note: Written for sncross_bigbang. The amazing kaddywhak did the art for this story and you should definitely go check it out over at her master post! Remember to leave lots of love because she put up with an unfinished story almost until the deadline! *hugs* :P MUCH love to my beta, the awesome hezio2, without whom I wouldn't have finished! Because she poked and prodded me from all the way over there to get it done :P
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Sam stepped inside and stood momentarily still as he waited for his eyes to adjust. Before he could even move, a shoulder bumped his and he saw Dean push past.
“Stop being such a jerk!”
Dean whirled around and Sam had to stop himself from taking a step backward. He wasn’t afraid of his brother, at least, that’s what he told himself, but he hated Dean’s anger being directed toward him. He wanted to shove him, hit him and say that he was old enough to look after himself; he didn’t need to be babysat and he didn’t need Dean watching out for him. He could handle himself.
But he couldn’t.
Truth was, he’d have been toast if Dean hadn’t been there to back him up and he almost hadn’t been. It should’ve been an easy job, one that could have seen them passing straight through and perhaps even given Dean a night off. He’d snuck out and tracked it down, only to be taken down himself and Dean had gotten there just in time to stop him from being dismembered. He’d endured the silent treatment from Dean most of the way back but he’d made the mistake of speaking first and Dean had exploded.
He hated being the youngest. He wanted to prove that he was as good as Dean, that he could do this job himself and didn’t need back up, but he was the only family Dean had and nothing he could say or do would stop his brother from looking out for him.
Dean threw a “Don’t get yourself into any trouble!” over his shoulder before moving further into the din and Sam sighed before sitting at the end of the bar beside him.
“Had a fight?”
Sam looked over at the blonde on the barstool and gave her a short nod. “Brothers!”
She smiled softly. “I don’t have any brothers but I do have sisters. They can absolutely drive you nuts sometimes!”
He nodded and ordered a beer, his eyes ghosting over the room and spotting Dean in the far corner with the pool table. Fortunately there was no one else with him and he didn’t have to worry about having to break up a brawl.
“It’s just...” He looked up at her and found her bright blue eyes fixed solely on him. “It’s just that we’re all we’ve got. There’s just us left now.”
“And things would be easier if you had someone else as a buffer.”
He nodded. “Most of our lives it’s just been us and I should be used to it by now but sometimes I wish it wasn’t just us. “
Her lips turned up in a large grin which showed her teeth. There was a moment where the air around them seemed to still and crackle at the same time and she downed the last of the Cosmo in front of her before looking back at him.
“Done.”
Dean rolled his eyes and gave a slight shake of his head. “Just hurry up, I wanna get out of here as soon as possible.”
Sam mumbled something and grabbed the keys as he headed for the door. Dean shoved the last rifle in his duffle and zipped it up in frustration, eager to get on to the next hunt and forget about their argument. When he saw Sam pause at the door, he looked up expecting a repentant Sam - or at least a less grumpy one - but instead, he saw a confused blonde woman. Sam looked back at him, his eyes flicking toward the duffle and Dean gave a slight nod. She looked harmless but it never hurt to be careful.
“Hi. Um, are you looking for someone?”
The woman seemed to appreciate the calm tone to Sam’s voice and she gave a small smile. “Uh, I don’t know. I can’t remember what I’m doing here.”
He took a deep breath. It wasn’t the first time a demon had used a host to discover their location and then left the host there until they could strike at a more opportune time. It gave them a bit of a heads up but he guessed it sucked to be the host. Other than a demon wearing your skin, you ‘woke’ up not knowing how you got where you did or what you’d done. Sam seemed to have more of a knack at empathy, so Dean moved around the side of the bed and pulled out his duffle filled with clothing from under it. The weapons bag was still within reach, just in case the demon hadn’t quite left yet but as he watched her take Sam’s unspoken offer to come inside and step over the salt line, he doubted she was a threat.
Sam offered her a bottle of water. “Here, you should drink this. You look thirsty.”
She nodded her thanks and Dean could practically see the gears turning in her head as she struggled to figure out what was going on. She drank the tainted water without the slightest reaction to the holy water mixed in with it and he found his eyes wandering the room for anything they had left behind. The salt lines they’d leave in place. He doubted that a maid would come in and clean the room so if nothing else, maybe the people that rented the room next would have that little bit of extra protection.
Sam motioned to the folded paper held tightly in her hand. “Mind if I have a look?”
She shrugged, offered it to him and Dean would have happily picked up the bags in front of him and headed for the Impala if Sam’s eyes hadn’t nearly bugged out of his head as he read it. He met Dean’s eyes as he looked up and Dean started for him as Sam bent before the woman sitting at their kitchen table and staring into space.
“What’s your name?”
He plucked the paper from Sam’s hands and skimmed over it. He didn’t need to be a genius to figure out that it was a birth certificate and judging by the amount of wear, it was an older one. The name read ‘Elizabeth Anne Winchester’ and listed the parents as ‘John and Mary Winchester’. He looked up at the woman.
“Buffy.”
“Buffy?”
Sam offered a sideways glare before turning his attention back on the woman before him. If he kept staring at her, Dean was sure Sam was going to burn a hole right through her. She gave them both a cursory glance and he noticed that her confidence was growing; whatever confusion had kept her appearing shy and timid was quickly fading.
“It’s a form of Elizabeth, Dean. Did you know about this?”
He looked back at the birth certificate and took note of the date. “It’s not possible Sammy. This has to be a mistake - I think I would remember a sister born before you.”
“Would you?” Sam challenged. “You would have been two, Dean, two.”
Buffy stood up. “Look, I’m probably more confused than both of you together so I’m just gonna go and figure out what’s happening - and where my mind went…”
As she turned to the door, Sam reached out and grabbed her upper arm in protest but she moved quickly as she twisted his arm behind him in one fluid movement. Dean raised an eyebrow. She seemed slightly embarrassed, as though the move had been purely reflexive and unintentional, and let go of him quickly. Sam rubbed his shoulder as he straightened and turned to her.
“Look, I’m sorry. It’s just, based on this birth certificate, you’re our sister and we’re just trying to figure this out.”
“Well, one of us is. This has to be a mistake because I would remember another sibling.” Sam shot him a look. “I meant one born after me and before you.”
“Where did you grow up? And how did you even find us?”
Buffy took a step back. “Look, I’m a little confused here- ”
“You’re not the only one.”
She glared at him. “I mean, I know my name is Buffy and that someone named Dawn is really important to me but everything else is blank. And this isn’t just some hangover amnesia - at least, I don’t think it is. I don’t feel hung over.” She frowned in thought. “Either way, I think it’s just best if we forget I ever came here and if we’re related, I’m sure we’ll bump into each other again someday.”
“No! I mean, we want you here, right Dean?”
Two pairs of eyes turned to look at him and he swallowed the urge to snort. “Uh…”
Buffy shook her head softly and turned on her heel for the door while Sam admonished him with a glance. “Buffy!”
“Look- ” Dean cut in, “You’ve got nowhere to go, right?” Buffy regarded him cautiously. “I guess we can go and get some breakfast, and Sam can do a bit of that computer stuff that he does, and he might be able to track you down and help you out with that hangover you don’t have.”
She opened her mouth in protest but Sam moved quickly to the table and turned on his laptop. She gave a soft sigh and looked back at him. “Fine. But then I’m on my way. And I don’t have a hangover!” She put her duffle on the floor and looked back at them. “I’ll go get some coffees and be back in a few.”
The door closed behind her and he waited until she would be out of earshot before turning to Sam.
“What the -? You don’t believe that something as important as the birth of a baby sister would stick in my memory?”
“We don’t know what happened Dean,” Sam replied without looking up. “I just think it’s worth looking into.”
“I would remember Sam!”
He looked up at him. “Just let me do my job Dean. Whine about it later.” Dean growled in frustration and slammed the birth certificate on the table. “Besides, we never know how careful Dad was and there’s always the possibility that- ”
“He loved Mum!”
“I know he did! But we already found one half sibling and you never know how many more siblings there may be. Or nieces. Or nephews…”
He stilled at the implication. He was always careful. Always. But that didn’t mean that accidents didn’t happen. He did move around a lot so he wouldn’t even know. And given what was really out there in the dark, and his responsibilities, he wasn’t sure that kids were a good idea, planned or not.
“This is different. This is Mum AND Dad. I would know.”
“Maybe not…”
Dean’s head shot round at the distracted comment and he walked around to see the computer. There were several windows open on the desktop and Sam was flicking through them so fast that Dean wasn’t even sure what he had found until he stopped on an article.
“There was an incident at the hospital the day after she was born. See, that’s them in the photo in the background. Apparently Buffy disappeared from the hospital and was never seen again.”
He looked at the photo and he could see the grief on his parents’ faces as John hugged Mary while police and hospital staff moved around them. It was dated January 20th, 1981. He tried to remember but only drew a blank. He remembered his mother being pregnant with Sam and everything from the day he was brought home but nothing about a sister. He noticed Sam’s frown and looked back at the screen.
“It seems as though someone tried to remove the article from the database. This was just an old copy that had been backed up. She disappears from the system until the fire and turns up the next day as Buffy Anne Winchester. Before the fire, Buffy Anne Winchester didn’t exist.”
The door opened and Buffy walked in with her arms filled with several boxes. As Dean helped her put them all on the table, Sam continued talking as if he hadn’t noticed a thing.
“There’s a bunch of school records for a Buffy Anne Winchester at an all-girls private school in Los Angeles - several sports: track, gymnastics, cheerleading - and a pretty awesome GPA. Good enough to get accepted to Yale where she did Archaeological Studies. Schooling drops off after that but there’s employment records that suggest she’s self employed and currently living in Los Angeles, though I can’t seem to find any trace of where she’s living. It all seems pretty normal to me.”
“And completely foreign to me.”
Sam looked up over his laptop and gave her a sympathetic smile before grabbing a box of pancakes and returning to the monitor. His fingers clicked away for a few moments before he paused.
“Parents were Harry and Joy Summerfield, both attorneys, who died in a speed-related accident two years ago. No other siblings, near relatives or partners.”
“So, basically, no one’s looking for me. How fantastic.”
“Well, there’s us.” He looked across at Dean before letting out a breath. “Turns out you were taken from the hospital the day after you were born.”
She set down her tea carefully on the table. “What?”
The police tried searching for you but whoever took you cleaned up after themselves and wiped the records from the main database. With no paperwork on an active investigation running, they seem to have dropped it.”
“And no one looked?”
“Our Mum died when I was six months old and our Dad didn’t really cope well. Seems that whoever covered everything up seems to have thought that they could take the risk after that and the day after, you turned up in the system as ‘Buffy’, not ‘Elizabeth’. It wouldn’t have even raised an eyebrow because the name doesn’t match.”
She took a deep breath. “So, I’ve got no family, no memories, apparently no home and only whatever is in that bag. Peachy.”
Buffy’s shoulders dropped and she slumped back in her chair. She absentmindedly pushed around part of a pancake while she was lost in thought and Dean thought about calling Bobby to see if he had any idea what to do. They couldn’t take her with them because it was too dangerous but dropping her off somewhere alone wasn’t really an option that he liked either. If anyone found out they had a sister, they’d go after her to get to them. Obviously, Sam wasn’t thinking the same thing.
“Look, you don’t have to worry. You can come with us and we’ll see if we can try and get some of your memories back.”
He nearly choked on his mouthful and his eyes watered as he tried to swallow and draw in air. Buffy raised an eyebrow at him.
“Yeah, he looks so thrilled with the idea.”
Sam rolled his eyes. “Ignore him. We were headed out your way, so you can come along for the drive and hopefully we get some answers.”
“We should call Bobby.”
Sam closed his laptop and packed it into the bag. “I know. If we hit the road now, we can call him on the way; might even drop in on him if he has something.”
He packed up the rest of his things and Dean scoffed the rest of his breakfast as he scowled at him. If Buffy really was their sister, he’d protect her until the day he died. But if it was a ploy, she wouldn’t be the first to use family as a way to get at him.
And he wouldn’t hesitate to protect Sam.
The headlights lit up the road in front of them and Dean concentrated on trying to spot something supernatural in the shadows. The game was something he’d created a while back to keep himself awake during the night drives while Sam was sleeping. He’d have tried turning on his music, even if it was low, but Buffy was asleep in the back and now there were two other people for him to think about.
He glanced up in the rearview mirror and saw the slight rise and fall of her shoulder, a lock of blonde hair escaping her ponytail and falling slowly over her sleeping face like a curtain. If he looked hard enough, squinted, he thought that maybe she looked like his mother. There were some features that looked like neither parent and that was a little puzzling but it had been awhile since he’d really looked at either of them and he couldn’t really be sure. Especially his mother. She was from a life that no longer existed, a ‘what if?’.
She took a sudden deep breath and her brows furrowed, her lips pursing as though she was confused about something and he tore his eyes away from her and focused them on the road. He was reminded once more of how beautiful she was and he didn’t relish having to fight off any potential jerks that would no doubt try and get to her. He reasoned the jealousy away as not wanting to lose her so quickly after finding out she existed, even if it was just to someone else, and ignored any part of his ‘irrational’ thinking which suggested otherwise. He decided that having a sister was a new concept and he just had to get used to seeing her that way.
Though he was looking at the road, he wasn’t watching the road and so the yellow hatchback crumpled into the tree just off to his left was a surprise, as was the body on the road, and he had to stop the car suddenly to avoid running them over. Beside him Sam flew forward, his quick reflexes enabling him to put his hands out and catch himself on the dash before he hit the windshield. From the back he heard a grunt and he tossed a glance into the back to see a pair of startled green eyes looking at him.
He murmured an apology and looked at the figure in front of him. Obviously there had been a car accident and looking at the dark streak on the road, the driver had crawled from the vehicle and tried to get help. His eyes scanned the road in front of him and he didn’t see anybody else. He opened his door and climbed out.
“Dean- ?”
He stuck his head back in and looked at Sam. “I’ll just be a minute.”
His voice offered assurance, at least he hoped it did for Buffy’s sake, but his eyes warned Sam to be ready and seeing the slight nod from him, he patted the door once and moved toward the body. He couldn’t see any visible wounds on the man’s back but a car accident was more likely to wound the front of the body and he knelt slowly and turned him over.
His focus was drawn immediately to the man’s face. Dean would have sworn that it was some sort of scar, perhaps from a burn, but the nose and the forehead were deformed and the eyes more sunken and when the eyelids opened to reveal yellow eyes, he immediately turned around to warn Sam. Before he could make a sound, teeth were sinking into his neck and pain was exploding in his head. There was a cry of fear from the Impala but his strength was forced into his arms as he tried to push himself away. Adrenaline aided him and he felt the teeth slip out and graze across his neck before he suddenly fell forward, the body disintegrating into a pile of ashes.
Dean looked toward the Impala and saw Sam getting up from the ground, staring at Buffy, her form illuminated by the car’s headlights. She dropped her arm slowly and looked at it in surprise.
Buffy sat quietly in the back and stared out the window into the dark night. Dean’s eyes flicked between the road and the rearview mirror as he waited to see if anything else was out of the ordinary. Without realising it, he was pushing the Impala faster than he should have been as he tried to reach Bobby’s house; Bobby would know what to do about her. Every instinct told him that something was different about her, that her lack of memory was a concern and that he should be cautious but those same instincts were also desperate to protect her. If she really was his sister, he would make sure that she was somewhere safe and out of the life he and Sam were currently living but her reflexes had made him pause.
Her reaction to the vampires had been less ‘karate lessons’ and more ‘Hunter’ than he cared to admit. She had saved him and Sam but if she was some sort of demon then that might all be part of the plan to gain their trust. Not that she’d reacted to the holy water or the salt or any of the other tests he and Sam had performed without her knowing. In fact, she could very well-
“Will you stop doing that?”
“Huh?”
He pulled his eyes back to the road but she folded her arms and rolled her eyes as she laid her head against the window.
“The staring? Stop it! I can feel you looking at me. And right now, I’m more freaked out than you are so just stop it; I don’t need anything else to worry about.”
A small creature, probably a feral cat, darted out of the headlights and into the scrub on the side of the road as they passed and Dean gave a cursory glance toward his brother. Sam was still fighting the concussion he’d gotten earlier and gave a small sigh when he felt Dean look at him.
“We understand that you’re a little confused right now-“
“Confused?! Confused?! I was confused when Ricky dumped me for that tart Vanessa. I was confused when my boss-“
She stopped abruptly and he looked into the rearview mirror cautiously only to find her frowning and staring hard at her hands.
“What is it?”
“I... I remember those things happening... but when I try to recall the memory it’s like it dissipates before I can grab it. It’s like...” Her green eyes met his in the mirror and the confusion morphed into a frown again. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that some creatures out of a nightmare world just attacked us and I didn’t die! It’s like a really bad movie and I’m not confused so much as freaking out!”
He saw Sam turn around in his seat to face her. “Look, you’ve probably got a ton of questions right now and I promise we’ll answer what we can but we need to take some time out and get some rest. First thing in the morning we’ll all sit down and talk.”
She warily looked at him and Dean wasn’t sure whether or not she was buying it. Her crossed arms and slumped shoulders didn’t exactly scream ‘trust’ but he didn’t think she’d try and run either. To be honest, he’d expected more screaming; more disbelief that she’d seen what she’d seen. The night rolled on as the scenery passed by, the shadows enveloping the surroundings and making the tree line appear more ominous than it was.
The neon motel sign lit up the car park to his right as he pulled in and took a look around him. Sam and Buffy had both fallen asleep and he quietly turned off the engine and climbed out, making as little sound as possible when he closed the door. His eyes darted around the area looking for signs of trouble but there was only one other car nearby and a single light above a sign that read ‘reception’.
A thin older man with a greying beard sat on a stool behind the counter reading a newspaper. Upon Dean entering, he climbed off and pushed the newspaper aside with a smile. For the early hours of the morning, he was quite enthusiastic and Dean gave a brief once over of the office. Everything was neatly arranged and seemed to be in better condition than most of the places they’d stayed over the years.
“What can I do ya for?”
“Uh, what’s available?”
The older man grinned and leant forward on the counter. “Well, it’s off season and we don’t get a whole lotta people aroun’ this time so I can offer ya any room here ‘cept the single that’s taken by a regular. Is it just you?”
He shook his head. “Nah, I’m travelling with my brother and sister; they’re asleep in the car.”
“Younger, huh?”
Dean gave him a half smile and the man reached behind the rack of keys on the cupboard lining the back wall. As he began rifling through the cupboard, Dean’s eyes fell on the newspaper the man had been reading. The lead article had something to do with a local businessman but the short article underneath appeared to be a piece on coyote attacks. The word ‘again’ grabbed his attention and as the man turned back toward him, he tore his eyes from it.
“Is it just for tha night?”
Indecision caused him to stumble on his answer and he took a deep breath. Rubbing the back of his neck, he gave a quick glance outside before shaking his head.
“Actually, I’m pretty tired. Let’s just leave it open for now.”
“Well, there’s not a whole lotta business at the moment so I’ll tell ya what. You can have the family room at the single rate unless there’s suddenly a whole bunch of customers an’ then I’ll bump it up.”
He chuckled to himself and Dean gave him a nod and pulled out his wallet. He handed over the card and as the man processed it, he picked up the three brown towels with woven green edges and shoved the room key into his pocket.
“Do you mind if I borrow this?”
The old man turned around and glanced at the paper he held in his hand. “Nah, get a new one in a few hours.”
“Thanks.”
He got a nod in return and after taking back his card and being directed up the stairs, he pushed open the door and headed toward the Impala. A chill ran up his spine and he froze momentarily as he glanced around. Seeing nothing, he cautiously approached the car and opened up Sam’s door.
“What the... ?”
Sam fell as the door disappeared beneath him and a startled Buffy looked over at them as he grinned. “Up you get, sleepy heads. I’ve got us a room, so grab your stuff.”
Sam and Buffy climbed out of the car and grabbed their bags. The three of them climbed the stairs to the first floor and Dean, opening the door, was immediately shoved aside as Buffy and Sam made their way in. Buffy peered into the first room, swung her bag inside and closed the door. Sam left the door to the first room he looked at open and disappeared into the second room, shutting the door behind him.
“I’ll just take the couch...” Dean muttered as he closed the front door and surveyed the room.
The lounge room and kitchen were one room, the two-seater the divider between them, and the small bathroom was between the now closed off bedrooms. Dean checked the windows and locked the door before setting up the usual precautions. Once he was done with the main room, he opened the door Sam had disappeared behind and saw that Sam had already done his room. There was a small feeling of pride before he closed the door and looked at the other. He stood for five minutes debating on whether or not to go into it before his need to protect his family won out and he quietly opened the door.
The soft moonbeams fell onto the bed and he saw her curled up at the top of the single bed. The covers had been pulled almost completely over her and her eyelids fluttered softly from whatever dream she was having. He tiptoed across the room, checking the lock on the window and laying a thin line of salt along the sill. His eyes made their way around the otherwise bare room and he glanced once more at her before slipping out of the room and closing the door behind him.
He took off his jacket and slung it over a kitchen chair before picking up the newspaper and glancing at the heading that had caught his eye. The brief article explained that it was the second coyote related death for the season and that they were hoping to keep the numbers down from the previous year. The Mayor had been quoted as saying that there were no known wolves in the area and that the deaths were attributed to a pack of coyotes that had spotted. The same month the year before had accrued six deaths before it suddenly ceased and the town had thought the coyote had been caught until the deaths had started again. The reporter called for a cull to take place and was insisting on a response from the Mayor.
Dean booted up Sam’s laptop and began a search for the history of the town. Something wasn’t sitting right with him and although he knew that the situation with Buffy was a priority, a feeling settled in his gut that told him that this case would take precedence. His fingers tapped lightly on the keyboard and as he began reading through the articles from the previous year on the attacks, his eyes became heavier until they finally closed and his head dropped softly onto his arm.
The wolf raised its nose in the air and took a deep breath from the night air. It could sense several things nearby; other animals, plants, water and humans. The last of these interested the wolf more than the others and it let its nose lead it to a nearby house. The backyard led onto the reserve and the wolf waited in the shadows of the surrounding trees as it watched the occupant exit the back door and walk over to the bin. The man shoved the bag of leftovers into the garbage bin before walking over to the barbeque and picking up the utensils.
The wolf edged closer as the man walked back inside, the screen door slamming shut behind him and as the wolf crept to the edge of the property and paused beneath a large overgrown bush, the man returned with paper towels. He used the spatula to scrape off the remaining bits of food and collected it in the paper towels. The wolf watched with curiosity as the man smiled at a well done job and gathered the used paper and placed it in the bin.
The wolf listened to the steady heartbeat of the man and when an owl landed on a branch nearby, it sped up briefly before the man identified the source of the noise. The wolf crouched low as it slunk closer, its brown fur briefly catching the moonlight as it ran from one bit of cover to the next. The man took a few steps toward the reserve as if he sensed that something was not right and nearly jumped as the owl offered a warning hoot.
The man turned back toward his house and had the barest of seconds to recognise that the enormous wolf behind him was a threat and that there was something not right with it before the wolf latched onto his throat, tearing the scream from it as blood filled its mouth. The wolf relished the kill for a mere moment and then a light footfall had it racing back across the yard and into the reserve behind. It ran fast, the moonlight snatching glances of it, as it darted in and out of the shadows of the trees.
A high pitched scream filled the night shortly after and as the scream turned to sobbing, an owl hooted and took flight.
The sound of light footsteps woke him and he kept still whilst trying to ascertain the source. His fingers slowly moved toward the gun beside the computer and as a particularly loud footfall sounded, the movement stopped and Dean used the opportunity to sit up straight and draw his gun on them. Buffy’s eyes widened almost comically as she stared at the gun in his hand and he quickly withdrew it, a small grunt the only apology.
“Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you.”
He glanced at the time on the computer and groaned. “What are you doing awake anyway?”
She shrugged. “I guess I’m not much of a sleeper.” She hesitated only momentarily. “What’re you doing?”
Dean cleared his throat uncomfortably and closed the lid. This was not the best way to let someone know what goes bump in the night. “I’ll explain it later.”
She seemed to accept that at face value and there was a short awkward silence. It wasn’t like he could ask her anything about herself and he couldn’t mention anything about his life without mentioning demons. She glanced around the room, chewing on her lip as she tried to avoid eye contact with him. He really wished Sam were awake now; he’d know how to break the awkwardness and, if nothing else, they’d be able to let her know the dangers, keep her away from them and move on.
Dean glanced back at the computer. There was something off about the whole set of articles, something that wasn’t sitting right with him and although the last thing he wanted to do was bring Buffy in on a case, or have her anywhere near one, there wasn’t a whole lot of options. Based on the articles, whatever was attacking only did so during a specified time period each year and if they left it alone, more people were likely to get hurt.
Sam entered the room and passed a glance quickly between the two of them before offering Buffy a smile.
“How’d you sleep?”
She smiled back. “Uh, good, I think.”
Sam nodded and walked over to the kitchen as he pulled a jumper on and got a drink of water. As soon as the glass was filled, Buffy took the opportunity to speak and sat on the lounge as she pulled her knees up to her chest.
“So, about last night...”
Dean took a deep breath as Sam walked over toward her and sat on the arm of the lounge. He offered a comforting smile but Dean thought she looked just as anxious as before. She obviously didn’t know what to think and was trying to make sense of it in her head.
“I know you’ve had a very intense day or so and with your memory loss and finding us, you’re probably just a little stressed. And the last thing we wanna do is add more stress.”
She frowned before shaking her head and raising a hand for him to stop. “Wait a minute. You’re not seriously gonna sit there and give me a whole ‘you imagined the whole thing’ speech are you? Because you know I’m not gonna buy that.”
To his credit, Sam actually blushed and Dean filed that information away for later use when it would be more beneficial. He had an embarrassed smile as he turned to Dean for help and Dean simply rolled his eyes. Obviously she was a little more cluey than he was giving her credit for. He leaned forward in his seat and tried to make sure his brain remembered that she was their sister. Whatever else she was, she was still a Winchester through and through; that wouldn’t change.
“What do you wanna know?”
Buffy crossed her legs as she sat sideways on the lounge. “Well, I wanna know what you guys do. I mean, you didn’t just happen to stumble across a vamp in the middle of the road - obviously you were hunting it. Is that what you guys do? Hunt down vamps?”
Dean’s mouth dropped open a little and he noticed Sam look over at him. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from his sister. Trust her to not question the appearance of a vampire and just go straight for the story behind it. The phrasing ‘vamp’ had him a little startled though. He’d only ever heard Vampire Hunters call them that and he stood and walked over to her, assessing whether or not it was possible that she was raised as a Vampire Hunter. She was a tiny slip of a thing and looked more like a cheerleader than a Hunter but there was no doubting the way she moved. She’d run a stake through the vampire with such force that he’d second guessed their testing methods.
“Um, not really. Not specifically anyway. What do you know about them?”
She didn’t seem at all concerned about his questioning and shrugged. “Nothing, at least, nothing I can remember. When Sam went down it was as though my body moved on its own. It just felt natural.”
He turned to Sam. “What do you reckon?”
Sam shrugged. “It’s possible. I mean, generally Hunters can blend in even if they do move around a lot. It’s possible they just stayed in one spot and kept their area clean. If she was brought up like that, she could still be able to do things she’d normally do without thinking about it. Like walking and talking.”
“And hunting.”
“It’s possible.”
“Uh, hello? ‘She’s’ still here and can hear everything you say. How ‘bout including me in the conversation?!”
Dean frowned. “Our life? It’s not a game! It’s not some novel that you can read and close at night. Night’s usually when we get started and if you’ve already been raised in a life like this then we have to make sure you get your memory back ASAP.”
She stood angrily. “I’m trying! I’ve been trying to remember something, anything, that would give me a clue! Even if I couldn’t remember my parents or my friends, I wanna at least know how I ended up in front of your door!”
They stood toe to toe but it was Sam rising from the lounge that drew their attention away from each other.
“They weren’t your parents!” He looked at Sam in shock. He was clenching and unclenching his fists as he tried to restrain his anger. “John and Mary Winchester were your parents; you were just taken away from them before they-”
Sam threw his hands up and walked into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him and Buffy looked after him guiltily.
“I’m really sorry; I didn’t think...”
“Don’t worry about it. Look we’re gonna take you down to Bobby’s. Maybe he knows something that we don’t or he can figure out a way to get your memories back. In the mean time, something has come up and it means we need to stick around here for a few days. But I need to figure out exactly what you know so I know how safe you’re gonna be.”
She nodded, her gaze going back to the bathroom door before looking at him. “What about Sam?”
“He’ll be fine. Just give him a few.”
He watched her eyes glaze over a little as he described the various parts of the gun in his hand. It was very different to Sam who had absorbed the knowledge he offered like a sponge and he decided to cut his losses. He’d explained it, far more than he needed to, but she was family and she needed to be able to protect herself if he wasn’t there. Offering her the gun, he watched as she frowned at it before raising her arm quickly and pulling the trigger. Pure excitement filtered over her face and she spun around in a circle saying, ‘I hit it’ over and over. He watched her hips move fluidly, the curve of her body as she spun, and swallowed harshly as he looked away from her.
She was his sister.
A part of him was absolutely sickened at the attraction he felt towards her, despite the counter claim that they hadn’t grown up together but it all disappeared when he looked at the target. He’d carved a circle into the bark on a wide tree and had hopes that by the end of the day she’d be able to hit inside the circle. That she’d hit the tree wasn’t really a surprise if she’d been raised by Hunters and taught to use a gun. The way she’d held and aimed it suggested that she’d been taught the basics but in the dead centre of the circle was the bullet hole. She was grinning up at him when he turned back to her and he raised both eyebrows.
“Not bad.”
Buffy rolled her eyes and shoved his shoulder. “Whatever! Your mouth nearly dropped completely open when you saw that, so I’m guessing that’s better than not bad!”
“Beginner’s luck.”
“Whatever you need to tell yourself.”
He motioned for her to repeat the action and her teeth ran over her bottom lip as she surveyed the space in front of her. They’d found a clearing about ten minutes from the motel that had obviously been used for shooting. Cans were set up on stumps and there were a few targets carved into trees just like his. A slow smile replaced her teeth and Dean looked away uncomfortably. With a quick motion, she raised, aimed and fired the gun and he turned back to her with a smug look as her tree remained untouched.
Only to see that she was grinning triumphantly.
“You missed.”
She began walking forward and threw back over her shoulder, “I missed my tree.”
He jogged quickly up to her, his eyes scanning the trees in front of them. Some distance behind the tree she’d been shooting at was the one he’d shot at as he explained how to use the gun. His two bullet holes were pretty much dead centre but about a hand span away from his was the newly made one by the blonde walking beside him. She grinned up at him when she noticed his surprise and stopped ten feet away while he went to check it out. Sure enough, it was there.
“Not bad at all.” he said, turning around to face her.
She rolled her eyes again and shook her head. Bouncing on the balls of her feet, she offered him the gun back. “What’s next?”
“Next we go see Sam. He’s checking out the info and he should have something by now.” As they headed back for the motel, he noticed her looking down at her feet. “What’s up?”
She sighed. “It’s just, I, I don’t really know who I am. Suddenly I have a family I don’t know, can’t remember, and I feel like I’m already on the outs with him. Is it...”
She stopped walking and looked up at the bright sky. He turned to look at her; she was uneasy, worried, and he wanted to hug her. He didn’t do chick flick moments but a sister tended to force that out of a person and he was wondering if it was something he had to get used to. She looked back at him.
“Is it bad that I don’t miss yo-, I mean, our parents?”
He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath before looking at her. She seemed to be hanging on his every movement, tracing the lines of his face to see if he was going to forgive her for something she thought she’d done wrong. He missed his parents; had grown up pretty much without them, but he missed them. Sam, though, was able to connect all of it together and miss a life he’d never had, miss the Sunday night dinners and baseball games; the sorts of things normal families did. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t wrap his mind around not being out there, hunting things down, protecting those who still had Sunday night dinners and baseball games.
She was looking up at him for answers and he gave her a small shrug. Her eyes became downcast and he took a step forward.
“You didn’t know them. We barely knew them. Maybe one day you’ll miss them, I don’t know, but it’s hard to miss something you never knew existed. I wouldn’t worry about Sam.”
She nodded slowly, unconvinced, and they walked silently back to the motel. ( PART TWO) ( PART THREE)
Rating: MA15+
Characters and/or pairings: Dean Winchester, (Dean/Buffy), Buffy Summers, Sam Winchester, Dawn Summers
Warnings: Violence, adult situations, suggestions of incest.
Disclaimer
Spoilers: Set post-'Chosen' and approx season three SPN but no major storylines used.
Summary: Dean and Sam discover that they have a sister, Buffy, who was abducted at birth and her disappearance covered up. Surprises just keep coming though when they find out that she's also a Slayer, a mystical warrior with a destiny, and travel to Cleveland, the only known collective of Slayers. Trouble is, the Slayers are also in trouble and with the fate of the world in the balance, things can't possibly get worse. Unless you count the fact that Dean seems to be falling in love with Buffy...
Authors note: Written for sncross_bigbang. The amazing kaddywhak did the art for this story and you should definitely go check it out over at her master post! Remember to leave lots of love because she put up with an unfinished story almost until the deadline! *hugs* :P MUCH love to my beta, the awesome hezio2, without whom I wouldn't have finished! Because she poked and prodded me from all the way over there to get it done :P
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Sam stepped inside and stood momentarily still as he waited for his eyes to adjust. Before he could even move, a shoulder bumped his and he saw Dean push past.
“Stop being such a jerk!”
Dean whirled around and Sam had to stop himself from taking a step backward. He wasn’t afraid of his brother, at least, that’s what he told himself, but he hated Dean’s anger being directed toward him. He wanted to shove him, hit him and say that he was old enough to look after himself; he didn’t need to be babysat and he didn’t need Dean watching out for him. He could handle himself.
But he couldn’t.
Truth was, he’d have been toast if Dean hadn’t been there to back him up and he almost hadn’t been. It should’ve been an easy job, one that could have seen them passing straight through and perhaps even given Dean a night off. He’d snuck out and tracked it down, only to be taken down himself and Dean had gotten there just in time to stop him from being dismembered. He’d endured the silent treatment from Dean most of the way back but he’d made the mistake of speaking first and Dean had exploded.
He hated being the youngest. He wanted to prove that he was as good as Dean, that he could do this job himself and didn’t need back up, but he was the only family Dean had and nothing he could say or do would stop his brother from looking out for him.
Dean threw a “Don’t get yourself into any trouble!” over his shoulder before moving further into the din and Sam sighed before sitting at the end of the bar beside him.
“Had a fight?”
Sam looked over at the blonde on the barstool and gave her a short nod. “Brothers!”
She smiled softly. “I don’t have any brothers but I do have sisters. They can absolutely drive you nuts sometimes!”
He nodded and ordered a beer, his eyes ghosting over the room and spotting Dean in the far corner with the pool table. Fortunately there was no one else with him and he didn’t have to worry about having to break up a brawl.
“It’s just...” He looked up at her and found her bright blue eyes fixed solely on him. “It’s just that we’re all we’ve got. There’s just us left now.”
“And things would be easier if you had someone else as a buffer.”
He nodded. “Most of our lives it’s just been us and I should be used to it by now but sometimes I wish it wasn’t just us. “
Her lips turned up in a large grin which showed her teeth. There was a moment where the air around them seemed to still and crackle at the same time and she downed the last of the Cosmo in front of her before looking back at him.
“Done.”
Dean rolled his eyes and gave a slight shake of his head. “Just hurry up, I wanna get out of here as soon as possible.”
Sam mumbled something and grabbed the keys as he headed for the door. Dean shoved the last rifle in his duffle and zipped it up in frustration, eager to get on to the next hunt and forget about their argument. When he saw Sam pause at the door, he looked up expecting a repentant Sam - or at least a less grumpy one - but instead, he saw a confused blonde woman. Sam looked back at him, his eyes flicking toward the duffle and Dean gave a slight nod. She looked harmless but it never hurt to be careful.
“Hi. Um, are you looking for someone?”
The woman seemed to appreciate the calm tone to Sam’s voice and she gave a small smile. “Uh, I don’t know. I can’t remember what I’m doing here.”
He took a deep breath. It wasn’t the first time a demon had used a host to discover their location and then left the host there until they could strike at a more opportune time. It gave them a bit of a heads up but he guessed it sucked to be the host. Other than a demon wearing your skin, you ‘woke’ up not knowing how you got where you did or what you’d done. Sam seemed to have more of a knack at empathy, so Dean moved around the side of the bed and pulled out his duffle filled with clothing from under it. The weapons bag was still within reach, just in case the demon hadn’t quite left yet but as he watched her take Sam’s unspoken offer to come inside and step over the salt line, he doubted she was a threat.
Sam offered her a bottle of water. “Here, you should drink this. You look thirsty.”
She nodded her thanks and Dean could practically see the gears turning in her head as she struggled to figure out what was going on. She drank the tainted water without the slightest reaction to the holy water mixed in with it and he found his eyes wandering the room for anything they had left behind. The salt lines they’d leave in place. He doubted that a maid would come in and clean the room so if nothing else, maybe the people that rented the room next would have that little bit of extra protection.
Sam motioned to the folded paper held tightly in her hand. “Mind if I have a look?”
She shrugged, offered it to him and Dean would have happily picked up the bags in front of him and headed for the Impala if Sam’s eyes hadn’t nearly bugged out of his head as he read it. He met Dean’s eyes as he looked up and Dean started for him as Sam bent before the woman sitting at their kitchen table and staring into space.
“What’s your name?”
He plucked the paper from Sam’s hands and skimmed over it. He didn’t need to be a genius to figure out that it was a birth certificate and judging by the amount of wear, it was an older one. The name read ‘Elizabeth Anne Winchester’ and listed the parents as ‘John and Mary Winchester’. He looked up at the woman.
“Buffy.”
“Buffy?”
Sam offered a sideways glare before turning his attention back on the woman before him. If he kept staring at her, Dean was sure Sam was going to burn a hole right through her. She gave them both a cursory glance and he noticed that her confidence was growing; whatever confusion had kept her appearing shy and timid was quickly fading.
“It’s a form of Elizabeth, Dean. Did you know about this?”
He looked back at the birth certificate and took note of the date. “It’s not possible Sammy. This has to be a mistake - I think I would remember a sister born before you.”
“Would you?” Sam challenged. “You would have been two, Dean, two.”
Buffy stood up. “Look, I’m probably more confused than both of you together so I’m just gonna go and figure out what’s happening - and where my mind went…”
As she turned to the door, Sam reached out and grabbed her upper arm in protest but she moved quickly as she twisted his arm behind him in one fluid movement. Dean raised an eyebrow. She seemed slightly embarrassed, as though the move had been purely reflexive and unintentional, and let go of him quickly. Sam rubbed his shoulder as he straightened and turned to her.
“Look, I’m sorry. It’s just, based on this birth certificate, you’re our sister and we’re just trying to figure this out.”
“Well, one of us is. This has to be a mistake because I would remember another sibling.” Sam shot him a look. “I meant one born after me and before you.”
“Where did you grow up? And how did you even find us?”
Buffy took a step back. “Look, I’m a little confused here- ”
“You’re not the only one.”
She glared at him. “I mean, I know my name is Buffy and that someone named Dawn is really important to me but everything else is blank. And this isn’t just some hangover amnesia - at least, I don’t think it is. I don’t feel hung over.” She frowned in thought. “Either way, I think it’s just best if we forget I ever came here and if we’re related, I’m sure we’ll bump into each other again someday.”
“No! I mean, we want you here, right Dean?”
Two pairs of eyes turned to look at him and he swallowed the urge to snort. “Uh…”
Buffy shook her head softly and turned on her heel for the door while Sam admonished him with a glance. “Buffy!”
“Look- ” Dean cut in, “You’ve got nowhere to go, right?” Buffy regarded him cautiously. “I guess we can go and get some breakfast, and Sam can do a bit of that computer stuff that he does, and he might be able to track you down and help you out with that hangover you don’t have.”
She opened her mouth in protest but Sam moved quickly to the table and turned on his laptop. She gave a soft sigh and looked back at him. “Fine. But then I’m on my way. And I don’t have a hangover!” She put her duffle on the floor and looked back at them. “I’ll go get some coffees and be back in a few.”
The door closed behind her and he waited until she would be out of earshot before turning to Sam.
“What the -? You don’t believe that something as important as the birth of a baby sister would stick in my memory?”
“We don’t know what happened Dean,” Sam replied without looking up. “I just think it’s worth looking into.”
“I would remember Sam!”
He looked up at him. “Just let me do my job Dean. Whine about it later.” Dean growled in frustration and slammed the birth certificate on the table. “Besides, we never know how careful Dad was and there’s always the possibility that- ”
“He loved Mum!”
“I know he did! But we already found one half sibling and you never know how many more siblings there may be. Or nieces. Or nephews…”
He stilled at the implication. He was always careful. Always. But that didn’t mean that accidents didn’t happen. He did move around a lot so he wouldn’t even know. And given what was really out there in the dark, and his responsibilities, he wasn’t sure that kids were a good idea, planned or not.
“This is different. This is Mum AND Dad. I would know.”
“Maybe not…”
Dean’s head shot round at the distracted comment and he walked around to see the computer. There were several windows open on the desktop and Sam was flicking through them so fast that Dean wasn’t even sure what he had found until he stopped on an article.
“There was an incident at the hospital the day after she was born. See, that’s them in the photo in the background. Apparently Buffy disappeared from the hospital and was never seen again.”
He looked at the photo and he could see the grief on his parents’ faces as John hugged Mary while police and hospital staff moved around them. It was dated January 20th, 1981. He tried to remember but only drew a blank. He remembered his mother being pregnant with Sam and everything from the day he was brought home but nothing about a sister. He noticed Sam’s frown and looked back at the screen.
“It seems as though someone tried to remove the article from the database. This was just an old copy that had been backed up. She disappears from the system until the fire and turns up the next day as Buffy Anne Winchester. Before the fire, Buffy Anne Winchester didn’t exist.”
The door opened and Buffy walked in with her arms filled with several boxes. As Dean helped her put them all on the table, Sam continued talking as if he hadn’t noticed a thing.
“There’s a bunch of school records for a Buffy Anne Winchester at an all-girls private school in Los Angeles - several sports: track, gymnastics, cheerleading - and a pretty awesome GPA. Good enough to get accepted to Yale where she did Archaeological Studies. Schooling drops off after that but there’s employment records that suggest she’s self employed and currently living in Los Angeles, though I can’t seem to find any trace of where she’s living. It all seems pretty normal to me.”
“And completely foreign to me.”
Sam looked up over his laptop and gave her a sympathetic smile before grabbing a box of pancakes and returning to the monitor. His fingers clicked away for a few moments before he paused.
“Parents were Harry and Joy Summerfield, both attorneys, who died in a speed-related accident two years ago. No other siblings, near relatives or partners.”
“So, basically, no one’s looking for me. How fantastic.”
“Well, there’s us.” He looked across at Dean before letting out a breath. “Turns out you were taken from the hospital the day after you were born.”
She set down her tea carefully on the table. “What?”
The police tried searching for you but whoever took you cleaned up after themselves and wiped the records from the main database. With no paperwork on an active investigation running, they seem to have dropped it.”
“And no one looked?”
“Our Mum died when I was six months old and our Dad didn’t really cope well. Seems that whoever covered everything up seems to have thought that they could take the risk after that and the day after, you turned up in the system as ‘Buffy’, not ‘Elizabeth’. It wouldn’t have even raised an eyebrow because the name doesn’t match.”
She took a deep breath. “So, I’ve got no family, no memories, apparently no home and only whatever is in that bag. Peachy.”
Buffy’s shoulders dropped and she slumped back in her chair. She absentmindedly pushed around part of a pancake while she was lost in thought and Dean thought about calling Bobby to see if he had any idea what to do. They couldn’t take her with them because it was too dangerous but dropping her off somewhere alone wasn’t really an option that he liked either. If anyone found out they had a sister, they’d go after her to get to them. Obviously, Sam wasn’t thinking the same thing.
“Look, you don’t have to worry. You can come with us and we’ll see if we can try and get some of your memories back.”
He nearly choked on his mouthful and his eyes watered as he tried to swallow and draw in air. Buffy raised an eyebrow at him.
“Yeah, he looks so thrilled with the idea.”
Sam rolled his eyes. “Ignore him. We were headed out your way, so you can come along for the drive and hopefully we get some answers.”
“We should call Bobby.”
Sam closed his laptop and packed it into the bag. “I know. If we hit the road now, we can call him on the way; might even drop in on him if he has something.”
He packed up the rest of his things and Dean scoffed the rest of his breakfast as he scowled at him. If Buffy really was their sister, he’d protect her until the day he died. But if it was a ploy, she wouldn’t be the first to use family as a way to get at him.
And he wouldn’t hesitate to protect Sam.
The headlights lit up the road in front of them and Dean concentrated on trying to spot something supernatural in the shadows. The game was something he’d created a while back to keep himself awake during the night drives while Sam was sleeping. He’d have tried turning on his music, even if it was low, but Buffy was asleep in the back and now there were two other people for him to think about.
He glanced up in the rearview mirror and saw the slight rise and fall of her shoulder, a lock of blonde hair escaping her ponytail and falling slowly over her sleeping face like a curtain. If he looked hard enough, squinted, he thought that maybe she looked like his mother. There were some features that looked like neither parent and that was a little puzzling but it had been awhile since he’d really looked at either of them and he couldn’t really be sure. Especially his mother. She was from a life that no longer existed, a ‘what if?’.
She took a sudden deep breath and her brows furrowed, her lips pursing as though she was confused about something and he tore his eyes away from her and focused them on the road. He was reminded once more of how beautiful she was and he didn’t relish having to fight off any potential jerks that would no doubt try and get to her. He reasoned the jealousy away as not wanting to lose her so quickly after finding out she existed, even if it was just to someone else, and ignored any part of his ‘irrational’ thinking which suggested otherwise. He decided that having a sister was a new concept and he just had to get used to seeing her that way.
Though he was looking at the road, he wasn’t watching the road and so the yellow hatchback crumpled into the tree just off to his left was a surprise, as was the body on the road, and he had to stop the car suddenly to avoid running them over. Beside him Sam flew forward, his quick reflexes enabling him to put his hands out and catch himself on the dash before he hit the windshield. From the back he heard a grunt and he tossed a glance into the back to see a pair of startled green eyes looking at him.
He murmured an apology and looked at the figure in front of him. Obviously there had been a car accident and looking at the dark streak on the road, the driver had crawled from the vehicle and tried to get help. His eyes scanned the road in front of him and he didn’t see anybody else. He opened his door and climbed out.
“Dean- ?”
He stuck his head back in and looked at Sam. “I’ll just be a minute.”
His voice offered assurance, at least he hoped it did for Buffy’s sake, but his eyes warned Sam to be ready and seeing the slight nod from him, he patted the door once and moved toward the body. He couldn’t see any visible wounds on the man’s back but a car accident was more likely to wound the front of the body and he knelt slowly and turned him over.
His focus was drawn immediately to the man’s face. Dean would have sworn that it was some sort of scar, perhaps from a burn, but the nose and the forehead were deformed and the eyes more sunken and when the eyelids opened to reveal yellow eyes, he immediately turned around to warn Sam. Before he could make a sound, teeth were sinking into his neck and pain was exploding in his head. There was a cry of fear from the Impala but his strength was forced into his arms as he tried to push himself away. Adrenaline aided him and he felt the teeth slip out and graze across his neck before he suddenly fell forward, the body disintegrating into a pile of ashes.
Dean looked toward the Impala and saw Sam getting up from the ground, staring at Buffy, her form illuminated by the car’s headlights. She dropped her arm slowly and looked at it in surprise.
Buffy sat quietly in the back and stared out the window into the dark night. Dean’s eyes flicked between the road and the rearview mirror as he waited to see if anything else was out of the ordinary. Without realising it, he was pushing the Impala faster than he should have been as he tried to reach Bobby’s house; Bobby would know what to do about her. Every instinct told him that something was different about her, that her lack of memory was a concern and that he should be cautious but those same instincts were also desperate to protect her. If she really was his sister, he would make sure that she was somewhere safe and out of the life he and Sam were currently living but her reflexes had made him pause.
Her reaction to the vampires had been less ‘karate lessons’ and more ‘Hunter’ than he cared to admit. She had saved him and Sam but if she was some sort of demon then that might all be part of the plan to gain their trust. Not that she’d reacted to the holy water or the salt or any of the other tests he and Sam had performed without her knowing. In fact, she could very well-
“Will you stop doing that?”
“Huh?”
He pulled his eyes back to the road but she folded her arms and rolled her eyes as she laid her head against the window.
“The staring? Stop it! I can feel you looking at me. And right now, I’m more freaked out than you are so just stop it; I don’t need anything else to worry about.”
A small creature, probably a feral cat, darted out of the headlights and into the scrub on the side of the road as they passed and Dean gave a cursory glance toward his brother. Sam was still fighting the concussion he’d gotten earlier and gave a small sigh when he felt Dean look at him.
“We understand that you’re a little confused right now-“
“Confused?! Confused?! I was confused when Ricky dumped me for that tart Vanessa. I was confused when my boss-“
She stopped abruptly and he looked into the rearview mirror cautiously only to find her frowning and staring hard at her hands.
“What is it?”
“I... I remember those things happening... but when I try to recall the memory it’s like it dissipates before I can grab it. It’s like...” Her green eyes met his in the mirror and the confusion morphed into a frown again. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that some creatures out of a nightmare world just attacked us and I didn’t die! It’s like a really bad movie and I’m not confused so much as freaking out!”
He saw Sam turn around in his seat to face her. “Look, you’ve probably got a ton of questions right now and I promise we’ll answer what we can but we need to take some time out and get some rest. First thing in the morning we’ll all sit down and talk.”
She warily looked at him and Dean wasn’t sure whether or not she was buying it. Her crossed arms and slumped shoulders didn’t exactly scream ‘trust’ but he didn’t think she’d try and run either. To be honest, he’d expected more screaming; more disbelief that she’d seen what she’d seen. The night rolled on as the scenery passed by, the shadows enveloping the surroundings and making the tree line appear more ominous than it was.
The neon motel sign lit up the car park to his right as he pulled in and took a look around him. Sam and Buffy had both fallen asleep and he quietly turned off the engine and climbed out, making as little sound as possible when he closed the door. His eyes darted around the area looking for signs of trouble but there was only one other car nearby and a single light above a sign that read ‘reception’.
A thin older man with a greying beard sat on a stool behind the counter reading a newspaper. Upon Dean entering, he climbed off and pushed the newspaper aside with a smile. For the early hours of the morning, he was quite enthusiastic and Dean gave a brief once over of the office. Everything was neatly arranged and seemed to be in better condition than most of the places they’d stayed over the years.
“What can I do ya for?”
“Uh, what’s available?”
The older man grinned and leant forward on the counter. “Well, it’s off season and we don’t get a whole lotta people aroun’ this time so I can offer ya any room here ‘cept the single that’s taken by a regular. Is it just you?”
He shook his head. “Nah, I’m travelling with my brother and sister; they’re asleep in the car.”
“Younger, huh?”
Dean gave him a half smile and the man reached behind the rack of keys on the cupboard lining the back wall. As he began rifling through the cupboard, Dean’s eyes fell on the newspaper the man had been reading. The lead article had something to do with a local businessman but the short article underneath appeared to be a piece on coyote attacks. The word ‘again’ grabbed his attention and as the man turned back toward him, he tore his eyes from it.
“Is it just for tha night?”
Indecision caused him to stumble on his answer and he took a deep breath. Rubbing the back of his neck, he gave a quick glance outside before shaking his head.
“Actually, I’m pretty tired. Let’s just leave it open for now.”
“Well, there’s not a whole lotta business at the moment so I’ll tell ya what. You can have the family room at the single rate unless there’s suddenly a whole bunch of customers an’ then I’ll bump it up.”
He chuckled to himself and Dean gave him a nod and pulled out his wallet. He handed over the card and as the man processed it, he picked up the three brown towels with woven green edges and shoved the room key into his pocket.
“Do you mind if I borrow this?”
The old man turned around and glanced at the paper he held in his hand. “Nah, get a new one in a few hours.”
“Thanks.”
He got a nod in return and after taking back his card and being directed up the stairs, he pushed open the door and headed toward the Impala. A chill ran up his spine and he froze momentarily as he glanced around. Seeing nothing, he cautiously approached the car and opened up Sam’s door.
“What the... ?”
Sam fell as the door disappeared beneath him and a startled Buffy looked over at them as he grinned. “Up you get, sleepy heads. I’ve got us a room, so grab your stuff.”
Sam and Buffy climbed out of the car and grabbed their bags. The three of them climbed the stairs to the first floor and Dean, opening the door, was immediately shoved aside as Buffy and Sam made their way in. Buffy peered into the first room, swung her bag inside and closed the door. Sam left the door to the first room he looked at open and disappeared into the second room, shutting the door behind him.
“I’ll just take the couch...” Dean muttered as he closed the front door and surveyed the room.
The lounge room and kitchen were one room, the two-seater the divider between them, and the small bathroom was between the now closed off bedrooms. Dean checked the windows and locked the door before setting up the usual precautions. Once he was done with the main room, he opened the door Sam had disappeared behind and saw that Sam had already done his room. There was a small feeling of pride before he closed the door and looked at the other. He stood for five minutes debating on whether or not to go into it before his need to protect his family won out and he quietly opened the door.
The soft moonbeams fell onto the bed and he saw her curled up at the top of the single bed. The covers had been pulled almost completely over her and her eyelids fluttered softly from whatever dream she was having. He tiptoed across the room, checking the lock on the window and laying a thin line of salt along the sill. His eyes made their way around the otherwise bare room and he glanced once more at her before slipping out of the room and closing the door behind him.
He took off his jacket and slung it over a kitchen chair before picking up the newspaper and glancing at the heading that had caught his eye. The brief article explained that it was the second coyote related death for the season and that they were hoping to keep the numbers down from the previous year. The Mayor had been quoted as saying that there were no known wolves in the area and that the deaths were attributed to a pack of coyotes that had spotted. The same month the year before had accrued six deaths before it suddenly ceased and the town had thought the coyote had been caught until the deaths had started again. The reporter called for a cull to take place and was insisting on a response from the Mayor.
Dean booted up Sam’s laptop and began a search for the history of the town. Something wasn’t sitting right with him and although he knew that the situation with Buffy was a priority, a feeling settled in his gut that told him that this case would take precedence. His fingers tapped lightly on the keyboard and as he began reading through the articles from the previous year on the attacks, his eyes became heavier until they finally closed and his head dropped softly onto his arm.
The wolf raised its nose in the air and took a deep breath from the night air. It could sense several things nearby; other animals, plants, water and humans. The last of these interested the wolf more than the others and it let its nose lead it to a nearby house. The backyard led onto the reserve and the wolf waited in the shadows of the surrounding trees as it watched the occupant exit the back door and walk over to the bin. The man shoved the bag of leftovers into the garbage bin before walking over to the barbeque and picking up the utensils.
The wolf edged closer as the man walked back inside, the screen door slamming shut behind him and as the wolf crept to the edge of the property and paused beneath a large overgrown bush, the man returned with paper towels. He used the spatula to scrape off the remaining bits of food and collected it in the paper towels. The wolf watched with curiosity as the man smiled at a well done job and gathered the used paper and placed it in the bin.
The wolf listened to the steady heartbeat of the man and when an owl landed on a branch nearby, it sped up briefly before the man identified the source of the noise. The wolf crouched low as it slunk closer, its brown fur briefly catching the moonlight as it ran from one bit of cover to the next. The man took a few steps toward the reserve as if he sensed that something was not right and nearly jumped as the owl offered a warning hoot.
The man turned back toward his house and had the barest of seconds to recognise that the enormous wolf behind him was a threat and that there was something not right with it before the wolf latched onto his throat, tearing the scream from it as blood filled its mouth. The wolf relished the kill for a mere moment and then a light footfall had it racing back across the yard and into the reserve behind. It ran fast, the moonlight snatching glances of it, as it darted in and out of the shadows of the trees.
A high pitched scream filled the night shortly after and as the scream turned to sobbing, an owl hooted and took flight.
The sound of light footsteps woke him and he kept still whilst trying to ascertain the source. His fingers slowly moved toward the gun beside the computer and as a particularly loud footfall sounded, the movement stopped and Dean used the opportunity to sit up straight and draw his gun on them. Buffy’s eyes widened almost comically as she stared at the gun in his hand and he quickly withdrew it, a small grunt the only apology.
“Sorry, I didn’t want to wake you.”
He glanced at the time on the computer and groaned. “What are you doing awake anyway?”
She shrugged. “I guess I’m not much of a sleeper.” She hesitated only momentarily. “What’re you doing?”
Dean cleared his throat uncomfortably and closed the lid. This was not the best way to let someone know what goes bump in the night. “I’ll explain it later.”
She seemed to accept that at face value and there was a short awkward silence. It wasn’t like he could ask her anything about herself and he couldn’t mention anything about his life without mentioning demons. She glanced around the room, chewing on her lip as she tried to avoid eye contact with him. He really wished Sam were awake now; he’d know how to break the awkwardness and, if nothing else, they’d be able to let her know the dangers, keep her away from them and move on.
Dean glanced back at the computer. There was something off about the whole set of articles, something that wasn’t sitting right with him and although the last thing he wanted to do was bring Buffy in on a case, or have her anywhere near one, there wasn’t a whole lot of options. Based on the articles, whatever was attacking only did so during a specified time period each year and if they left it alone, more people were likely to get hurt.
Sam entered the room and passed a glance quickly between the two of them before offering Buffy a smile.
“How’d you sleep?”
She smiled back. “Uh, good, I think.”
Sam nodded and walked over to the kitchen as he pulled a jumper on and got a drink of water. As soon as the glass was filled, Buffy took the opportunity to speak and sat on the lounge as she pulled her knees up to her chest.
“So, about last night...”
Dean took a deep breath as Sam walked over toward her and sat on the arm of the lounge. He offered a comforting smile but Dean thought she looked just as anxious as before. She obviously didn’t know what to think and was trying to make sense of it in her head.
“I know you’ve had a very intense day or so and with your memory loss and finding us, you’re probably just a little stressed. And the last thing we wanna do is add more stress.”
She frowned before shaking her head and raising a hand for him to stop. “Wait a minute. You’re not seriously gonna sit there and give me a whole ‘you imagined the whole thing’ speech are you? Because you know I’m not gonna buy that.”
To his credit, Sam actually blushed and Dean filed that information away for later use when it would be more beneficial. He had an embarrassed smile as he turned to Dean for help and Dean simply rolled his eyes. Obviously she was a little more cluey than he was giving her credit for. He leaned forward in his seat and tried to make sure his brain remembered that she was their sister. Whatever else she was, she was still a Winchester through and through; that wouldn’t change.
“What do you wanna know?”
Buffy crossed her legs as she sat sideways on the lounge. “Well, I wanna know what you guys do. I mean, you didn’t just happen to stumble across a vamp in the middle of the road - obviously you were hunting it. Is that what you guys do? Hunt down vamps?”
Dean’s mouth dropped open a little and he noticed Sam look over at him. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from his sister. Trust her to not question the appearance of a vampire and just go straight for the story behind it. The phrasing ‘vamp’ had him a little startled though. He’d only ever heard Vampire Hunters call them that and he stood and walked over to her, assessing whether or not it was possible that she was raised as a Vampire Hunter. She was a tiny slip of a thing and looked more like a cheerleader than a Hunter but there was no doubting the way she moved. She’d run a stake through the vampire with such force that he’d second guessed their testing methods.
“Um, not really. Not specifically anyway. What do you know about them?”
She didn’t seem at all concerned about his questioning and shrugged. “Nothing, at least, nothing I can remember. When Sam went down it was as though my body moved on its own. It just felt natural.”
He turned to Sam. “What do you reckon?”
Sam shrugged. “It’s possible. I mean, generally Hunters can blend in even if they do move around a lot. It’s possible they just stayed in one spot and kept their area clean. If she was brought up like that, she could still be able to do things she’d normally do without thinking about it. Like walking and talking.”
“And hunting.”
“It’s possible.”
“Uh, hello? ‘She’s’ still here and can hear everything you say. How ‘bout including me in the conversation?!”
Dean frowned. “Our life? It’s not a game! It’s not some novel that you can read and close at night. Night’s usually when we get started and if you’ve already been raised in a life like this then we have to make sure you get your memory back ASAP.”
She stood angrily. “I’m trying! I’ve been trying to remember something, anything, that would give me a clue! Even if I couldn’t remember my parents or my friends, I wanna at least know how I ended up in front of your door!”
They stood toe to toe but it was Sam rising from the lounge that drew their attention away from each other.
“They weren’t your parents!” He looked at Sam in shock. He was clenching and unclenching his fists as he tried to restrain his anger. “John and Mary Winchester were your parents; you were just taken away from them before they-”
Sam threw his hands up and walked into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him and Buffy looked after him guiltily.
“I’m really sorry; I didn’t think...”
“Don’t worry about it. Look we’re gonna take you down to Bobby’s. Maybe he knows something that we don’t or he can figure out a way to get your memories back. In the mean time, something has come up and it means we need to stick around here for a few days. But I need to figure out exactly what you know so I know how safe you’re gonna be.”
She nodded, her gaze going back to the bathroom door before looking at him. “What about Sam?”
“He’ll be fine. Just give him a few.”
He watched her eyes glaze over a little as he described the various parts of the gun in his hand. It was very different to Sam who had absorbed the knowledge he offered like a sponge and he decided to cut his losses. He’d explained it, far more than he needed to, but she was family and she needed to be able to protect herself if he wasn’t there. Offering her the gun, he watched as she frowned at it before raising her arm quickly and pulling the trigger. Pure excitement filtered over her face and she spun around in a circle saying, ‘I hit it’ over and over. He watched her hips move fluidly, the curve of her body as she spun, and swallowed harshly as he looked away from her.
She was his sister.
A part of him was absolutely sickened at the attraction he felt towards her, despite the counter claim that they hadn’t grown up together but it all disappeared when he looked at the target. He’d carved a circle into the bark on a wide tree and had hopes that by the end of the day she’d be able to hit inside the circle. That she’d hit the tree wasn’t really a surprise if she’d been raised by Hunters and taught to use a gun. The way she’d held and aimed it suggested that she’d been taught the basics but in the dead centre of the circle was the bullet hole. She was grinning up at him when he turned back to her and he raised both eyebrows.
“Not bad.”
Buffy rolled her eyes and shoved his shoulder. “Whatever! Your mouth nearly dropped completely open when you saw that, so I’m guessing that’s better than not bad!”
“Beginner’s luck.”
“Whatever you need to tell yourself.”
He motioned for her to repeat the action and her teeth ran over her bottom lip as she surveyed the space in front of her. They’d found a clearing about ten minutes from the motel that had obviously been used for shooting. Cans were set up on stumps and there were a few targets carved into trees just like his. A slow smile replaced her teeth and Dean looked away uncomfortably. With a quick motion, she raised, aimed and fired the gun and he turned back to her with a smug look as her tree remained untouched.
Only to see that she was grinning triumphantly.
“You missed.”
She began walking forward and threw back over her shoulder, “I missed my tree.”
He jogged quickly up to her, his eyes scanning the trees in front of them. Some distance behind the tree she’d been shooting at was the one he’d shot at as he explained how to use the gun. His two bullet holes were pretty much dead centre but about a hand span away from his was the newly made one by the blonde walking beside him. She grinned up at him when she noticed his surprise and stopped ten feet away while he went to check it out. Sure enough, it was there.
“Not bad at all.” he said, turning around to face her.
She rolled her eyes again and shook her head. Bouncing on the balls of her feet, she offered him the gun back. “What’s next?”
“Next we go see Sam. He’s checking out the info and he should have something by now.” As they headed back for the motel, he noticed her looking down at her feet. “What’s up?”
She sighed. “It’s just, I, I don’t really know who I am. Suddenly I have a family I don’t know, can’t remember, and I feel like I’m already on the outs with him. Is it...”
She stopped walking and looked up at the bright sky. He turned to look at her; she was uneasy, worried, and he wanted to hug her. He didn’t do chick flick moments but a sister tended to force that out of a person and he was wondering if it was something he had to get used to. She looked back at him.
“Is it bad that I don’t miss yo-, I mean, our parents?”
He closed his eyes and let out a deep breath before looking at her. She seemed to be hanging on his every movement, tracing the lines of his face to see if he was going to forgive her for something she thought she’d done wrong. He missed his parents; had grown up pretty much without them, but he missed them. Sam, though, was able to connect all of it together and miss a life he’d never had, miss the Sunday night dinners and baseball games; the sorts of things normal families did. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t wrap his mind around not being out there, hunting things down, protecting those who still had Sunday night dinners and baseball games.
She was looking up at him for answers and he gave her a small shrug. Her eyes became downcast and he took a step forward.
“You didn’t know them. We barely knew them. Maybe one day you’ll miss them, I don’t know, but it’s hard to miss something you never knew existed. I wouldn’t worry about Sam.”
She nodded slowly, unconvinced, and they walked silently back to the motel. ( PART TWO) ( PART THREE)