Disclaimer: We all know they belong to Stephanie.
Summary: Rachel Black came back to La Push to visit her neglected father and brother, but ended up drawn into a world she never expected.
A/N: This is planned out as a six parter.
Homecoming
I'd half hoped that Jake would pick me up at the airport. I hadn't seen my smart ass little brother in person since he was 14, but he had always been a little rev head, and by now he had his license. He would have enjoyed the drive, I thought. At least the Jake I'd known would have.
So, it was with a strong sense of disappointment that I spotted Sue Clearwater by the baggage collection - disappointment and shock as I took in her appearance. I'd swept my eyes over the spot she'd been standing several times and not even recognised her. To say that Sue looked different was putting it mildly. Her long glossy hair had been cropped severely short and was flecked with a large amount of grey. Her body, while still tall and somewhat imposing, now looked rather thin and her face was far more lined than I remembered. There was something about the turn of her mouth that was different; a permanent sign of grief, I thought. So this was what loosing your husband did to you.
Tears pricked my eyes as I thought of Harry Clearwater. The man had been an institution over at our place throughout my childhood, cheerfully wandering his way through life, a perfect counterpoint to his no nonsense wife. He'd kept her light while she'd kept him organised. Looking at Sue now, I had the impression she'd been living in the shadows for some time.
I shook my head to clear it, and waved brightly. "Sue!" I called over the general airport throng. She didn't hear, but the very large, lanky native American man who'd been standing off to her left snapped his attention over to me and tapped her on the shoulder, pointing me out before loping quickly over to me with a huge toothy grin on his face.
"Rach!" he exclaimed, pulling me into a huge and very inappropriate bear hug considering I had no clue who he was. A bit surprised, I allowed it without objection. Then the stranger pulled back and casually grabbed my hand luggage, slinging my large canvass bag over his shoulder. "We found your bags already," he said, pulling me back toward Sue who was watching us with a slightly amused smile. "I spotted the labels. Did you just have the three?" he asked
"Er, yeah," I said, abruptly realising with an odd sense of loss that this "man" was actually Seth Clearwater who, like his mother, had apparently cropped his hair. He'd also shot up about three feet and had a voice two octaves lower than the bright eyed kid I remembered following Jake around the Rez. Had it really been that long?
My apprehension about returning home - the apprehension I thought I'd gotten under control while watching tranquil, fluffy clouds float by to the tunes of Norah Jones on the plane - returned full force as I wondered what changes I would see in Dad and Jake. It had been three years, and though I'd kept up fairly regular contact, I had routinely turned down invitations to return home, choosing to work the semester breaks and throw myself into study. It was just too hard to go back there, especially without Becky to act as my partner in crime, defending me from the plight of an adolescent brother and helping me take care of our wheelchair bound father. I hadn't actually seen either of them in person since I'd been dropped at this very same airport three years ago.
Not for the first time, I felt very guilty for leaving little Jake alone in that house with Dad. I'd got out of there as soon as I could once my acceptance letter came through, not even thinking about the consequences of leaving a fourteen year old to act as carer for a middle aged man in a chair, but Jake and Billy always got along so well, and had been so supportive of me that it hadn't seemed like such a selfish move at the time. After receiving the news that by brother had run away from home to "find himself" I'd been forced to look back on my decisions a little more critically.
"Did you have a good flight?" Seth was asking happily, apparently oblivious to my personal crisis.
"Yeah," I said wistfully, "It was … an oasis." Seth shot me an odd look. "But it's good to be home," I lied, trying to match his cheerful demeanour – so much like Harry's.
"Yeah, I bet," he said. "Away from all that boring study, back to the beach!"
Despite myself, I laughed. "It will be good to see the beach," I conceded as we reached Sue.
"Hi Rachel," she said, grasping my shoulder firmly for a moment by way of greeting as Seth began to load up with my heavy suitcases. I took a moment to be impressed by his strength. I'd been about to ask them if they'd seen where the trolleys were, but it looked like Seth had it under control.
"The car's this way," said Sue, and I thought I caught a brief smirk on her face before she briskly lead the way.
"Home sweet home," I murmured as we pulled up at the house. It had a new paintjob, but other than that was the same as ever: small, weatherboard. I noted the police car parked outside. "They wouldn't have gone fishing would they?" I asked, suddenly fearing that I'd been gone so long that my homecoming would mean little to my Dad. It was bad enough that Jake wasn't here. "I mean Dad knew I was coming home."
"Of course they're not fishing," said Sue kindly. "Charlie's been over here every few days. He's just worried about Jake, trying to put together a search party."
"Search party?" I asked, alarmed. "Dad made it sound like Jake just needed to get away. He's not like an official missing persons case, right?"
"He'll come home, eventually," Seth piped up from the backseat. "I think Charlie's feeling a bit guilty though."
"Guilty?" I asked. "Why? 'Cause he's law enforcement, or …" but that didn't make any sense.
"Nah," said Seth. "It's just, he really kind of pushed Jake and Bella together, when Bella was seeing someone else, and now she's marrying Edward, and Jake ... well, you know."
"Bella?" I asked, mystified. "You mean Isabella? Charlie's daughter who used to play with us on the beach in the Summer?"
I twisted round in my seat to see Seth's response and found him staring at me with an open mouth. "You have been gone a while," he said, and with that he hopped out of the car, stretching his long legs out (they'd been bent up in the car, even though I'd pushed my seat the whole way forward to accommodate him) and popping the trunk to, once again, lug my stuff. I reflected that it would be handy to have someone around with that kind of muscle power, and felt a light moment of envy toward Sue.
Shaking my head, I made my way to the porch and braced myself, making a fist and releasing it before pushing the fly screen aside and stepping in, freezing as I heard the angry voice of Chief Swan.
"How can you not take this seriously?!" he was raging. "He's been gone two weeks! Two. Weeks. The majority of missing persons cases don't end well if the person is gone more than forty-eight hours!!" I wandered carefully into the tiny lounge to see Charlie glowering over Dad, waving what looked like missing person flyers around to emphasise his point.
"Jake can take care of himself," said Dad with calm authority. He was accustomed to Charlie's rages, and appeared unrattled.
"He's a seventeen year old boy!" Charlie countered. "And he needs us to look out for him! And if you won't, then damnit, I …" he trailed off as he noticed me. "Rachel," he said, regret written accross his face. Obviously he hadn't intended me to hear his ranting. "Ah, I uh …"
As Charlie stuttered uncomfortably, Dad wheeled round to face me, a look of mingled happiness and relief on his broad face. I felt relief also, seeing that he was basically unchanged.
"Sue," said Charlie, nodding respectfully to the person standing behind me.
"Charlie," she said. She glanced between myself and my father. "Why don't we help you put those up around town Charlie, and let these two catch up," she said, as Seth came in with the suitcases. He raised his eyebrows at his mother's words and I had the distinct impression that Charlie was being managed.
"Sure," said Charlie. "I'd appreciate the help." He gave Dad one last glare and nodded to me before following Sue outside. Seth gave me a reassuring smile before joining them. My eyes followed him for moment. He really was huge, and I'd just remembered that he was actually a couple of years younger than Jake. Fifteen. He looked more like the guys at college than a high school kid. The big college guys. The ones with basketball scholarships.
"He grew up," I said to Dad.
"Well he's got good genes!" said Dad. I laughed. We were distantly related to the Clearwaters.
"Does that mean Jake's approximately the same size?" I asked, half seriously.
"Bigger," said Dad with a cheeky grin.
I laughed again, but sobered quickly. "Seriously," I said, "you think Jake's okay?" Charlie's words had worried me.
He mulled it over for a moment. "I think he's safe," he said sadly, the implication being that safe did not mean happy. "He'll come home if and when he's ready."
"And it's about a girl?" I asked, slightly horrified with myself for feeling relieved at this. I could let go of my guilt if this was just about this Bella girl getting married.
Dad nodded.
"Kind of young to be lusting after a married woman isn't he?" I asked, trying to make light.
"She's young to get married," he sighed, repeating the words he'd spoken upon receiving Rebecca's announcement three years ago. "And Jacob's grown up fast."
I glanced up sharply, wondering if this might be a dig at me. All I saw on my father's face though was gratitude. "It's good to see you Rach," he said. He gestured to the hall. "Sue set your old room up for you."
"Our old room?"
"Yeah, there's just one bed in there now so you've got more space."
I nodded, grateful for the thought, but a little sad to think that the twin singles from our childhood had been removed. This was no longer my house. I was a guest here. I felt a sudden need to do something childish; something that would restake my claim as a member of this household. I gave him an appraising look.
"Okay," I said thoughtfully. "Out of your chair, I need it to wheel my bags in."
Dad just laughed. "And what is wrong with you that you can't carry luggage ten feet down the hall?"
"Packhorse Clearwater left and I simply can't manage on my own. Out!"
"This chair is not a trolley," he said, eyes twinkling, "but if you think you can get me out of it, you can try!" His hands were at the ready on the wheels as he prepared to dodge me.
Game on, old man, I thought, finally a little glad to be back.
"I thought we were to avoid the vampires at all costs," I said with a laugh, fixing Dad's tie. I'd fallen back into my old role of looking out for him, much, I sensed, to Sue Clearwater's relief. I was glad of that. At least I could take the pressure off the grieving widow.
He winced. "Yeah, well, Charlie's already angry enough. Don't wanna stir up the bear by missing the big event."
I frowned. "You really considered not going, didn't you," I realised. "Because of the old stories? Or because of Jake?"
He gave me pensive look. "I'm going, aren't I?" he eventually said, in an overly petulant way. I laughed again, aware he was trying to distract me from the fact that he took the old tribal legends just a little too seriously. I knew he wasn't so petty as to miss the wedding because Jake had been jilted.
The way the tribe viewed the Cullens was rather bizarre in my opinion. I still had no idea how the modern, wealthy family of adopted kids had been so completely integrated into the old legends, but like many of the gen Y members of the community I found the entire thing pretty ridiculous.
I'd realised during a conversation with Seth that he was actually friends with the soon to be newlyweds and had had to do some real convincing in order to be allowed to attend the wedding. Sue was going with him, and they were coming by in a few to give Dad a ride to the Cullen's mansion, something Seth was very excited to be seeing for the first time.
"Check the basement for coffins," I'd joked.
"Oh vampires don't sleep," he'd replied confidentially.
There was a knock at the door.
"Hey!" Seth greeted me enthusiastically when I answered. "Check it out!" he gestured at his suit, which admittedly made him look pretty dashing.
"Wow," I said. "Careful you don't catch the attention of those vampire women in that. You might end up being a meal!"
Seth snorted, but I noticed Leah giving him a death glare as she pushed past him into the house. "Popcorn and DVDs!" she announced, brandishing a plastic bag at me and heading for the kitchen. "Girl's night."
"Oh!" I said, surprised but grateful. "Sounds great." I'd assumed I'd be spending this one alone, but a night catching up with Leah might actually be fun. I'd seen her a few times since my homecoming but we'd yet to really talk like we used to. Like the rest of her family she'd cropped her hair short since the last time I'd been on the Rez, and I'd noticed that this seemed to make her appearance more athletic somehow. Like her hair had been hiding defined muscles, the sight of which made me regret spending a lot of the last three years at a desk rather than running on the beach like I had in high school. I was looking forward to getting some fitness tips from her.
"Is Billy here?" asked Seth.
"Right here," said Dad, appearing by my side.
"I have some news for you guys," said Seth, suddenly busting with excitement. "I got a call from Jake! He's coming back for the wedding."
"Jake called you?!" I cried. "Why didn't he just call the house? Or my cell?"
"Not sure," said Seth. "But he will be there." The last was spoken directly to Dad, whose intense look of relief and broad smile made me reach out and hug Seth.
"Thanks for letting us know," I said.
"No problem," said Seth easily as I let him go. "But we're running a bit late so we should go.
"Don't want to miss Bella tripping down the isle," Leah called acidly from the sofa. I glanced over to see the FBI warning displayed on the TV.
Seth rolled his eyes. "C'mon Billy," he said, whipping round to wheel Dad down the ramp on the porch and out to where Sue was waiting in their car.
"Don't wait up!" Dad yelled out cheekily as I closed the door on them.
We were halfway through Terminator 2 when the front door came crashing open. I leant over the back of the sofa to see who was here.
"Get off my back, I'm fine!" said an angry and unfamiliar male voice, clearly not somebody who was fine.
"Just sit down man," said the more familiar voice of Sam Uley. "Take a minute."
I stared as Sam, a few years older than I remembered him, hugely muscled and distinctly shirtless on what had to be the coldest night this year, directed an equally muscled and shirtless man with raggedly chopped hair and ripped up jeans shorts to the sofa next to me.
"Sam?" I asked, uncertain of what the hell was going on, but rising up to turn the DVD player to mute as I spoke. "What's …" then I caught a look at the ragged man's angry face. "Jacob?!" I cried incredulously. My brother was a mess! An angry, dirty mess! But more than that, he had about tripled in size! If the transformation Seth Clearwater had been through was surprising this was just … He was barely seventeen! Was he on steroids?
I could see him making a concerted effort to calm down as he seemed to register that I was there. "Hey Rach," he said, sounding rather defeated. "Heard you were back."
I stared at him. "Heard you were back?!" I asked incredulously. "You run away from home, come back looking like you've been living in a ditch for a month, and all you can say is "Heard you were back?!"
He didn't seem to hear me. "Can you guys get out?" he said rudely, presumably to Sam and Leah.
"Gladly," said Leah moving toward the door, her DVDs forgotten, "Just tell me you at least knocked some of the rich people antique furniture around when you crashed the wedding, because -"
"Just go, Leah," Sam interrupted.
She smirked at him and was gone.
"I'm coming back to check on you later," Sam promised Jake. Jake grunted. Sam gave me an apologetic look. "Good to see you Rach."
"Yeah," I said. "You too." He nodded, and with one last worried glance at Jake, disappeared into the night.
"So?" I demanded of Jake. He owed us an explanation.
He gave me look that chilled me to the bone; grief, rage and emptiness roiling in his eyes, and I quickly decided that the explanation could wait. He tured away without comment and reached for the remote to turn the volume back up as far as it would go, just as the big action sequence was starting. Bullets flying, cars exploding.
I sighed and sat by him on the sofa, reaching out to place my hand in his. He accepted the small comfort, his eyes never leaving the TV, his huge tendony hand gripping mine with slightly too much force.
Well, at least we were both home.
