A/N: Anything you recognise from the Supernatural series is obviously not mine. I only own Avery and Aubrey Cooper and their story (and their parents, Noah and Olivia)
"Just listen to me for once in your life and we'll be in and out in time for dinner."
The youngest Cooper girl rolled her eyes at her sister, shaking her head as she unsheathed the machete from the loop on her belt. It was always this way, Avery laying out the plan step-by-step in an attempt to minimise the damage, while Aubrey completely ignored every word and charged in without a thought of the consequences. Yes, they always argued about it afterwards, yet the next hunt would be exactly the same. It was a vicious cycle that somehow seemed to work for them.
"I don't need the lecture every time Ava, I know what I'm doing." Avery narrowed her eyes, glowering at her sister in the way she did so often that the act had become second nature.
"Well considering the fact you nearly got us killed by that shifter a few weeks ago I'd say you do need the lecture." Their knives were held tight in their fists as they argued in hushed voices outside the derelict looking building their intel told them was the location of the nest.
"Nearly got us killed. Be more optimistic sis."
Despite the danger of their current situation, Avery smiled along with her sister, shaking her head with a pointed look before moving closer to the entrance to the building. In a way, Aubrey was right, while her recklessness always seemed to make a hunt go a little sideways, as of yet, it hadn't got them killed. While that might not seem a good enough reason to risk it for any sane person, the Cooper girls had long since passed sanity, and taking risks was a vital aspect of the job.
"Let's just get this crap over with, I'm starving." Avery groaned as she opened the door just enough for them to squeeze through, both girls making sure they stayed light on their feet as they moved through the winding corridors that circled the main warehouse.
Though they did their best to remain silent, their footsteps echoed quietly off the walls, no doubt alerting their targets to their presence. This fact, however, didn't hold them back as they ventured further into the building.
Their parents had set them up with this hunt, receiving intel a few days earlier about a number of people that had gone missing, only to turn up drained of their blood in a ditch somewhere a few days later. Obviously, everyone's minds had gone straight to vamps, and considering the fact Mr and Mrs Cooper were taking the weekend off for their anniversary, the hunt had been passed on to a less than keen Avery and possibly too keen Aubrey.
They'd spent the last three days hanging around the small town, impersonating federal agents, as they often did to get intel, and holding up in their hotel, eating, sleeping and researching. Their research mainly consisted of profiling, finding out what they could about the victims in an effort to uncover where the nest might be located. Researching vampires wasn't necessary. Being brought up learning about these things, the girls considered themselves something of experts on the topic. That and the hundreds of other monsters that were hell bent on terrorising the earth like it was their job.
It hadn't been too hard, to find the nest that is, after a less than careful vamp unintentionally led them right to the front door. After spending about an hour planning their attack, and stopping for lunch, the sisters had set off to the abandoned warehouse they knew housed the monsters they were hunting, keen to get the evening over with so they could finally head home.
"Okay, remember the plan?" Aubrey practically burned holes in the back of her sister's head with the ferocity of her glare.
"I swear on our holy Lord Jesus Christ if you ask me that one more time it'll be your head rolling tonight instead of the vamps." Avery whipped around to face her sister, eyes narrowed as her fingers tightened around her knife before relaxing.
"One day, you're gonna get me killed, and I'm gonna come back as a ghost and haunt your stupid ass." The smirk on Aubrey's face relayed how utterly unphased she was by this comment.
"Y'all know I'm well practiced in salting and burning bones... ain't no way you'll be hanging around in the afterlife Ava." She had a point. There wasn't a hunter out there who didn't follow the rules of a hunter's funeral. There was no scope for haunting after Ava's death. Her family would make sure she was long gone.
"Just please... do what we planned, and we can go home."
Bree held up her hands in defeat, a slither of light slipping through a boarded up window and glistening off the knife she clutched. They continued on through into the main warehouse space, watching their step as they avoided old chip packets and other noisy garbage, wary that any noise would alert the inhabitants of the sister's presence.
"Does it seem awfully quiet in here to you?" Avery closed her eyes with a despairing sigh, a small shake of her head in response to her sister's comment.
"You just had to say it didn't you." She muttered to herself, spinning her blade in her hand and sucking in a deep breath in preparation for what was to come.
"Ava!" The eldest sister ducked, simultaneously spinning on her toes and swiping out with her blade, the sharp hiss that followed telling her she had hit her target. Not that it would do a lot of good from down this low. Yes, a deep wound would slow the vamp down temporarily, but if you really wanted to take them out, you had to go for the head.
"Bree, on your right!" Avery called out to her sister, who luckily had already spotted the attacker, her knife moving swiftly and expertly through its target. The head hit the ground with a thud, and the pained screech of another member of the vamps nest confirmed the kill.
The one that had attacked Avery, who was now sporting a deep slice across his stomach was next to follow, joining his friend wherever vamps went when they died with the smooth slice of Avery's knife. She breathed out a satisfied sigh, though there wasn't time to stop and congratulate herself on the clean kill as four more vamps charged at the girls, fangs bared and eyes dark.
Now, if anyone knew Aubrey Cooper, it was her sister, and due to this, Avery clocked on to Bree's thought processes before she could even finish thinking about them.
"Bree, don't you do it!" Aubrey shot her sister a dazzling smile over her shoulder, confirming Ava's fears.
"Sorry sissy, I prefer to wing it." With this parting comment, the girl slipped under the arm of one of the approaching vamps, thankfully seeming to confuse it momentarily as she crossed to the other side of the warehouse heading straight for the room where the vamps had emerged from, leaving Avery to face off with the two she had left behind, the other two hot on Aubrey's heels.
"Aubrey Cooper you better hope those vamps kill you..." Avery paused, raising the knife in her hands and bringing it down and through the neck of a young brunette woman. Well, not so much woman, more monster. "...because if we survive this I am going to kill you myself!"
She made quick work of the second vamp, leaving their beheaded bodies on the dusty ground behind her and rushing after her sister. On entering the room, she spotted two more vamps who had been dealt with, and another three, who Aubrey was facing off against on her own.
"Hey assholes!" As planned, this grabbed their attention, giving Aubrey her chance to deal with the one closest to her.
"Dammit Bree, you're so busy showing off you don't stop to think about how your actions have consequences!" Her rant paused momentarily as she took out the large man who had set his sights on her, teeth bared. Aubrey merely rolled her eyes in response.
"Jesus Christ Avery, can't you just relax for once! Let's just finish this so we can go home. I'm starving!" With that final comment, Aubrey sliced the head clean off the last vamp, his body slumping to the floor in a heap as his head rolled, almost comically across the room and bumped into the leg of a chair.
Both girls took laboured breaths, their arms dropping to their sides, knives and clothes blood soaked and dirt covered. Avery scrunched her nose up in disgust as the toe of her boot bumped against the leg of one of the fallen vamps, and she kicked the limb away from her with a grimace. Aubrey meanwhile, was rolling out her shoulders, pausing to unstick the strands of hair that had stuck to her blood soaked cheek.
"Burgers or pizza?" Avery questioned as she used her already ruined shirt to wipe the blood from her blade before re-sheathing it in the loop that hung from her belt.
Aubrey seemed to ponder the question for a moment, tucking her knife away with a thoughtful expression.
"Burgers."
Despite the extremely unattractive decor, and interesting looking stains on the mattresses, the girls were thankful to be back in the warmth and safety of their motel. They had showered off the blood and grime from their skin, wrapping their bloodied clothes in plastic bags and storing them in the trunk of their car, ready to dispose of them properly once they got the chance.
They sat in relative silence, the only sounds around them being the quiet goings on of whatever crappy show was lighting up the small TV screen in the corner of the room, and the sister's calm breathing as they chewed on their burgers. Aubrey was focused on nothing other than her food, clearly relishing in the taste of the cheap greasy burger and fries despite the cheap greasiness. Avery however, while continuing to chew, peered over her burger at the girl sitting opposite her.
Yes, the younger sister had, once again, decided to take the hunt into her own hands and acted recklessly, but Avery couldn't find it in her to stay mad. This was always the case, it had been since their mom and dad sent the sisters out together on their first hunt alone, and it was sure yo continue this was for as long as they continued hunting. While she wished that for once, her sister would just act with a bit of caution, actually consider the risks she was taking, not just to herself but to Avery too, she knew she couldn't change her. And perhaps she didn't want to.
"Hey Bree, about earlier..." Aubrey finished her current bite, dropping the rest of her burger back into the crumpled paper and shoving a fry in her mouth instead. She waved her hands dismissively before taking a swig from the cold beer that dripped condensation onto the table in a damp ring.
"Don't sweat it Ava, we both know how swept up I get in a hunt, and you're right, it only takes one mistake for bot of us to end up dead. I'm sorry." Avery simply smiled with a short nod, reaching across the table and stealing one of Aubrey's curly fries in lieu of her own, boringly straight ones.
"Hey!" Aubrey slapped Ava's retreating hand with an incredulous look, "If you want curly fries, next time order curly fries."
Avery pouted, scrunching her nose up before shoving the single fry she had managed to steal into her mouth, hopping up from her seat at the table and disappearing into the bathroom before Aubrey could say anything more.
They spent the rest of the evening in contented silence, the TV still showing a re-run of some old sitcom neither sister had much interest in though still Aubrey followed long closely. Avery had made herself as comfortable as she could, propped up against the lumpy, almost flat pillows that their 45 dollars a night provided. She scanned aimlessly through her journal, scribbling in the odd note here and there that she thought would surely come in handy on future hunts, while Aubrey had begun humming along to a commercial jingle that they had heard a million times before and was surely burned into their brains by now.
"Oh hey!" Avery glanced up from her journal slowly, her expression remaining neutral bar the slightest raise of her eyebrow as her sister rolled ungracefully off the bed and began rummaging through her messy duffle bag.
"I completely forgot! You will not believe what I found the other day." She returned to the bed, crossing her legs under her as she fiddled with the small item she had dug out, "I threw it in my bag meaning to show you but it slipped my mind."
Avery cocked her head in curiosity as her sister held the item out toward her, dropping it in her waiting hand with a smile. A quiet hum escaped Ava's lips as she regarded the braided leather key ring that sat in her palm. It was aged and slightly tattered, the leather cracking and faded, and the coin that hung from the bottom of it was in a similar state of decay. Despite the fact it was stained and scratched, the symbol that was etched into the silver was as clear and visibly as it had been all those years ago, when Avery had first been given the key ring. The anti-possession symbol had be carved into the metal carefully and precisely, though Avery supposed it had to be precise, otherwise what was the point.
"Oh my god," Avery breathed a sigh before smiling at the tatty keepsake, "I forgot this even existed. Aw, Sammy." Aubrey snorted, dropping back into the cushions beside her sister with a sigh.
"That boy had one hell of a crush on you." Avery glanced from the key ring to her sister, a smirk to match the quirk of her brow.
"Oh yeah, I was aware." Aubrey laughed, tucking her pyjama clad leg under the duvet and rolling onto her side, prodding her sister in the side to get her attention.
"Why do you think nothing every happened with you two?" Avery shrugged dramatically, diving under the duvet and mirroring her sister, the key ring clutched to her chest.
"Fate was against us!" Aubrey merely shrugged in response, tucking her arm under the pillow and blowing a strand of hair out of her face.
"Eh, I always thought Dean was hotter anyway." Avery gawped, snorting a laugh as she slapped her sister's shoulder gently.
"Aubrey!"
"What?! Don't tell me you could resist that whole 'Devil-may-care' attitude and sly smirk." Avery rolled her eyes, shifting to lie on her back, still clutching the keyring into the palm of her hand protectively.
"Somehow, I managed to resist." Aubrey hummed, closing her eyes.
"Big mistake sis." Leaning over to the table behind her sister, Avery switched off the lamp, plunging the room into darkness.
"Dean Winchester is too old and too unstable for my little sister." The noise Aubrey made in response showed she clearly disagreed with this statement, but Avery ignored it. "Now shut up and go to sleep, we got a long drive in the morning."
"Alright, mom." Aubrey jested, and Avery once again ignored her.
"Goodnight, Bree."
"Night, Ava."
Avery had been right about the drive home, it had been a long one, and they'd ended up stopping at least five times along the way, either to stretch their legs, grab food, or use the bathroom. Much to Aubrey's distaste, Avery had insisted that, as she was driving and it was her car, she got to pick the music. Aubrey had never been into the same kind of 80's rock that Avery loved, and opted to stick her headphones in instead, drowning out her sister's purposefully exaggerated singing voice.
It was nearing late afternoon by the time they finally pulled into their driveway, and considering they had left before 6am that morning - at Avery's insistence and Aubrey's annoyance - it certainly had been a long drive. Both girls were glad to stretch their legs as they parked up the car and grabbed their things, making their way to the front door of the house with tired sighs.
"Mom? Dad?" Aubrey called out as they walked through the door. While they didn't specifically expect the sight that greeted them, it wasn't a surprising one. Olivia Cooper, the matriarch of the family turned her head to glance over her shoulder, a wide smile on her lips as her hands gripped tight around the metal legs of the ladder that currently supported the weight of her husband, Noah.
"My babies!" The woman exclaimed, shooting a quick apology to her husband as she released the ladder and it wobbled slightly, quickly reclaiming her grip. "How did the hunt go?"
"Well, we're still kicking." Avery dropped her bag to the floor with a soft thud, leaning her shoulder against the door frame with a smirk.
"No peace and quiet for us yet then sweetheart." Noah called over his shoulder, the majority of his focus still on the shelf he was currently attaching to the wall.
"That's no way to talk about your pride and joy daddy!" Aubrey gawped dramatically, flopping onto the sofa and folding her arms over her chest. Avery merely sighed, reclaiming her bag and turning towards the stairs.
"God it's like living in a soap opera, I'm gonna take a bath." She paused at the bottom of the stairs, glancing back over her shoulder with narrowed eyes. "Do. Not. Disturb."
"Noted kiddo." Noah replied with a laugh.
Avery retreated to the bathroom quickly, peeling off her clothes and throwing them to the floor as she watched the bathtub slowly fill, a blanket of steam hovering over the top of the water and lavender scented bubbles she'd put far to many of int the tub.
Thanks to the length of their drive home, the sun had already set, and Avery had drawn the blinds over the bathroom window, fishing a lighter out of the vanity an lighting a few candles which she scattered around the room before flicking the light switch off. Before climbing into the hot water, she clicked the on button, bringing the little radio on the windowsill to life, filling the room with quiet music.
She let herself sink into the water, humming in pleasure as the heat soothed her aching muscles, which had suffered both from the hunt and the drive home. It was moments like this that she lived for, and she couldn't help but feel good about the life she had been given. Yes, it was dangerous, and it was often painful, watching people you loved get hurt, die… but she wouldn't change it. She loved what she did, and she was damn good at it. No it wasn't the ideal, apple pie kind of life that she had longed for when she was a young girl, but it hadn't taken her long to realise that, knowing what she knew, that would never be an option. There was no getting out of this life, no matter how much you wanted it. Once you were in, you were in, and the hunter life would always catch up to you eventually.
She soaked for longer than was necessary, until her fingers and toes were resembling prunes, the water had become lukewarm, and a couple of the candles had burnt out. It was at this point she decided it was probably time to get out, drying herself off slowly and slipping into short and a t-shirt, hopping into her slippers and making her way back downstairs to find her family.
She paused at the doorway to the lounge, noting that Aubrey was flicking through tv channels aimlessly while their parents chattered quietly between themselves. Ava narrowed her eyes, taking a few steps into the room and clearing her throat in the direction of her parents.
"What's the big secret?" Their conversation ceased as they looked her way, glancing back towards each other with worried looks. Ava's arms dropped to her sides as she crossed the room to meet them.
"Well I was kidding but now I'm worried… spill." Noah remained silent while Olivia hummed in thought before responding.
"Uh, we had an unexpected visitor today." Aubrey cut in before Ava could ask the obvious.
"What kind of unexpected visitor…?" Ava glanced over at her sister before turning back to her parents with an expectant look. An unexpected visitor was always a worry, and judging by the concern in her parents eyes, this was an especially worrying visit.
"Dean Winchester." Aubrey perked up, sitting up suddenly straight in a motion that resembled a meerkat, her eyes peering over the back of the sofa with intense interest.
"The hottest Winchester brother, do continue." Ava rolled her eyes at her sister, and Noah narrowed his slightly, to which the youngest Cooper girl held her hands up in silent surrender.
"Shut up, Bree. What was Dean Winchester doing here? I thought they Winchester gang was busy on their suicide revenge mission." She dropped into the dining table chair, resting her elbows against the wooden surface. It was their father who responded this time.
"He was asking if we'd seen or heard from John. Apparently he went out on a hunt a while ago and Dean hasn't heard anything since." Aubrey frowned and Ava nodded. Curious yes, but nothing new. John loved to disappear for days on end, off hunting and killing something. He was happy to do it when Sam and Dean were kids so it wouldn't make sense for him to be worried about his sons now they were adults. Speaking of the youngest Winchester…
"Was Sam here too? Avery asked, attempting to sound nonchalant.
"Ooh, Sammy Winchester, watch out, Avery's on the prowl." Bree mimicked claws with her fingers, sounding out a little growl with a wink at her sister. Avery didn't even look at her sister as she responded.
"I swear that I will not hesitate to shoot you."
"Avery." Olivia frowned, slapping her daughter gently on the shoulder and attempting to hide her amusement.
"You know what people say defensiveness indicates…" Avery sent her sister a short warning glare before their father cut in, in an attempt to get the conversation back on track.
"No it was just Dean. Seemed pretty put out when your mom mentioned Sammy actually." Avery found herself curious about this. It didn't seem like a normal response from Dean, she knew he'd been pissed when Sammy left them to go to college, but she didn't realise the hostility had continued.
"Well, I'm sure John will rock up, a few bottles of whiskey deep and covered in blood eventually. That's what he normally does." Avery commented with a roll of her eyes, hopping up and meandering over to the lounge and flopping over the back the couch, crushing her sister in the process.
"Oh, daddy? Can I borrow the truck for a few days?" Avery added, peering over the back of the sofa and swatting at her sister who was attempting to shove her onto the floor.
"Sure thing squirt." He responded nonchalantly.
"Another hunt, already?" Olivia seemed markedly more concerned than her husband, but her worried were sated when Avery shook her head.
"Nah, I thought I might drop in on Bobby." She confirmed, and her mother's expression softened. "Lord knows that man needs a woman's influence every once in a while."
Olivia smiled, "I'm sure he would love that honey."
"Ooh, can I tag along? Haven't seen uncle bobby in so long." Aubrey asked, finally ceasing in her tirade against Avery. She received a silent nod in response, and happily sunk back into the cushions, draping her legs over her sisters comfortably.
They fell into silence after that, Olivia and Noah joining their daughters in the lounge and settling in to watch some crappy TV drama that Avery had absolutely no interest in, yet she sat with them anyway. While they watched, she twisted the soft leather of the keyring between her fingers, which she had been carrying with her since Aubrey had giving it to her last night. She couldn't help think over Dean's reasons for his surprise visit, and wonder why Sam wasn't with him anymore. Maybe Sam was just off doing something else, and they were going to meet up after. But that didn't make much sense, Sam would never had turned down an opportunity to visit. Their house was a home to him, the home he hadn't had elsewhere, he definitely would have come.
She shook these thoughts eventually, vowing to find out at some point. Bobby would probably know. Meanwhile, she focused her thoughts on the little keyring that she was fiddling with, flipping it over to reveal the scratched letters on the back side of the coin. S + A.
*Flashback*
It was a warm day, meaning eight year old Sam and Avery had opted to spent their time inside, rather that out in the heat of the sunshine, huddled under the white sheets that had been draped over the space between the beds in the spare bedroom, the bedroom which the Winchester brothers were currently inhabiting. They'd been staying in the Cooper house for a couple of days now, while John Winchester was busy out on a hunt. It was at Olivia Cooper's insistence that Dean had also stayed behind, no matter how much he wanted to go along on the hunt with his father, which was obvious from his protests about how he was twelve years old and was plenty grown up enough to go on a hunt. Olivia hadn't agreed.
Avery and Sam were lounging back against the cushions they had laid out on the floor inside their den, telling each other stories of werewolves and vampires, giggling at the way they attempted to imitate the monsters.
"I uh…" Sam paused, digging through his pockets with a thoughtful look. "I made you something."
Avery quirked her head, watching the boy fiddle with the item for a moment before handing it over awkwardly. She took the item, meeting his eye with a brief but curious look before inspecting the thing in her palm.
"It's a- uh- anti possession symbol." He pointed to the coin that hung from the braided leather. "I found a drawing in my dad's journal."
Avery glanced up at the boy through her lashes. "Will it protect me?"
He smiled. "As long as you keep it with you." Avery hummed with a smile, before her lips twisted into a frown.
"It's missing something…" She reached out of the den, her fingers finding the rucksack at the foot of the bed and pulling out a small pocket knife. It had actually been, sort of, a gift from Dean. It was 'sort of' a gift due to the way Dean had thrust it towards 6 year old Avery, grumbling about how she was old enough now that she should know how to not die. Understandably, she had been somewhat frightened by this, and he had quickly backtracked, reassuring her that she didn't need to worry because she had loads of people keeping her safe. Dean wasn't known for his bedside manner.
She flipped the coin over, her bottom lip pressed between her teeth as she carefully used the tip of the knife to carve into the metal. It wasn't neat, but it was easy to make out the 'S + A' that now adorned the back side of the coin.
The friends met each other's eye with small smiles."
"Now all the monsters know that we're best friends, and we've always got each other's backs."