(9/12/2016) Well, Opus Insert is done and it's time to get moving on this monstrosity.
Thanks to Princesakarlita411, RHatch89, and Jennee77 (hi there! I remember you:D) for the reviews! And thanks to all you early followers!
In a manner greatly antithetical to its driver's normal, bombastic method of arrival, the Impala slowly and quietly pulled up to the house on Revello Drive. "Dude," whispered Sam, "what's with the creep?"
Dean didn't respond; his attention was focused on the dim light from the second floor. "You see that?"
Sam leaned over and tried to determine what was so fascinating about the curtained window. He immediately ascertained that it was the second, more robust figure that held his brother's attention, particularly since it was so precariously close to the short shadow that had to be their half-sister. When the pair morphed together, it became apparent what they were up to. "You think Joyce knows?" Sam wondered.
"Doubt it. Didn't know Buff' had it in her. I'm trying to decide whether to be proud or pissed she snuck a boy into her room."
Sam's own disapproval immediately became alarm when their sister let out a piercing scream. The unknown boy shot out of the window and jumped recklessly from the roof to the ground. He landed lightly on his feet and took off. Dean, who had leapt from the car at Buffy's shriek, gave chase, swearing obscenities and imprecations at the mystery man.
The younger brother ran for the door, bursting inside and taking the stairs three at a time. He skidded to a stop at the doorway to Buffy's room and demanded, "What happened? Are you okay?"
"Sam?" exclaimed Buffy, dumbfounded by his sudden appearance.
A hand was laid on his arm. Instinctively, the young man prepped an attack and swiveled around. "It's good to see you, Sam," said Joyce, "but could one of you tell me what in the world that was all about?"
"Shadow," her daughter answered. "I just saw a shadow." She cast a meaningful glare at her brother.
Sam relaxed his fists and gave his erstwhile pseudo-stepmother his most innocent smile. "You know her. Probably freaked out over a spider."
Joyce shook her head at her daughter's jumpiness before peering suspiciously up at the young man. "Shouldn't you be at school?" she asked.
"Uh, yeah. About that." His heart plummeting, Sam briefly explained his decision to depart from Stanford, conveying to the woman that his fiancée had died unexpectedly and he needed a break. He left out several pertinent details, but the gist of the tragedy was laid bare.
The young man's agony was obviously sincere and Joyce readily accepted the explanation. "I'm so sorry," she commiserated while Buffy nodded sympathetically.
"Thanks," Sam choked out. Then he remembered why they'd bothered to drive down to Southern California in the first place. "Hey, either of you hear from dad?"
"Not me," replied Joyce. "Buffy?"
"Nope. What's going on?"
"We haven't heard from him in a couple of weeks," Dean clarified as he crested the stairs and came down the hallway. "And 'hi,'" he greeted, giving his best smirk and stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Long time no see."
"Oh goodness, come here," Joyce gushed as she affectionately gave first Sam, and then Dean, lingering hugs. "You missed Buffy's birthday last year!" she scolded the elder brother.
"Yeah, sorry about that. Dad had work he couldn't get out of."
"We've been seeing Sam nearly every month anyways. You want to take the spare room again?"
"Uh, well," stuttered Sam, "we weren't going to—"
"Yeah, sure!" Dean interjected. "C'mon, Sammy. I'll even let you take the bed."
"It's Sam."
"Okay, Samantha."
As the two departed to grab their satchels from the Impala, Joyce sighed. "Whatever you do," she warned her daughter, "don't let Dean drag you into any trouble while he's here, okay?"
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Mom, we're not little kids anymore."
"Exactly. That means that the kind of trouble your older brother can get you in now might have bigger consequences than just getting grounded."
"What happened?" asked Sam as he pulled his backpack from the trunk.
"Dude runs really freaking fast," Dean grumbled. "He got around the block and I lost him."
Buffy bounced out of the house as they were walking back to the porch. "Hey, thanks for, you know, not blabbing to mom."
"Blabbing to Joyce about what?" Dean asked innocently. "You mean about the boy in your room?"
The youngest sibling glared. "Stop being a butt."
"Wha—who—what kinda—"
"Leave her alone," Sam sighed.
"Dude, she called me a butt! Who gets called a butt?"
"People who look and smell like one," retorted Buffy.
Sam grabbed Dean by the back of his jacket before their elder brother could retaliate. He rolled his eyes at the tongue Buffy now had jabbing in their direction. "Can we go in and get some sleep now?" Sam asked, doing his best not to whine his siblings' antics.
Amiably, the trio headed for the front door. "When did dad give you his car?" Buffy wondered.
"While ago," Dean answered blithely.
"Can you drive me to school tomorrow?"
"Sure. Lazy-ass."
"Butthead."
"Again with the butt! Midget."
"Hey! I grew!"
"Yeah, outwards."
"Oh, it is so on."
"Those are your brothers?" gaped Xander Harris. Buffy's tall, lanky friend was thankful that his crush was related to the handsome duo that stepped out of the black muscle car. There was little doubt he'd have even the ghost of a chance at the lovely blonde otherwise.
"Wow," drawled Willow Rosenberg as she also admired the sight. Xander and Buffy both lifted their eyebrows at her starry-eyed stare. In her bright clothes and flowered skirt, Buffy's first real Sunnydale acquaintance often appeared younger than her years. At times her teenaged friends sometimes forgot that she had the same hormonal urges as the rest of them.
"Can you two put your jaws back up?" Buffy said. "And what are you two doing here?" she demanded of her siblings.
"What?" said Dean. "School's out. Not like we're going to interrupt a class."
"I swear we're not here to spy," Sam replied defensively.
"Not unless that dickwad from last night is around," the eldest brother added menacingly. He scanned the milling teenagers under the assumption that Buffy's evening visitor was a fellow student. His sister smacked him on the arm. "Hey!"
"He's not and you still haven't answered my question!"
"Well, well, well," purred Cordelia Chase as she approached. "Who are they?" The antagonistic, popular, and wealthy head cheerleader was thankfully alone; her usual squad of similarly haughty hanger-ons were apparently off torturing some other hapless loser.
"Oh, sorry," Buffy apologized. "Sam, Dean, this is Willow and Xander. And that," she added caustically, "is Cordelia."
Sam shook Xander's hand in greeting and exchanged a wave with Willow (who was too dumbstruck to do much else) while Dean eyed the newcomer. Cordelia smiled coyly at him and told Buffy, "Just because you brought them doesn't mean you get to keep them."
"Well, I kinda do. I get to take them home and everything." When the other girl gave her a withering stare, Buffy condescendingly added, "They're my brothers."
"There's no way that the three of you share DNA," scoffed Cordelia. "They're much too good looking."
"Thank you," Dean beamed.
Abruptly, Xander gave an obnoxious cough with the word, "Jailbait!" thrown into the noise.
As Sam cleared his throat to hide a snigger, the eldest brother's face fell upon the realization that he was talking to one of his teenaged sister's peers. Dean smacked himself in the forehead and turned away, cursing under his breath. Seeing that her charms were being wasted, Cordelia shot Buffy and her friends scowls and marched away.
When her brothers also made to leave, Buffy cried, "Hey! Question? Mine? Answer?"
Sam thumbed towards the school. "Friend of dad's is the librarian. Guy named Rupert Giles? We thought we might check if he had any info."
"You know anything about him?" asked Dean.
"Uh, nope!" answered their sister. "He's much too much of a fuddy-duddy for little old me to be hanging with."
"Library that way?" wondered Sam as he pointed. Willow helpfully gestured in the right direction with a nervous grin and the brothers waved and walked away.
Willow watched their departure with a goofy smile plastered on her face. She gave a throaty chuckle. "Tall," she murmured.
Buffy let out a great heaving sigh. "Ugh, I hope they're not staying long."
"Why not?" asked Xander. He affected a deep, machismo tone. "Big mans protect little Buffy."
"Buffy doesn't need big mans, remember? Vampire Slayer?"
Willow shook herself out of her stupor. "They don't know, do they?" she surmised. "That's why the secret not-knowing-Giles thing?"
"Nope, and they're not gonna. Last thing I need is more freak out. Already had enough, thanks."
"Yeah. Don't think anyone reacts very good to finding out a vampire was in their sister's bedroom."
"Buffy, good! I—" The librarian cut off quickly as he turned; the two men sauntering into the library were quite obviously not the young student he'd been expecting. "Can I help you?" he asked in a sophisticated English accent.
"Maybe," Dean replied. "You Rupert Giles? We're John Winchester's sons. I'm Dean, this is Sam."
"Ah, yes!" The nervous demeanor vanished at their father's name and was quickly replaced with a combination of professional stoicism and affability. "What can I do for you?"
"Have you heard from dad?" asked Sam. "We haven't gotten word from him in a couple of weeks now."
"Not since last Tuesday, no."
Dean's brow lifted in astonishment. "Wait, what? Last Tuesday?"
"I'm assuming the two of you are, well, part of the business?" When they nodded, Giles adjusted his glasses and leaned slightly on the library's checkout desk. "I had a bit of information on that thing he's been obsessed with. John insisted on seeing the sources himself then he was off. I'm very sorry, but he didn't say anything about where he was going."
"Great," groused the elder brother. "Another freaking dead end."
Sam sighed, before pragmatically asking, "I don't suppose you've got word of any jobs we could handle while we're here?"
"Uh, no, not especially. It's… It's a rather quiet, uneventful town."
"All right, thanks Mr. Giles." Sam reached out to shake the librarian's hand.
"Please, Rupert is perfectly fine."
Dean also shook the man's hand before the pair exited the library. When they had gone down the hall and around the corner, Sam stopped. "Hey," he said quietly. "He thought we were Buffy."
"Yeah," Dean acknowledged as he faced his brother. "Midget lied."
"Not like we don't have a few secrets, Dean."
"Yeah, well, dad said not to get Joyce or Buffy involved in hunting. Family business stays with the Winchesters. Don't gotta drag the Summers into this shit."
Sam sighed as they continued their journey back to the Impala. "Wouldn't think Buffy would be much into hunting anyways. She's better off worrying about grades and boys than killing monsters."
The brothers took the next several hours to explore Sunnydale. Joyce and Buffy had moved to the quaint little college town after the girl's minor stint in a psychiatric hospital (Sam still fumed whenever he remembered how obstinate the staff had been about releasing his sister) and neither of the boys had ever really seen what the town had to offer. The younger brother's weekend forays from Stanford had mainly consisted of spending time with his sister and her mother, particularly since he was still not on speaking terms with his father.
Downtown ended up being delightful for the both of them but for vastly different reasons. Sam fondly thought the place resembled a small version of downtown Palo Alto, the city where Stanford was located, with its kitschy boutiques and cafes. Dean was enthralled by the plethora of very attractive coeds with whom he exchanged unabashedly lustful glances.
They were busy perusing the local paper hoping to find an occurrence strange enough to constitute a hunt when Buffy called and asked them to pick her up from school. She'd apparently been studying with Willow and had lost track of the time. Since it was almost dark (and both brothers were inclined to be overprotective) they headed over without complaint.
"So you ready to tell us what was up with last night?" Dean asked as he pulled away from the school curb.
"Nope!"
Sam turned towards her, concern wrinkling his forehead. "He didn't… I mean, well, he wasn't…" He wasn't sure how to bring up the possibility that his sister had been threatened with assault.
Buffy snorted. "No. It wasn't like that."
"Then what was it? The guy jumped out of your window like the room was on fire."
"It was because of a nun-uh-yah. As in none of ya business."
"You're such a pain in the ass," Dean grumbled. Sam snorted at the tongue Buffy stuck out at her eldest brother's back.
Dean parked in the Impala in the driveway next to Joyce's weathered SUV. He stomped for the front door, Buffy still making faces at his back. Sam had joined in, and the two were hard pressed to stifle giggles every time their older brother shook his head in exasperation.
Buffy pushed forward to unlock the door. "Mom, I'm home!" she called as she stepped through.
"Us too!" added Sam.
The light was on the kitchen, an anomaly for the after-dinner hour, and it immediately drew their suspicions. They assumed Joyce was downstairs for a drink; she normally spent this portion of her evenings upstairs on her computer. Instead the siblings discovered her in the arms of a man with a hideously distorted face, her neck oozing blood. His jaws bore cruel fangs that spoke to how she'd been wounded.
Dean snapped his ivory-handled gun out from the back of his jeans, pointed, and shot three rounds. The stranger, mouth gaping, clutched the holes in his shoulder and dropped Buffy's mother.
While Sam knelt down to check on Joyce, Buffy grabbed the intruder's lapels and hauled him towards the front door. Her brothers glanced at each another, astonished; their tiny little sister was somehow manhandling a fully grown man with ease. Dean temporarily shelved his apprehension to follow her, muzzle pointed at the stranger's skull.
After her brother opened the front door, Buffy hurled the man dozen feet off of her porch. "You're not welcome here," she snarled. "You come near us and I'll kill you."
Dumbfounded, Dean watched the stranger's face warp to that of a normal man. The creature did nothing but stare at Buffy as she spun on her heel and ran back to the kitchen. Once she was out of sight, he glanced over at Dean. Buffy's brother cocked the hammer of his gun and the thing fled.
Dean rushed back inside, slamming the door closed on his way, and heard a frantic Sam speaking to the 911 operator. "1630 Revello Drive!" he said as Buffy handed him a towel to staunch her mother's wound. "She's lost a lot of blood."
As his brother continued with a series of "yes" and "no" answers, Dean spread his arms and demanded of their sister, "How the fuck did you carry that dude like that?"
Buffy stood up and retaliated with, "Why the hell do you have a gun?"
"Was it adrenaline? Or are you on drugs?"
"Why do you have a gun?"
"You knew that guy. Who the hell is he? What the hell is he?"
"WHY DO YOU HAVE A GUN?"
"Guys!" shouted Sam. "Later, okay?"
A whining siren and the flash of red and white lights signaled the arrival of emergency personnel. Dean returned the pistol to the back of his jeans and hurried to the front door. The mystery of their sister's superhuman strength could wait until her mother was seen to. After that, however, all of them had some explaining to do.
Acknowledgement : Some lines of dialogue are taken directly from the episode, "Angel" (BtVS 1.07).
