chicago ♔ subscribe me not to darkness

[principal]

♬ To Darkness - Mumford and Sons

WHO || Buffy Summers, Sam Winchester, Robin Wood [closed]
WHAT || Buffy accompanies Sam to Chicago, seeking answers about Dean's past... and the fate of the version of Sam from this world
WHERE || Chicago, USA
WHEN || Late-October [back-dated]
HOW || Actionspam

Sam Winchester has not a very easy time of this world.  

Most of the reasons for which, it seems, can be traced back to the fact that there was another Sam Winchester native to this dimension.  One who somehow managed to alienate his brother Dean to the point where he almost murdered Sam on sight, and it's been a very slow, uphill battle ever since to get Dean to say more than two non-hostile words in a row to him.

An uphill battle that's going too slowly for Sam's taste.  

Upon googling his own name and doing some research in hunter circles, he learned more and more disturbing facts - including the fact that he and Dean from this world were held responsible for the deaths of Jo & Ellen Harvelle, and Bobby Singer.  Distraught by what he'd learned, he shared the facts with his new friend, Buffy, who agreed to travel with him to Chicago tracing down one of the only leads they have on finding out more about what happened, since Dean doesn't seem inclined to share.

And so off they go to Chicago - home to some of Buffy's own demons - to check out the Hunter's bar run by Robin Wood.

Comments

[principal]

Well, then your boss. I think the date came after that.

[slay]

[ crickets. ]

I ... dated my boss?

[principal]

[ he chuckles in spite of himself ] It's... not what you're thinking.

Probably.

I think you thought I was evil.

[slay]

… I dated my evil boss?

[ !!! ]

I'm sorry, is this supposed to be making it better? Because—

Wait. Was it because you were evil? [ She holds up her hands. ] Rephrase. To stop the evil, or … [ Her speech tapers off because like how do you even verbalize 'actually that makes sense I have a type.' ]

[principal]

Pretty sure, you were hoping for not-evil when you agreed.

When you found out about me, who I was, what I knew, we... worked together. [ beat ] In a non-school capacity. Allies.

That's... probably what you were asking, the first time.

[slay]

Allies.

Allies, but not … ?

[ Awkward. ]

I mean, because you said "the" date. So is that like a "the one and only date" the or a … "the one that started it all" the because I should mentioned that I'm — Well, I'm not exactly seeing. I— It's complicated. I'm complicated. Bad, bad complicated, and— [ She breathes finally, her speech tapering off like a deflating balloon. ] On second though, it's probably a "wow, Buffy, just keep running your mouth because I don't think your foot's quite in there yet" the.

[principal]

[ instead of answering right away he elects

to be a smart-ass ] Seeing someone, huh?

Shame I left my dueling pistols in the other dimension.

[slay]

[ Yeah her sense motive was 19 without mods so she's onto his sass unfortunately. ]

Believe me, it's probably better that way.

[ Ahahahahahah dueling pistols. Of all things. ]

And I'm not.

[principal]

Maybe for the best. [ ur taste in men, gurl. jk. ] But no, we kept things... professional, don't worry.

I'm just glad to see you.

[slay]

Well, I'm glad that you're glad to see me.

[ A smile quirks her lips, but she follows up after a beat with clarification: ] Professionally.

[principal]

Speaking of which, maybe I can help you with this Winchester problem. Or at least try to answer a few questions. Like I said, I keep an ear to the ground. And Dean used to come by here semi-regularly for awhile.

[slay]

Yeah right. I saw him at the party. Semi-regularly seems like an understatement.

[ She scoffs, but then quickly composes herself like wow let's not shit talk Robin's friend. ]

I mean, uh. G-Good! Because he's really pissed, and unfortunately, not quite as Buffy-friendly as you in the faith department. [ Not to be confused with Faith department. ] We're just trying to figure out … why. I mean, the Sam in this world ... was he really that bad?

[principal]

... I don't know all the details, but from what I hear--

Things got pretty heavy, at least. [ he paces a few steps, considering how to put this ] Lots of rumors, but going off from what I heard and saw myself, I'd say they got real bad.

Some of this... might sound a little crazy. So I'm gonna ask you to remember how well I took you dumping that whole doppelganger/parallel universe thing on me a few moments back.

[slay]

[ Buffy seems to buckle in, folding her arms under her chest and tilting her head up, a universal nod that she's listening. ]

No judgment. Or … very little judgment, reserved until the very end. Believe me, I've … seen some weird.

[principal]

Well, there's weird, and then there's ... this.

The Winchesters started out as a hunter family, came out of Kansas, traveled with their father, John. Way I hear it, a demon killed his wife, Mary, when the boys were pretty young, and it... stuck with him. [ his jaw hardens a bit, b/c ahahaha overidentifying much ] He had what they call the Sight... and it turns out the boys did too.

[slay]

The Sight.

[ Quick intuition fills that in for her, since she's seen it so much. ]

They could see demons?

[principal]

Bingo. I'm going to jump to assume you do too - considering, Slayer and all. They're not the same as they were back home, exactly. But they go down the same as anything.

[slay]

Some of them, at least.

[ The assassins that had come after her sure didn't. That was close, and ugly. ]

Easier when you can see them.

[ Which is to say, he's right. ]

Not that I don't appreciate the whole Time Life Biography special, but ... [ moving right along ? ]

[principal]

It's important, trust me. He raised those boys on the road, taught them how to fight, how to hunt. They became pretty big names by the time they grew up. But that's when tragedy seemed to keep striking.

John went missing, and the boys went tracking him down. The way I hear it, Sam had been trying to walk at the time, leave hunting behind to go to college. He didn't want any part of it, but his father's disappearance dragged him back in.

They say his girlfriend wound up dead - the same way as their mother. Some kind of powerful demon, that had it out for the family.

Turns out it wasn't the only thing. John wound up dead, and it seemed like everywhere those boys went, there was news of some kind of new mess. A walking disaster area.

[slay]

[ Well, that's fucking ominous. Don't mind Buffy being slightly concerned for Rose, for Elena, for Sam. For the whole goddamn castle, at this point. Not that she wouldn't be pro-Winchester presence regardless because she ain't no bitch, but … What did they get themselves into? ]

Why? Was it some kind of … curse, or something following them?

[principal]

Here's where it gets... a little bizarre.

Apparently, Dean... had some kind of destiny. A quest.

[slay]

Like King Arthur?

[ Um. ]

Because if he's looking for the holy grail, I feel like it's probably just so he can fit a fifth of whiskey in it.

[principal]

[ that draws a real laugh out of him, but he shakes his head ] No, not like that. It wasn't about finding anything, from what I can tell.

It was about what he could withstand.

[slay]

[ ? ? ? ]

... Huh?

[ She doesn't even have a guess here. ]

[principal]

[ ♬ all along the watchtower - bear mcreary ]

When I say things got heavy for the Winchesters, I'm not kidding around. Dean died, was buried for months after no cleric could bring him back. Then months later? He's suddenly kicking around again.

Took awhile for word to spread through the grapevine about how, but when it did...

Buffy, he claimed it was an angel who brought him back. One who tasked him with a sacred quest that only could he do. To be some kind of ... savior by undergoing trials thrown at him by Heaven and Hell.

Everything his family had gone through? All that pain and suffering? That was the start of it. He didn't even realize he was being tested at the time.