canon au } { post-3b, of long sleeps and distant brothers

[impetere]

[PART TWO OF THE EPIC WEEKEND OF DOOM WHERE FIVE MILLION DIFFERENT THINGS IMPLODED AND THEN FIXED THEMSELVES. After their lovely reunion Cora and Stiles went to sleep. Stiles eventually had to leave for school in the morning but his poor pooped werewolf girlfriend just rolled over and curled up into the warm spot that he left behind, leaving him to go and conquer those finals.]

Stiles: [is home and literally charging up the stairs, balancing two drinks, and two bags of food with his backpack on and the keys are in his mouth as he gets to his room and opens the door with his hip]

Cora: [there's a pile of blankets in the middle of his bed. somewhere his girlfriend is under them. there might be a hand or a foot sticking out somewhere as evidence of this before the most part it's really just blankets. The pile will start to twitch when her nose catches that food though]

Stiles: [spits his keys onto his desk and puts the bags down] Hey, sleepy head, wake up. I think I got you like, lunch for three.

Cora: [there's a soft mumble as she sits up, rubbing her eyes and pushing her hair out of her face] How long was I out?

Stiles: Did you wake up while I was at school?

Cora: [takes a breath as she tries to think about it, then shakes her head] Don't even really remember you going to school.

Stiles: Then you've been asleep for - [looks at watch] - um, 19 hours and 37 minutes. Or something close.

Cora: [winces. Yeah, that's a long time to be sleeping. She's not going to deny that she needed it for various reasons, but she knows people were probably looking for her too. She reaches for her phone first] Have you talked to Derek today?

Stiles: No. He hasn't reached out, and I was taking finals so my phone was on silent anyway. He's probably busy with Dawn...

Cora: [nods but she sends him a text anyway saying that she's fine and she was sleeping. she didn't disappear or otherwise get into trouble. She's worried about him and she doesn't want being her being AWOL for almost 20 hours to make things worse. Then she looks up and nods towards the bags] What'd you get?

Stiles: Got your favorite soda, and the curly fries and some burgers and some chicken tenders. [basically everything she has ever eaten at the diner]

Cora: [she smiles a bit, before kissing him on the cheek as she reaches for the soda] Thank you.

Stiles: [grins] You're welcome. [and he takes out the one thing of curly fries for himself because yes, everything else was for her and he would be content with just the fries if nothing else]

Derek: [text] Thank you for checking in. Do you need anything?

Cora: [grabs a burger from the bag while she texts her brother back with the other hand: "I'm good. Seen Peter yet?"] How was the final?

Derek: Trying to today.

Stiles: Totally aced it.

Cora: ["okay. I'll swing back by the loft later." She glances over at Stiles with a smile and nods] Good. What was it in anyway?

Stiles: History.

Cora: [makes a face as she takes a bite of her burger] Fun.

Stiles: I don't mind it. It's just learning to keep the dates in order.

Cora: [she shrugs] I always thought it was boring. I liked the more hands on stuff.

Stiles: Not surprised at all. [goes to dig into his backpack]

Cora: [she shrugs as she takes another bite of her food before following up with a sip of her soda] Do you have any more left?

Stiles: Um... I have to finish my English paper by Friday. Otherwise that's it.

Cora: [nods] Nice.

Stiles: And then there's college stuff after that. I was trying to work on my application to Berkley while you were gone but I'm having a bit of trouble with the essay.

Cora: What's the topic?

Stiles: My goals and plans for my future and how Berkley will put me in the right direction.

Cora: [there's a pause] Do you know what you want to do after school yet?

Stiles: Not really.

Cora: [she laughs a bit] Join the club.

Stiles: Which is probably why my essay is currently.... [counts the pages in his notebook] 18 pages long. Handwritten of course but that's probably like 12 typed.

Cora: [she laughs a little more] Okay, that is way too much.

Stiles: See, that's my problem! I can't focus it down to one thing I want to do.

Cora: [reaches for the notebook] Give me that.

Stiles: [hands it over. Enjoy a long ramble about wanting to learn how to be an asset to a group of super heroes who clean up the supernatural underworld and needing all the knowledge he can get plus if that doesn't pan out he'd really like to be a librarian of all the odd stories in the world and seeing where patterns and the origins of all monsters comes from]

Cora: [she's gonna take her burger and her soda and head over to the bed and just read through all of it as she eats and ... think it's all adorable, because it really is. And then she's going to look up at him with a sigh] So you want to major in Dawn's department, basically. Mythology and folklore.

Stiles: Yeah.

Cora: [takes another pull on her soda before getting up to hand the notebook back to him] So forget the super hero stuff - as adorable as it is. Focus on what you know about the department. I'm sure if you put Dawn down as a reference she'd vouch for you. She can also tell you about the libraries and stuff to help give it a little more flavor. Persuade them, by kissing their ass, that they need you learning an intense amount of information about monsters.

Stiles: Okay. Now that she's back... would it be cheating having her look it over for me?

Cora: Nope. She'd be happy to. In fact, she'd just be thrilled someone's interested in her area of study. She might ramble at you for a while.

Stiles: I don't mind that. I mean, I kinda liked Giles rambling at me while we were trying to find a way to help you. And Sam's this like... encyclopedia of weird shit. I want to be an encyclopedia of weird shit.

Cora: Then working with Dawn is definitely where you want to be.

Stiles: Awesome. Maybe I could become like, your emissary or something if Deaton wants to go on vacation.

Cora: Maybe. I definitely don't think Scott would mind.

Stiles: Scott's already stuck with me for the rest of his alpha werewolf life.

Cora: [she nods] And probably after that too.

Stiles: End of time. [grins] Just like you and me. [because yeah, he doesn't want this to ever end]

Cora: [she smiles a bit at that before nodding to his essay] Let's just worry about you getting into school for right now.

Stiles: Right. So, do you need to like, go back to check up on the others?

Cora: [she nods] I want to spend some time with Derek, but he said he was going to see Peter today, so I can stick around for a while, if you want.

Stiles: We can both go over. I can bring my English essay with me and work on it there?

Cora: [she nods] Okay. Sure.

Stiles: But you need to finish your lunch first or your brother isn't going to think I take good care of you.

Cora: [she laughs, before looking in the bag again] Even with my metabolism, I honestly don't think I can eat all of this.

Stiles: Well, I wasn't sure how hungry you were. [he will totally eat some of that]

Cora: I am not that much of a food vacuum. [Dawn would debate that fact the night before. she still grabs the chicken tenders anyway though]

Stiles: [when she gets what she wants, Stiles reaches for one of the cheeseburgers and more fries]

Cora: [happily settles with those] So does Scott know where he's going to school yet?

Stiles: Don't know yet. Things are kinda confusing for him with his dad right now.

Cora: [nods a bit. sudden reemerging parents are always weird] Has he told him yet?

Stiles: [awkward shrug while eating] Not really? But my dad and his mom have been talking a lot lately.

Cora: [nods] He's gonna have to eventually. Especially if he's sticking around Beacon Hills.

Stiles: I don't know if Scott wants him sticking around, that's the thing.

Cora: [nods a bit] Do you really think that's what he wants? Just ... his dad not involved at all?

Stiles: [bites his lip because he doesn't talk about this] Scott has a lot of reasons not to want him back.

Cora: [nods. Never mind. She'll drop it. She just ... appreciates parents, given that she doesn't really have hers anymore]

Stiles: [nods] So um, let me grab my laptop and we can go?

Cora: [she nods, finishing off her chicken fingers] I'll get my shoes.

Stiles: [looks in bag and takes the other burger because he skipped lunch]

Cora: [shoves on her sneakers and grabs her phone before getting to her feet] Ready?

Stiles: [laptop packed while jaw holding burger in his mouth. mutters a ready from behind the burger]

Cora: [that's her boyfriend. such a charmer. and off they go to his Jeep to head to the loft! where Dawn and Buffy are watching a Christian Slater movie with copious amounts of popcorn.]

Stiles: [he keeps her laughing. that's what he tells himself. And he arrives to see Derek and Peter sitting at the desk talking quietly but both look up at the couple entering the room] Hey, the gang's all here.

Cora: [smiles at her family in the corner before nodding up to the stairs] I'm gonna go take a shower.

Dawn: [will wait until she disappears and the water to the shower starts before ...] How long did she actually sleep for?

Stiles: 19 hours and 37 minutes. [goes to find a seat and set up his laptop on the coffee table]

Derek: [his eyes follow her up the stairs. Peter sees this and puts an arm on Derek's shoulder]

Dawn: [huffs. She knew she was worse off than she was saying] She must have been running on empty.

Peter: I slept in too...

Derek: [looks over at Dawn] And how long did you sleep?

Dawn: [she shrugs] Ten hours, maybe?

Stiles: Well, I was at school so I didn't wake her when I left. She could have been up earlier.... [there he goes, defending his girlfriend]

Dawn: [she glances back to him before shaking her head] I'm not mad. Just worried.

Stiles: I'm taking good care of her, I promise. Unless something happened there that I don't know about...

Derek: [and now he's looking at Peter and Dawn with a what happened look]

Dawn: We ran into a little demon trouble. I don't know what exactly happened, I wasn't there and she wouldn't say. She ... probably still won't say now. You'll have to ask Spike or Isaac.

Derek: [reaches for his phone and Peter stops him. Wolf glaring]

Dawn: She was healed by the time she got back to us. I'm sure she's fine, she just needed to recharge, that's all.

Stiles: [finally looks over and notices the wolf glares] Um, you two okay over there?

Peter: Yes, perfectly fine. [not backing down]

Derek: Never better. [GLARE]

Cora: [and somewhere along the way the shower goes off and not long after Cora is coming back downstairs, wet hair and all, right into the middle of a Mexican stand off between her brother and her uncle] .... Did I miss something?

Dawn: [apologetic look] Me opening my big mouth?

Cora: [glances to her then she groans] Derek, I'm fine.

Derek: You slept for almost 20 hours, and Dawn said you ran into demon trouble and won't tell her what happened. What happened?

Cora: [huffs slightly] We were holding the room, like we planned, trying to buy Isaac time to exorcise the demons. One of them had a knife and I didn't catch it. He got me, Spike had my back. I'm fine.

Peter: [giving Derek the "see, she's fine" glare. Maybe a bit more challenging and triumphant than needed]

Derek: [pulls away and just goes out onto the balcony to get some air]

Stiles: [watches] Yup, that's pretty much been every conversation he's had the last few weeks. Except the one where Buffy broke his nose. [Scott tells Stiles everything, you knew that right?]

Dawn: [whips around to look at her sister] I'm sorry, you did what to my boyfriend?

Buffy: [is wearing a look that pretty much says "damnit, Stiles"]

Cora: [sighs softly, before weaving past everyone else and following Derek onto the balcony]

Stiles: [oops] I'm going to go focus on my final paper now.... [takes the laptop over to the desk since the Hales vacated it]

Peter: [is also giving Buffy a very curious look] What did he do to piss you off like that?

Derek: [is just going to stand on the balcony, fingers clenched around the rail and focusing on his breathing]

Buffy: [scratches the top of her head lightly and looks away awkwardly] It was sort of ... the other way around.

Cora: [she waits silently for a moment watching him intensely, before taking another step closer] You're not okay.

Peter: [sitting on the arm of the couch next to Dawn] I'm intrigued. Go on.

Derek: I'm fine, I just needed some air. [not turning to face her]


Dawn: Yes, please, do go on. Because this is really just getting better.

Buffy: [gives her a bit of a pleading look because really, if things weren't bad enough already] Neither of us were in the best place, exactly, but Derek was withdrawing and it wasn't exactly ... good. So I decided to try and ... help. [there's a beat] It wasn't that helpful. In fact, he pretty much blew up in my face.

Cora: [her voice is gentle as she takes another step closer] No, you're not. And it's okay if you're not.

Peter: [reaches over for the popcorn] And how were you trying to help? [no, your boyfriend wants to know because this is something to worry about, but also very amusing]

Derek: [he closes his eyes to find his little zen place that he developed after Jennifer, then turned to look at her with his calm mask in place] I'm just worried you're hurt more than you're letting on and don't want to worry me. [so much more than that, but he'll use that as his excuse]

Cora: [she knows that there's more to this than that. There has to be. People don't just go through the stuff he goes through and come out fine. But he's turning the conversation back to her so she lets him, at least for right now] It really wasn't that bad. It was just ... the stress of bouncing back and forth, plus no real sleep plus no real food. The healing hit me a little harder than I normally would. [she steps back from him and holds out her arms for him to see] You can check me over yourself if it'll make you feel better. I'm okay. [but you're not.]

Buffy: [There's a long pause as Buffy takes a very long sip of her drink and then, very awkwardly] I may have made certain, unwelcome comments about the Hale Family Home that he took ... about as well as you can expect.

Derek: [his eyes do watch her a moment, doing just that, then he sighs and just looks back out over the town] Fine, you're fine.

Peter: [closes his eyes because suddenly he knows exactly what happened and he took a deep breath] Which you decided to make when for all he knew, the rest of the Hales were dead. Again. [even your boyfriend thinks your timing sucks, Buffy]

Buffy: I never claimed to be smart. Or sensitive for that matter. I only claimed to be pretty. [she rubbed the back of her neck lightly]

Cora: [she lets her arms drop to her sides again, moving closer and letting one hand rest on his arm tentatively. She honestly doesn't know what to do or how to help him when he won't let her. But she worries that if this keeps going farther how much damage will be done] Derek. You don't have to keep it together all the time.

Peter: Well, you do fit that description. What did you say, and let me go handle him.

Derek: [looks at her hand, then her] Cora, I'm fine. I just need a few days too.

Cora: [she nods a bit brushing her thumb against his arm for a moment before] Wanna go back to Berkeley with me? I have to move all my stuff out of my dorm. [there's a beat] Or ... liberate it from Residence Life, I might have missed the deadline while I was ... [you know] Just you and me.

Buffy: [she doesn't think that Peter needs to handle him on her behalf but she knows she made things worse before] We were talking about the house and I was saying that he didn't have to live with ghosts, and somewhere along the way I may have said something like if it were me, I would have torn it down a long time ago.

Dawn: [just ... facepalms]

Peter: [sighs, then stands up and walks over to Buffy. He leans down, kissing the top of her head.] You're not wrong, not by far. But it was the worst time to breech that subject.

Derek: No, I think you have a boyfriend now that you can take advantage of moving your things. You're welcome to store them here though if you need to. [he's pushing off family time with her. That's a big clue he's not doing good right there]

Cora: [yeah, and that actually stings a little.] If I wanted to do it with him, I would have asked him. [she glances away after that, before shaking her head] But forget it. You've clearly got better things to do. [and she'll just leave him out there and head back into the main room, not really stopping and heading right back up the stairs to her room.]

Buffy: Oh, I realize. The wall he threw me through drove that point home quite nicely.

Peter: [is nearly run over by retreating niece and looks at her retreating path, then at Derek] Bad timing?

Derek: Yes. [and he's done with things for now] Tell Dawn I went to take a walk. [and he literally jumps over the balcony to use the other roofs to jump down to the street level.]

Peter: [sighs and goes back into the loft] And Spiderman has left the building.

Dawn: [she tucks her hair behind her ear as her arms cross in front of her chest. This is her fault. It's just a feeling in her gut] I don't know what to do.

Peter: It's not your fault, Dawn. It's a long string of things that are just piling on him and his refusal to seek help from his family.

Dawn: [she laughs a bit, burying her face in her hands] It's a little my fault.

Peter: [rubs her back] It is not your fault any more than it's mine. Or Jennifer, or Kate, Laura, or Stiles. Short of locking him in a padded room and waiting for him to talk, there's nothing we can do until he acknowledges he needs help and comes to us. Otherwise he's going to keep fighting.

Stiles: [pulls out his earbuds] Someone call my name?

Buffy: [glances over and then nods towards the stairs] You might wanna check on your girl.

Dawn: [leans back into Peter's hands a bit] I know. I know. I just worry that he won't or when he does ... [it's too late. Too late for what she doesn't know, but she doesn't want to be too late]

Stiles: What? What did I miss? [and he saves his document and goes up the stairs to where her room is]

Peter: For all the drama I bring to the family with my slow burning insanity, Derek is the one who's had the tragic life far earlier than the fire. Before you two even met. You are good for him, Dawn, but you aren't a miracle worker.

Dawn: I'm not expecting to be. Honestly, I'm not even qualified. I just want to help him, I just don't know how.

Buffy: Just wait. [she gets to get herself something else to drink] Eventually he'll tell you. [at least, that's what she figured out for herself anyway]

Cora: [is just sitting on the edge of the bed, facing away from the door. She still hears him coming, though, and she shakes her head when he hits the doorway] It's stupid. I'm fine.

Stiles: [stays on the other side of the door] Core, it's not stupid. What's wrong?

Peter: [takes Buffy's spot on the couch] Just be there for him. When he's ready, he'll come to you first probably more than me or Cora. Until then, just keep caring for him the way you do.

Dawn: [sighs as she slumps back on the couch] And hope that the world doesn't implode in the meantime.

Cora: [she rolls her eyes because it is stupid. Her brother blowing her off for something like hauling crap out of her dorm isn't supposed to be a big deal but for her it is] I asked him to go back to Berkeley with me to pack up my stuff and he blew me off. Said I had a boyfriend now so I should ask him.

Peter: Funny, I think he'd handle the world imploding better than having to face his issues right now

Stiles: [okay, no he's coming in and closing the door behind him] Well, he's not wrong. I'm totally your slave to carry huge boxes around at your whim. But it's the fact he said no that's bothering you, isn't it?

Cora: [her eyes drop down to her feet, hands still gripping the mattress as she uses it to channel the anger (though it's really more hurt) into it] It shouldn't. It's just packing boxes. But it was like he didn't even care.

Dawn: Depends on how it implodes.

Stiles: Cor... he's been like that ever since you guys disappeared. He was pushing people away and trying to just cut off any connections he had. He may not realize he's still doing it. [rubs her back]

Cora: No, he knows. He was doing it right as I was talking to him. He shuts down and he pushes people out because he needs to make people think he's okay. Even when you tell him he doesn't have to be.

Stiles: You know... he's acting a lot like he did when I first met him. Just with a lot less violence at my face.

Cora: And he has so much more now than he did then. You'd think he would get better.

Stiles: He's also been, oh, tortured - twice, had a girlfriend try to kill you and him, lost most of his pack, gained and lost his alpha, couldn't save Erika, Boyd died on his claws, nearly died however many times that has to do something to your body after a while, oh and he killed Peter and then Peter used him for some unnatural resurrection spell, and then lost his entire pack and new girlfriend to a zombie apocalypse. He's had a pretty bad year.

Cora: I know. I know. [about some of those, especially] I just want to help him, but he won't let me.

Stiles: I think they're having the same conversation downstairs. Maybe you all can form a werewolf intervention?

Cora: I don't think that would help. Not if he doesn't want it. He may be messed up but he's stubborn too.

Stiles: Yeah, family trait. [grins a bit and rubs her back] Derek will come around. He always does. Just give him time to bounce back and lowers his walls again.

Cora: [nods a bit, before shifting closer to lean into him, letting her head rest against his shoulder]

Stiles: [wraps her in his arms, kissing her forehead] If you want, I can punch him in the face for you? Buffy already broke his nose once so I can totally do it too.

Cora: [she laughs a bit, before shaking her head] No. He'll break your face.

Stiles: Or maybe he'll be so shocked I tried that he'll smile?

Cora: No, Stiles, he'll just break your face.

Stiles: .... I'll still do it if you hold my hand in the ER later.

Cora: [she laughs a bit before tipping her head up to kiss him] I like your face the way it is.

Stiles: Well, good then two people like my face the way it is. And I really like it when you kiss my face like that. [goes to kiss her again]

Cora: [grins a bit into the kiss and slides an arm around his neck, pulling him closer]

Stiles: [pulls her closer, enjoying the kissing. Best way to make his girlfriend feel better is to totally make out with her in her bedroom while her brother is out taking a walk. Totally]

Cora: [mmmm-hmmm. she's even gonna scoot back on the bed and pull him with her. Her brother wants her to spend quality time with her boyfriend, she'll spend quality time with her boyfriend.]

Stiles: [so not complaining. Because she's been gone and he's missed her and they aren't in his room and god he has a hot werewolf girlfriend]

Peter: [just rubs at his eyes and goes to find something to drink because REALLY KIDS?]

Cora: [HER DOOR IS CLOSED YOU DON'T HAVE TO LISTEN. And she is a teenage girl who hasn't had any alone time with her boyfriend since before this whole mess started and yes she's going to make out with him in her bedroom. Deal with it.]

Stiles: [if Stiles knew Peter was listening in, he would tell you to bite him. But not really. But he's blissfully only aware of his girlfriend and running his hands along her really hot body]

Cora: [Yes. He should keep doing that. And she's going to let her hands slide down his back, shifting her legs a bit so that they're framing his hips]

Stiles: [and he's getting less awkward at this after all the practice in Berkley they had to move away from their mutual virginities to get to know each other and how things worked. And he was eager to keep going with those so he rolled her onto her back a bit more, smiling down at her as he lifted her hips to fit just that much better against where they both liked it being]

Cora: [she grins back at him a bit, shifting to meet him before using his shirt to tug him back in again kissing him eagerly as they settle into a more comfortable position]

Stiles: [kissing and rocking against each other, clothes on.... yeah this is going to go on for a while and Stiles is A-OK with this. Though he may try to tickle her a bit while playing along her ribs]

Cora: [the kiss breaks with a giggle when he feels his fingers against her ribs, one hand coming down to catch his] Don't do that.

Stiles: What, you don't like being tickled? [grinning and trying to get his hands free]

Cora: [she laughs a bit before shaking her head, trying to squirm away from him all the same] No, I don't.

Stiles: But you are adorable with your laughing and squirming [keeps trying]

Cora: [eventually she will take both his wrists and use her legs to flip them, pinning him to the bed under her. Her hands pin his to the bed and once she's steady she smirks at him.] Still don't like it.

Stiles: [leans back on the pillows, smug] Well, I will only use it in times of great desperation.

Cora: [she shakes her head at him, before leaning in to kiss him slowly, her fingers sliding up his wrists to lace between his]

Stiles: [kisses back, lacing his fingers as well and curling around them to keep them locked.]

Cora: [they continue like that for a bit until eventually Cora pulls back, brushing a kiss against his chin and then shifting to the side, her head resting against his shoulder. She's quiet for a moment, before ...] Wanna help me move out of my dorm?

Stiles: Of course I do. [he tries to figure out how to wrap entwined hands and arms around her] You really think I plan on leaving your side for like, most of the summer?

Cora: [she smirks a bit at both the display and the comment, before releasing his hands and draping one arm across his chest] I'm gonna need some time to myself, you know. And you're going to want some time with Scott.

Stiles: When we get to those times, we'll figure it out. But I get you for like, three weeks tops right now.

Cora: [smirks a bit more and nods] Okay. Got it. [her fingers play with his shirt for a second, just picking at the material, before she continues] Can I stay at your house for a bit? I know you have the paper and I won't distract you but ... [she isn't really sure she wants to be here.]

Stiles: Yeah, no my dad said you could stay. He and Derek talked and dad told me he was going to make up the spare room for you. [not that Stiles expects her to sleep there but it would be hers]

Cora: Yeah, Derek mentioned that. [she picks her head up a bit, pressing a kiss to the nearest part of him she can reach which is somewhere near the pulse point of his neck.] Thank you. [for giving her something to anchor herself to, even when it can't be Derek]

Stiles: Hey, it's nothing. I like having your close. [just keeps her nice and close]

Cora: [she nods a bit, closing her eyes for a second, before pulling back and starting to get to her feet] I just have to grab a few things and then we can go. I think ... I need to get out of here.

Stiles: [sits up on the bed, watching her] You know he still loves you, right?

Cora: [she stops over at the dresser, and she nods slowly. Because she does. The way he almost exploded when he found out she got hurt says as much] But ... I can't be back on the outside with him again. When he actually wants to deal with me, he knows where to find me.

Stiles: [nods] Alright. Well, you grab what you need, and I'll go get my laptop so we can go back.

Cora: [she nods and starts pulling open drawers to sort through them. it only really takes her ten minutes considering most of her stuff is still at Berkeley and she's heading downstairs with a bag slung over her shoulder]

Stiles: [has quietly told Peter that Cora's moving in with him so he knows where to find her too and packed up his stuff.] So um, Dawn, I'm gonna call you sometime next week for help on a college essay? That be cool with you?

Dawn: Me?

Buffy: [laughs] Considering you're the one in the room with multiple Ivy League degrees, why are you surprised?

Dawn: Well, most people start squinting at me when I tell them what my Ivy League degrees are in. [she grins at Stiles] Looking at Berkeley?

Stiles: [nods] And hopefully if they let me in, you'll be my Yoda.

Dawn: [it takes her a minute, because Xander introduced her to Star Wars very quickly but when she does, she looks ... probably brighter than anyone's seen her in weeks] Oh my God! Yes, they'd love you over there. I could even take you around to meet all the professors.

Stiles: [grins] Great, I mean I'd totally like that. Cause I was totally awesome at doing what Giles and Sam do, and I want to be cool like that. Well, it'll be weird to others but totally cool knowing all that stuff.

Dawn: [laughs] Definitely. Though a lot of Sam's knowledge has been hands on stuff which ... we do not cover at Berkeley. But one day he'll stop hoarding the bunker and the knowledge will be out there for all the world. Or at least for me.

Stiles: Wait, Sam has a bunker of stuff?

Peter: [just sits next to Buffy, shaking his head and chuckling]

Cora: [is rolling her eyes in the background because she's heard this tirade from Dawn several times but she'll wait like a good girlfriend and sit on the arm of the couch next to Peter]

Dawn: Sam and Dean have the holy grail of supernatural research and records, and they will not let me anywhere near it.

Buffy: Because they know that if you go down there, you may not ever come out. [there's a beat] Though in light of recent events, I'm beginning to think that may not be such a bad thing, because it's also armed for bear and warded against everything from angels to Zolorah demons.

Stiles: And why didn't we think to send Dawn there when the crazy happened?

Peter: [looks up at Cora and gives her a small smirk and pets her knee.]

Buffy: Giving Sam and Dean responsibility for my sister is not something I ever want to do. Ever. I love them, and they're good hunters, but they mess up worse than I do.

Dawn: And she probably didn't think of it at the time.

Buffy: That too.

Peter: And now they are dealing with ripples of their own because of this.

Stiles: Which again - next time demons want one of us? We can use that to remind them why it's a good idea to hide us in this bunker.

Buffy: [laughs a bit] Duly noted. [she glances to Cora] But you guys should go. Otherwise, Dawn's going to start talking about the stuff in the bunker she has seen and you'll be here all night. I am saving you from insano-babble.

Stiles: [his jaw works because no, he wants to KNOW what's in the bunker. You can't tease him like that]

Peter: Go, be kids. Enjoy the night. Do teenager things.

Cora: [sighs as she gets to her feet] Come on. Dean told me some of it, I'll tell you about it on the way back to your dad's.

Stiles: Okay. See you guys later. [to Cora] Want me to carry the bag?

Cora: [shakes her head as she slings it over her shoulder] I got it. [and off they go! Leaving the three adults alone with themselves]

Dawn: You guys should go too. You don't have to babysit me.

Buffy: We're not ...

Dawn: You, at least, are totally babysitting me.

Peter: I'm just following along for the ride. [he was here to check on Derek, who left] Come on, Buffy, if we don't leave, Derek may never return.

Buffy: [looks apprehensive at this]

Dawn: [rolls her eyes] Do you know I haven't had any alone time to myself in weeks aside from like ... the shower or when I've had to pee. I have been around other people nonstop for the better part of a month. I need my space. I need my time to myself. I want to read my book. [she points to the beat up paperback that's sitting on the table that has a very dramatic romance novel pose on the cover. She stole it from Spike.]

Buffy: That's Fabio.

Dawn: I haven't read a book with actual fictional people in it since undergrad. I decided to pick on that didn't require a lot of mental power. That's not the point. [she reaches forward to pick it up.] The point is, I'm going to sit here. I'm going to read my book. And I'm going to do it alone.

Buffy: [sighs and nods, getting to her feet] Fine. We'll set the alarm on the way out.

Peter: [looks at Dawn a moment] Text me and let me know when Derek gets back. Okay?

Dawn: [she nods, taking the blanket she and Buffy were working with and curling it around herself more as she reaches for the book.] Have fun you two.

Buffy: [leans in to hug her quickly before pulling back] Enjoy Fabio.

Dawn: I intend to.