canon au } { post-5a, of the whole truth and vampire hunters

[thisholyspark]

Olivia: [is about twenty minutes out before she texts:] Where are you?

Hal: [looks at his phone] Dying of boredom

Olivia: I was thinking more like an actual address.

Hal: Oh. [insert hotel name]

Olivia: GPS says I'll be there in twenty.

Hal: Sweet. Want me to order a pizza?

Olivia: God, yes.

Hal: Alright. See you in 20.

Olivia: [and eventually she arrives, getting his room number from the front desk and making her way up]

Hal: [and look, the pizza is waiting so he's coming down the hall as well.] Hey, prefect timing. Let me pay and I'll be right back.

Olivia: Sounds good. [and she will stop and wait, leaning against the wall a bit to help support herself]

Hal: [and he's coming back with a large deep dish and cheese bread and a few sodas] Alright, I think we're good for a while. I don't have a fridge so we just need to eat it all.

Olivia: Done. Need me to carry anything?

Hal: I've got it all balanced but if you can grab the key card out of my butt pocket...

Olivia: Got it. [and she will do just that, leaning in quick to find the key card, and turning to put it in the door, making her way inside and holding the door open for him]

Hal: [and he will bring it in and set it up on the table by the couch. Since he only has a single, he got a little sitting area] Voila!

Olivia: Perfect. [and she will make her way closer before leaning in to kiss him] Hi.

Hal: [mmm, he likes that. He will kiss her back] Hey. I'm really glad you were able to come up here.

Olivia: Me too. I mean, I love my family, but I needed a break.

Hal: Well, the TV stations suck, but there is a Netflix.

Olivia: Works for me. [and she'll pull back to go sit on the couch] I'm sure there's still a ton of movies I haven't seen.

Hal: [and he will flop down next to her] You want to watch Christmas movies, or just normal stuff?

Olivia: [she shrugs] Are Christmas movies better than normal movies?

Hal: [wrinkles his nose] There are a few.

Olivia: Then let's just watch regular movies.

Hal: Oh, wait, I think I have a compromise. [and he will cue up Die Hard]

Olivia: [frowns] Die Hard?

Hal: Die Hard. John McLean saving the world from terrorists on Christmas Eve.

Olivia: [smirks] So technically a Christmas movie.

Hal: Technically. But it's also a kickass adventure movie.

Olivia: Sounds like my kind of movie.

Hal: Thought so. [and he will grab himself two slices and lean back into the couch with her]

Olivia: [and she will reach for her own food. It takes a minute for her to shift so that she's sitting comfortably, before she can lean into him and settle]

Hal: [and once he's done with his slices for now, his arm will go over her shoulder and keep her close]

Olivia: [which is all well and good until he hits a spot that's still healing and she hisses softly out of reflex more than anything else]

Hal: [and he will let her go quickly] Sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you...

Olivia: [she shakes her head as she tries to catch his arm] No, it's okay. It's just a little sore, that's all.

Hal: So what got you anyway?

Olivia: [she makes a face] It wasn't a what. It was a who. I was helping my dad with something, and they didn't like it. Tried to take us out of the equation.

Hal: Seriously?

Olivia: Yeah.

Hal: Please tell me someone kicked their asses.

Olivia: [swallows and nods] Yeah. They're dead.

Hal: [blinks] That's a good thing?

Olivia: For their particular brand of psychopath? I'd say yeah.

Hal: [just nods, because that's not... something he's really had to deal with before] Well, long as they can't hurt anyone else.

Olivia: [yeah, she can tell. she looks up at him uncomfortably for a moment] Our rules aren't ... the same as the rest of the world a lot of the time.

Hal: But you guys do know murder is wrong, right?

Olivia: Yeah. Of course. [there's a beat] It's only in self-defense. A last resort, you know?

Hal: Okay.

Olivia: Just ... what they were doing to people was worse. We're just ... meat to them. And when they came after me, my uncle, he just sorta ... snapped.

Hal: I can get that.

Olivia: [she swallows a bit] If this is weird ... I can go.

Hal: I guess it's just... I don't get it.

Olivia: [pauses, before shifting into a sitting position] When I was growing up, we didn't really have a whole lot of ... law and order. We needed to protect ourselves, no matter what, with whatever means necessary. We couldn't rely on the cops to protect us because there were no cops.

Hal: So what, you're from some backwards backwater town?

Olivia: [glances away awkwardly before shrugging] Yeah. Something like that.

Hal: You don't like talking about it, do you?

Olivia: [there's a beat] It's kind of hard to explain.

Hal: Try me.

Olivia: [she stares at him, watching him for a long moment, before she takes a deep breath and turns to face him again. Okay. Now or never.] I'm not actually from this universe.

Hal: ..... Are you trying to tell me you're an alien from another galaxy?

Olivia: [laughs, before shaking her head] No. I'm trying to tell you that I'm from an alternate timeline where ... some really bad shit went down and the world isn't anything like this.

Hal: You're just playing with me now?

Olivia: [her face falls a bit, before shaking her head. No, she's not. Not even a little.]

Hal: [he can see that, and he leaned forward] How is that even possible?

Olivia: Magic. Lots of ... really old, really powerful magic.

Hal: Magic?

Olivia: Magic. [there's a beat] Look, there's ... a lot to this and it's pretty heavy stuff, so are you sure you really want to know?

Hal: I... I don't know. [he's not sure if she's making up a huge story just to avoid telling him the truth or not]

Olivia: [and she's going to watch him for a minute] Then maybe we shouldn't.

Hal: Maybe another time.

Olivia: [she nods, because yeah. Another time. but now she has a feeling that this is going to be weird, and she put a whole lot of work into making it not weird]

Hal: [it'll be for awhile. until they find something to talk about again]

Olivia: [so she will just grab another slice of pizza and settle back in for the movie, though she doesn't quite sit as close as before, not knowing really where they stand]

Hal: [but eventually they will get to the good part of the movie and he will be into it, talking to her about plot points]

Olivia: [and she will nod along, and laugh when prompted, trying to slip back into normal girl mode again, though it isn't really an act. She never acted with him ever, even if she didn't tell him the entire truth]

Hal: [and he will eventually forget it for now, just back to enjoying her company]

Olivia: [and she will relax when he relaxes but she can't help but feel like now there's a clock on this, that eventually she's going to have to tell him the truth, and once she does, she'll lose him]

Hal: [unless something happens to him, of course, that makes him a sudden believer]

Olivia: [Well, it's entirely possible. There is a reason that the Slayers patrol on campus]

Hal: [he hates this plan]

Maria: [weeeeeeeell it's not like she would forcibly kidnap him and drag him to the cemetery to prove a point. >.>]

Hal: [really hates this plan]

Maria: [do we want to do this plan? Because Maria will totally do this plan.]

Hal: [sitting on a bench in a cemetery] Why do I feel like I should be looking for a hidden camera?

Maria: Vampires don't show up on film. It would be pointless.

Hal: [reaches for a stake in the duffle bag] Right, vampires. Which these are for and are going to come up from the graves. [skeptical man is skeptical]

Maria: [reaches to take the stake from him before guiding him by the arm] Look, Liv's mess that her family is usually in is like ... the heavy duty shit. The kind of shit that isn't easy to take in one sitting. But my end of the supernatural? Much simpler.

Hal: You really don't have to put on an act, Maria. If she doesn't want to tell me about her life, that's fine.

Maria: [she gives him a look at that, before reaching into her jacket to pull out the article regarding the dead guy they're standing in front of and hands it to him] Look at cause of death.

Hal: [read it] Throat ripped out. Possible dog attack.

Maria: Keep reading. [she's referring to the part where it mentions the body was drained of blood and had blood on his lips]

Hal: So he bled out? [hands it back to her]

Maria: Nope. No blood pool at the crime scene. The blood in his body was just gone. [glances back to him] Ever hear about a dog doing that?

Hal: Maybe he was killed somewhere else and his body was dumped there…

Maria: [sighs and is about to contradict him when she feels the ground start to shift beneath her feet and she places a hand on his chest to push him back] When vampires feed nine times out of ten they're just going to drain your blood and kill you. But on that tenth time, they might turn you. A vampire needs to be buried for a while for it to take, so it might not show right away, but in this case, I think it's that tenth time.

Hal: [and he stumbles back a bit as he is pushed] You do realize Halloween was last month, right?

Maria: Don't be silly. Vamps don't come out on Halloween. [and as she talks a hand starts to emerge from the grave beneath them, reaching up to the sky]

Hal: [and yup, he's going to jump back up on the gravestone] Holy fuck you buried someone alive?!

Maria: Nope. He's not alive.

Vamp: [and as he wriggles his way up to the surface, Hal will get a fresh look at his face - bumpy forehead, fangs and all and he grins] Let me guess, Slayer.

Maria: Let me guess - soon to be dust. [and she will surge forward to punch it in the face]

Hal: [and while he's not a wimp in the long run, holy fuck what was that?!?!?!?!]

Maria: [that's a vampire. That's a very young, very stupid vampire. it doesn't take long for Maria to land him on his back, before reaching down to shove the stake into his heart and Hal can watch as the vampire turns to dust]

Hal: [and he's just scared, because what the fuck just happened]

Maria: [she dusts herself off before turning back to him and moving to stand next to him] Vampires are real. So is a whole lot of other shit. The world is bigger than you think.

Hal: How... what... I... but...?

Maria: [she sighs] Just ... breathe, okay. Big deep breath.

Hal: [and he takes one, huge, deep breath] What the hell was that?

Maria: That was a vampire.

Hal: Vampires aren't real.

Maria: [she just gives him a small shrug] You just saw one. What are you going to believe - your own eyes, or what people tell you?

Hal: Vampires aren't REAL. [nope, full out panic freaking out]

Maria: [okay, she's going to shift to compassionate friend now and just keep encouraging him to breathe and relax]

Hal: [he finally will calm down enough and sit down hard on the ground near a tree]

Maria: [will sit with him, just waiting for him to finish actually processing things]

Hal: [one more breath] Vampires are real?

Maria: [she nods] Vampires are real.

Hal: So everything Liv was telling me...?

Maria: [she nods] Yep.

Hal: [he runs a hand through his hair] How do more people not realize this shit exists?

Maria: Because people will do anything to maintain their status quo.

Hal: [nods, still focusing on breathing] Is this like a thing where I know it exists now and so something is going to come kill me?

Maria: If anything tries, your girl will fuck them up eighty different ways. Winchesters are hardcore, and the younger three more than most.

Hal: So her family business... it's monster hunting?

Maria: Yep.

Hal: And she said she came from another dimension...

Maria: [there's a moment where she pauses because it's ... way complicated, before shrugging] The way I see it, alternate universes are kind of like all the what ifs. Like there's probably an alternate universe where you could have been like "Damn, lacrosse sucks, I'd rather play golf" and you become some kind of freaky golf prodigy or some shit. [deep breath] In Liv's case, her what if was "what if this big supernatural cataclysm goes super fucking wrong and the human race is wiped by a crazy demonically engineered super virus."

Hal: ..... Her what if sounds like it sucks.

Maria: Hardcore. And before she got here, it was pretty much the only world she'd ever known.

Hal: Well, it explains a lot. Like how she doesn't know a lot of movies and stuff.

Maria: [she nods] Her rules are different from ours too. She learned to shoot a gun and throw a punch instead of riding a bike or going to school so her normal isn't really the same as ours. Back there you shoot first, and ask questions never. But she's learning.

Hal: That why she doesn't want to get too close to me?

Maria: What gives you that idea?

Hal: Even with this whole... world... it just sometimes feels like I'm an escape for her.

Maria: Well ... you are. There was some pretty heavy shit going down with her uncle this year and sometimes you just need someone normal to feel normal. But if she's always calling you and you're her only escape ... I'm willing to be it's because she wants you to be more than that. She just doesn’t know how to do it.

Hal: I've wanted her to be it just... always felt like I wasn't allowed to get too close.

Maria: Probably because she was worried about you finding out she was from a zombie apocalypse and not actually socialized like a normal human. Now you know.

Hal: Yeah, now I know. And now I need like... a beer.

Maria: [nods in agreement before getting up and holding out a hand to him] That, I can help you with.

Hal: [and he will take it and get up, and then look at the dust on his hand that transferred to his] This is....

Maria: [gives him a look like don't be gross] It's dirt. From the ground we were just sitting on.

Hal: [nods] Why did the vampire... poof? I thought they just died.

Maria: Vampires turn to dust when they die. Makes for easy clean up.

Hal: I've got a lot to learn, don't I?

Maria: I'm sure Liv will be more than happy to fill you in. If anything, this will probably be safer for you. You'll know how to protect yourself if you need to.

Hal: Yeah. Well, at least that's something I can do. I was always good at sports.

Maria: You're already off to a great start.

Hal: [sighs and rubs at his eyes] How upset is she that I didn't really believe her?

Maria: [she shakes her head] Not as much as you think. I mean ... she hoped that you might not disbelieve her right off the bat, but she knew the odds. She's been around this world long enough to know that much.

Hal: I guess I'll call her.

Maria: Yes. You do that.

Hal: [rubs his neck, reaching for his phone] There... there isn't anything else I should know?

Maria: Do you really want me to tell you or would you rather hear it from her?

Hal: I was just thinking in general. I mean, vampires are real... what about things like Bigfoot? Werewolves? Boogeymen?

Maria: Yes?

Hal: Yeah... a lot to learn.

Maria: [she nods] Yep.

[And eventually she takes him back and he calls up Olivia.]

Hal: [ring ring]

Olivia: [glances down at the caller ID and she hesitates for a moment, before swallowing and putting her phone to her ear] Hey.

Hal: Hey. So, um did you know vampires were real?

Olivia: [it takes her a moment before she actually can come up with a response] What? [not that she didn't know that vampires were real but ... what?]

Hal: Yeah. Maria kinda took me to a graveyard tonight and gave me a lecture.

Olivia: [... oh. concern floods in first because OH MY GOD MARIA YOU EXPOSED HER CLUELESS BOY THING TO A VAMPIRE?!?!] Are you okay?

Hal: After the whole shock and thankfully not breathing in dead vampire dust... yeah.

Olivia: [sighs then pinches her eyes closed] I didn't ask her to do that.

Hal: Yeah, I figured. I think she just was looking out for you and didn't want you getting upset at my not believing you.

Olivia: I don't really blame you for not believing me. I know it sounds insane, and I lived it.

Hal: Yeah. But I believe it now. I mean, it sounds very sucktacular and all, but I get that it's real.

Olivia: How much did she tell you?

Hal: Well, Vampires, boogeymen, werewolves and Bigfoot are real, and that you come from a crazy world where a demonically bioengineered virus wiped out a lot of people.

Olivia: Okay. So ... all generalizations, no details?

Hal: Pretty much.

Olivia: Okay. So ... what do you want to know? I'm not really sure how to do this.

Hal: Well... how about this? You tell me what you want me to know, when you want to tell me... but you don't have to let yourself hide from me stuff?

Olivia: [takes a deep breath then nods] Okay. I can do that.

Hal: [pauses for a moment] Is this stuff why you don't let me really get too close?

Olivia: I just ... don't really know what to tell you? And I don't like lying when I don't have to so ... vague half-truths kind of seemed the way to go.

Hal: Well, you don't have to do that with me anymore.

Olivia: Good. Just ... if it's ever too much at once, just tell me, okay?

Hal: I'm sure you'll know when you see the look in my eyes that I've hit data overload.

Olivia: Yeah, I think I'll be able to figure it out.

Hal: Good. [chuckles a bit] I'm... I'm sorry. About not believing you before.

Olivia: It's okay. It's a lot to hear, let alone believe all at once.

Hal: Well, I'm ready to believe. When you want to tell me.

Olivia: At least my lack of a pop culture education makes sense now.

Hal: Yeah, that it does. [laughs]

Olivia: And probably a lot of other things.

Hal: But we can work on it now.

Olivia: Yeah, we can.

Hal: Good.

Olivia: So I'll see you soon?

Hal: Yeah. I could swing by your place before I go to Boston for the break...

Olivia: I'd have to check with my dad. They don't really like bringing civilians down to the bunker. But you can come to town and we can get a hotel room or something?

Hal: I can do that. Kansas, right?

Olivia: Yeah. Lawrence.

Hal: Cool. I can play with my tickets and try and make a weekend stop there

Olivia: Sounds good. Or you can stop here and I can drive you back?

Hal: All the way to Boston?

Olivia: It'd only take two days. One, if we did a straight shot through and took shifts driving.

Hal: You do realize we do that, my folks are gonna want to meet you. And will probably make you stay for Christmas.

Olivia: [...oh. She hadn't thought of that.] Well ... we don't actually do Christmas, so. If you wanted me to I don't think that would be a problem?

Hal: Okay. Let me talk to my mom. See what she says.

Olivia: [there's a beat] Do you not want me to? [she doesn't think he would have brought it up if he didn't but ... yeah. he now knows exactly what he's getting into and his parents don't]

Hal: Well, I kinda do. I kinda like the idea of it. I know it'll be awkward if they start asking questions, but we can use the road trip to come up with a good working story?

Olivia: Yeah. Sure. Sounds good.

Hal: Awesome. I think you'll have fun.

Olivia: Good. As I said ... never really done Christmas so I'm kinda flyin' blind here.

Hal: I'll help you through it. Now that I know that I need to help explain it in this kind of context, maybe I'll even do a better job at it!

Olivia: [grins at that] Sounds good.

Hal: Awesome. [grins, because yes, this is going good.]

Olivia: Okay. So I'll see you at Christmas.

Hal: Yup. I'll call and let you know my ETA into Lawrence and you can direct me where to go.

Olivia: Perfect. Night.

Hal: Night.

Olivia: [and she'll hang up and we'll skip?]