canon au } { post-1403, of ghosts and not calling

[ohgodwhyme]

Alex: [Claire and the Sheriff were having a lovely night watching a movie and not aware of the drama storm that is coming their way. Poor Claire and Sheriff. They never saw it coming. All of the sudden, the front door swings open and in comes Alex's voice] You're the police officer. You should know that you shouldn't be driving with that arm. I should not have to tell you this.

Jody: I would have been fine. You did not have to cut your shift short.

Alex: Well you wouldn't let me call anyone. You wouldn't even let me call Parrish!

Jody: ... No. I've had enough worried puppy eyes at me for one day. Sam was bad enough.

Sheriff: [hearing them talking about an arm being hurt has him pausing the movie and looking at Claire in confusion. The mention of Sam--which could only be Sam Winchester--had him up on his feet and heading towards them] Do I even want to know?

Jody: [and there is his wife, her arm in a sling, bruises starting to form on her face, and she turns to face him with a sigh] I'm fine.

Sheriff: That is not the definition of fine. [points at her arm] What happened?

Jody: It's a very long story. [and she pauses as Claire comes around the corner, all concerned, and her face falls a little] And I will tell it, but I have to talk to her first.

Claire: ... What did I do?

Sheriff: [crosses his arms, not happy. It's the look aimed at Stiles all the time]

Jody: You didn't do anything. [she slowly eases her way around her not happy husband] I will be right back. You will get your turn, I just ... need to do this before I lose my nerve.

Claire: [it takes her a moment for it to click, because that doesn't make any sense. Then her eyes widen and she doesn't fight as Jody pulls her into another room, and the door closes. There's low voices, that slowly get louder until Claire is Very Upset, and she's storming out of the house to her car and the door closes with a slam]

Alex: [looks at the door, looks at the Sheriff, and holds up her hands] That I know nothing about.

Sheriff: What do you know that you can tell me?

Alex: I know that she came in to the ER with a broken forearm and some bruising, and that the Winchesters were in town and they spent most of the day on the Preserve and she drove herself in.

Sheriff: She never came home last night. I thought she was working a case. Not on a hunt.

Alex: [shrugs] Maybe it was one and turned into the other. That happens a lot with hunts.

Sheriff: Could be one of the reasons Claire was pissed.

Alex: You'll have to ask her for the details. I am going to get some sleep, because I told Melissa I would take her earlybird shift to make up for this. [and with that, she will head up to her room to crash]

Sheriff: Goodnight. [and he will go step into the kitchen to find his wife]

Jody: [and she's sitting at the kitchen table, rubbing her eyes, but she looks up when she hears his footsteps] I'm sorry, about before. I just really needed to talk to Claire.

Sheriff: Yeah, she stormed out of the house. [goes to sit next to her] So tell me what is going on

Jody: [deep breath] So the case I was working? Turns out they were vamp bodies. And they were killed by the same person who killed Kaia. And that person also happens to be another world's version of Kaia. Naturally, you can see why Claire didn't take that well.

Sheriff: [rubs at his eyes] Does that mean this other Kaia is a slayer?

Jody: No. She's ... something else. She's just really good with this meat fork looking spear that caused those puncture wounds I was trying to figure out? Anyway, the boys figured out the spear could hurt Michael, so they were trying to get her to give it to them, and it did not go as they hoped. Some of the vamps that were after her met up with us, and that's how all this - [she gestures to her face and her arm] - happened.

Sheriff: Boys... Sam brought Ben back to town?

Jody: No. Oh! No. They got Dean back.

Sheriff: Oh good. What happened to Michael?

Jody: They don't know. Which is why they were so desperate for the weapon. Knowing Dean, probably trying to get some kind of control over all of this.

Sheriff: Probably. Should I be worried about Claire hunting down this other Kaia?

Jody: I don't know. I haven't heard her car start yet, so she's probably still figuring out what to do.

Sheriff: I can go out and talk to her. You've already been yelled at enough.

Jody: [there's a grateful look, and she nods] She might listen to you more than me anyway.

Sheriff: [nods and gets up] And just because I'm not yelling doesn't mean I'm not angry. But we can talk about all that later.

Jody: I honestly don't blame you. [and with that she will go finish cleaning up and all that jazz]

Claire: [and Jody is right - she's not gone. she's sitting on the hood of her car, staring at her phone and trying to figure out who she actually wants to call]

Sheriff: [and he will stroll out, hands in pockets] I'm pretty sure if I ask you how you are, I already know the real answer.

Claire: [swipes a hand at her cheeks as she looks up. He's not wrong, but she still feels compelled to say:] I'll be okay.

Sheriff: Want someone else to talk to who was left out of the loop?

Claire: [swallows hard] I know she was just trying to protect me. And I also know that when Sam and Dean get involved, things go from zero to sixty pretty quick and if you don't keep up, you're left behind. That's not really the part that's bothering me.

Sheriff: Then what is it?

Claire: [rubs her thumb over the screen] For so long, Kaia's killer was just another monster from that terrible place, and I thought they were out of reach. I knew that if I ever saw it again, it would be the same as any other monster - I'd take it out and move on, and it would finally be done. But now Kaia's killer is also Kaia, and she also didn't mean to kill her because she was actually aiming for me and I just ... don't know what I'm supposed to do with any of that.

Sheriff: Well, I can't really tell what to do. But I can tell you that none of this changes what you had with your Kaia. [goes to lean on the car next to her, just in reach] Maybe you want to get away for a while to clear your head and regather yourself?

Claire: [nods] I was thinking about that. Might go crash on Stiles' couch for a bit. [Liv seems pretty busy in Boston, maybe they can work a few hunts together]

Sheriff: That's a good plan. A lot of crazy things happen in Boston. I'm sure it can distract you.

Claire: [she nods] And if I stay here, I'm going to go looking for her. And I'm not sure that's a good idea.

Sheriff: No, it's not. Let Dean and Sam deal with her for now. They know how you feel.

Claire: [she nods] Don't be too hard on Jody, okay? Once you get sucked into Winchester crap, it's hard to get out again.

Sheriff: Don't we all know that. She was involved with them before she even met me. Until their mom came back, I'm pretty sure Jody was the only person who ever tried to mom them.

Claire: Oh, that's definitely true.

Sheriff: I'm more mad that she didn't call me to let me know she was hurt more than anything.

Claire: Yeah, that I don't have an excuse for.

Sheriff: [and he will reach out to rest an arm across her shoulder] Just make sure you leave us a note about where you're going. And if you don't check in with me once a week, I'll have Stiles bug you. [smiles]

Claire: [she nods with a small smile] Deal.

Sheriff: Want me to make you sandwiches for the road?

Claire: Sure. I gotta go in and pack some stuff anyway.

Sheriff: Any requests?

Claire: [shakes her head] Surprise me. I'm just going to call Stiles. I'll be in in a bit.

Sheriff: Ok. [and he will head inside to make her a travel cooler filled with sandwiches, fruit, her favorite non-alcoholic drinks, and some of her favorite snacks.]

Claire: [best stepdad. And she'll lean back against the windshield and dial Stiles' number]

Stiles: [and he will be asleep because 3 hour time difference, Claire. When he finally slaps the device against his ear, he's mumbling] 'ello?

Claire: Hey, sorry. Did I wake you up?

Stiles: Umhmm. Wha'ime isit.

Claire: [glances at her phone] Really late, sorry.

Stiles: [groans and sits up in bed, rubbing his eyes] Everything ok?

Claire: Yes, in the sense of no one's dead but no in the sense of ... me, I guess. [a beat] I was wondering if I could come crash on your couch for a bit.

Stiles: Yeah, of course. Mi casa su casa.

Claire: Cool. I'm heading out now. Should be there by Thursday but if I'm running behind I'll let you know.

Stiles: Alright. If I'm at work, Cora's here.

Claire: See you then. Go back to sleep.

Stiles: Yeah. night. [and he will hang up and just curl back up in bed]

Claire: [and she will head in to pack her stuff and gather her sandwiches and snacks before hitting the road]

Sheriff: [and he will expect his hug]

Claire: [of course. one good one for the road]

Sheriff: [and he'll tell her to be safe and watch as she drives away]

Claire: [and she will and start heading across the country to Boston]