Title: Back Here At Home

Author: noturbaby

Rating: PG-13
Warnings: none except that its a multi chapter WIP
Fandoms: Buffy the Vampire Slayer/ Supernatural

Summary: Buffy returns to Sunnydale after her summer as Anne in LA with the Winchesters, but being home isn't as easy as she hoped. Trouble still finds her. There's Zombies for one thing, and Synder hasn't even let her into school yet. Sam and Dean help her the best they can. A second part to my story: How I Spent my Summer Vacation

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.

The first few chapters are based on the Buffy Season 3 episode Dead Man's Party.

Oz tugged lightly on Willow's hand getting her attention immediately. "You ready?" he asked.

Willow grinned and nodded. "Xander? Cordelia? It's time."

"I don't understand why I have to be bait," Cordelia whined.

"Because he's seen the rest of us," Xander began, "so you go be 'baity' and we'll take cover."

"Then what?"

"Then the vamp jumps you, kills you, we rejoice, then we stake the vamp."

Cordelia stalked off. "Xander Harris, I'm doing this for Buffy. This has nothing to do with you." She crossed the clearing and was about to take a seat when a vamp, formerly known as Andy Hoelich, appeared.

"Hey, don't I know you?" he rasped at her.

Cordelia blinked in fear before she replied with fake bravado, "Oh, Andy, and to think I used to think you were cute." She looked around in panic, "Guys?"

Oz, Willow, and Xander emerged from their hiding spots. Andy the vamp grabbed Cordelia and threw her into Willow, making both girls collapse. Xander grabbed him from behind, "I got him, someone stake him already!"

Oz approached with stake raised, but Andy was faster. He leaned into Xander, kicked Oz and flipped over Xander. Drawing his lips back in a sneer that revealed his fangs, Andy growled, "Harris, you really think you're a match for me?"

Before Xander could reply, a gunshot was heard and Andy gasped, but didn't fall. Two men rushed into the clearing. One barked, "Get down!" while the other decapitated Andy Hoelich.

The older one looked at the Scooby gang. "You kids get home, now; it's dangerous around here."

"Yeah, what with all the gunfire and the knife play," Xander quipped barely concealing his attitude. "We had it under control."

The other man walked over to Willow and Cordelia and offered each a hand to assist them to their feet. "You two okay?"

Both girls were at a loss for words at first, then Cordelia composed herself enough to answer, "Yes, thanks to you."

The guy smiled. "All in a night's work. But, my dad's right, this is no place for two girls as fine as yourselves." Willow blushed furiously, but Cordelia glowed under the attention.

"Well, we're safe, now," Cordelia purred at him.

The other hunter holstered his gun and did a quick check of the area. "Okay 'Mr. We had it under control', the two of us actually know what we're doing. Why don't you and the romper room set get out of here before anyone gets hurt."

"That's probably not a bad idea," Oz said walking over to Willow and grabbing her hand, effectively staking his claim on her.

"We know what we're doing," Xander said in gruff voice mocking the hunter. "Sure you do. That's why you think bullets can stop a vampire." Xander picked up the stakes Cordelia and Willow had dropped and muttered, "I can't wait for the Slayer to come home so we can finally be rid of these hunters."

"Some aren't so bad," Cordelia said looking back at the younger one and giving him a finger wave.

The next night found the Winchesters patrolling the Restfield Cemetery. At first, Dean had been amused by the idea of killing vampires, but the sheer number of vampires, monsters, and demons in this town shocked him. Had Buffy really been able to keep all of them under control by herself?

Dean wasn't given the chance to ponder his question for long. A slight rustling was the first sign, then three vampires came into view. John's training had prepared Dean for most anything the vampires threw at him, however, their strength surprised him. With both Winchesters occupied with a vampire, the third escaped into the nearby woods. "Which way did he go?" John asked as he finished off his vampire.

Dean shook the 'dust' off himself. "The woods."

"We're going to have to split up. You come across any trouble, you yell, got me?"

"Yes, sir."

"And Dean, shoot first." Dean nodded and in near silence, made his way into the woods. He had only gone about ten yards when he heard a slight commotion ahead. As quietly as he could, he made his way closer, preparing to fire his gun, if needed. A moment later and the woods was silent again. Dean cursed to himself and took one more step. *SNAP* A twig under foot alerted everything to Dean's presence and the woods suddenly became alive with noise.

A second later, Dean was grabbed by the shoulder and tossed into a tree. Adrenaline quickening his reflexes was the only thing bringing his hand up in time to capture the wrist of a girl with a stake in her hand. "Buffy?" he gasped wide-eyed.

"Dean?" Buffy released her hold on him immediately. "What are you doing here?"

Dean looked around for his father. "We came here straight from L.A. When did you get here?" He whispered.

"Today."

"Your watcher know you're back?"

Buffy looked confused. "Yes, I just saw him. Why are we whispering?"

"My dad." Dean listened for a moment. "It wouldn't be good for him to find us out here like this." A distant noise attracted his attention. "Did you see a vampire -"

"Yep, dusted him."

Dean grinned. "Cool. You should go. I'll stop my dad."

Buffy nodded and took a step. "Can you meet me later?" she asked turning back. "Do you know a place called the Bronze?"

"I can find it."

Buffy smiled and ran nearly silently, while Dean called for his father. "Dad! Got him."

It took some convincing, but when Dean threw in the promise to take Sam with him, John allowed them to go to the Bronze. On the drive there, Dean decided to confess to Sam. "You'll never believe who I saw tonight."

"Do I care?" Sam rolled his eyes in disinterest making his brother smirk.

"I don't know if you care or not, but it turns out that Annie the waitress is also Buffy the vampire slayer and she's back in Sunnydale." Dean tried not to laugh at his brother's expression. "She's who were meeting at the Bronze."

Sam saw Buffy the moment she walked in and though she was looking around, she didn't seem to notice them. Her expression went from hopeful to disappointed as she made her way across the room. When she did finally notice the Winchesters, her face broke into a wide smile.

"Hey, you guys, I'm glad you showed."

Sam smiled back. "Yeah, it took some work to convince Dad, but he finally let us out."

Buffy looked around again. "I was hoping my friends would be here. I'd love for them to meet you."

"Do they know you're back?" Dean asked.

"Not yet."

"But you and your friends come here a lot?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, it's our usual hang. Also, kinda the only hang in town, which makes it easy."

Sam grinned at that. "What do your friends look like? Maybe we can help spot them."

"My best friend, Willow has red hair and Xander is tall like you with brown hair. Then there's Oz, Willow's boyfriend, he's shorter, reddish hair and doesn't talk much."

Dean squinted for a moment. "This Oz - is he about this tall and have spikey hair?" Buffy nodded. "And Xander does he have a mouth on him?"

Buffy's eyes were wide. "So you've met?"

Dean tilted his head. "Maybe. We might have met at Restfield cemetery the other day. We were tracking the same set of vampires."

"They were hunting vamps?"

"Yeah and they weren't too bad either, had stakes and crosses and everything."

"Oh god, did they get hurt?"

Dean shook his head. "No, but I don't think they want hunters around."

Buffy made a face at his answer and Sam huffed. "Now that you're back, we'll will be clearing out, won't we?"

Dean shrugged, but Sam knew he was right.

Buffy was taken aback. "Why would you leave already? You guys just moved here."

Since Dean was choosing not to answer, Sam replied. "It's common knowledge that the slayer doesn't like interference from hunters. We're not exactly welcome here."

"What? Who told you that?"

Sam and Dean exchanged looks before Dean asked, "Remember a guy named Cain?"

Buffy groaned. "That guy was a total jerk."

Both Winchesters nodded. "Well, yeah, but he's a jerk with a big mouth. After you sent him packing, he spread the word about you and your watcher hating hunters."

"That's why none of us ever come around. Until you went missing, of course. Now that you're back, hunters will be leaving Sunnydale alone, again." Sam slumped back in his seat. "Man," he whined, "I just signed up for school, too."

Dean rolled his eyes at his brother, but Buffy leaned closer, eagerly. "What if I tell your dad that it was only Cain that I didn't like, or my watcher could tell him. Then you guys could stay, right?"

"No," the brothers said in unison. "Besides if you see our dad, he'll recognize you from L.A. and then we'll catch hell," Dean said earnestly.

Knowing Dean wasn't exaggerating, Buffy nodded. "Sorry." She pouted at Sam. "I hope I didn't screw up your whole school year or anything."

Dean gave each of them a befuddled look before he shook his head. Sam ignored him. "Don't worry about it. It's not the first time I've signed up for a school I'll never attend."

Something caught Dean's attention from across the room. "Well, I'm going to hit the tables." Dean pushed back from the table and leaned into his brother whispering, "Don't be a tool, man. Ask her to dance."

Sam blushed and looked shocked for a minute, but a small shove from his brother shook him from it. He cleared his throat nervously. "So, uh, Buffy, you wanna dance?"

Buffy watched Dean walk away and pretended she didn't witness the brother's whispered exchange and smiled. "Sure, Sam, that'd be fun."

Sam wasn't confident that he was the Winchester Buffy wanted to dance with, but he was grateful for the opportunity. He took a few calming breaths so that Buffy wouldn't notice his nerves. Sam didn't know as much about girls as his brother, but he knew enough to know they didn't like sweaty awkward clumsy guys.

"So Sam, are you going to Sunnydale High? It'd be cool if you could stay long enough for us to have a class together."

"No. My dad enrolled me in Fondorn. The body count at Sunnydale High was too high for him."

Buffy laughed. "Yeah, on top of the hell mouth is not the best location for a school."

"Buffy!"

At the sound of her name, Buffy and Sam stopped dancing and turned. "Willow!"

"Ohmigod, Buffy, it is you!" The two girls hugged, leaving Oz, Xander, and Cordelia staring at an uncomfortable Sam. "When did you get back?"

"Today. It is so good to see you guys!" She pulled Xander and Oz into a tight hug.

"Who's your friend, Buff?" Xander asked as he gave Sam a once over.

Buffy took Sam's hand and grinned. "This is Sam. Sam, these are my friends, Willow, Oz, Xander, and Cordelia."

Sam smiled, "Hi. Nice to meet all of you. Buffy was just telling me about you guys."

Cordelia raised a brow. "Was she now," she appraised Sam then turned to Buffy and in a loud whisper added, "Looks kinda young for you, Buffy."

Buffy noticed Sam's immediate crumble at Cordelia's remark and squeezed his hand in reassurance. "Well, he's younger than the last guy I dated, but who isn't?"

Sam could feel the color rising in his cheeks and was grateful his brother wasn't near, but Buffy was holding his hand and did she really say 'date'?

The gang, plus Sam, made their way to Buffy's table as Cordelia asked, "So were you, like, living in a box, or what?"

Buffy shook her head. "Well, it's a long story."

Xander pushed her arm slightly, "So skip the heartwarming stuff about kindly old people and saving the farm and get right to the dirt. Kick any ass while you were away?" Xander didn't even notice the looks he got from the others.

"Xander!" Willow whispered harshly as she gave a quick look to Sam.

Buffy looked at Sam nervously. "It's okay, Willow, Sam knows. He's a hunter, we kinda met on a job this summer. I was really had to give it up for a while."

"Well, you can leave the slaying to us while you settle in. We got you covered," Xander offered.

"I heard. You guys seem down with the slay-age, all tricked out with your walkies and everything."

Cordelia made a face. "Yeah, but the outfits suck. This whole Rambo thing is so over. I'm thinking more sporty, like Hilfiger maybe."

"Still, we were getting good. We dusted nine out of ten," Willow said with a smile.

Oz whispered to Willow, "Six out of ten."

Willow shrugged, "Six out of ten."

"That's still really good," Sam said looking as impressed as he sounded.

While the others beamed in his remark, Cordelia craned her neck to see something across the room. "Hey, guys, isn't that the hunter from the other night? You know the one who put down Andy?"

Everyone at the table, except Sam, turned to see. Sam sighed knowing she was talking about Dean. "Yeah, that's him," Xander grumbled.

"That's my brother, Dean."

Without his knowledge, Sam's value just rose in Cordelia's mind. "Well, you should invite him over, introduce us."

"Yeah, sure." Sam turned and watched with the others as Dean missed an easy shot in his game of pool. "I should let him finish his game, though."

"You'd be doing him a favor if you stopped him," Xander laughed. "He's terrible." He noticed that Cordelia's attention was focused acutely on the hunter. "Maybe I should go teach him how to play."

"No!" Sam asserted a bit too loudly. "Trust me, Dean doesn't 'suck' at pool," he whispered, "he's hustling that guy." The others immediately turned towards the table again. "He lets them win a couple games, then begs to 'try to win his money back' and suddenly he can play like a pro."

"Ooh, a bad boy, huh?" Cordelia purred as she stood from her stool. "I think I'll go see just how bad he is."

Buffy and Willow rolled their eyes, but Xander became infuriated. He may not be with Cordelia anymore, but her hooking up with a hunter, a criminal, well, that was just not to be tolerated. "Cordelia, you heard Sam. Don't go bother that guy while he's scamming some poor schmuck."

"Don't worry, Xander, Dean won't think I'm a bother." Cordelia stood and smoothed out her clothes and strolled toward the pool tables.

Dean and his competitor had just begun another game, when Cordelia approached. Leaning against one of the support poles, she was sure to keep in Dean's eye line. While the other guy broke, Dean's eyes were on Cordelia's. Figuring he was going to get lucky in more ways than one, Dean won the game quickly

Once the other guy handed him a few folded bills, Dean looked over at Cordelia with an invitation in his eyes. "Hi."

"Hi yourself, that was some game." She walked over to him, bit her lip and said, "Maybe you could teach me how to play."

"I wouldn't mind teaching you anything, beautiful."

"Cordelia." She held out her hand.

"Dean." He leaned down to kiss it, then continued to hold it while he asked, "Do you really want to play pool or would you rather dance?"

"Is this guy for real?" Xander groaned as he watched Dean kiss Cordelia's hand.

"Yeah, my brother is quite the player. He thinks he's god's gift to women."

With a hand on the small of her back, Dean led Cordelia to the small dance floor and asked, "This isn't a line, but have I seen you before?"

Cordelia smiled and ducked her head coyly. "Yes. You saved me from that vampire in Restfield the other night."

Dean groaned to himself and removed his hand. If she was the girl from the cemetery that meant she was Buffy's friend. "Oh, so you're friends with Buffy."

"Well, I wouldn't call us friends, exactly. We go to school together but-"

Dean cut her off. "Well, sweetheart, it kills me to say this, but I'm not having anything to do with someone that's friends with her."

Cordelia's annoyed huff was her only response as Dean walked away.

"Well, Buffy, your overwhelming lack of social value continues to cause unbelievable side effects," Cordelia said as she returned to the table.

"What do you mean, Cordelia?"

"Hotty McHotterson turned me down, ME, because of you. Because I know you." Cordelia narrowed her eyes. "Seems just knowing you is like wearing a loser stamp on my forehead. Couldn't you stay gone just a little longer?"

"Cordelia!" Xander and Willow scolded in unison while Buffy swallowed down her hurt feelings.

"Thanks, Cordelia, it's good to know somethings never change," Buffy replied quietly feeling as low as Cordelia had hoped. She stood and looked towards the door.

Seeing Buffy was looking to leave, Sam spoke up. "Dean wouldn't say that. Or if he did, it's not what you think."

Cordelia returned an angry glare at Buffy. "Fine, then, I'm leaving before your loserness wears off on me."

Buffy sighed and slouched back in her seat. Sam looked from Buffy to the others and back. "Wow and she's your friend?"

Buffy's face lightened a bit. "More of an acquaintance really."

"Cordelia's an acquired taste." Xander added.

"You would know, you dated her," Buffy reminded him.

"I was a slave to my hormones," Xander said in his own defense.

Sam could appreciated Cordelia's attraction, but that made him confused. "My brother usually is, too. I wonder why he didn't jump at a chance to be with Cordelia."

"Maybe he saw her inner bitch," Xander offered as an explanation

Buffy looked over to where Dean was flirting with a girl Buffy recognized as having graduated the past spring. She also remembered that the girl was nearly as self-centered as Cordelia. It made her wonder the real reason behind Dean's aversion to Cordelia.

The next morning Buffy and Joyce were sharing a slightly uncomfortable breakfast. Both had been accustomed to being alone and they found it awkward to move around each other. Buffy idly picked up a wooden mask she found laying on the kitchen island. "What's this?"

"A Nigerian folk art mask," Joyce answered as she poured Buffy a glass of juice. "I'm going to hang it upstairs."

Buffy made a face. The mask wasn't something she'd want to see on a daily basis. "Oh, uh, that's nice?"

"You have no appreciation for art," Joyce said with a condescending shake of her head. "I have book club tonight, so we'll have an early dinner."

"Book club? That's new."

"Yeah, it helped me get my mind off of -" Joyce stopped herself. She didn't mean that she hadn't been thinking about her daughter, but Buffy expression told her that's what Buffy was thinking. "I met a lot of interesting people and made some new friends." She smiled hopefully at Buffy. "I had a thought. What if I invited Willow and Mr. Giles and everybody over for dinner tomorrow night? Don't you think that would be nice?"

Buffy took a big bite of toast instead of answering.

Joyce took a fortifying breath. "Since I sort of already did, I was hoping for a yes."

Buffy looked up at her mom and gave her a little smile and a nod. "It'll be fun." She placed her cup and plate by the sink.

Joyce smiled, relieved that her daughter wasn't against the idea of party. "What are you going to do today?"

Buffy shrugged. "I really should see Mr. Giles and find out if there's any slayer type stuff I should be doing. You know, work before play and all that."

Joyce smiled. "Of course, Buffy. That's very responsible of you."

As she waited for Giles to pick her up, Buffy played with the Nigerian mask, spinning it on the counter. "What is that you're toying with, Buffy?" Giles asked as Joyce walked him into the room.

"It's a piece from the gallery," Joyce answered. "Authentic Nigerian folk art. Isn't it lovely? I'm thinking of hanging it in my room since Buffy doesn't care for it."

Giles forced a smile. "Yes, quite." Joyce gave Buffy an 'I told you so' look. "Well, Buffy, ready to get started?"

"Lead the way, Giles."

Buffy paused as Joyce kissed her on the top of her head. "Be careful, dear."

Buffy sat on Giles's couch and listened as he told her the requirements for returning to school. "And finally, you'll have to pass all your exams from last semester."

Buffy groaned. "That's a lot of cramming to be done in just a few days. I guess my mom's going to have to cancel the little party she had planned."

"No, why would she do that? I'm sure Willow and the others would be more than happy to help you prepare," Giles said, hoping to assure her.

"Right," Buffy scoffed. Willow seemed more interested in hanging with Oz than with catching up with her. That left Xander and Cordelia, one hated her and the other wasn't much better at school than she was. Then Buffy was struck with an idea; maybe she could help a friend stay in town while helping herself. "You haven't told the hunters to leave town, yet, have you?"

Giles adjusted his glasses. "Not all of them, why?"

Buffy grinned. "Because I know one that might be able to help me."