Damon's face instantly turned into a frown, his gaze darting between the strangers that looked like they'd just stepped out of a lumberjack ad and the witch. Without further hesitation, he stepped slightly in front of Alex, positioning himself between her and the two men. "They said they were family. Do I need to turn them into a meal instead?"
Alex shook her head at the ridiculous vampire. "Really, Day? That's all it takes for you to lead trouble to my door? Just say family and boom, you're happy to lead them to their next victim?" Alex smacked him in the arm, though there was no malice behind it. "Have you looked at where we live lately?"
"So, meal or no meal?" Damon glanced over to her, pointing between the two men.
Alex gave him a small laugh. "As much as I appreciate the threatening gesture, no, no meals out of these two. They're-" She couldn't bring herself to call them family. Even if that's what they had claimed to Damon. "They're friends from a past life." She put a reassuring hand on Damon's arm as she stepped up beside him to face the two flannel clad giants who currently looked offended but also completely confused at Damon's calling them meals.
Damon laid a hand over hers that still lightly gripped his arm, his eyes asking if she was all right. Was she all right? She honestly didn't know. Her brain was running wild, still trying to figure out what the hell kind of twisted reality fate had thrown at her this time. That's what she gets for thinking the bitch called Fate was on her side this time.
Damon leaned his head down to hers, his voice just a whisper, "And there's that second hamster." Standing back up straight, he turned his head to address the group as a whole. "How about we move this little unexpected reunion inside and away from prying eyes?"
"Uh, yeah. That's a good idea," Sam spoke up. At the sound of his voice, Alex couldn't stop her eyes from snapping to meet his. It had been so long since she'd heard the voice of Sam Winchester. Despite the past, it made her heart happy to hear him again. He looked like he hadn't changed one bit. But then again, in their world she'd only been gone a month or two. Her face broke out into a sad smile as her eyes threatened to glisten. Clearing her throat, she waved toward the shop's door. "Um, yeah. Come on in." She quickly opened the door and made her way in, turning her head down, doing her best to avoid eye contact with the other brother who hadn't stopped staring at her since she'd answered the door.
Leading the three men into the shop, she gestured for them to sit in the leather chairs while she flipped on a couple of the lamps littering the space. She chose to seat herself in the stool behind the counter. Rather than sitting with Sam and Dean by the chairs, Damon followed her behind the counter, choosing to remain standing. He kept himself situated between the boys and Alex. Sweet vampire.
After glancing between the two parties, Damon turned to the cabinet behind Alex. "I feel like whatever this is is going to require a drink. Gentleman?" He offered up a bottle of amber liquid as he pulled out several glasses.
Dean cleared his throat before answering, his voice cautious. "Uh, yeah. A drink sounds great right now, thanks."
As Damon poured and distributed the drinks, Sam finally asked the question that Alex had seen his brain churning over as he accepted the drink from Damon. "Uhm, I noticed that he called you Winchester when he knocked on the door." Alex met Sam's puppy dog eyes.
Clearing her throat, Alex played with her glass that rested on the counter. "Uh, yeah. I needed to change it a while back. The reputation of Alex Milligan was becoming a little too well known. Guess Winchester was the only name I could think of at the time." She gave a small shrug with her answer.
Damon spun back to face her as he placed the bottle of liquor back in the cabinet. "Milligan? That's your real last name?" Damon frowned at the news.
"Yeah." Alex dragged the word out, not sure if she should be worried where Damon was taking this.
"Well, if you're that powerful witch, princess, where the hell have you been this whole time? We could've used your help." Damon's question was one of curiosity rather than offense. He resumed his nonchalant stance of leaning back against the wall as he swirled the drink in his hand.
Alex made a laughing sound at the back of her throat. "Uh, I'm sorry, but last i checked, teenage drama is not my department. Your problems are not my problems. At least not yet. If you keep doing stupid things that could get you killed, then we will have a problem."
Dean spoke up, starting to feel lost in the whole conversation. "So you know she's a witch?"
Damon gave the flannel clad man a confused look. "Yeah."
"And you're good with that?"
Damon gave Alex a look that said, 'What's with this guy?' before answering Dean. "Why wouldn't I be?" His voice carried a tone that was calling Dean an idiot.
Alex sighed, pointing to each person respectively. "Vampire, witch, hunter. Hunters don't get along with witches. Vampires are more likely to accept witches."
Sam and Dean sat up straight at her identifying Damon as a vampire. Damon gave her a look that asked if she was crazy for telling hunters he was a vampire. She knew they weren't dumb. They might be from another world, but she knew Dean's infamous gut would kick in with a hunch at some point and he'd somehow, some way, make the discovery on his own. She felt it better to grab the bull by the horns so to speak.
"So you're just making friends with all the freaks?" Dean asked. And there it was. Alex's eyes snapped to his, an angry fire beginning to stir in them. She felt Damon tense next to her. "I'm a freak, remember?"
Sam spoke up, lifting a hand in an attempt to maintain some peace amongst the group. "Alex, that's not what he meant."
"Yes it is." Alex's eyes stayed pinned on Dean as she answered. Dean rubbed a hand over his mouth, having the decency to look ashamed at what he'd just said. Damon stood up straight, loudly setting his glass on the counter next to Alex's. "I'm sorry, who the hell are you again?" Alex couldn't help the warm feeling in her chest at Damon standing up in her defense.
The difference in situations between the two hunters and the vampire was ironic. While she had believed the hunters were trustworthy, they'd turned on her. Meanwhile, the supposed monster of a vampire had come to her defense without hesitation and praised her for what she was. She gently grabbed Damon's arm and pulled him back towards her as she introduced the two men by their full name.
Damon gave a light laugh at the names she gave them. His face turned into a questioning scowl when the boys just simply waved with tight grins. "Wait, you're serious?" He turned back to Alex.
"Yup."
"But they're not real. They're characters in a book. You're characters in a book."
"I'd say we're pretty friggin' real. Unless you wanna believe you're talking to a couple of hallucinations." Dean took a sip of his drink, enjoying the bite it offered. "We're real, just happen to be on the wrong world right now."
Damon looked at Alex who nodded in confirmation. "So all the times you said you were from another world..." he trailed off.
"Yup. I was telling the truth." She gave a small shrug and smile to the vampire.
Damon only gave a 'huh' in response before picking up his glass and taking a drink. The look he gave her told her he'd quickly accepted it all. It seemed slightly strange to her to have someone take what she said at face value and not question any of it, or throw it back in her face in judgement.
"Can we back up for second?" Sam questioned, scooting forward in his seat. Alex knew that look. Sam was going into researcher mode. He had heard something exciting and now needed answers. "You're a vampire?" He pointed to Damon who gave him a look that clearly said he thought the man to be deaf or something.
"Depends. Are you going to hunt me?" It was a reasonable question. Alex didn't wait for the boys to come up with an answer. "No, they're not. Not while they're on our world." She gave the boys a look that dared them to cross her. But even as she meant every word she'd said, she hadn't missed the sad look that crossed their eyes when she had called this world hers.
Dean raised the glass up to his lips, pausing before taking a sip. Giving a small shake of his head, he let out a humorless chuckle. "Different world vampire. Does that mean he's gonna go all Edward Cullen and get sparkly?"
"Can we maybe keep it quiet on the vampire thing? I don't know what it's like back on your world, but people here tend to not look favorably on supernatural creatures." Damon finished off his drink before pulling out the bottle to pour himself some more. Alex would need to restock her liquor stash. Again. Damn vampires. Damon offered a refill to Dean, who stood to accept it. Damn Winchester.
"Oh, it's the same on our world. It's things like vampires that keep us hunters busy. Do you guys go bat shit crazy and drain innocent people here too?" Dean asked, nodding a thanks to Damon for the refill before pausing to shake his head in disbelief that a vampire just served him a drink while he talked about hunting them. Alex wanted to laugh at that. Instead she ignored the inferred insult and gave her attention to Sam's next question.
"So vampires and witches exist in this world?"
"Yes, and werewolves." Alex knew how Sam's mind worked. It was something new, something unknown and his brain wouldn't give him a break until he had the answers he sought. Sam nodded in understanding. It made sense, as both worlds were familiar with the supernatural.
Damon raised his glass to point at the hunters as something occurred to him. "But silver doesn't hurt them." He shot Alex a proud smug look.
Sam and Dean both gave Alex a shocked look. She just held her hands up in a shrug. "It's a different world, guys. Different rules."
"So how do you kill them?" Sam's glass of liquor now sat untouched on the table beside him as his nerd side took over.
"I've found that ripping their hearts out works pretty well." Damon gave Alex a side eyed glance as he sipped his drink. She was fully aware of what Damon had done with the werewolf he'd encountered a week or so ago. She had berated him for ruining the rug. It was a nice rug.
"How do you kill a vampire then?" Dean, having returned to his seat, asked this question. "Does chopping their heads off not work?"
"I find that chopping off anybody's head would kill them." Damon responded coldly before Alex could.
Alex rolled her eyes at Damon. Obviously, in this world, a good old fashioned stake to the heart would work, but she wasn't about to hand that information about her close friend over to the two hunters. They may be acting on their best behavior, but she hadn't missed the way Dean had tensed when she called Damon a vampire, or the masked worried look Sam had cast between her and Damon.
"What about ghosts or demons? Are the rules different for those too?" Sam again.
Damon leaned his head forward as if he'd heard the giant wrong. "The what now?"
Alex laughed. If it wasn't for Chuck's Supernatural book series popping up over here, she probably would've forgotten all the terrors they faced on the other world. "We've got witches, vampires, werewolves, and the occasional ghost. But those are pretty rare and nothing like what you've got back home." Alex looked up in thought as she continued. "Hybrids, I guess, but I've only ever heard of one."
Damon broke in at this, "That's a myth."
"Ummm, no it's not."
Damon gave her a look of disbelief. "What the else you been keeping from me, princess?"
Alex picked up her glass and took a sip to hide her smile. "You don't ask, I don't tell."
"I think you and I need to have a talk after this." Alex couldn't hide the giant smile that formed in response to Damon's sarcastically evil smirk and raised eyebrow.
"I'm sorry, but what the hell is a hybrid?" Alex looked to Dean in amusement. She wanted to make sure she saw the look on his face at that answer. "It's a vampire werewolf combo." Yup, not disappointed. Alex wanted to laugh at his reaction.
"Wait, so you're saying you don't have demons? Angels?" Sam looked between Damon and Alex as he listed off their monsters, his eyes widening in disbelief as they shook their heads no at each one. "Djinn? Ghouls? Leviathans? Changelings? Shapeshifters?" Alex couldn't help the smile that lifted her lips when she saw the confused and slightly horrified look Damon gave her as Sam continued listing monsters. "Killer clowns?" Damon let out a laugh at that one before asking his own question for Alex. "What the hell kind of world did you come from, Ally?" Huh. She kinda like that nickname. It was sweet.
"If that's true," Dean said as he stood up and walked over to the round rug that sat by the entrance. Kicking it over to reveal the devil's trap, he looked at Alex. "Then why put this here?" He reached up and grabbed the mesh bag that rested over the door, inspecting it before holding it up in question. "Or this? Or does your magic mojo have different rules here too?"
Alex walked around the counter, up to Dean, and grabbed the bag from his hands before putting it back above the door. "Magic has some different properties here, but superstitions are just as prevalent here as in your world." Making sure the rug was back over the devil's trap she turned to face Dean head on. He may have a good half a foot in height on her, but she wasn't afraid to challenge him.
Damon spoke up, breaking the rising tension in the room. "And what is all that?"
Dean answered him, his attention staying on Alex. "Devil's trap. Traps demons in our world. Above the door is the Devil's Shoestring plant. Supposed to keep hell hounds at bay."
Damon turned to look at Sam, who just nodded in confirmation.
"I guess old habits die hard." Alex dropped her hands to her side and returned to her stool behind the counter, Damon resuming his spot beside her. She raised her glass and finished off her drink, feeling a sense of comfort and safety as Damon absentmindedly began rubbing a hand up and down her back.
"Old habits and superstition?" Dean, dropping his hands by his side, strode over to the counter, his height and giant of a presence causing Alex to reflexively lean back slightly into Damon's side. "Or are you trying to ward off who sent you here in the first place?"