Chapter Text
Wendy wasn't surprised to find her father gone when she returned home. She knew deep down their previous conversation may be their last for the foreseeable future. But what did surprise Wendy was the short handwritten note that had been neatly placed on the dining table. Wendy picked it up tentatively scanning the words for fear of a continuation of her and her fathers earlier argument.
"Wendy, I'll be gone by the time you read this." Wendy couldn't help but read the note aloud, a desperate attempt to fill the silence of the house around her. "I have gone to visit your Uncle up north. The boys and I are going to stay there until it's safe for me to bring them home. I can't have them in a town where they're constantly in danger. I wish you'd come with us, but I understand why you have to stay. I wish it didn't have to be you, I wish you could have had a normal life, but you can't and I will never forgive this world for doing that to you. But I know you Wendy, I know that you are the toughest of all the Corduroys and I know that if there's lives needing saving, you'll do your best to save them. Remember that no matter where you go, I'll always be your father and I'll always do my best to help you. Lots of love Dad. P.S. Give them hell sweetheart."
Wendy didn't know when she started crying, but as she felt her body overcome with sobs she knew she had to leave. Get out the house, for an hour, a day, a week, she wasn’t sure but she needed out.
Tambry felt the punches rain down on her and did nothing. She watched the fury in her redheaded friends eyes as she let out punch after punch. Tambry could feel the dull ache of her arms as Wendy slammed her fists into the arm guards. It stayed this way for several minutes until Wendy let out a particularly haphazard punch and nearly collapsed to the floor.
"Woah there Corduroy. I think that's enough combat training for one day, don’t you think?"
The glare Wendy shot Tambry made the vampire pause for a second. "I can't stop Tambry. I have to train, I have to stop them, make this place safe for everyone." Tambry could hear her friends voice shake as she clenched and unclenched her hands.
"Then we'll train, just enough with the punching okay?" Tambry smiled at her friend before going to sit on the floor in front of her. "Now come, sit across from me." Tambry watched the girl sit down across from her with a half-hearted grunt of displeasure.
"What do you know about vampiric thrall." Tambry's voice was matter of fact, hiding the waves of excitement she was feeling.
"It's like mind control, some vampires can influence peoples thoughts make them do what they want. Like a Jedi mindtrick."
Tambry let out a chuckle, "yeah like a mindtrick," Tambry quickly tucked her hair behind her ears, making sure nothing was blocking her eyes from Wendy. "I'm going to try and put you in my thrall, okay Wendy?" Tambry watched her friend gulp then nod her head steeling herself for whatever came next.
Wendy felt the thrall hit her like a tone of bricks. As she stared into Tambry's eyes she felt her entire body surge with a new found energy and when Tambry spoke it was like the first drops of rain in a desert.
"Wendy, I want you to think of all that you want. All the things you've ever wanted, wealth, fame, love, power. I can give you all of it, all I want is one thing, does that sound fair."
"I'll give you anything," Wendy felt the words tumble from her mouth before she could stop herself, her hands clenching and unclenching in her lap.
"All I want, is for you to picture what you want most, to hold it in your mind, can you do that?"
It was like a series of small explosions went off behind Wendy's eyes. Her brain was assailed with a barrage of images of roaming hands and fevered kisses. Of finally feeling wanted, of not being alone, of not carrying this burden alone.
"Now you've got that picture, you need to hold onto it Wendy, you need to focus on the fact that I can't give you that. That my thrall has no power to give you what you want."
Wendy kept focusing on the images flashing in her mind, of being safe and secure. Of having somewhere to go at the end of the day where she doesn’t have to worry about being a saviour. And as she focused she felt the thrall fade. She felt its pull wane as the deep haze in her mind cleared and suddenly she was just sat there, across from her friend, brutally aware of just how alone she was. Her chest gave out a dull ache, for the life she didn’t have, for the world where her mother hadn't died, where her father had stayed, where Dipper trusted her, where Tambry wasn't cold to the touch.
"I don’t want to be alone anymore Tambry," Wendy's voice was barely audible, her eyes downcast, refusing to look at her friend.
"You don’t have to be alone Wendy, you've got us." A soft voice drifted to her from the doorway and she caught sight of a very anxious looking Dipper Pines, his hand absentmindedly fiddling with a belt loop. "We'll always be here, if you want us?" His eyes were wide and questioning, walking towards the two girls in the centre of the room.
Wendy felt her heart stop, just for a second before her mind flashed with confusion desperately searching for answers to questions she didn't know she had.
"I don't understand?" Wendy said, clambering to her feet.
"I love you Wendy," Tambry spoke from the floor next to her, looking up at her with wide eyes. "So does dork patrol over there, if he could muster up the courage to say it. We love you, and we hate to see you hurt. We know you have the world on your shoulders, we just want to help carry it with you."
"I don't." Wendy stuttered, her mind crashing with images again. Of sitting in cold hospital rooms, listening to heartrate monitors. Of sitting on the couch in a house empty for the first time ever. "Why? Why me?"
This caused her friends to smile, deep smiles layered with so much love it felt almost alien to Wendy. "It couldn't be anyone else."
They talked it over during dinner, Tambry cooked up two delicious steaks, while Dipper helped prepare some vegetables. It was a long process, lots of discussion about comfort levels and the two's desire for Wendy to be safe, happy and accepted. Wendy felt a strange warmth in her gut, a pulsing feeling of pure unfiltered love. As she sat curled up on the sofa between the two, head on Tambry's shoulder, hand in Dipper's who absentmindedly fiddled with her fingers, Wendy felt at peace for the first time since finding out she was the slayer. She understood now, what she was fighting for, why she had to win, nothing was taking this away from her.