Ok guys, so this is just a fic set in my own timeframe, probably in the middle of Iron Kissed, but maybe not. It's post Littleton, and as if she never kills Andre. Anyway, it's about Mercy and Adam. And, of course, examples of her friendship with Warren and Kyle, and others.

Disclaimer: I don't own Mercy, Sam, Warren, Kyle, Adam (unfortunately, but a gal can dream, right?), or any other characters you might recognize from the books.

I haven't read Bone Crossed, all of Iron Kissed,or any books that come after it, so forgive me my mistakes.

Written 3rd person instead of 1st like the books are.

Mercy and company all somewhat O/C. Yes, I know Mercy isn't as maternal or cute as I make her out to be, but that's what O/C means.

"A vampire, a werewolf, a mechanic, and a lawyer watching Scooby Doo." Kyle laughed, playing idly with Warren's hair without moving anything but his arm.

"A vampire with a Scooby Doo figure in his car." Mercy added, poking Stefan's arm.

"You got it for me." Stefan countered, returning the poke.

"That's true."

The vampires had admitted their existence a few months ago, and, though they weren't publicly accepted, Kyle, used to the weirdness of Tri-Cities by now, was perfectly comfortable having Stefan sitting the easy-chair next to his couch.

"Not enough half naked guys in this movie, though." Warren sighed, turning his head to kiss Kyle's hand.

"We'll fix that after these two go home." Kyle murmured. Mercy flicked the back of his head where it rested in her lap.

"Not like Queen of the Damned." She agreed. Then, turning to Stefan, "I thought that might be offensive."

"At least in Queen of the Damned they capture the sexiness of vampires. I guess Dracula did the same though, huh?"

"Not Bella Lugosi?" Mercy checked, looking at him with feigned worry.

"No! God no… The '92 remake."

"Oh, Gary Oldman?"

"Yeah. I try to avoid dressing like him, but Andre makes up for it…"

The timer in the kitchen dinged, and Kyle got to his feet. "Who wants brownies?"

"What is it with you and brownies?" Mercy laughed as she raised her hand.

Kyle shrugged as he left the room. "I like chocolate."

Mercy threw a pillow at the door after him, calling, "You're no werewolf! You're gonna get fat when you hit fifty!" Kyle's warm laugh drifted back to them, but he didn't reply.

As their sensitive ears picked up the oven opening, and the baking pan sliding on the metal rack, Mercy's phone rang from her pocket, the YMCA song as irritating as ever as she grabbed it from her pocket.

"Yeah?" She answered, not really paying attention.

"Mercy," Adam's voice snapped her eyes away from the TV, and she stood quickly to leave the room, jogging halfway up the stairs as he continued, "Where exactly…?"

"Am I?" She finished.

"Yes."

"At Kyle's with Warren and our favorite vampire."

"Movie night?" He asked skeptically.

"Mm-hmm."

There was silence, during which she assumed he was listening for the movie. "Scooby Doo? Really?"

"No using werewolf-hearing on my personal business." She hissed jokingly.

"Fine. I need a favor."

"What's that?"

"I need you to babysit Jesse."

"Jesse's home?"

"Yeah, just flew in this afternoon. I need you to come over. I have… Business, to take care of."

"Hauptman Security business, or werewolf business?"

"Werewolf business." He sounded tired. It scared her.

"I'll be right over." She hung up quickly, and returned to the living room.

"I gotta go, guys." She sighed, throwing an arm around Stefan's shoulders.

"Oh. Well, bye then." Stefan and Warren both rose quickly, having been raised in a time when men got their asses up when a woman entered a room.

"Bye." She grabbed her purse off the floor, stretching up on her toes to kiss Warren's cheek. "You be gentle with him tonight. He's only human." She laughed, her eyes darting toward the kitchen.

"I've been careful thus far, honey." He kissed her forehead gently.

"Stefan, do you need a ride?"

"No thanks. I have a while before sunup."

"Ok." She kissed his cheek in turn. "See you guys next Friday?"

"Sure thing." Warren agreed.

"Kay. Bye." She gave a small wave and jogged down to the kitchen to say goodbye to Kyle.

"I'm out." She said pleasantly, leaning against the doorframe.

"Aw man, you sure you gotta go?" He asked, turning.

"Yeah. Sorry. I gotta babysit Jesse." She ran a hand through her loose hair, leaving it messier than it started.

He sighed. "Ok." Kyle crossed the room in a few strides and pulled her into a quick hug.

"See you next week."

"Bye Mercy." He kissed her cheek softly, and she smiled.

"You're lucky I'm a chick. Warren might rip me to shreds."

"I'm lucky I'm gay, or Adam might rip me to shreds."

She nodded. "True. Have fun tonight with Warren." He flashed his lovely grin, and she returned the smile, turning and heading for the door.

A/N – Yeah, so that's chapter 1. All reviews appreciated! Thanks guys!

Chapter 2

"I'm here, where's the fire?" Mercy asked, letting herself into Adam house.

"Hey Mercy!" Jesse greeted, running up to hug her friend. Somewhere since Mercy had last seen her, Jesse had let the dye grow out of her hair, leaving it to its natural chestnut.

"And there's the fire!" Mercy laughed, doing her best sports announcer impression.

"Dad ran out right after he called you. Said to tell you thanks and he should be back soon. He left stern instructions, too."

"Uh oh." Mercy gave an exaggerated groan as they made their way to the living room.

Jesse deepened her voice in a mocking imitation of her father. "There will be no hunting of demons, no crossing of vampires, no dying of hair, no burning down of the house, and if my TV is on some shitty soap opera when I get home, tell Mercy I'll kick her ass into whatever century in which I die."

Mercy gave her a skeptical look. "Your father used the words 'shitty' and 'ass' in the same sentence."

"Yes ma'am."

Mercy laughed sitting on the couch and pulling Jesse down beside her while hiding her discomfort. "The man has no faith."

"Or, as he might better understand, 'that man hath no faith of which to speakith.'"

"The '50s were different than Shakespeare, Jess!"

"Sorry. The point is, my father is a lot older than meets the eye, and is a suspicious and overprotective bastard."

"Aw, I love that you love your dad."

"Yes, yes I do."

They fell to silence for a while after Mercy flicked on the TV and carefully set it to a soap opera that neither of them cared about, but would annoy the shit out of Adam.

"Hey," Mercy said after a while, "You should come over tomorrow. Your father has to pay me somehow, and nothing satisfies like messing up that car more."

"Oh, yeah, I'll help with that. We could spray Wolf's Bane on the side. Or better yet, just paint on a bunch of random things, and then take out one door and punch out a window. That'd just about toss him in the river."

Mercy laughed. "That it would. If I got a few mallets, we could dent up the whole thing, too."

"And then throw it to the scrap yard for a nickel an ounce?" Adam asked the doorway. Mercy jumped, not having heard him come in. Which was weird.

"Hey, look, the Big Bad Wolf is home." Mercy joked, standing and stretching with her hands clasped behind her head.

"And his daughter's hair is still its rightful shade. What did you do? Chain her to the wall?"

"Not quite. Talking about torturing you keeps her pretty quiet."

Adam's bright expression never fell, but he squeezed his eyes briefly shut. "Mercedes, please dump that car in the river?"

"No. And don't pull the full-name crap either. I'm not pack, it doesn't work."

Adam rolled his eyes. "Fine. Another day, another eyesore." He turned his attention to Jesse. "It's just about time for you to hit the sack, kiddo." His eyes darted to the stairs. "Go."

Jesse shook her head, glancing at Mercy. "I'll be over at lunchtime?"

"You got it." Mercy confirmed, giving the younger girl a pat on the shoulder that served to send Jesse on her way.

"So," Mercy asked, taking one of the easy chairs in the corner after flipping off the TV, "What do you need?"

"What?"

"You don't kick her out unless you need to talk. What happened?"

"Nothing big, just a lone wolf traipsing about in Kennewick." He dropped onto the couch, his eyes tired.

"It was a big deal." At his puzzled expression, she explained, "You swore in front of Jesse before I got here. In your time, men didn't swear at women, and you usually don't unless you're really miffed at someone."

He snorted. "Mechanics don't say 'miffed,' Mercy."

"They do when they were raised by people several hundred years old."

"Ok, I'll grant you that."

"You just wanted to talk, didn't you?" She asked gently.

"Hmm?"

"Jesse's a teenager. You didn't need someone to babysit. You needed someone to talk to. So what's wrong?"

Adam sighed, running his hands over his face in a rare gesture of exhaustion.

"Come here." He motioned to the place on the sofa next to him, and she changed seats quickly and without question. "I'm worried, Mercy." He admitted, as if confessing to some great sin. "I'm worried for Jesse."

"Why?"

"She's almost college age. Once she turns eighteen, she's not mine to protect anymore. Not from the world, and not from the pack. And then to think of dragging Gabriel along for the ride… He's a great kid, Mercy, but he's too innocent. He doesn't have a clue what he's getting himself into. There are only two things on this earth that make me lose control, and he's meddling with both of them."

"Jesse, and…?"

"You, Mercedes. You don't think I tense up when I see you two so close at the garage? You don't think the wolf wants to kill him every time he's in a room with either of you girls? It's not safe for him, messing with you two."

"Adam, Gabriel would never hurt Jesse. Only in part because he knows what the consequences would be. He really cares about her. As for the pack, they all love and respect her too, even once she turns eighteen. As for me, I'm a pain-in-the-ass who can take care of herself."

That got her a wan smile. "So you admit to being a pain-in-the-ass?"

"I never said I wasn't."

"I'm pretty sure you did once. When you first put the car out."

"Yeah I did, huh? Well, I've come to terms with my inner bitch."

He laughed. "Mercy, I need to explain something to you. I know you love tormenting me, and I hate your slimy guts for it, but you are my pain-in-the-ass. You know that, right?"

She smiled wryly. "I know." She pulled herself to her feet. "It's late, and I have to get up tomorrow to prep the Rabbit."

"One of these days, I'm gonna go tear that thing to shreds." Adam sighed, following her example and standing.

"Well, until then." She gave a left-handed solute, and started to the door.

Adam caught her arm before she left the room, turning her back to face him. He kissed her forehead softly, pulling back to look her in the eye. She didn't look away. "Get rid of that car, Mercy."

"Icicle's chance in hell. It's the only leverage I have."

He smiled. "That's my coyote-girl." He brushed his lips softly against hers, so quickly she wondered if it had really happened, and then released her arm. "Go home, Mercedes." She might have imagined it, but his voice sounded lower, rougher than she was used to.

After a moment of being rooted to the spot, she turned and fled, dodging into her car and driving home as slowly as possible to get her heart rate down to something suitable before she had to face Medea and her otherwise empty house.

She failed to notice the door's being unlocked, brushing it off as her own carelessness, until she entered her kitchen. Light poured in from the living room, and the trailer smelled of werewolf. A werewolf.

"Ben?" She asked incredulously, stopping in the doorway between kitchen and living room. She stared, dumbfounded, at the British werewolf sitting on her couch.

"Mercy." He greeted absently, not looking up from the book in his lap.

"Mercedes." She stressed.

"Why am I the only one?"

"You're a sexist pig and I don't like you." She replied thoughtlessly.

"Well said." He closed the book at last and rose with a sigh. "I need to speak to you, Mercy."

She let the point drop, taking a seat in one of her salvation-army chairs. "What?"

"You and Adam have to make a choice. There's a hole in the pack, and if you don't fill it, Adam has to make it go away."

"Look, Ben, I'm sorry, but right now I have my own problems to work through."

"Mercy, please."

"Please get out."

"Just answer me this?" He asked, stopping in the kitchen doorway.

"What?" Damn that accent! No man should have that to his advantage!

"Do you think that you two have something?"

Even as she spoke something in Mercy screamed at her. Why was she talking to Ben? She must just be really tired. "I don't know, Ben. I think so. I hope so, but it's not as simple as that. If Adam and I become something, I want it to be for the right reason. Because we care about eachother, not because the pack needs someone to fill the void."

"Why was your heart beating so fast just now?"

She sighed. "Because Adam kissed me. Now get your ass outta my house."

"Fine." He nodded. "Sleep well, Mercedes." And he was gone. Just like that.

"Night." She sighed, getting to her feet and heading to her room before Medea figured out she was home.