Shout out to:

*Guest: Thanks :) And yes, a good point. Everyone has different opinions and beliefs when it comes to that though, some people believe you should, some believe you shouldn't. Each to their own :)

*Tesla424: Aw, thank you :) I'm glad, because it's about another 3 chapters before something huge happens and changes the game completely!

Extra long one this chapter!

..

The next day

"I didn't even know you had a sister." Isaac says, looking at Derek.

"Go to school, Isaac." Derek says, turning around to face him. Isaac picks his bag up off the sofa. He straps it over one shoulder before leaving the loft.

"I couldn't help but over-hear." Peter says, walking past Isaac and into the loft. Derek turns around to look over the big window again. "Jessie's coming home?" He says.

"She wants too." Derek says. "I'm still deciding."

"Wouldn't you want her here, with you?" Peter asks.

"And when she finds out you're alive?" Derek asks, looking over at his Uncle. Derek knows that's going to be a disaster, but he would prefer to have his little sister in Beacon Hills with him where he can keep her safe opposed to still living in South America by herself.

"Hmm." Peter muses. But he knows just as well as Derek does that it's going to be a nightmare having those two in a room together.

"I have to talk to Ash about it." Derek thinks out-loud with a sigh.

"About what?" Peter asks with a scoff. Derek just snaps, sick of his Uncle's attitude.

"About Jessie! She's not gonna wanna see you, she's probably gonna hate me for letting you come back, she's not gonna like going to Beacon Hills High, she's not gonna like the people there, I'd like her to have at least one person she can count on!" He yells at Peter.

"And you think that person should be Ash?" Peter asks, letting the attitude drop from his voice, because Derek's the alpha now, he is stronger than Peter is. And if Derek killed him once, Peter doesn't think he'd have a problem doing it again. If there's one person on this entire planet Derek would do anything for, it's Jessie Hale, Derek's hot-headed little sister.

"I figured, they're both human, they're both girls stuck in this life." Derek says, letting his voice calm down as he does too now that Peter's not treating this like a game anymore. "I don't know who else to go too." Derek says with a sigh.

"No, I think you're right." Peter says, more seriously. Derek turns around properly to look at his Uncle, surprised to hear him say that. Peter doesn't repeat himself, he goes and sits down on the sofa, slipping a book off the bookshelf. Derek takes that as a 'Yes, good idea' and decides to run with it. He might be the alpha but he does silently look to Peter for guidance now and again. That's probably the only reason Peter's not dead again. Between all the snark, and all the grief he gives everyone, Peter can be useful. Of course, only when he wants to be.

Ash wakes to knocking on the front door, firm knocking. She groans sleepily, sitting up only to feel her whole body ache from the awkward position and from sleeping on the two-seater sofa instead of her comfy queen-sized bed. She tries to make it look like she didn't just wake up as she walks over to the door. She takes her hoodie off so she's in a singlet and she lets her hair out, running her hands through it with hopes to tame it a little. She opens the door a little, looking blankly at the person who tore apart her slumber, only to find it's Derek.

"Everything okay?" She asks, becoming less sleepy and more alert. It seems they only willingly talk when it's something important, or dangerous.

"Yeah." He nods.

"Then what do you want?" She asks, taking on that infamous McCall attitude again. Derek narrows his eyes, slipping into some of that infamous Hale attitude.

"Can I come in?" He asks but by the tone of his voice, Ash knows he isn't really asking. Ash is a little surprised he wants to come in though, she turns and walks back to the living room.

"You own the building." She reminds him, in a way of saying he can come inside. He represses the urge to roll his eyes as he walks inside. Ash picks her hoodie up off the floor quickly and folds it up, putting it on the arm of the sofa. She sits down in the same place she slept, picking up the remote off the floor too, she must have dropped it in her sleep, and turning the tv off as it's still on from last night. Ash gestures to the other sofa when Derek sort of just stands there. He sits down, leaning his arms on his knees and crossing his fingers.

"So.." Ash says when he doesn't say anything.

"I didn't want to just spring this on the pack." He says, looking over at her.

"Spring what?" Ash asks. "What happened?" She asks, her mind instantly going to a series of bad possibilities.

"Nothing. But..my sister, the younger one that still lives in South America?" He says and Ash nods, vaguely remembering the girl being mentioned last year when they were dealing with Peter. "She's planning to come back home to live, in a few days, maybe a week." He tells her.

"Oh." Ash says, surprised to hear that. "Wait..why did you come all the way over here just to tell me that?" She asks, narrowing her eyes a little. You'd think he'd want to tell Scott too, Stiles, whatever.

"Isaac and Peter already know." He says. "I just thought you'd want to tell Scott and Stiles." Ash narrows her eyes even more because that doesn't make sense all at, he'd rather tell them then come here to tell her to do it. He'd rather deal with them over her, that's already been established, and vice versa, more than once.

"No, that's not why you're here." Ash sees right through it. Derek sighs, having trouble dealing with her attitude, probably because his is just as large so they bump heads. Actually, they're not so different those two, but because of that, they clash, alot.

"Jessie is barely 18." Derek starts. "She's gonna be going to school with Isaac, Scott and Stiles so I can imagine she might be with Scott and Stiles sometimes-"

"And you don't want her over here at my place, I'm guessing?" Ash interrupts, scowling at him.

"Can you just let me finish?" He asks but by the tone of his voice, it wasn't a question, it was his warning that he's losing his patience, quickly. Derek takes her silence as his que to go on. "She's not gonna be friends with Allison, we both know that-" Ash nods because it's a definite that she's not going to get along with Allison, not after she tried to kill Derek. "-and I doubt Lydia's her choice of friend either." Lydia and Allison have slowly drifted away from the Hale pack since everything with Gerard and Jackson being the kanima. It's understandable, and Ash isn't trying to win them back any day soon. Allison hurt Derek and Scott, and Isaac. Lydia was part of that too, and she's still confused about all this supernatural as well.

"Are you asking me to keep an eye on her?" Ash asks, seeing where this is going.

"No. Well..a little. Just..from a-" He struggles to find the words without accidently offending the McCall looking at him, knowing that if he does, they're definitely going to argue. And he's not in the mood to argue.

"A girl's persepective?" Ash provides and Derek nods. "Are you two not close?" Ash asks, unsure if she's crossing a line by asking.

"We are." Derek says. "I used to live with her and Laura before I came back. But, she's been there by herself for a year and she wants to come home." He tells her. Ash nods because she can understand that need to be close to your family. "Listen, what I'm asking is that if I can't be there for her, can you?" He asks her, getting to his point, the whole reason he came over here while he knew they could just talk without any of the teenagers dropping by because they're at school by now and Peter certainly isn't going to just pop over.

"She doesn't know me." Ash says, but she doesn't decline the request.

"I know, but she's not gonna know anyone but me. You grew up here, you've seen what happens in this town, it's not gonna stay quiet forever. I can't always be there to look after her, I have a pack to take care of, a town to protect." Derek says.

"I get it." Ash nods, understanding that too because Scott had the same problem with Ash in the beginning, with wanting her constantly watched and looked after. That's before he knew his sister had weapons, and knows how to use them, of course. "Wait.." Ash pauses, thinking over what he just said. Derek looks at her properly, waiting for her to speak again. "Shit..she's human, isn't she?" Ash asks him, seeing why of all people he's choosen to come to her. Scott only worried about Ash because she was human, same way Scott worries about Stiles. It's the wolves worrying about, not the weaker ones per-say but, the human ones, the vulnerable ones, the ones that can't just heal on the spot, the ones they can lose in the blink of an eye.

"Yeah." Derek says. Ash thinks over his request for a moment. Derek studies her, waiting for an answer, he doesn't really want to be here for any longer than he has to be. But, he is asking a favour so he's trying to be repectful.

"Yeah, okay." Ash nods. "I can look out for her." She agrees.

Derek stands up again because they both see this conversation's over. It's probably for the best, so they can part on good-ish terms. He stops at the still open door, turning to face Ash again. Ash is folding up the blanket she slept with when she can feel his eyes on her. She looks up again, wondering why he's still here.

"Thank you." Derek says. Ash's lip twitch into a small smile and she nods once in acceptance. Derek leaves after that, sliding the door shut behind him. Ash finishes folding up the blanket and straightening up the cushions. She's surprised that went like that, that they didn't have an arguement. Hell, he is too. They were alone, it was like dropping Mentos into Coca-Cola, except it didn't blow up, for once.

..

Later, Ash drives to the hospital. Beacon Hills Memorial has a daycare for patient's and staff's children, the daycare that Jade has been attending since she turned 1 and Melissa went back to work.

Ash decides to swing by her mother's office before she goes to visit Jade.

Ash knocks on her open door. Melissa looks up from her sandwich she just brought from the cafeteria.

"Ash, come in." Melissa greets her eldest daughter. Ash returns her smile, walking into her office. She sits on the edge of her Mom's desk, like she always does. And Melissa raises her eyebrow at the action, like she always does. "What are you doing here?" Melissa asks, continuing to eat because her break only lasts half an hour, if she doesn't get paged earlier of course, and then it's another 4 hours until she finishes. She's getting her sandwich into her stomach while she still can.

"I was at home, bored. I was gonna take Jade for the rest of the day, I'll bring her home to you this evening." Ash says. Melissa nods, wiping the mayonnaise from the corner of her mouth off with her napkin. She finishes her mouthful before speaking again.

"I don't see why not." Melissa says. "You know, Jade was asking for you last night." She tells Ash.

"Really?" Ash asks.

"Yeah." Melissa nods. "She misses you. And you were always better at reading to her than Scott and I am." Melissa smiles and that makes Ash grin triumphantly.

"Well, I'll take her home, read to her, whatever she wants." Ash says.

"Yeah, she'll like that." Melissa nods. They both look over to Melissa's handbag on the table when her phone starts to ring from inside it. "That's probably Scott." She says, wiping her hands.

"It's okay, I got it." Ash says, jumping down to her feet. Ash goes over to her bag, fishing out the phone. Melissa sits back down, looking over at Ash. Ash glances at the caller ID and her face falls. She looks up at her mother, her smile's now replaced with a frown.

"What's wrong, sweetie?" Melissa asks her. Ash doesn't say anything, just walks over and thrusts the phone into Melissa's hands before walking out. Melissa is about to call after her, until she looks down at her phone. She sighs, she forgot she told him to ring her back. She reads the caller ID too.

Rafael McCall

Ash refuses to let herself get upset over what just happened. Instead, she slaps a smile on her face as she walks into the daycare centre.

"Hey, can I help you?" The man, not much older than Ash, at the front desk asks when he sees her.

"I'm here for Jade McCall." She says, trying not to make her voice sound as snappish as she now feels. All she can think about is that her mother and father are talking again. Ash can't go through all of that drama right now, not again. They've all just gotten back on their feet from the last time he came back then took off again. Ash won't go through it again, she just won't. She won't let her brother and sister go through it either.

"Okay, I need your name and cell number." The new receptionist says, getting the girl's attention again as he brings out a clipboard. Ash sighs, just wanting to get out of this damn building, her skin starting to crawl as she over-thinks and makes herself anxious.

"Ash McCall." She says. The man trails his finger down the list, finding Ash is in fact on the list as a visitor so she can come and see, and even take, Jade. "And my cell is..wait." She stops, looking up at him. "Why do you need my number?" She asks him. The man smirks and leans on the desk. He swipes his tounge across his bottom lip quickly before speaking.

"Name was for the list, the number's for me." He says. Ash just shakes her head and walks straight past him, into the daycare. It's not that she thinks she's better than him or whatever, she just needs a little more than straight arrogance and cockiness. And she's really not looking for that sort of thing right now either.

She puts that smile on her face again when she sees Jade, not wanting her sister to see her frown or be upset.

"Hi." She says, kneeling down beside Jade. Jade giggles, making grabby hands at her, completely forgetting about the toy she was just playing with. Ash smiles alot more genuinely now, lifting Jade into her arms and standing back up. The daycare woman, the one that actually looks after the children, sees Ash and walks over.

"Ash." She greets her.

"Hi, I'm taking Jade for the day. I've already been in to see my mother, I can have her drop by to clear it all if you like." Ash offers, not that she can go back in to see her mother right now, not without them having some sort of arguement.

"No, no, it's fine." Lucy shakes her head. Ash comes through regularly and Melissa has allowed it more than once so she trusts the girl's word. Besides, it's a minute walk to go find Melissa if otherwise anyway.

"Uh..who's the new guy?" Ash asks her, looking over at the man at the front desk.

"That's James." Lucy tells her, looking over at him as well. James sees them both looking and winks. Ash scoffs, looking back at Lucy who just rolls her eyes.

"They let that creep work here?" Ash asks her.

"He's..okay. He's good at his job." Lucy brushes it off. "And if he's the type of guy I think he is, he'll be gone soon. Men seem to just rotate through this place, they can't handle the kids."

"Not like you can." Ash says, nudging her a little. Lucy smiles and nods in agreement.

"Besides, I think he's already getting sick of hitting of me and getting no results." She shrugs.

"Heh. Well, hopefully the next guy's better." Ash says. "I should get going, let you get back to the kids. I'll see you later." Ash says, making her way towards the exit.

"Okay, bye." Lucy waves as the two McCall females walk away, Ash purposely ignoring James as she passes him but feeling his eyes follow her.

..

Jade gurgles and babbles incoherantly but excitedly, only a couple words Ash can actually understand because the toddler's trying to talk at a million miles an hour and her little mind can't keep up with her little mouth.

"What are you saying? Huh? What are you saying?" Ash cooes at Jade as she walks up the stairs to the loft. She holds Jade's hand, helping her walk up the stairs. Her little slipper booties seek out the next step as she holds her sister's hand tightly.

"Go. Go." Jade says as she finds her feet, taking the stairs a little faster. "I go." She says.

Derek walks out of his loft, about to lock it because noone's home. Peter's at his own place and Isaac's at school. He pauses, looking up when he hears the toddler's voice. It's not common to hear a child in these halls, so Derek's surprised.

"All done." Jade says once she's at the top of the stairs. She looks up at Ash with wide pale blue eyes.

"Yes, you're done." Ash says, scooping the girl up into her arms. "And I'm so proud of you, aren't I? Aren't I?" She smiles before raspberrying her baby sister's neck. Jade giggles loudly, squirming her little body. Ash definitely feels better after what happened with her mother this morning now that Jade's with her, Jade always helps Ash to feel better.

"I go, I go." Jade says again, wanting to walk.

"Okay, big girl, here." Ash says, letting her back down to her feet. Ash chuckles as Jade rushes over to the loft door. Except she doesn't stop at Ash's loft, she goes into the one with the door open. That's when Ash looks up and realises Derek's standing right there. Derek watches the girl run into his loft, not sure what to do. He's sure Ash wouldn't appreciate him grabbing the girl. But Ash darts after her, hesitating a little in the doorway but going in anyway. "Jesus, Jade, stop." Ash says, scooping the girl up again. She awkwardly walks over to where Derek is still standing, still unsure of how to handle this situation. "Shit..I'm sorry." She apologies.

"It's okay." He says. He can't scowl Ash for that, and he certainly can't scowl the young girl. if he did, he'd feel Ash's wrath within a second, that and her fist to his face.

"Hi." Jade says from Ash's arms, her eyes beaming up at Derek's face. Derek looks from Ash down to Jade.

"Hi.." He says to her. He looks back up at Ash. "I didn't know you had a kid." He says.

"Oh, no, she's not mine." Ash says quickly, shaking her head. Jade and Derek haven't actually met, maybe only seen each other in passing. Derek and Scott are only recently in the last month started getting along again so it's not like Derek knows all about the McCall family. "She's my little sister, Jade." Ash says. Ash looks down at her sister. Jade's still looking up at him.

"Who?" She asks, looking at Ash as she points at Derek.

"This is Derek..he's Scott's friend." Ash tells Jade.

"De.." Jade tries to say his name but she's still young, she still needs some practice with sounding out words and saying vowels correctly. But Ash just smiles and brushes her hand down Jade's hair because whether she can say more than 20-30 words or not, she's so proud of her baby sister, and she loves that she can be a part of and watch her growing up.

"Um.." Ash says because the two of them were having a casual conversation, that's not something that usually happens, ever. But now, it's quiet again. "I should probably go. Uh..sorry, again." Ash says. Derek just nods. Jade starts playing with Ash's long black hair as she turns away, going over to her own loft while Derek finishes locking up so he can leave.

She juggles Jade on her hip as she digs through her handbag for her keys. She jingles them to front of Jade for a moment, the girl's eyes lighting up, before she uses them to unlock the door. She uses her foot to push it open before going inside.

"Are you hungry?" Ash asks Jade as she closes the door again. "Hungry?" Jade nods and Ash carries her into the kitchen, flicking the radio on as she passes it, music starting to fill the loft softly. She sets Jade on the floor so she can mash up a banana, with a drop or two of milk, to feed the hungry baby girl.

When she's done, Ash lifts Jade up to sit on the counter. She stands in front of her so she can't fall or try to climb down.

"Here, open up." Ash says, holding up a spoonful. Jade opens her mouth expectantly. Ash feeds it to the girl, even though she's starting to learn to do it for herself. She's growing up and they all know it.

Ash feeds her for half of it then lets Jade feed herself for the rest. She lets the toddler down onto the floor once she's done so Ash can wash out the bowl. She scrubs it and leaves it, and the spoon, to dry on the rack.

When Ash walks into the living room, she finds Jade on the sofa, where she always seems to sit when she's over.

"What do you wanna do?" Ash asks, crotching down beside her. "Want me to read you a book?" She asks her. Jade looks over at the radio when a song she's heard her older sister sing before starts to play.

"You sing." Jade says, looking at Ash.

"No, c'mon, Jade. Not today." Ash says, not really feeling it at all.

"Sing." Jade says stubbornly. "You sing."

"Just like a McCall." Ash sighs fondly at her hard-headedness. "Okay, fine." Ash gives in, unable to turn her down when she's looking up at her with those beautiful big blue eyes. She scoops her sister up. Ash walks over to radio, turning it up. A smile does comes to Ash's face because she and her mother both love and sing this song.

"I don't practice Santeria. I ain't got no crystal ball. Well, I had a million dollars but I, I spent it all." Ash sings, her hips swaying to music without her permission.

Jade nods, clapping her hands. Ash smiles, feeling light as she sees her sister so happy. If there's anyone in the world Ash would do anything for, it's this girl and her brother, her Mom too.

"What I really want to know, my baby, mmm. What I really want to say I can't define. Well, it's love that I need. Oh." Ash sings, smiling back at Jade as the girl smiles up at her.

Derek's coming home, this time with Peter. He starts to unlock the door, but he gets distracted, by the voice and music coming from the loft across the hall from his.

"My soul will have to wait 'till I get back, to find a Heina of my own. Daddy's gonna love one and all. I feel the break, feel the break, feel the break and I gotta live it up." Ash sings, walking Jade around her loft, bouncing her in her arms as Jade smiles and giggles.

Peter pauses, realising just how distracted the alpha has become. Peter listens in, picking up on the singing voice too, the one that's made Derek stop and listen.

"Tell Sanchito that if knows what is good for him he best go run and hide. Daddy's got a new forty-five. And I won't think twice to stick that barrel straight down Sancho's throat. Believe me when I say that I got somethin' for his punk-" Ash covers her mouth, not saying 'ass'. She tries not to curse it front of her sister. Jade giggles, covering her own mouth too.

"Derek." Peter says, making the wolf snap out of it, looking over at his Uncle. Peter raises his eyebrows. Derek just pushes past him, going inside, refusing to admit how much Ash's voice stole his attention. Just like 2 years ago in that bar, not that he remembers that that girl was the same hot-head that's living across from him now.

..

Ash drives towards her old house, the McCall house. She glances in her mirror, finding Jade's sitting comfortably in her carseat, looking out the window and up at the stars and the almost full moon in the night sky. Ash smiles a little, looking back at the road. She drives up the driveway to the house, cutting the ignition and pulling up the handbrake.

She gets out of the car and goes around to the backseat.

"Come on, baby." She says, unclipping Jade's carseat and taking her out of it. By now, Jade looks tired, almost asleep. Ash rests Jade's head on her collarbone gently and walks up to the front, knocking on it. Melissa answers the door and Ash walks inside, not saying anything to her mother.

"Ash." Melissa sighs. "Are you really going to ignore me?" She asks when Ash doesn't say anything. Melissa follows her daughter to Jade's room.

"Here we go." Ash says to Jade, carefully laying her down in her crib. She drapes the blanket over her, tucking her in. "G'night, Jade." Ash says, before standing back up. She starts heading down the hall again, ready to go home.

"Stop being so juvenile, Ash." Melissa says. Ash stops at the end of the hall, turning to face her mother.

"Juvenile, really? That's what you think this is? Me just acting up like some kid?" Ash asks her.

"A little bit, yes." Melissa nods.

"Well, you're wrong." Ash says, turning away again.

"Don't walk away from me!" Melissa calls after her, following her out the front door. "Hey, i'm still talking to you-"

"We have nothing to talk about!" Ash says, turning back around on the driveway.

"You're mad at me because your father called me?" Melissa asks her.

"Don't make me out to be the bad guy, Mom." Ash says. "He wasn't just calling, he wouldn't do that. You and him have been talking." She accusses. "And why the hell you would willingly do that, I have no idea." Ash says, walking over to her car and opening the door.

"He wants to meet Jade." Melissa tells her. Ash pauses and doesn't get in the car but she doesn't turn back around either. "And yes, we've been talking. He's coming through town in the next day or two. He wants to meet Jade and see you and Scott." Melissa tells her. "I thought, that as your father, he deserved that."

"If he wanted anything to do with us, he wouldn't have walked out." Ash says. "He never called, he never came by, he never sent us anything. He just split for months at a time, and then for good once you got pregnant with Jade. That was 2 years ago, Mom. So you know what? Fuck him. I won't be a part of this, not again." She says, still with her back to her mother. Ash lets the words sink in for Melissa before getting in her car.

Melissa sighs as the tires squel on the driveway and Ash takes off back up the street. She knows that news might have hurt Ash, especially since she's the oldest and remembers more of their childhood than Scott. And considering Ash definitely stepped up as 'Mom' while Melissa was pregnant and when she wasn't working. Ash worked, paid the bills, took care of the house, of Scott and of Melissa. And noone was there to take care of her.

Melissa planned to tell Ash her father was coming into town, but then Ash saw him calling and those plans got thrown out the window. It not only upset Ash, but it made it look like Melissa was hiding the fact they'd been talking. And to make things that much worse, Scott doesn't even know yet, Melissa still doesn't know how to tell him. She definitely has to tell him tonight though, Melissa just hopes Ash doesn't get to him with her own angry ideas on the subject first.

..

..

Rafael's coming :O Don't worry, things will be going downhill soon enough. Favourite, follow and review!