A sigh escaped Jane's lips, as she sealed the umpteenth box full of her mothers dish collections. The frilly country dinnerware were her mother's favorite and would often involve long weekends yard sale hopping to find a new perfect set. Jane resented all of it.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and took a deep breath to stop the tears. To hell with the kitchenware, she was glad she was done. She picked up the last box and walked through the front door. Dusk was settling on the suburbian street as she walked up the ramp of a rented trailer. Depositing the box among similar companions, she stepped out bringing the door down with her and locked it.

A sudden commotion down the block startled her. She quietly observed a group of teens push a red head into the front door, three homes down. She squinted after them. One of the boys made eye contact with her. Quickly breaking eye contact, she looked back to the trailer making sure it was secure, and walked back up to her door.

She dusted her hands on her pants as she observed her foyer once inside. The emptiness of the room made her feel better. She could picture a new family living in this space, enjoying it, and making it their own. She let go of any attatchment she felt to the property and wished the new family that may live there in the future well wishes.

Jane walked to the kitchen table, one of the few things she left in the room, and grabbed her keys and purse. She was hungry and still needed to take care of a few chores in town.


The glass door jingled as Jane passed through. The waiting room for the Beacon Hills Veterinarian's office was deserted. Jane felt slightly nervous, not even a greeter manned the front desk. "Hello?" Jane called out. "Yes?" A muffled man's voice could be heard from the back. A moment later Dr. Deaton appeared through a door behind the front desk. He looked surprise. "Hi, uhm, I'm Jane Holt. I don't know if you remember me. But my parents were-" The doctor's laugh stopped Jane's explanation. She was startled. "Jane, of course I remember you. How's nutters doing?" He laughed and rubbed his chin. Jane laughed in return of the memory. How could she forget Nutters nearly biting the bullet? "Well he's down to seven lives, but he's fine."

Chucking the doctor replied, "So Jane, what brings you to my office?" "Well, Aaron once told me that you were a sort of advisor to the Hale's and families like them." Deaton's expression turned serious. "I moved away to Seattle, but as luck would have it, I met a similar family." He nodded and urged her to continue. "They keep a low profile in Seattle but they know of people like you. I suppose the point I'm getting to, is they wanted you to examine this." Jane turned to her satchel and produced a binder full of old documents. She handed it to the doctor's awaiting hands. He flipped through them briefly. He nodded his head. "This will need time." Jane nodded. "Understandable, I have a little over a week left here. I'll swing by before I leave." The doctor nodded and turned to walk back to his office engrossed in the documents. Jane took this as her cue to leave and she turned for the exit.

"Jane." She looked over her shoulder, her hand on the door. "Be careful." Deaton gave her a meaningful look. Jane's lips twitched. "Sure, Thanks again Doc." He nodded at her and Jane left.


Jane returned to her car and parked it safely in the garage back home. That night she tossed and turned, her mind was to active to find sleep and she was too hyper aware of every noise the house made. A loud creak from upstairs had Jane bolting up right. Her heart rate accelerated and her breathing picked up. The creaking continued. Someone was in her house! She stood up frozen, fight or flight? She grabbed a fire poker from the fireplace as her defense and approached to top of the stairs. The creaking stopped at the head of the stairs and began to descend. Her heart accelerated faster. Her muscles tightened. Her breathing hitched. She could feel her skin prickle.

In a quick moment a bewildered Derek stood a few steps from the bottom of the stairs. He smiled and made low whistling noise. "I hope that prodder isn't made of silver." He laughed. A quick rush of relief flowed through Jane. "Derek!" She hissed dropping her weapon. "What? Thought you had a prowler in your home?" He questioned finishing coming down the stairs, his eyes glowing unnaturally. "Derek! You broke into my home!" He looked around innocently. "Did I?" Jane starred at him in disbelief. She walked back to her sleeping bag and dropped to the floor.

Derek followed her. "Sleeping bag? Cozy." Jane could hear him snickering at her as he walked over to her couch. "Go away!" She protested into her pillow half-heartedly. "Jane I could hear you heartbeat fluttering miles away before I was even in here." Jane turned her head to face him. "You should look into coming through the front door like normal people." Derek leaned back. "I like scaring you." Jane sat up. "You don't scare me!" She replied petulantly. In an instant Derek's eyes glowed and his features distorted. It was an awful sight to see a werewolf transform.

Jane froze and waited for him to return to normal while he waited for her heartbeat to slow. His elbows rested on his knees as he watched her carefully. Jane's lips twitched. "So", Derek continued he laid down on the couch. "I'll keep watch then." Jane felt unsure. "What about your pack?" "Most of them have their families and Isaac is fine on his own." He replied unconcerned. "Okay" Jane replied still unsure. She laid down on her sleeping bag. The silence that followed was thick.

"Jane why aren't you sleep on the couch?" Derek asked into the darkness. Jane took a moment to respond. She knew why, but it was almost too personal. "I bought the sleeping bag in Seattle to camp with my friends." She paused before continuing quietly. "And the couch, well. I don't want to sleep on it." There was more silence after she finished. She wondered for a moment if he fell asleep. Suddenly there was movement from Derek's end and in the darkness she could make out him kneeling on the floor. She felt his body heat close to her. "Scoot over" He said with an annoyed tone. He made his way to share her pillow with her. "Ouch! Derek!" He pulled on her hair on accident. "Geez!" She got up and tossed pillows from the couch onto the floor. "It's dirty anyway" She muttered turning on her side.

Not touching, the two slept side by side the rest of the night.


Authors Note: Filler chapter, re-edited.