Dsclaimer - I can't believe it's not butter *said in Fabio accent* Also, I don't own stuff. Really, I dont.

Chapter 5 – More Discoveries

Mercy Thompson was shoulder deep in a 1978 Firebird Trans Am that had seen better days when she heard the deep tones of her trusty paper-pusher and tool rustler Gabriel – his voice had gotten considerably deeper over the past six months – greet someone. When she heard another voice that she recognized she lost her grip on a particularly annoying bolt and swore as the end of the bold broke off thanks to the rust that had accumulated over the years.

"Hey Mercy, what is that thing?" Mercy turned around in time to see Jesse sit herself on one of the work benches. Grabbing a cloth and wiping her hands, Mercy noticed that Jesse's hair had changed again – it was now a mixture of violet and cherry pink. Normally Mercy would think that such flamboyant colors would clash, but on Jesse they just looked cool.

"It's a Firebird Trans Am from the 70's"

"It looks like a funky cross between a mustang and a Cadillac." The colorful girl observed. Mercy took this time to do her own observing. Jesse looked tired but otherwise healthy.

"So I heard about the California Conspiracy." At this Jesse rolled her eyes.

"You should've see Dad when he read the letter, I thought he was going to kill that poor rookie cop." Mercy could only imagine how terrified said rookie was; Adam in a killing rage was not something one wanted to experience. "On the plus side though, Dad wants to get sole custody of me, so we could be seeing a lot more of each other." Jesse looked up with a small smile on her face, and Mercy was – not for the first time – hit by the teenager's resilience.

"You'll get to see more of Gabriel too." Mercy put in, turning back to the Trans Am with the dreaded easy-out and beginning to work out the rest of the bolt. Gabriel would be off to college at the end of this year, and Mercy would be sad to see him go – not just because of the paperwork either – she had grown to care about the boy and his sisters.

"He was going to apply to schools in California, but if I stay here he won't have to go that far away from his family." This statement made Mercy look up; she hadn't realized how serious this relationship was if he was considering his university options based on where Jesse was living.

She wondered if this was something she should tell Adam but then dismissed the idea, with an up and coming custody battle and the reality of where Jesse would be living if he lost, the last thing Adam needed was to think that Gabriel was trying to steal his little girl. Not to mention the government stuck ups who were trying to take away his rights, along with every other werewolf's.

While Mercy worked Jesse talked – with the occasional input from Gabriel – about anything and everything. When it was time to close up shop, Mercy could have told you everything there was to know about California, and she had never set foot in that state. Locking up shop and sending Gabriel and Jesse home – with strict instructions to make sure Jesse was home as soon as possible – Mercy started her Rabbit and headed home, thought of peanut butter cookies in her head.

Samuel had called his Da to tell him the good news, and had spent a further fifteen minutes getting advice on what to do next. Fortunately, Bran seemed to be far more level headed about the subject and was able to give his son some good pointers. After hanging up he had immediately called Annie, only to get the message bank. Staring at the phone, Samuel tried again. After his third failed attempt to get a-hold of her, Samuel was starting to worry. Perhaps this had been too fast, or maybe she didn't like him. For all he knew she could be halfway through Idaho.

Samuel had been wearing a path into the carpet with his feet when he heard the rumble of a V8 engine roll up to the curb outside. Smiling as he recognized the sound, he had to force himself not to open the door before his visitor knocked. After a sharp double rap of knuckles echoed off the front door, Samuel walked over and opened it to reveal an apprehensive Annie.

"Hey." She said in a calm voice. "Can I come in?" Stepping aside Samuel waved her into the house, closing the door behind her. Samuel watched her from the door as she looked around the room before turning to face him. "So nurse Teske told me to tell you she said congratulations." Samuel laughed and walked back over to the couch. Moving towards the couch he motioned for his daughter to sit. Following his direction Annie sat tentatively on the chair adjacent to him.

"So I suppose you want to talk about what happens now." Samuel said, noticing that she wasn't going to speak. Annie took a deep breath and sat up straighter.

"Well yeah that's kind of why I'm here."

"I tried to call you, but you didn't answer." Samuel hadn't really meant to say it, but he had convinced himself with every failed call that she had run. Annie frowned and dug around in her pockets before finding her phone. Pressing a few buttons she shrugged and stuffed it back into her jeans.

"The battery went dead, no big deal." Samuel nodded and sorted out his thoughts.

"Well, I would really like to get to know you better, and I have quite a bit of money saved up. I would be most grateful if you decided to come live with me from now on. I could give you a home, and I'm sure we could find a job for you here. It's up to you though." Annie looked at Samuel shockedly before her gaze turned doubtful.

"If you have all this money then why do you live in someone else's trailer?" she asked quirking an eyebrow not unlike her father would when asking such questions. Samuel smiled.

"That's complicated."

"Humor me."
"Ok," he said leaning back. "I thought I could woo Mercy if I stayed in her house, but we've decided to be friends and she is now happily involved with her back neighbor Adam." Annie nodded, as if that made perfect sense.

"I thought there was more to it than just roommates." They sat in silence for a while, Annie resting her chin on her fist while Samuel watched her think. "So say I was to move all the way down here, how do you expect to buy a house that fast, and how would we work out the mortgage payments and the rates and bills?" Annie asked, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees. She was testing him, seeing how mush he had thought about what he was proposing, but luckily for Samuel, and thanks to his Da, he had already thought a great deal about it.

"There's plenty of real-estate around Kennewick and Finley, and as for the mortgage, that would be my responsibility as the adult, along wit the bills and rates."
"So you, the man who refuses to move out of his friends mobile home even after his failed wooing attempt is going to buy a house and pay for everything?" she fired back her disbelief present in her voice.

"I never had a reason to move out before."

"And you do now?"

"Like I said, I want you here; I want to be in your life. But in the end it's up to you whether or not you live with me." Annie looked at him silently, assessing the man before her.

"What about you moving to Michigan instead?" she asked after a moment.

"If that's what you want we can do that too." Samuel said without hesitation. It was natural that she would want to stay in Ann Arbor, and if this was his shot at keeping her then he would do whatever it took.

"Ok." Annie paused, "so how much does property cost in Finley?" it took Samuel a moment to figure out what she had just said, but once the words penetrated his brain he smiled; she had tested him twice. First by seeing how much he had thought about her moving in, and second by seeing if he would be willing to uproot himself for her. Perhaps his daughter had inherited some of his father's personality traits. The rest of the afternoon was spent between the living room, kitchen and office where Samuel and Annie began discussing the possibilities of her relocating to the Tri-Cities.

When Mercy got home she was delighted to see that Annie was visiting Samuel. Stepping inside her house she was greeted by the sight of father and daughter sitting at the kitchen table, each with a steaming mug of cocoa and a notepad and pencil between them.

"Hey Mercy, welcome home." Samuel's voice was full of satisfaction, and Mercy wondered what had happened to put him in such high spirits.

"Hello Ms. Thompson." Annie said politely, her voice going from the confident tones she heard from outside back to the unsure voice she had heard when they had first met. Mercy put down her purse and waved her hand in a throw away gesture.

"Please call me Mercy, Ms. Thompson makes me sound like an old lady." Annie smiled and nodded.

"Mercy it is then."

"so what are you two working on?" Mercy asked, walking over to peer at the list they had between them.

"Annie and I are making a list of things we would need to do if she decided to move in with me." Samuel replied. Seeing Mercy's raised eyebrow Annie elaborated.

"Step one would be him buying his own house and actually moving out of this one." Mercy could hear a hint of sardonic humor in the girl's voice and looked up to see a smirk playing on her lips.

"You know what, I think you moving in with Samuel is a great idea." Mercy said, making Annie's smirk grow into a crooked smile and Samuel to make a wounded face. The change in Annie's look now that she wasn't scared was remarkable, her whole face lightened with her eyes, and her almost permanent unease seemed to fall away, leaving a young woman behind. If Mercy thought that Samuel and Annie had similarities before, the resemblance was undeniable now. Looking at his daughter, Samuel had to smile; it would take some work, but she would let him in... all he needed to do was be patient and wait for her to open up.

Adam Hauptman made it his business to know every person who visited his mate, as well as their cars. So when he pulled his recently fixed SUV up next to an unknown orange dodge Adam surmised that it must belong to the girl who had shown up looking for Samuel. Stepping out of the car and walking briskly to the front steps, Adam knocked twice before letting himself into the house.

"Is there a mechanic in the house?" Adam asked as he shrugged off his suit jacket and stepped into the living room. Samuel didn't bother looking up from the notebook he was writing in but the two women in the room were both looking at him.

"well I would think so, since said mechanic happens to live in this house." Mercy's dry tone was somewhat damaged by the smile she was struggling to hide. Walking up to Adam and kissing him on the cheek she took him by the hand and lead him to the kitchen/dining room where the rest of the occupants were sitting. The woman sitting next to Samuel raised an eyebrow.

"You're a mechanic?" she asked, something akin to respect in her voice.
"Yup, that's me, 'Mercedes the VW mechanic'." At this the girl gave a small chuckle.
"Gee, I can't imagine why anybody would feel the need to point that out." she said sarcastically. Mercy smiled in return.

"Adam, I'd like you to meet Samuel's daughter Annie Conway. Annie, this is my boyfriend Adam Hauptman." Adam held out his hand for her to shake and she stood to take it in a firm grasp before sitting back down.
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Adam said, looking over the girl before him.

"Likewise." Annie was small, probably not much taller than 5 feet and weighing no more than 120lbs. her dark blonde hair was pulled back in a black into a ponytail and her blue eyes and dark lips contrasted nicely with her light complexion. She was pretty, and had Samuel written all over her, from her unique blue eyes to her aristocratic nose. It was then that Adam noticed that she was looking directly into his eyes.

He never really thought about meeting a human's eyes because so many of them dropped their gaze subconsciously. Annie however held his gaze, looking into his eyes as if she wasn't affected by the predator that lurked there. Her brows drew together slightly, causing a small wrinkle to form on her forehead. She was looking at Adam for all the world as though he was a puzzle piece she was trying to find a place for.

Then her eyes widened slightly in realization, and her gaze slid over to Mercy and back again. Adam waited, knowing full well that the girl before him had recognized who he was, and therefore who Mercy was and – not for the first time – cursed the cop that felt like leaking the footage of him mutilating Tim's body to the government.

Samuel and Mercy had caught on to the silent workings of Adam and Annie, and both waited for the questions that were bound to come next.

Only no questions came. Annie simply nodded to herself once and turned to Mercy and asked how she had gotten into cars. Samuel let out the breath he hadn't been aware of holding; Annie knew that Adam was a werewolf, knew also what had happened to Mercy and she had taken it in stride, with a silent agreement not to make an issue of it.

The next half an hour passed with mercy telling Annie all about how she had switched from engineering to history in university before finding herself in Zee's garage which he later sold to her. Annie listened intently, throwing in a comment or two but mostly letting Mercy do the talking. Looking at the time on her cell phone Annie stood up.

"I better head back to the hotel. It was nice meeting you Adam." Annie said, and all three occupants knew the truth of her words.

"It was my pleasure. I hope to see you around more often." After saying her goodbyes and agreeing to meet up with Samuel the following afternoon, Annie was escorted to the door by her father. After they heard her car drive away and Samuel had retaken his seat at the table Adam spoke.

"She seems very nice." He said, taking a thoughtful sip of his hot chocolate. "And she doesn't seem to have a problem with werewolves." Samuel smiled.

"I should probably thank you for that; at least we now know she isn't too afraid of us."

Sobering Adam looked unenthusiastically at the other occupants of the mobile home. "The main reason I came by was to tell you that under the new leader's imperative, the Tri-cities' Bright Future branch has become very anti-werewolf. They've started putting up posters up around naming werewolves and werewolf affiliates, listing their home and work addresses as well."

As he said this he took out and unfolded a piece of paper from his back pocket. It was a blue sheet with a heading that said "Are your children in danger? A werewolf could live next-door." Below this was a list of names and addresses, complete with a cartoon drawing of a werewolf with blood dripping out of its mouth… In Mercy's opinion it didn't look anything like a werewolf, since they didn't walk around on their hind legs and the musculature was all wrong, but still, she had to give them points for being decorative… at least everything was spelled right this time.

Tim's cousin Courtney had taken over Children for a Bright Future, and ever since they had taken a more radical approach to all things fae. Mercy supposed that this new idea was mostly her fault, since Courtney still believed Tim to be innocent, but aside from tearing down every Bright future poster in the Tri-Cities, she didn't see a way she could fix it. Mercy shook her head; she was getting annoyed at all the things she couldn't do anything about.

Samuel picked up the paper and ran his eyes along it.
"They've got our address on here, along with my name, and Kyle and Warren. They have Darryl and Aureile too." Adam nodded.

"They have already been told about the list. I'm pretty sure they've hired a private investigator to look into things, which is why they don't have more… It would take a lot more to identify all of the pack members." Samuel nodded, it was good that Adam worked in the security business, but still… the people already on the list were going to have some trouble.

A disconcerting thought popped into Samuel's head.
"The human's connected with us aren't safe. A werewolf can take care of themselves, but if some drunk people decide to drive a human out or rough them up, it could get ugly." Again Adam nodded.

"Yes, I've thought of that, all werewolves with human mates have been informed of the danger, and are taking measures to keep their friends and family safe." Adam hesitated before going further, not sure how the other dominant would react, "If you want, I could have Mary Jo keep an eye on Annie, just in case someone decides to try something." Samuel looked Adam directly in the eye. Not challengingly, but more contemplative. After a moment he nodded once.

"It's a good idea, if you have Mary Jo to spare for it. I can look out for her most of the time, since we will be discussing her moving here. I would appreciate it." Shortly after this Samuel announced that he had to get ready for work. Someone at the hospital was bound to have seen the posters, and he may as well face the music.

Annie berated herself all along the drive back to hotel. The moment she got a good look at Adam's face she knew who he was, or rather what he was; his face had stared back at hers from a newspaper in the library for almost a year now, she had even read the article a couple times. Adam Hauptman was a well-known werewolf and spokesman, some CEO of a company that did god-knows-what for the government or something.

There had been several articles on werewolves since they announced their existence to the world – a brave move in her eyes, she would never have the guts to stand up on a stage and shout "Hey guys, I'm a monster!" – and though a few were pretty much trash, the one thing they all had in common was a warning to not look into their eyes. And what does she do, she has a staring contest with one… brilliant Annie, just brilliant.

Once she realized who Adam was, she was able to put two and two together and figure out who Mercy was. The story of the werewolf's girlfriend who killed her rapist was all over the papers and TV, from news programs to talk shows. Personally Annie thought it was sick; this was someone's life, someone had been brutally attacked in the one of the worst ways possible. It took people years to recover from sexual abuse, and to have it played out in the media was just wrong.

Annie took a calming breath. There wasn't anything she could do about other people's actions, but she could give Mercy the privacy she deserved. She wouldn't ask questions, and she didn't want to know about it anyways, what happened to Mercy is Mercy's business, end of story.

Getting back to her motel room and locking herself inside, she leaned her duffel bag against the wall. It was probably weird that she brought it everywhere, but it made her comfortable to know that if she had to, she could get I her car and drive off without having to worry about leaving anything behind.

Kicking off her shoes and collapsing on the small couch in front of the TV, Annie sighed, vaguely noting that her sketchpad was open on the floor. In the face of everything Annie had learned this day, the fact that a friend of Samuel's was a werewolf was insignificant. Samuel was her father. Her father wanted her to move in with him. He was going to buy a house for them. It seemed so unreal.

This time a week ago she was in her tiny apartment, alone with no one to rely on. Now here she was, with a father who wanted her around, someone who was offering her a place to belong in their lives. Do I want to rely on someone? The thought came unbidden, but Annie paused to analyze it anyways. She was an independent person, who had spent years of her life surviving rather than living. Relying on someone else was a bad idea, once they messed up, or left, or weren't there anymore, you were right back to square one.

The only person you could rely on was yourself. But still, the idea of having a place to belong, a family that wanted her, it was tempting. Annie wanted, more than anything to be wanted. Her thoughts swirling around in her head, Annie heaved herself up and got out her pajamas. She would sleep on it all, and think more in the morning.

To be continued...

Ok, so no Ben in this, but never fear, he will be in the next one... and you should prepare yourself for fireworks. :P

Unill next time,

Quick.