Shout out to:

*Serena Sterling: I liked there little, sort of but not really, moment of helping Ash out :) Rafael is being bad.. Okay, that's fine :) It's just an idea that's been on my mind lately :)

*Amelia Mikaelhey: So do I! And if you hate him now, you're gonna hate him alot more in the future..just a heads up!

*Tesla424: It's fine, review whenever :) I hope everything's okay though! I know, poor Melissa :( I'm glad you liked it because I liked writing it, it is darker than my usual stuff but this fic will go into some dark stuff now and then but I think it'll all work out and hopefully all the readers like it too :)

*AlphaWolf19: It's not the baby, I promise :) That was a little stalker-ish for Scott, wasn't it? Thanks so much, that's so sweet :) Just review whenever you can, I don't mind :3 Let me know when you've caught up because I have a feeling that who really does die is going to shock you :P

..

Jessie comes home from school, finding her brother by that big window, brooding, as usual.

"Hey." She says. He glances at her.

"Hey." He says, looking away from her again. Jessie frowns, walking over to him.

"What's wrong with you?" She asks.

"Nothing." He says.

"Are you mad at me?" Jessie asks him. "Because of how I left earlier?" She asks, sitting down on the sofa and looking in his direction. Peter, from upstairs, pauses, listening to the two of them.

"No." Derek answers.

"Can you look at me for like, 2 seconds?" Jessie asks, getting sick of talking to the back of his head. Derek barely hears her, still looking out the window with so much on his mind, the murders, Melissa, Jessie being back, Peter. Jessie sighs and stands up.

"Asshole." She huffs under her breath. "I'm going across the hall again, I'll be back later." She says. Derek snaps out of it when Jessie drops her bag to the ground with a thud. She grabs her jacket as well.

"No, don't." Derek says, turning around now. Jessie's frown deepens.

"Why not?" She asks. "Scott asked you to keep an eye out on Ash. I can do that too." She says.

"She's going through some shit, just leave her alone for awhile." He tells her. Jessie sighs, knowing all of this already. "Just..just stay out of it, Jessie." He says. Jessie sighs again, dropping her jacket to the sofa with more force than necessary. Those aren't Derek's words, they're Peter's. And that makes Jessie so mad, she's not letting her brother turn into Peter, no way in hell.

"Do you know who you sound like?" Jessie asks him. "The guy you killed. The guy that should be dead." She says. "The guy you-" She points at him accussively, her voice getting louder and angrier. "-let back into your home. The guy that killed our sister." She throws back in his face. She's not angry at him specifically, well, she is a little bit, but her anger for Peter is just spilling over now.

From upstairs, Peter stays still, listening to how Jessie lectures Derek about the kind of man Peter is, because Peter knows it's him that the younger girl is talking about. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out.

Jessie snatches her jacket up again, heading for the door.

"Jessie, where are you going?" Derek asks her back as she walks away from him.

"To go look after someone that actually deserves it." She snaps, walking out the door. Derek sighs when the door slams shut behind her. He knows Jessie won't ever forgive Peter, and he also knows she's going to upset about having him around for a long time too.

Peter shows himself now, stepping down the stairs.

"She's got quite the opinion about me." Peter says, alerting Derek of his presence. "And before you throw me againist another wall, I didn't do anything to her, I just heard all of that." He clarifies.

"Why are you here?" Derek asks him.

"Well, I could say for a lesson in dealing with teenaged girls but-"

"What the hell do you know about it?" Derek cuts him off, turning to him with a glare. "What would you have me do, huh? Rip her in half?" He asks, his temper getting the best of him.

"I told you, that was a mistake." Peter says, knowing Derek's talking about Laura.

"No, the only mistake you made was showing us you were the alpha." Derek says bitterly before walking past Peter, bumping shoulders with him, as he goes upstairs to that room at the end of the hall. Derek won't ever forgive Peter for what he did to Laura either, but he's learning to put that to the side so the older man can help the pack, not that he ever really does. And that's Derek's mother's brother, that connection to his mother, even if Derek hates Peter, it still counts for something.

Peter exhales, trying to keep a lid on his own anger. He's getting really tired of Derek talking to him like that. But that isn't exactly fair, Peter makes his own bed everytime, provoking the alpha, pushing his buttons, bringing up things he knows will upset and hurt Derek, and Jessie. Peter does it to himself, he'd see that if he wasn't such a narcissist.

Ash can't even keep her eyes open properly. They're half-open and she just sits there, numbly, leaning againist the armchair from her spot on the floor. She's got her knees up and her arms resting on them, not that she can really feel her arms right now. She looks down at a loose thread on her trackpants again but she's too spaced out to actually move her hand and pick at it.

"Ash." There's a knock on the door, a familiar voice. But Ash doesn't move or say anything. She just looks at the door with hooded eyes. "Ash, I'm coming in." Jessie says. She waits a couple seconds before sliding the loft door open. Ash looks away from her, looking down at that thread again. "I was home, I wanted to check in." She says as she walks over. Scott was..Scott was bad today. He skipped most of his classes, her and Stiles found him on the field, running laps, trying to hold his wolf back. He wouldn't talk to either of them. He cried silently as he shot goals, getting more and more aggressive. It's just been a bad day for the McCalls today. Jessie just wanted to see if she could help Ash considering she wasn't dumb enough to get close to Scott when he was like that.

Ash just nods slowly, not speaking because her lips are numb and not wanting to make herself dizzy by moving too much too quickly. Jessie frowns when she realises that's all Ash is going to provide as a reply.

"Hungry?" Jessie tries this again. Ash shakes her head. "I was gonna go down to the park, if you wanted to come?" She offers. Ash just shakes her head again. "Hey." Jessie says. "Ash, look at me." She says. Ash turns her head to look at Jessie. "Jesus..are you okay?" She says, seeing the completely dazed look on the girl's face. Ash doesn't answer that one. "Hey." She says, bringing her hand to Ash's head then her cheek. "You don't look so good, Ash." She says.

Ash wills her hand to move, pushing Jessie's hand away from her face. Jessie's frown deepens, she's worried about Ash.

"Just..wait right here, I'll be back." Jessie says, before briskly walking back to her own loft. She sees Peter and ignores him. "Derek?" She calls out, running up the stairs. She goes into the room at the end of the hall, rows and rows of book engulfing her trail of sight. "Derek?" She finds him easily enough, reading, distracting himself.

"I thought you were taking off?" Derek asks, not looking up from his book. His tone's a little sour too, he doesn't want to fight with Jessie, but he's not going to take her attitude either.

"I think there's something wrong with Ash." Jessie says, ignoring his attitude. Derek pauses, his eyes shooting up to his younger sister. "She's pale..she won't talk to me." Jessie says. It takes one thought back to what happened this morning for him to get to his feet. He leaves the room, Jessie in tow, going downstairs.

"Stay here." He tells Jessie. She moves to follow him but he stops, grabbing her shoulders. "I said, stay here." He says in the voice that tells her she should listen. Jessie nods and he walks out of the loft.

"Trouble with the new friend?" Peter asks Jessie. But by his tone, he's not concerned, he's just trying to wind Jessie up, despite Derek's warnings.

"Shut up, asshole." Jessie snaps as a reply, not even looking at him.

Derek walks into the McCall loft, finding the girl sitting on the floor. He goes over to her, noticing she is paler than usual. He crotches down beside her.

"Ash?" He says, looking at her. She just looks away from him, not wanting to talk to him after what happened this morning. "Hey." He says, tapping her cheek. When she doesn't respond, he grabs her arm. He pulls her sleeve up, checking for track marks, making sure she hasn't shot herself up with anything. Because if she has, Derek might just kill her.

Ash makes an annoyed sound in the back of her throat, pulling her arm away from him. Derek looks up, seeing some life in her eyes finally.

"Ash?" He asks.

"Jesus, what?" She slurs, annoyed with everyone coming in and checking on her. She just wants to feel this numbness alone. When she opens her mouth, Derek's hit with a strong scent of alcohol. His best guess? Jager, because it smells like aniseed. He sighs, realising she's not high, she didn't go back on what she said and take anything, she's just drunk. Really drunk.

"Get up, you need to get in bed." He says, standing up. Ash doesn't move. Derek grabs her arm again, lifting her to her feet. She can't stand, she stumbles and trips and they're not even moving yet. "Come on." He says, getting frustrated. But she just wants to stay sitting down.

"Get off me." She says, pushing him away with an angry frown.

"Ash, walk." He tries to order but she's not having any of it. She stubbornly doesn't move. Before he can let himself get too frustrated, he just lifts her off her feet, deciding to carry her. He starts walking towards the stairs, the girl slumping againist him like jelly. "How much did you drink?" He asks, knowing he probably won't get an answer. And he doesn't, just a incoherant mumble.

He takes her upstairs, going into her room. He sets the girl down on her bed. She basically sinks into her bed, her limbs too drunken to move. Derek sighs and walks out, going back down the stairs. And that frustration just boils when he sees Jessie's come over.

"What did I just say to you?" He lectures. But she ignores him, frowning down at the pieces of paper in her hand. "Jessie?!" He snaps.

"Derek.." She says, looking up. She holds the papers out to him.

"You shouldn't be reading that, it's not your's." He says.

"Derek." She grounds out. "Look at it." She says, thrusting it back towards him. Derek blows out a breath, trying not to uncap the anger he feels right now. He takes the papers from her hand, looking down at them. He frowns, reading it. He looks up at Jessie. "I know." She sighs. "This is gonna crush them both." She says, the idea of Scott and Ash being torn into more than they already are is saddening for the girl slowly befriending them both and Stiles.

Derek rubs his hand down his face, knowing Jessie's right. This might just be what tips them both over the edge. And that's not a good thing.

..

Scott comes home later, after he's able to calm down enough to be safe around his sister. He walks into the loft, throwing his bag down beside the door and shutting. He looks up, pausing when he finds both Hale siblings sitting in his living room. For a moment, he thinks maybe he's in the wrong loft.

"What's going on?" Scott asks, walking over to them.

"You should read these." Derek says, pushing the papers towards him. Scott frowns and shakes his head.

"What?" He asks, confused. He looks around, realising the other person that actually lives here isn't here. "Where's Ash?"

"Upstairs, sleeping." Jessie says.

"It's daytime." Scott says.

"Yeah, and she tried to drown herself in Jagermeister." Derek says, tossing him the bottle. Derek doesn't mention the Oxy, because he said he wouldn't unless he caught her with drugs again. He sticks to his word. Scott catches it, tipping in upside down. Nothing comes out. Because it's empty.

"Shit." Scott sighs, rubbing his hand down his face. "Is she okay?"

"No, not really." Jessie says. "She's really hurting, Scott. Really badly." She says.

"I'll talk to her." Scott says, heading for the stairs.

"Scott." Derek says, standing up. Scott stops, turning to face the alpha. "You need to read those before you go see her." He says, pointing to the papers. Scott sighs and walks over to the coffee table. He picks them up, scanning his eyes over them. He quickly looks through a few of the pages. Jessie sees his face fall just like Derek's did when he realises.

"What the hell is this?" Scott asks, looking up at Derek.

"Best guess? Your Dad, he's the only other person able to do it." Derek says. Scott's face falls into a scowl.

"Did she see these?" Scott asks, looking between them both.

"I'm pretty sure, yeah." Jessie nods. "I think it's what caused..that." She says, gesturing to the empty dark green bottle.

"Go." Scott says, feeling his anger bubble up again.

"Scott?" Jessie says, seeing his chest rise and fall faster than usual.

"Jessie, get out." Derek says, seeing Scott's about to explode. "Jessie, go!" He says, slowly moving closer to Scott. Jessie gets up, backing towards the door. "Scott." He says but Scott's just looking at Jessie, seeing a human, someone weaker, a target. "Scott." Derek grounds out when the younger male refuses to look away from his sister.

Scott gives into his wolf, his hurting and angry wolf. But the second he moves towards Jessie, Derek slams into him, pinning the younger wolf to the ground. His eyes turn red and he roars angerily right in Scott's face, forcing him to back down. He was not letting the emotional wolf get anywhere near Jessie.

Jessie watches with wide eyes, still not even out the door yet.

And then the strangest thing happens. Scott shifts back and starts to cry, curling up and shying away from both of them. Derek keeps him pinned, not trusting him, and being too angry still to let him go.

"Derek..let him go." Jessie says, taking a careful step forward. The alpha's still fuming though. "Derek!" Jessie says, louder. Derek lets Scott go, getting to his feet. Once Derek's able to pull his own wolf back, once he's over by Jessie and can see she's absolutely fine, he realises how broken Scott really is, how broken Ash is too.

The wolf, now a boy again, whimpers, crying in the middle of the floor.

"Ring Stiles." Derek says to Jessie. She nods and backs the rest of the way out of the loft. Derek slowly walks over to Scott. He crotches down beside him. "Scott." He says.

"I-I..I'm s-sorry." He says shakily, he can't believe he was going to hurt his friend. He was just hurting already and then reading those papers..he just snapped, and she was right there.

"Come on, get off the floor." Derek says, standing back up. Yes, he's angry Scott was going to hurt Jessie, but he does understand. He went through all the same motions when he was Scott's age, after the fire. He understands. Scott sniffs and pulls himself to his feet. He stumbles a little but finds his footing. Derek catches his arm, keeping him steady.

"I think you-you dislocated my shoulder." Scott says. Derek looks at it, and yes, he definitely did.

"On 3." He says, knowing it's the only way it's going back. Scott nods. "1, 2-" Derek barely gets to 2 before he jams it back into place. Maybe that was a little bit about revenge for him setting Jessie in his sights. Scott grits his teeth, letting the pain pass. Scott sits down on the sofa, sighing into his hands.

"Stiles is on his way over." Jessie says. Scott looks past his fingers, looking over at the girl.

"Jessie..I'm sorry." Scott says.

"It's okay." Jessie says, stepping into the loft again. Derek's right there, watching Scott's every move so she knows she's safe. Besides, the younger wolf looks exhausted now, he doesn't have any fight left in him. She comes to stand beside her brother.

"What am I gonna do?" Scott asks them, even though he knows they don't have the answers. "I can't let them take her." He says. "Ash won't let them. It's gonna get loud and messy." He says. Both Hales can't provide anything because they don't know what to say. Scott picks up the papers again, reading the beginning.

Family Court

Change In Guardianship Of: Jade May McCall

From: Melissa McCall

To: Rafael McCall and Danielle King

"I can't let this happen." Scott sighs, covering his face with his hand again as tears fill his eyes. He really didn't expect to come home to this. "They can't have her."

..

Ash wakes up, dizzy and disorientated. Her head and stomach hurts. She sighs, remembering why she got so drunk. And she knows she's going to have to tell Scott. She pulls herself off her bed. She makes her way downstairs, to get a glass of water. She stops at the bottom of the stairs, finding Scott and Stiles asleep on the sofas.

She walks over to Scott, shaking him gently. He jolts awake, looking up at her.

"Hey." Scott says, sitting up properly. "Are you okay?" He asks her, seeing the bags under her eyes and the sick look on her face, she's definitely hungover. "Jesus, you look like shit, Ash." He says, touching the back of his hand to her forehead.

"Scott..we need to talk." Ash says, sitting down beside him. Scott stops, letting his hand fall from her face. He nods, a sad look covering his face now.

"I already know." Scott says. "Derek and Jessie, they..they found the papers and showed them to me." He says.

"I..I'm so sorry, Scott." Ash says. "I had no idea until he came here yesturday."

"I know." Scott nods. His hand comes to Ash's back, rubbing gently. "It's not your fault."

"It is my fault, I have to look after you and Jade." Ash objects. "They're not taking her." She says.

"Ash..we need to be realistic." Scott says.

"No, don't.." Ash says, standing up.

"No, I know. I don't want this as much as you do. But these murders? It's dangerous here-"

"We can keep her safe." Ash cuts him off.

"He's her father, he has legal right." Scott says.

"No, he doesn't." Ash shakes her head. "And you know what? Fuck you for not fighting harder for this." She says.

"Hey, hey, guys." Stiles yawns, waking up to them arguing and Ash swearing.

"I want to fight, but you can't fight the law, Ash." Scott says. Because, as he showed last night, he doesn't want his Dad and whoever the hell Danielle is to take Jade from them. But they can't excuse the fact that Rafael is her biological father.

"Watch me." Ash says, grabbing her handbag off the coffee table.

"Ash, c'mon, wait-" Stiles tries but Ash has already slammed the door shut behind her. It propells in her head, drumming her hangover. But she doesn't care. They're not taking her Jade away from her, no way in hell. There's no way some woman they don't even know is going to help raise Jade with the man that never wanted her in the first place. No. Way.

..

..

Rafael is seeking guardianship but Ash is having absolutely none of that! Favourite, follow and review!