A/N: What's up, people? I have a new chapter for you lovelies. This chapter's got QUITE a bit more Derek than the last. ;) And as always, I hope you have a happy read.
Guest: Thank you! I love hearing that you're looking forward to the next chapter! And you're welcome for the update, it was my pleasure. :)
"So," Blake mutters glancing to the side nervously, "you should probably head out."
Faith nods, scuffing her foot on the ground. "I should, but it's not like I want to…" she grumbles, looking up at Blake with hopeful eyes, as if she expects Blake to just change her mind and invite Faith to stay with her forever. Unfortunately, that's not going to happen. The target on Blake's back is too big for that.
Blake shrugs, laughing a little. "You threatened me with quitting your job to get me here," she says lightly. "It's not holding up your end of the deal if you actually do quit." She's going to miss Faith's company, but it's better this way. Things are about to get serious. She has to find the Argent home and keep an eye out for Kate, all the while planning how to get Wess back. Faith can't stay any longer.
"So..?" Faith asks, crossing her arms over her chest. "I could get a job here…" she mutters.
"You already have a job," Blake says. "Besides, I'm always just a phone call away. It's not like you'll…" Blake pauses, swallowing thickly. "It's not like you'll never talk to me again," she finally says. She almost said, 'It's not like you'll never see me again,' but then she remembered that she can't promise Faith will ever see her again.
"I know," Faith says uneasily, gathering her bag. "I just… I'm going to miss you."
"I'm going to miss you too," Blake says, looking away uncomfortably. She isn't used to telling people she'll miss them. It hasn't happened since… Well, maybe since high school.
"You better call me as soon as something happens," Faith says sternly, wagging a finger in Blake's face. "If you don't, I swear I'll come down here and kick your little werewolf ass!" When Blake bites her lip to hide her smile, Faith scowls. "I could do it!" she insists, stomping her foot.
"I believe you," Blake grins.
"Good," Faith nods succinctly. She's quiet for a moment before she leans forward and gently pulls Blake into a hug, wrapping her arms tightly around the taller woman. "Take care of yourself, please?" she pleads, tears dripping onto Blake's shoulder.
Blake, stunned into silence, nods numbly and returns hug, her fingers clenched into the fabric of Faith's shirt. How is it possible she got so attached to someone who used to be a stranger a week ago? "I will," she says at last, though she knows that she'll have to disregard those words at some point in the future.
Faith gently untangles herself from Blake's arms and gives a watery grin. "When you get Wess back, give him a hug for me, okay?" she asks, scrubbing her tears away.
"I will," Blake agrees. "You'll be the first to know about it when I get him back," she promises.
"You…" Faith glances away, her heartbeat picking up the tempo. "You aren't actually going to go through with it, are you?" she asks, tears welling up in her eyes again.
Her question is vague, but Blake knows what she means. "Yes," Blake says quietly. "I have to."
"But she's going to kill you!" Faith sobs, bowing her head so that her dark curls fall to hide her face.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it," Blake says soothingly, placing a comforting hand on Faith's shoulder. "I'm not worried," she says. It's a lie, but at least it's a convincing lie. "You should go now," she says gently, "or you're going to be late picking up your shipment."
"You're right," Faith sniffles, gathering her belongings again and opening the door to their shared motel room. Blake walks Faith out to her truck, which didn't have a trailer attached, making it infinitely easier to park.
"Bye," Faith sniffles, hugging Blake quickly. She climbs reluctantly into the cab, still casting Blake hopeful looks.
Blake knows that this is the part where she's supposed to change her mind and tell Faith to stay. But she can't. "I'll see you later," she says softly, knowing that it might be a lie and that she might not get another chance to see the high-spirited, petite truck driver.
Faith hiccups and rubs the tears out of her eyes, shaking her head. She knows it might be a lie too, but neither can seem to bring it up. "I hope so," she says at last.
Blake gives her a reassuring smile, hoping that it's actually a smile and not the grimace it feels like. Faith pulls the door to her truck closed and waves sadly to Blake as she slides the key into the ignition. Blake waves back as the engine comes to life. Blotting at her eyes, Faith navigates the large vehicle out of the parking lot, leaving Blake to stare after her.
Blake sighs and rubs her aching eyes, as she walks quietly back to her motel room. After Faith's departure the day before, she got a copy of the local newspaper. One of the ads caught her eye, it was for a club downtown looking for bouncers. Of course, she isn't the ideal person for a bouncer. But she somehow managed to talk the person on the phone into giving her an interview and seeing if she measured up to the requirements.
Right now, she's heading back to her motel room after the job interview. It was a little odd, but she doesn't mind. They had her lift a couple weights to test her physical fitness as well as a few other things. Her height was a huge help, seeing as how she's about the same height as most average men. She has to come back to the club the next day for training, if she makes it through training, she gets the job. It pays well and it gives her something to do. She's actually kind of excited about starting work there, thanks to her unnatural strength it's going to be a breeze. Maybe she'll get a couple kicks out of surprising rowdy patrons.
The purr of a well-tuned engine alerts Blake to the approaching car. She turns to see a sleek black Camaro with darkly tinted windows. She watches it carefully as it screeches to an abrupt stop besides her, her ears catching the sound of it being shifted into park. Soon after the driver's side door flies open and Derek slides out, making Blake frown in confusion. She still doesn't know why he's in Beacon Hills. She doesn't dwell on it for long, instead focusing on the hateful scowl tainting his face and the aggressive hunch of his shoulders as he approaches her.
"Are you with them?" Derek growls as he looms threateningly over Blake, his chest only inches from hers. He's glaring down at her, forcing her to tilt her head slightly to return the gesture.
"With who?" Blake asks, resisting the urge to shove Derek back a couple steps. She doesn't like him being this close, where she can hear the furious rhythm of his heart and smell the slightly spicy mixture of leather and musk, joined by the sharp twang of werewolf.
"Don't act stupid!" he snarls. "Are you with the hunters?!"
"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Blake snaps, shoving him harshly backwards. Her heartbeat skyrockets with her rising anger, his absurd question almost mocking her. "Did you really just ask if I was with the hunters?!" she yells, feeling her eyes change into flickering sapphire as her claws burst from her fingertips. "Do you knowwhat they do to hunters who are turned and don't immediately off themselves?" she asks coldly, punctuating 'you,' by harshly jabbing her clawed finger into his chest. She feels a bubble of blood well up under her finger, absorbing into the material of his shirt. "I'd be treated the same way as an alpha," she hisses. "If I get seen by a hunter, ANY hunter, I'm dead."
Derek, refusing to back down, steps closer to her threateningly, "How do I know you're not lying?" he asks coldly. At the sound of a pointed cough, his eyes slide to the side, where a pedestrian is staring scornfully at the bickering pair. "Get in the car," he demands, "we'll talk somewhere else." As the words leave his mouth, he's already striding around the front of the vehicle.
Blake nearly ignores him and continues on her way back to the motel, but her curiosity refuses to let her leave, forcing her to get into the car with Derek Hale, who she can't seem to figure out. She restrains herself from yanking the door open, instead she gently tugs the handle and carefully pulls it ajar. What good would it do for her to try to damage his property and act like a child throwing a tantrum? She slides onto the smooth leather seat and tugs the door closed, her lips pursed into a thin line of cold indifference. Derek shifts the car out of park and hits the gas pedal, the vehicle immediately screeching down the road as it rapidly gains speed.
"I can see why you'd think I was with the hunters seeing as I was there on the night of the full moon," Blake says curtly, trying to keep a leash on her anger. "But I'm no longer associated with any hunters."
"Then why are you here and why were you in the forest that night," Derek asks, though his voice doesn't hold any of the inflection that usually comes with a question. He has an odd way of asking questions without sounding like he's asking a question.
"I've told you before," Blake grits her teeth, her patience wearing thin. "I just want my dog back. Kate has him, and wherever Chris is, Kate shows up," she says tightly, noticing how his fingers tighten dangerously around the steering wheel at Kate's name, making the leather squeak in distress.
"I don't believe you," Derek says, his jaw clenching stubbornly.
Blake's eyes flash into the unnatural bright blue, her claws flexing out from her fingertips out of her control. "I don't care if you don't believe me," she snaps. "I'm telling the truth, and if the hunters find me before I find Wess, I'm in deep shit."
Derek makes an abrupt turn and pulls into a gas station, throwing the car into park next to one of the pumps and killing the engine. He refuses to even look at Blake as they're cast into the abrupt silence left by the absence of the engine. He pulls the keys out of the ignition and slides out of the car, staunchly ignoring his passenger as he circles around to the gas pump. He takes the fuel nozzle and begins to feed gas into the tank.
Blake, indignant with being ignored, pops the door open and steps out. "You know why I'm here," she states, crossing her arms over her chest. "So why are you here?" she asks angrily.
Derek reaches into his back pocket and grabs his wallet, shoving it at Blake. "Go pay," he commands. "Thirty dollars at pump four," he elaborates before Blake can say anything in retaliation.
Blake sputters indignantly, her claws tearing gouges into the worn leather wallet. "If you don't have an answer when I come back…" she trails off momentarily, letting the words linger on the air for a moment, "I'm going to smash your teeth in and make you choke on them," she seethes. Before her claws can do anymore damage to the wallet, she forcefully retracts them and reins in her anger. Once she's sufficiently calmed, she strides towards the small convenience store and throws the glass door open. A mechanic bell rings above her head, signaling her presence to the teenaged boy working behind the counter.
Catching sight of the drink fountain, Blake grins vindictively and all but skips over to the machine. She grabs the largest cup they have, which is a whopping 44 ounce bucket of a cup, and fills the entire thing with blue raspberry slushie. It takes a couple minutes on account of the machine's spluttering, but eventually she has 44 ounces of semi-frozen blue goodness. Licking her lips, Blake grabs a straw and ferries her prize over to the cashier's counter. She sets the monster of a cup down and pulls Derek's torn wallet out of her coat pocket. She allows the cashier to scan the cup before she brings the straw to her lips and takes a pull of the cold, delightfully tart slushie.
"Will that be all for you, ma'am?" the cashier asks indifferently, his question robotic from being drilled into him during his training.
Blake nods and starts to fish a five dollar bill out of Derek's battered wallet before frowning and gulping down her mouthful of slushie. "Thirty on pump four, please," she grumbles, abruptly remembering what she had been sent in for in the first place. She continues to suck on the straw, her lips slowly turning blue from the vibrantly dyed drink. She hands the cashier a fifty dollar bill, waiting patiently for him to process it and hoping that he shorts Derek on change. She's definitely not going to count, much less complain.
Once the transaction's finished, Blake shoves Derek's wallet in her coat pocket and steps out of the building, the same mechanic bell sounding as she does. She makes it halfway to the car before she finally takes her attention off of her slushie. What she sees makes her flinch and her stomach tighten with worry. There are two huge SUVs boxing in Derek's Camaro, men with hunting rifles loitering around him. One of the men is Chris Argent, she recognizes him on account of his sharp profile and tall stature. Why couldn't she just avoid him?
"You forgot to check the oil," comes Derek's sarcastic voice.
Chris smirks smugly, his piercing blue eyes sliding over to his lackeys. "Check the man's oil," he commands, a sharp note of smug malice entering his voice. Chuckling stupidly to himself, one of the lackeys strides forward and smashes the butt of his rifle through Derek's window, causing Blake to flinch and nearly lose her grip on her slushie on account of her sweating palms.
Chris's eyes cut over to Blake, lingering on her for a moment before a wicked smile curls his lips. He recognizes her, no doubt about it. "I see you've picked up one of our strays," he comments easily, the weight of his gaze makes Blake want to vomit with nervousness. "But we can take care of her from here on out."
"What, you mean by killing her?" Derek hisses quietly, stepping closer to Chris.
"Yes," Chris agrees, not hesitating for a second. "She knew that if she got bit, it was her duty to do what needed to be done. When she didn't, it became the duty of every hunter who knew her."
Blake's heart is beating so hard it feels like it's going to burst through her chest at any second and flop around like a fish out of water. Chris turns toward her and takes a threatening step forward, his eyes hard with determination. Blake stumbles backwards in terror, the huge Styrofoam cup slipping through her sweaty fingers. It hits the ground and explodes with a stiff pop, splattering her jeans with freezing cold slushie.
Chris smirks wickedly at her fear, taking another step and basking in her terror. "You know, your parents were such great hunters, it's a pity they had to die the way they did," he remarks. "If they were here, they'd be ashamed of you…" he says, using a fake tone of sympathy as he steps even closer to Blake. She scrambles backwards, tripping over her own feet in her desperation to escape and landing hard on her butt. Her breath comes in short terrified bursts as the acrid taste of fear floods through her mouth, mixing with the lingering tartness of blue raspberry.
Derek's hand whips out and wraps around Chris's forearm, "She hasn't done anything," he growls. "Leave her alone."
Chris chuckles darkly, "You mean she hasn't done anything yet," he corrects. "But for now we'll let her enjoy her freedom a little longer, she'll be taken care of eventually." After he delivers his last threat, he and his gang climb into their oversized vehicles and speed off, leaving Blake to deal with the aftermath.
Trembling all over Blake screams and punches the ground, desperately blinking away the terrified tears that gather in her eyes. They know she's here now. They're going to be looking for her. Surely, Chris will tell Kate exactly what's going on. She knew that it'd be impossible to get Wess back without running into at least one hunter, but she just ran into one of the main ringleaders. It's only been two days since she arrived in Beacon Hills, too. Somehow she had hoped to stay undetected longer. Chris will inform his wife of Blake's presence, and his wife will decide how to deal with Blake and regarding former-hunters, mercy is almost never utilized.
Gritting her teeth, Blake shoves herself to her feet and tries in vain to brush some of the dried oil off of the seat of her pants. It seems like she fell right into an old puddle of the gritty black substance. Her fingers won't stop quivering and her stomach aches with worry, but she can't do anything about it now. What's done is done. There will be no changing it.
Glancing over at Derek, who had been watching her carefully, Blake frowns. Fishing his wallet out of her pocket, she flings it at him, using a little more force than necessary though he still catches it easily. Slowly zipping her coat up, Blake shoves her hands in her pockets and makes her way over to the street. She doesn't care to find out why Derek's in Beacon Hills anymore. It doesn't matter. She doesn't understand why he defended her against Chris, but that doesn't matter either. The only thing that currently matters is that if she wasn't with him, her cover wouldn't have been blown. She wouldn't have been threatened. She wouldn't have slushie squishing around in her shoes and irritating her with every step. And she definitely wouldn't have a huge oil stain on her ass.
"Wait," Derek says, his voice lacking the usual hatred he addressed her with. "Let me give you a ride," he says, and if Blake didn't know any better, she'd say he sounded a little guilty. But she knew better.
Blake turns to face him, a harsh refusal on her lips when she remembers she isn't sure how to get to her motel from here. Besides, the oil on her butt would look nice on his leather seats. "Why?" she asks, crossing her arms over her chest as she approaches the car.
Derek doesn't say anything, instead quietly opening the driver side door and getting in, Blake huffs angrily and does the same, climbing into the passenger seat. "Do you believe me now?" she asks snappishly, feeling the oil on her pants stick to the seat with a small measure of satisfaction.
"Yes," Derek growls reluctantly, sounding almost physically pained to admit it, "I believe you."
"Good," Blake says flatly, staring out the window at the passing scenery. It's not like it helps anything now. Whether he believes her or not, it doesn't change the situation in the slightest. She belatedly realizes, with no small amount of sadness, that the overwhelming majority of her slushie had been wasted and now it's soaking into her shoes and dripping onto Derek's floorboard. Somehow she can't find it within herself to drudge up the appropriate level of guilt.
A/N: So that's it for this week, dears. I hope you liked it! And if you liked it, review! I know I'm always whining about reviews, but they help immensely. I love knowing how you all feel and what your thoughts are. It helps me so much! :)