"What do you mean you are going on a vacation? Wasn't this was supposed to be your vacation? Aren't you still on pain pills? Did you hit your head after all? And what about Gwaine, are you just going to leave him here?"

Stiles was a bit upset with his cousin. Well, perhaps upset was the wrong word to use, more confused than anything. It had only been two days since she had gotten out of the hospital, and she was planning a trip.

"It will be fine, I actually had a special seat made for him so he can ride with me, there are lots of motorcycle dogs out there. Well, motorcycle wolf in this case." She completely ignores the rest of the questions for the moment, watching Gwaine trying to stalk the sprinkler system that was on. He would get up close to it, then get hit in the face and run away, just to do it all over again. She calls him over with a treat and pulls him in close, enjoying his fuzzy snuggles and wolf kisses, even the wet wolf fur.

"Ok fine, but that doesn't answer the rest of my questions."

She sighs loudly and looks at him."Look, this is something I have wanted to do for a while. And since I don't have to pay apartment bills at the moment, I'm going to take the chance and actually do it. I still have quite a bit of money left over from the accident last year(said accident had been the other persons fault, and left her with a double shattered wrist, now replaced with titanium, and quite a large settlement), so paying for gas and food won't be a problem."

He looks like he's about to argue but she stops him."Not only that, but once I get back I'm going to find a job here. So let me get this out of my system while I can, all right? I think I deserve it, after the whole Kate business. I promise once I get back, we can have a Lord of the Rings marathon, followed by watching the entire Jekyll miniseries, and I will cook you whatever you want, and might even let you beat me at Super Smash Bros. Deal?"

He glares at her for a minute before taking on a wounded look and agreeing. It was actually more about him wanting to go with her than her leaving in the first place, but she did have a point. He was going to miss her, but a trip might be just what she needed to drive the image of a red-eyed Derek out of her head. "All right, deal. I will hold you to the Jekyll watching though."

She smiles and shakes his hand, then laughs as Gwaine jumps on him and proceeds to lick him all over his face and neck. Said trip was one she had wanted to go on even before she came to Beacon Hills. She wanted to pack a bag full, and drive her motorcycle from one side of the county to another, visiting different eateries from Diners, Drive-thrus and Dives, along with visiting Carlos's Bakery. Her plan so far was to drive all the way up to Washington, then back down to Beacon Hills to rest for a bit, then start again towards the other side of the country, stopping occasionally to take pictures of her trip.

The fact that she had quite a bit of money saved in her bank account helped a bit, and now she would have a traveling companion to help keep her from going nuts. She also had a solar panel to help keep her phone charged, and her phone had GPS, along with about 14 hours worth of music and a Pandora app.

She was going to stop and sleep in dog-friendly hotels, enjoy the simple joy of riding for hours on end, and hope to see many other friendly bikers on the way through. In case you didn't know, bikers are all pretty much extremely friendly, tattooed sometimes, long beards sometimes, dressed in leather from head to toe most of the time, but don't let that fool you, they were some of the best people in the world. You were always likely to get waved at by a fellow biker if you passed one on the road.

It was going to be glorious.

"Earth to Ashley, are you with us? You spaced out for moment there."

"Sorry, already daydreaming of the trip I suppose, I'm just ready for it."

"When are you going to leave?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"Good god, could you wait any longer to tell me? Like when you were going out the door?"

"It was kind of a last-minute decision. I talked to your dad about it, and he thinks it will be good for me, he knows I've wanted to do this for a while as well. And it's not like I'm going away for good, I...just need to get certain things pushed out of my system. I still can't get the sight of a burnt corpse out of my mind, or the fact that the one female friend my age that I made here drugged and kidnapped me."

Stiles goes quiet and looks away at that, so she stops. It took a lot to get Stiles to stop talking, it kept him sane, so when he did it was a time to worry.

"Hey." She looks at him."I won't be gone forever. I just need some alone time, and when I get back it'll all be ok. So cheer up."

He looks up at her and smiles sadly, and they sit quietly for a moment, watching Gwaine chase a mischievous squirrel, who keeps jumping tree to window sill to tease him. After a while it starts to get dark and they head back inside, calling to Gwaine to follow them. She goes up to her room, waving to the sheriff on her way up, Stiles following behind her. He plops down on her bed as she pulls out clothes and starts packing them, making sure she has enough for a couple of days worth of changes before making it to a laundry mat somewhere. She also packs her good camera, not trusting her phone for the task, her tablet, shampoo, razor, body wash, bag full of non melt-able snacks, a book, water bottle, knife, stun gun, charger that doubled for her phone and tablet, dog treats, and other needed items.

Stiles just watches her as she doe this, pausing every once in a while to send or read a text, most likely from Scott. When she finishes she sits down next to him on the bed, nudging him in the ribs.

"How's Scott?"

"How did you know I was talking to Scott?"

"Who else would you be talking to, you are always talking to Scott. Unless Lydia has suddenly admitted her undying love for you, or you are googling something, you're talking to Scott. No offense."

He scowls, looking back at his phone."None taken. And yes, it is Scott. I was telling him you leave in the morning, and he wants to stop by and wish you luck. You are kind of his hero with that bike you know."

She grins at him."I know, poor guy. That dirt bike will be the closest to a bike he gets for a long time, though I do admit it has its uses."

He smiles back at her then goes weirdly silent again.

"I..there was someone else who texted me actually."

"Yea? Who?" she asks, looking at him in mild surprise.

"Derek Hale."

"What? why would he text you?"

"Hey, I'm a popular person! And he wanted to check if you were ok."

"He did?" she raises an eyebrow at this, not sure she can believe him."That was...nice of him."

"Yea, I'm sure he has his moments in between the constant scowls and threats to rip my throat out with his teeth.."

"What did you tell him?"

"Well, I considered saying it was none of his business and to bugger off, but I like my blood in my body, so I told him you were ok and leaving on a trip in the morning. End of conversation."

She considers this and shrugs. It seemed unlike him, but maybe he was trying to lighten up a bit. That would be good for him, a smile certainly wouldn't kill him.

After pondering this she reaches over to turn on the tv. "Up for a game of Smash Bros before I go to bed? it will be a while before I get to play again, and I'm trusting you to take good care of my stuff. Especially the computer. Anything happens to it and your life shortens dramatically."

"Yea yea, let's do this. Try not to be a button masher with Link this time, all right?"

"Can't promise anything."

They play til about ten, when she kicks him out of her room so she can go to sleep. She planned on waking up at about 7 to get ready to leave at 8am, and would need all the sleep she could get.

While drifting off, she thought of the fact that she hadn't heard anything from the killer since the night she found Gwaine, and hadn't felt someone watching her since the night she was drugged. Had something happened to him, or had he just left since the last of the Hale family killers were found?

The last thought that went through her mind was that she hoped he had found peace.
**************************

"Um, what are you doing here?"

This is what Ashley heard as she came out of the house to leave, having already said goodbye to the sheriff, and needing to strap Gwaine on the bike. What greeted her was a leather jacket clothed Derek Hale with his arms crossed, Stiles standing in front of him with arms flailing wildly for some unknown reason, and Gwaine jumping around excitedly not knowing what was going on, but knowing whatever it was, was loud. She takes this in for a moment before sighing and walking up behind Stiles.

"I came to say goodbye to your cousin. Here she is now." The trademark scowl was on his face, but for some reason his eyes softened a bit when he saw her. Quite glad she could tell she had some effect on the handsome, broody, leather-clad man, she smiles a bit as she steps around Stiles.

"Awful nice of you to do so. Though I'm not sure if I'm the copycat here or you are."she said, gesturing to her own leather jacket she now wore.

"Not sure either of us are, though I will say you pull it off pretty well."

"Oh my god, are you trying to flirt with her? I'm going inside before I throw up, don't hump her leg or anything." Stiles says glaring at Derek, before he turneds to Ashley. "Have a good trip, take lots of pictures, don't take any strange drugs from people, and see ya in a couple of weeks." He gives her a good long hug, then heads inside.

She turns to look at Derek. "Don't hump my leg?"

"Don't look at me, I don't pay attention to most of what he says. When I do most of it comes out as 'punch me in the face'. "

She laughs at that, going to pick Gwaine up and set him in his new seat, strapping him in. "I hear that a lot, but please don't. He only means to come off that way about half the time, the other half is just him being himself. I kinda like him, ya know? He is family after all."

"I seem to remember what that is like" He says a bit forlornly. "I can't make any promises though."

She finishes up and turns to him, smiling. "Thanks for coming to see me off, by the way, it means a lot."

"Yea well, I wanted to make sure you were ok. After getting out of the hospital that is. A lot went down this weekend."

"Yea, about that.." she moves up closer to him and looks into his eyes, startling him.

"What are you doing?"

"Checking for something, hush now."

He mouths silently at her as she peers up into his eyes, looking for a sign of red. When she doesn't see it she smiles and sighs."All right, I'm done."

"Find what you needed?" he asks, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I think so. More along the lines of didn't see what something I hoped I was wrong about."

She looks up and smiles, then falters a bit as she realizes she hasn't moved away from him yet. His face takes the same look it did when she was finding him a shirt, and he moves in closer. He smells like the woods. And leather. She stops breathing as he puts his mouth next to her ear and whispers "Be safe." before pulling back. She remembers how to breathe again and looks up at him, a questioning look on her face, before cocking her own eyebrow at him.

"I have a faithful wolf puppy with me, how could I be safer?" With that she sneaks a kiss on his cheek and climbs on her bike, having managed to shock Derek into silence. She winks cheekily at him, putting on her helmet and checking that her GPS is on before turning on the bike.

"Be careful yourself."

With that she rode off, leaving Derek Hale standing in the driveway, still a bit shocked.
******************************

The only thoughts going through her head as she drives away was why on earth she kissed him. It's not nice to kiss and leave, and that was just what she did. She was going to be gone for at least two weeks before returning, and just leaving again. That was so what she didn't need on the brain.

Resolving to let sleeping dogs lie she clicks on some music and looks back at Gwaine."Are you ready for an adventure?" He just grins a wolfish grin in reply as they drive away from Beacon Hills and the hell that was just now hitting it.

That first night they sleep on the beach, enjoying the night and the sound of the waves.

That morning they had some of the biggest cinnamon rolls she had ever seen for breakfast. Well, she did, he ate scrambled eggs and sausage.

And the second week in, when she was getting ready to head back for a day or two, was the moment that she first met the Winchesters, which led to a whole new can of worms being opened up for her.
****************************

She was staying at one of the cheapest motels she had ever see, but it accepted animals so she couldn't complain much. She could complain about the murders that had gone on throughout the town, but since she didn't plan on staying that long she wasn't as worried as she should have been.

So when something came crashing through her door at about midnight, all jagged teeth and snarls and long nails, she should have honestly been more prepared.

"Where are the Winchesters?!" It screamed at her, barely distinguishable because of the teeth. "Where did you hide them?"

"I don't know any Winchesters, I swear!" She backs as far away from the creature as she can, it following her every step. She screams as Gwaine, the little hero that he was, starts growling and attacks the things leg, and is kicked into a wall for his efforts.

"Don't hurt him you bastard!" She yells as she jumps on his back with the knife she had kept with her just in case, jabbing it into his back.

Unfortunately all it did was make him angry, and he pulls her off his back, bellowing in pain, and backhands her hard, making her hit the same wall that Gwaine did. As she blacks out from the pain, she sees two men run into the room and attack the creature, both tall and wearing plaid, before giving in to the darkness.

And enter the Winchesters! I was considering splitting this off into a completely different story, but decided them meeting needed to be here.

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