"Have you taken what I said into consideration or are you still stalling?" The voice had come through the speaker of the phone once the alpha was outside the railroad depot to speak in private. Only two nights ago had he received the strange message, his pack accidentally stumbling upon it as they were heading back inside. The small box contained a cell phone with a small note, the words 'We need to talk' scribbled on the yellow paper. Since then Derek has been arguing back and forth with the person on a current issue. He'd received news about what befell the hyperactive boy the day after from his pack. But right now he was being honest with the simple fact that he would help if he could but he, Derek Hale, could not pull off miracles.

"What the hell is going on, huh? You expect me to trust anything that slips out of your mouth after all this?" Derek snapped back into the microphone of the device. "I've got better things to do than listen to shitty lies."

"Calm down Derek. I'm just asking if you'll do it. You're not a miracle worker, I get it, but if there's the smallest chance this could work . . . You would be doing him a big favor. I'm not here to pester you into doing something you clearly don't want to. But hear me out when I say that there's a window of opportunity here," said the person on the other line. Afterwards there was a short pause shared between the two but then it was interrupted by the caller's final words being, "The choice is yours."

A low growl emitted from the base of the alpha male's throat after he heard the click on the other line that signaled the end of this conversation. It took every ounce of control he had inside to refrain from crushing the cellular device in his hands or chucking it against a wall out of pure anger. He grunted lowly as he took deep breaths to ease his shuddering frame and began to pace back and forth against the platform of the subway cart. His mind was a jumbled mess of conflicting feelings and clashing thoughts over the situation at hand. What was Derek supposed to do about this? He couldn't believe such words from the enemy, could he? There was no reason to trust the likes of her. He had his own problems to tend to, what with keeping his own pack alive and maybe with a thin thread of hope they would somehow manage against the war brewing between their kind and hunters.

That's what he thought at first, talking himself out of doing something like this but then he found himself outside of the Beacon Hills' hospital, just standing at the front steps. He had told her he wouldn't do it, that there was no use to try but despite all the reasons he had to not to come in the end it didn't matter. He'd showed up regardless. What was he going to do now? Just disappear like a bubble or play right into her trap? Suddenly he could feel a vibration in his back pocket, coming from the cell phone he had acquired over the week. Opening the screen he could see a notification for a text message and after sliding his thumb over it the message came into view. It read:

Glad you could make it. You can head inside. I'll keep watch for you.

So he was being watched huh? Oddly enough that didn't make him feel any more secure about the situation. He hesitated, waiting for any sign to prove that this was a bad idea, a trick. But there was no instinct for him to run, no sense of danger ahead. As if to answer his uncertainty, he received another message.

I won't do anything to you but if you keep standing around out there like a creepy stalker dude someone else will. Just saying.

At that the young man snorted and let out an incredulous chuckle. The smiley emoticon really took the cake for this one and it got him wondering just how old this hunter was, mentally that is. Brushing the thought back he made his way up the stairs, pausing at the doors. Cautiously he pulled on one handle and the door itself opened with ease. Nothing happened, no alarms going off to announce an intruder alert. Make it quick then, Derek reminded himself as he entered the hospital with hasty steps. He gave into his senses, letting them be his guide as he trekked through the halls. At one point he had to backtrack and take a detour as a nurse was passing from room to room to tend to patients.

Within the next minute he found himself just outside the room. He could his spine straighten at the sound of the other's heartbeat just beyond the door, a tension forming in his jaw. Slowly he began reaching for the door knob. But just as the palm of his hand was ghosting over the silver knob, it began to turn. Someone was on the other side. Just then the door swung open to reveal Melissa McCall. It seemed she had just dropped by to change the IV as she rolled a long metal stem out, an empty bag hanging off one of the branches. She closed the door lightly behind her before taking a stroll way down the hall, blindly passing the alpha male who was crouched behind a truncated wall. Peeking around the corner, he remained low to the ground as he tip-toed his way over to the room. This time he was able to slip in unnoticed. He left out a brief sigh of relief as he closed the door and stood up. Peeking over his shoulder, he saw the room was only occupied by the patient resting on the hospital bed. So here he was.

At first glance it was odd to see the usual active teenager just lying there, not babbling on about something irrelevant. It was odd but there was also a heavy sense of gloom within the walls of this space and it made the alpha wonder. How had he been reduce to such an impassive state? Was this the damage done because of Derek's poor choices lately? Would he remain in this state for the remainder of his life? It seemed most likely to happen but then why was Derek here if he thought this way?

Ever decisions you make from now on may benefit you but it can also have its consequences and though it may not affect you directly it will affect those around you.

Maybe he was in denial over it but it was clear Derek had made a decision to be here tonight because as it had been said before, there was a window of opportunity here for him. He was standing near the bedside now as he looked over the sleeping boy with little words to say. It was awkward and he didn't want to say anything stupid because he was pretty sure Scott had already done that himself. The teen wolf was so predictable in that way . . . Clearing his throat, he said the first thing that came to mind. "You know . . . the hospital doesn't really suit you."

A pulse jump responded to the sound of his voice. The alpha was more than surprised to get such a reaction. Had Stiles ever responded this way before? Regardless he realized there was some truth behind the untrustworthy hunter's words. Maybe there was something happening here though he didn't quite understand what. A window of opportunity.

"You're probably bored by now right? Listening to everybody but not being able to respond. You know what? I'll be honest with you. I don't have the slightest idea why you got yourself mixed up with all of this. You could have just gone on living an ordinary life considering you're only sixteen. Did you do it all for Scott then? I mean yeah, he wouldn't be anywhere without you . . . but look where you are now. Are you fine with this? No one else is. Erica is moping around, thinking it's all her fault while Boyd is quieter than usual. Isaac . . . he looks indifferent on the outside but he's probably just as worried. It's too bad for me you didn't get Scott to join my pack. Anyway, you should do them a favor and just wake up. But do yourself a favor. Stay out of this; it's no place for a human."

By then his time was up because he could sense a presence drawing closer to the room. It was most likely Ms. McCall. A click of a door had him snapping his head around because it had come directly from behind him. Appearing behind the door she stood with her bow in hand. She gestured him over, a finger pointing towards an open window which she had probably crawled through to get here. He looked back over the boy once more before backing away. Turning the knob of the door, Ms. McCall then entered the room, a small frown on her face as she searched for something. Nestled in the chair near the patient's bedside she found what she wanted, her cell phone. "There you are," she mumbled to herself as she scooped the handheld device up. As she scrolled through for any new messages, midway she paused. She glanced at her son's best friend, narrowing her eyes in a way that said 'I'm sure I just saw something.' Then a sound from behind the bathroom door made her jump a little. Quickly but quietly Ms. McCall made her way over with cautious steps as she slowly opened the door. She found the room vacant but the window ajar, the cool breeze of the night being let in. The nurse scurried over to close the window. The last she wanted was Stiles catching a cold. Making her way back through the room, she closed the bathroom door and began to head out. Before leaving she looked back to apologize and wish the boy a good sleep but in midst of her words she stopped. She swore she was seeing it with her own eyes; it wasn't her eyes playing foul tricks on her. In shock, her lips mouthed, "Oh my god."

There was a twitch of his finger, the movement of his eyes behind their hoods. In a split second she was speed dialing the only man who needed to be here most right now. "Sheriff Stilinski? . . . You're not going to believe."

Meanwhile, outside the hospital two figures were strolling along the pathway after making a quick escape from the window above. For a while, neither one spoke to the other. Suddenly one said, "Hey."

Her voice split through the silence of night to grab the alpha's attention. Surprisingly he paused a few feet ahead of her, standing right in front of his black Camaro that idled near the sidewalk. In her eyes, it was peculiar that a hothead such as himself was cooperating so easily but she wasn't complaining. She just wanted to ask him something. "Do you think you're better off alone?"

"What?" Derek responded flatly at such a random question. His eyes were stone cold as they settled on the female hunter across from him, the corners of his mouth twitching a bit against the stinging cold of a breeze.

"I asked you if you think you're better off alone," she reiterated slowly.

Another pause settled between them, this time it being more uncomfortable as the alpha male chewed over the personal question. There was no words he could muster up to address her inquiry. The answer could have been a simple for any ordinary person but for Derek it was all but too obvious that he wasn't so ordinary and therefore it was a lot harder to find the right words. Did Derek Hale think he was better off alone? For him,he'd yet to find the answer himself but instead he found himself asking her, "Do you think I'm better off alone?"

At this the hunter frowned, biting on the inside of her cheek as she seemed to think over the reversed question. Slowly but surely she shared her view. "Honestly, it's hard to say Derek. I had a feeling you'd show up tonight and you proved me right so you clearly aren't as coldhearted as you make yourself appear to be with that straight face . . . and I-see-into-your-soul stare. Hey, you even have a pack of ignorant high school teenage wolves to back you up in a fight but . . . I'm not so sure if you'd lay your life on the line for them as they probably would for you. Now toss in everything that's happened to you in the past decade of your life and what do you get? A pretty complex guy. Bottom line is you are just a jigsaw puzzle that I can't seem to put together. Still . . . I think that you think you're better off alone when you really aren't. But then again, that's my opinion."

Once she finished that last sentence a laugh followed, the sound coming from the alpha male himself. It was a slip up from the his usual stoic façade that only few people could manage to get out of him, and by few he meant maybe one other person. Yet he was only laughing at how her empty words, with little truth to back them up, fell on his sensitive ears, almost irritating. Derek had had enough of it and just wanted to leave the conversation at that. But then he added, "If you actually went through what I have you'd have a better understanding of a world you know nothing about. Don't assume what you have no knowledge on."

"You are so right, Derek," she admitted a smirk on her lips and a roll of her eyes. "It's actually not my job to . . . pull back every layer of your skin, dissect your very mind and analyze every corner of your life, learn of every person you've come in contact with and every relationship you've ever had. No, no, it's not my job. It's someone else's, or maybe it was Kate's, could be Gerard's too if you slip up. But what do I know? I'm just a little teenage girl who sits around making assumptions, like an asshole right?"

The alpha's lips rolled back to bare sharp teeth at the mention of that woman's name. Yet Derek remained where he stood glaring at her harshly as his eyes gleamed with a predator red in the dim light from a nearby streetlight. "You know the offer from the last time we met, that's still valid," he reminded her in a low growl.

At the threat he noticed her cringe very slightly but he found it was meant to be mocking, the sound of her steady heartbeat drumming softly on his ears. Cutting off the rising tension between the two, the girl chuckled lightly as she turned her back on him and began to walk off. Derek did the same, heading to the driver's side of his car and pulling the door open with a heavy click.

"Wait."

He looked up to find her looking back. He inclined his head to the side slightly, waiting to hear whatever she had to say.

"Why did you come tonight?"

"You need to know?" Derek retorted.

"No, it's just something I want to hear from you."

And as the alpha male took a step inside the car he said, "Well then let Scott McCall know he owes me for this. He can repay me by joining my pack." Just like that the meeting came to its conclusion and the hunter merely stood by as the black Camaro revved up and drove down the road until it disappeared into the night.