I walked down the stairs leading to the subway. My foot hit the bottom step as Derek's three super soldiers went on high alert. I know I'm walking into the lion's den. But, right now, I don't really care. I walked into the middle of the room and stopped, thankful I'd left Aaron in the car. And, thankful he agreed.

"What do you want?" Erica crossed her arms, stopping a few feet from me.

"Derek's not here," Isaac added, mirroring her stance. I glanced at Boyd, who was standing off to the side. He looked cautious and unsure of what might happen next. But he seemed like the type to not get involved unless absolutely necessary.

"I know," I spoke with a level tone, glancing between the three of them. "I came to talk to you guys." Each one of them wore a different expression. Erica was offended, Isaac curious, and Boyd concerned.

Erica slightly chuckled, knowing she was better than me. "What makes you think we'll listen?" Her voice was more seductive than it was threatening.

I sighed. "The faster I say this the sooner I'll be out of your hair." I looked around. No one protested. "Okay, then. I came to formally introduce myself, and apologize for not doing it earlier. My name is Sara Grant, and I am a guardian of the supernatural."

I sat on the hood of a car in a dark garage. Once again, I had convinced Aaron to stay in the car. But this time, it didn't take much convincing. Light filtered into the garage as the man door opened leading into the house and the outline of a person walked through it.

The door closed and the light flipped on. Chris startled when he saw me, dropping the bag of trash in his hands. He sighed, trying to compose himself. "What…are you doing here?"

"It's the only room I knew there wouldn't be any cameras or listening devices."

"I mean, what are you doing in my house?" he wasn't happy. I don't blame him. I wouldn't be happy either if my enemy snuck into my garage.

"I came to talk to you," I replied. He picked up the bag of trash and walked passed me to the garbage bins along the garage wall. I sighed and looked at the ground. "After everything, you deserved me yelling at you. But you were right. I was talking about someone else. A few people, actually."

I stood and looked at him. "I understand you wanting to take your father's side. But I want you to remember that he's a murderer killing to avenge another murderer." I sighed. "Sorry. I didn't come here to fight. I came here looking for answers."

He stood with his hands in his pants pockets. "Answers to what?"

"What are we, Chris?" I asked sincerely. Besides Ben, he's been my only other father figure. "Not too long ago you said you thought of me as a daughter. Does what I am change that?" He was quiet. "Or is it who you're with that changes that?"

"Nothing changes the way I feel about you."

"Your actions are saying otherwise."

He was quiet again. "I am who I am, Sara. You can't change that. I was born a hunter, it's who I am."

"Yeah, so was your code. Justice was done with Kate. No one else needs to die."

"And what about the creature that's out there probably killing people right now?"

I stared at him a minute. "You don't know what he is," I realized. "I know Gerard does. And he's keeping that from you." Chris looked away, not saying anything. "As for the creature, he's not hurting anyone. Right now, anyway. And, I know it seems wrong to defend a killer…but here I am." I sighed. "Someone's making him kill people. We still don't know who. But I'm just as obligated to protect him as I am any other creature."

"Are you threatening me?"

"If that's the way you want to see it, fine. That's your provocative. I'm just trying to make sure we all come out of this mess alive." I sighed and the room fell quiet. It stayed that way for a minute or so. "Is there anything I can say or do to get you on my side?"

"I don't know."

"What if…" I paused and thought, then cursed myself, and spoke. "What if I told you what I really am? What would you say then…if I trusted you that much?" He looked at me, studying me. I knew that this might be an act of war, the outright most stupidest thing I have ever done. The equivalent of selling my soul to the devil. But if it gets him on my side, wouldn't it be worth it?

I felt my heart beating faster in my chest. "If I trusted you enough with everything that I am?" I was way too desperate at this point to get him on my side. And he knew it. I could tell by the look on his face.

I left the Argent house and walked down the sidewalk a block or so to the car. Aaron was sitting on the hood waiting for me, his hands in his jacket pockets. He pushed off the car as he saw me approaching. "How'd it go?"

I stopped a couple feet in front of him and sighed. "I'm tired. Can we talk about this later?" I could tell he wanted to protest and have me spill my guts anyway. But thankfully, he backed down with a grim nod. I feel bad for him. Getting stuck with me. Ben's being ridiculous.

Of course, what's worse than him is me. I could've put my foot down. I am an adult, after all. But I'm a lonely adult who can't stand to lose anymore family. I smiled at Aaron. "Come on, kid. Let's go home." We started for the car. "If you're going to be stuck with me, the least I can do is feed you and let you sleep." I put my hand on the door handle and froze, a familiar scent assaulting my nose. My eyes briefly flashed red.

"Sara?"

I looked up at Aaron. He'd stopped at his door, too, and was staring at me questioningly. I glanced to my right and saw Derek standing and twenty feet away. I looked back to Aaron, who had followed my gaze. He looked at me. "Wait here," I said. "I need a minute."

"Sar-"

"Aaron," I cut him off, my voice a warning. I don't know why Derek's here and I need to know that Aaron's safe and out of the way. "Please. Wait here." I walked around the car without a reply, and headed for Derek. I heard the car door open behind me and glanced back to see Aaron getting in. I walked up to Derek, stopping about five feet away. His eyes had followed me over here and were still on me.

"Cute kid," he said, nodding his head toward the car.

"Yeah, touch him and you're dead."

He dropped his head, a small smile crossing his lips. He looked back up at me. "Do you really think I'd hurt him?"

"Not if you knew what was good for you." I shrugged. "What do you want, Derek? I honestly don't know what to make of all of this. First, you love me, then you hate me and it's all about power. Now, you have your pack, you got what you wanted, but you're still sulking around. You're only making my job harder. I care about what happens to humans, also. But I can't let you kill Jackson."

I waited for him to respond, but he didn't. So I kept talking. "And, what was that, the other night? You, fighting off the Argents to protect me? What-what was that? Was that some kind of power play? Am I supposed to want to come crawling back to you now?"

"No. Just because we disagree on some things, doesn't mean I want to see you hurt."

I crossed my arms. "Disagree on some things? It's a lot more than just some." I sighed, glancing around. I looked back at him. "What do you want?" I said it with as much disgust as I could muster.

"I've been thinking about it a lot recently," he said. "Us."

I shrugged. "What 'us'? You made sure it was just you and me."

"I know. What happened…happened. But I'm looking for a way for us to move past that. To move past all of it," he said. I hadn't realized how close he was until his hand brushed mine.

I glanced down at our hands, and then up at him. I swallowed, my voice coming out as almost a whisper, "What are you doing?"

"Something I should've done a long time ago."

My heart was nearly beating out of my chest. Derek leaned in to kiss me, our lips brushing. At first, I wanted it. But I stopped myself. I put my hand on his chest and pushed back slightly, stopping him inches from my face. "When I said you'd have to beg for it…I meant it. You were right about Lunas not being able to be trusted. But you forgot one thing: we don't forget. And, it's going to take a lot more than that before I ever let you touch me like that again. My heart isn't something to be played with. You either love me right, or not at all."

I turned around and walked back to the car. I slid into the driver's seat, shutting the door. I felt Aaron's eyes on me, but he didn't say anything. I just sat there for a minute, processing. I finally reached into my pocket and pulled out the keys. I fumbled with them as I brought them up to the ignition, my hand shaking.

A hand gently rested on top of mine. I looked up at Aaron. He didn't say anything, just glanced at me before guiding my hand with the key into the ignition and starting the car. He sat back in his seat, looking out the windshield. I let the breath I didn't know I was holding silently escape me as I faced the wheel. I dropped it into drive and then drove home.