When Gale's day had finally ended, she waited for Peter at the front of the school. But today was different.
Peter was never late, and it had already been 35 minutes since he was supposed to arrive.
Where the hell are you? You're never late.
Gale waited another ten minutes for his reply before she started to walk home. If Peter hadn't replied, that meant something was up. And if something was up with Peter, as per their agreement, it was her job to go solve whatever it was. This was her life now: helping Peter Hale. She inwardly groaned at the prospect.
As she walked home, Gale thought long and hard about a course of action. She knew Peter had enemies, she just needed to find out who they were and what they wanted. She figured she could start with asking Deaton some questions after she stopped at home, wrote a note for her dad, and grabbed her car and at least some kind of weapon.
Gale sighed. Should she tell Scott that something was up with Peter? No, it would be better not to tell Scott that she's actively working with Peter on whatever it was he was working on. And what if she was overreacting to the whole situation? Maybe she should stop at his apartment and see if he's there.
Fine, Peter's apartment would be here first stop after home, Deaton's her second if Peter wasn't at his apartment.
Gale arrived to her house and quickly scribbled a note.
Emergency. Might be gone for a while. Don't wait up. Will contact ASAP. Love you, dad.
She put on a a pair of black sweats and a fitted t shirt, underneath which she wore her nymph garments like under garments. Gale walked up to closet, and she quickly pulled a box off the top shelf. It was a long box that hosted the two parts that made up her weapon of choice. Grabbing the box, she checked that everything necessary was there, and when she saw it was, Gale got to her car and drove to Peter's apartment.
The fact that she knew where Peter's apartment was pissed her off more than the fact that she was actually a little worried about Peter did.
When she arrived, Gale opened up the box and put the weapon together, twisting each piece into place and feeling the piece mold to her nymphic powers. It was a spear, with a long pointed tip at either end, silver and light as a feather, but sharper than most weapons.
Gale walked up the stairs to his apartment, carefully listening and taking in the scents around her. She could smell blood, some Peter's, some Derek's, some neithers. So something had happened? Her instincts had been right?
She saw the door open, looking like it had been kicked open no less. No Peter or Derek in the apartment. Gale let out a growl. She smelled gun powder and wolfsbane, so it had to have been hunters. But who?
All the Argents save for Allison and Chris were gone, so who was it?
She looked around the apartment, saw a few gun shells and quickly picked them up. The skull design told it was the Mexican hunters, Calaveras she believed their names were. She saw some scorch marks on the floor, but smelt no fire, electricity most likely. Most of the blood was still relative damp, so this had to have happen earlier this afternoon.
Screw Deaton.
Gale knew where to find the Calaveras; they obviously would not have been able to make it back to Mexico in the short amount of time. She'd do this herself then.
It looked like she was going to have to go to the Calavera's base. She knew they had one close by to Beacon Hills, it wouldn't be that hard to get to. She'd be there by the midnight at the latest. At least she wasn't missing another dance rehearsal for this.
She grabbed a few gun shells and slipped them into the pocket of her pants as she ran back to her car. Gale drove quickly as she could without breaking laws.
When she saw the surrounding area turn from lush greens of Northern California to more desert like area, Gale knew she was close. She found a road stop and bought a motel room, pulling out some emergency funds from her backpack. She'd walk the rest of the way.
The sun had set a long time ago, when Gale had started her trek towards the base camp. When she got there, she started to slip by some guards unnoticed when she heard gunshots.
Gale paled, reinforcements for the hunters or something else? The guards she was hidden from noticed her when they turned from the gunshots. She growled and let her human form fade as her skin turned blue and her horns pushed out. The four men began to run at her, as she ran to engage them. She quickly pushed her spear into the chest of the closest before vaulting herself and the spear and pushing it into the second. Right as she hit the third, she heard the fourth be shot and fall just behind her.
"I had it under control," Gale said as she turned around.
The girl looked at Gale trying to analyze her as friend or foe.
"Are you here for the Hales?" The girl asked. Gale took her time checking the girl out. Dark skin starkly contrasted by scars where her throat had obviously been slashed. She had a gun, military grade.
"Yeah," Gale said. "I assume you are too."
"I'm only here for Derek. He's the one I'm getting paid for," The girl said. Most likely a mercenary, Gale thought to herself.
"Paid to do what?" Gale asked standing up a little straighter, slightly shifting her spear to point at the young woman.
"Save him," she said. "I assume you're here to do the same."
Gale listened closely, she didn't seem to be lying, so she nodded and lowered the spear.
"Let's go then. I'm Gale by the way."
"Braeden," the mercenary said. "You pack?"
"Yeah, something like that."
Gale turned her back to the girl and began walking towards the basement part where the two werewolves would be held. She could faintly hear electricity crackling beneath and knew they were close.
One door stood between the two young women and the room directly above the Hales, she could hear Peter annoying the guard stationed down with them.
Gale gave Braeden a signal to move towards the wall opposite Gale. When she had, Gale took her spear and broke the closest window. As the glass shattered, she heard the yelling in Spanish and hunters moved into the room, some staying close to the basement entrance.
Gale was closer to the door, and quickly stabbed the first to enter before pushing through the burly man's body into the man following behind him. As the two bodies fell, Braeden quickly began shooting the remaining hunters as she pushed into the room. Gale followed, making sure the two down were dead, before doing the same to each body that Braeden shot down.
Bullets started flying up from the floor below them, and Gale quickly hit or deflected each one before it could hit either women. Once the room was silent again, the two women nodded at each other before opening the door to the basement and quietly descending the stairs. They found one more door before them.
Braeden signaled Gale as she kicks down the door, and as soon as the other hunters gun was visible she had grasped it and knocked out the guard. Gale quickly stabbed her spear into his throat before stepping into the room.
Peter and Derek were chained to the wall, with a low dosage of amps running through them.
"You're the one who saved Isaac," Derek said, staring wide eyed at Braeden, as she very obviously checked the two of them out. Gale rolled her eyes.
"I'm the one who was hired to save Isaac."
"Someone hire you to get us out of here?" Peter asked.
"Someone hired me to get Derek out of here," Braeden replied. "You, I'm totally fine leaving for dead."
"When did I get this reputation?" Peter whined.
"Who hired you?" Derek asked.
"Deucalion," Braeden answered as she uncuffed Derek.
"Deucalion? The guy who did that to you?" Peter said incredulously. Gale uncuffed him.
"A girl's gotta eat," she replied.
Peter quickly fell to the ground picking a finger...huh, look at that they cut off one of his fingers, Gale thought to herself.
"Alright, let's get the hell out of here," Braeden said as she started to leave.
"We're not leaving without it," Derek said as he pulled a shirt on.
"Without what?" Gale and Braeden asked at the same time.
Peter held his finger until the skin reattached itself, he'd need stitches most likely but for now it would work. "What we came here for of course."
"And that would be?" Gale glared at Peter.
"A family heirloom, they took from us," Derek answered. "It's in this house."
Peter straightened up and moved toward Gale. "Thank you by the way."
Gale pointedly didn't say anything, just held him what she assumed was his shirt.
"What? Not enjoying the view?" he asked as he pulled it over his head.
"Let's go," Derek said. They walked up the stairs, all of them listening for movement. It seemed that the house was empty for now.
"What exactly are we looking for?" Gale asked.
"Don't know where it would be," Derek said.
"That was helpful," Gale quipped.
"Now, now, dear, calm down." Peter put a hand at her lower back as he came up behind her. It didn't calm her at all. She merely met his stare with a hard glare.
They entered what looked like a living room, and Gale spotted a wooden chest on a table in the corner. She pointed it out to Peter and Derek, and they began walking towards it.
As Derek reached out his hand towards the tree, he hit a magical barrier.
"It's made from a Rowan tree. It's mountain ash wood." Peter voice was soft, he looked pensive.
"I'm guessing we found it," Gale said. He gave her a small nod.
Braeden kicked the lock holding it off the chest before opening it. The three of them looked at each other, obviously impressed by her strength.
"And that would be just mountain ash," Peter continued. "Somebody really doesn't want our hands in there."
They looked at Braeden expectantly. She sighed before digging her hands in and pulling out a wooden cylinder with a triskelion carved on top.
"This it?" Braeden asked.
Derek nodded, before reaching out to take it from her.
"Okay, now can we leave?" Gale asked.
"Let's get out of here," Derek said. The group made their way out of the house.
"Alright, boys, nice seeing you. Gale, nice meeting you," Braeden said as she got on her motorcycle, pulled on a helmet and rode off.
"I've got a motel room, about ten minute walk from here. We can go there, rest, leave tomorrow morning or we can go there, check out, and leave now. I do have school tomorrow."
"How'd you find us?" Derek asked.
"Peter was supposed to pick me up earlier that afternoon, when he didn't I went to his apartment and found some bullets. I figured it was the Calaveras and drove here." Gale began walking back as Peter and Derek followed her.
"What about the rest of them?" Peter asked. "Does the rest of the pack know we're gone?"
"Don't know. They're up to something probably. Allison doesn't like them telling me what's going on. She doesn't trust me, which is fine, whatever, but the rest of the group hardly does because of it, and it's really starting to piss me off." Gale rambled on, as her form slowly shifted from a light blue to her normal tan.
"She can probably sense your tether to Isaac, and she's jealous." Peter put his arm around her, which Gale quickly shrugged off.
"Tether?" Derek asked.
"Nymphs have something like mates, call them tethers, essentially the same thing. One true love, blah blah," Peter said. "Gale here is tethered to our very own Isaac."
"You can stop talking now, Peter." Gale said sharply. The rest of the walk was silent, and when they enter the room, with only two beds, Gale quickly moved over to her bag, pulled out a sleeping roll. "I'll sleep on the ground, you two need the beds more. We leave tomorrow at dawn."
Gale turned off the lights before unrolling it and laying down. She quickly went to sleep, not caring that Derek and Peter made noise as they showered and went to bed themselves.
She really needed to stop hanging out with Peter was her last waking thought.