Chapter 14: Truth Time

******Next Day******

Scott, Lydia, and Malia were enjoying their tour of London, but they were scheduled to take a train to Italy later that day. They said goodbye to the slayers and met up with Ethan and Jackson for lunch.

Scott couldn't believe how much Jackson had changed. Although Jackson had been in Beacon Hills recently, they didn't spend much time catching up. The two had never been close, yet Jackson and Ethan both were an extension of his pack.

Lydia, though, interacted with Jackson with the ease of an old lover. She and Jackson were each other's first everything. First kiss, first love, and first sexual encounter. Those ties were never easy to ignore. Sure, she always felt like she had loved him more than he had loved her, but she knew now that he had loved her the best he could at the time.

Watching him with Ethan made that abundantly clear.

"You're happy," she observed as Ethan told Scott and Malia about his job.

Jackson nodded. "I am," he said.

"I was surprised that you ended up with your best friend's ex," Lydia said.

"Danny wasn't," Jackson said with a smirk.

Lydia laughed.

"So do you want to come to the slayer house and meet their people?" Scott asked. "We don't have to get on the train until six."

"Sure," Jackson said. "With these hunters targeting us, we need allies."

"Buffy is really shaking things up," Scott said.

"And has Derek on a leash," Malia said with a smirk.

Jackson laughed. "I would like to see that," he said.

"I can't wait until Thanksgiving break when Stiles gets home," Lydia said. "He's going to enjoy teasing Derek."

The group left the restaurant and walked toward the slayer house, chatting. Suddenly, Ethan stopped, and then he looked around.

"What's wrong?" Scott asked.

"We're being followed," Ethan said. Then he continued walking, none of them noticeably looking around.

"I'm going to go into that restaurant ahead," Scott said softly. "The rest of you just keep walking. I'll circle back."

Ethan nodded, and Lydia started telling them about Kennedy and how infatuated the slayers were of Scott. Jackson laughed, amused to think of Scott as a heartthrob.

Scott found a spot inside the restaurant that gave him a view of the front of the restaurant but concealed him from view.

A group of people passed by and none others. Scott frowned, looking hard at the group. The gait of one of the men looked familiar.

He moved quickly before the group moved out of sight and got back outside. The group moved into a nearby store, leaving the guy to walk alone.

Scott moved a few steps behind the guy when the man suddenly stopped and faced Scott.

"What do you think you're doing?" Scott asked as he stared at the very familiar face in disbelief.

"I am watching after my daughter," Peter Hale said.

Scott shook his head and glanced up ahead, looking for his friends. Lydia was watching and saw him gesture to come to him. The girls came closer, and they showed various levels of surprise as they recognized Peter. Malia's was more outraged. Ethan and Jackson following after them while Susie walked much slower.

"Dad? Are you kidding me? You're the guy following us?" Malia asked in disbelief.

"I'm not going to let my only kid run around Europe with hunters everywhere," Peter said, unapologetic.

Malia rolled her eyes. "You know I have a dad? He's completely normal, never been dead or killed anyone," she said. "I'm not really your kid, and more importantly, I can take care of myself!"

"I didn't say you didn't or couldn't," Peter said. "But I'm still going to watch your back."

"I did not want you to come with us on our vacation," Malia growled.

"Too bad," Peter said with a shrug. "If I didn't come, you wouldn't know that hunters have been following you ever since you got off the plane."

"What?" Scott asked, looking around.

"That guy over there in the baseball cap," Peter said, pointing across the street.

The man looked startled and put his head down and kept walking.

"I'm going to rip that guy's head off!" Malia growled, moving to cross the street.

"Not so fast," Susie said. "There are too many witnesses."

"Why don't one of us follow him?" Lydia suggested.

"I will," Susie volunteered. "Ethan and Jackson can be your guide. We'll meet up at the slayer house in an hour or so."

They decided to split up at the historic church. Susie went in with them, and then she circled around the back. It wasn't long before she had the guy following them in her sights.

*****Beacon Hills*****

Derek drove up to the high school, giving Buffy a sour look as he parked the car.

"Don't worry," Buffy assured him. "I'll talk to them. Then you can have them tell you their names and have them run laps or something."

He nodded and opened his car door. Buffy was anxious, hoping that she wasn't pushing him too far out of his comfort zone. She started to walk ahead of him when he reached out and grabbed her hand to stop her. Curious, she turned and gave him a questioning look.

"Is everything okay? You haven't changed your mind?" she asked, biting her lip.

"I wouldn't be doing this if I really minded that much," he told her. "I love you, but I wouldn't do this if it was going to make me unhappy."

"Really?" she asked, feeling hopeful. "I don't want you to do anything that would make you really unhappy."

He pulled her close and kissed her very thoroughly. Then he spoke against her lips, "You make me happy."

Buffy's butterflies turned into leapfrogs as she gazed up at him. How could he be real?

"So show me to these hoodlums in training," Derek said, smiling.

Buffy grinned. "Here we go," she said, taking his hand and leading him around to the bleachers where the team was waiting.

They had no idea, of course, that Derek was going to be their new coach. Their faces reflected their surprise and curiosity. Why were they there?

Buffy speaks to them. "Hello. I'm sure you know who I am. Miss Summers, your new school counselor. Your coach quit along with several other teachers because they were no longer comfortable teaching in our school," she said. She was still young enough to be honest with the kids, and the expressions on their faces made it clear that they did appreciate it. "Derek here has agreed to be your coach." The students looked stunned and started talking to each other.

Tim, the one brave enough to call out the football team, raised his hand. "What do we call you?" he asked.

"Coach Hale," Buffy said just as Derek said, "Derek."

"Coach Hale," Buffy said again, looking at her boyfriend with a smirk. "No, he's not certified, but he does have a college degree."

"Did you run track?" a kid asked.

Buffy started to answer when Derek said, "Yes, I did."

"You did?" Buffy asked surprised.

Derek shrugged. "I ran one year to get my P.E. credit taken care of," he said.

"Well, aren't you full of surprises?" Buffy said with a grin.

Derek smirked and looked at Tim. "So what do you all normally do?" he asked.

"We usually spend ten minutes or so running up and down the bleachers. Then we run," he said.

Derek nodded. "Five miles?" he asked. "Is that about average? Ten on Fridays?"

"We usually run longer since we're cross country. We do 3 to 5 miles when we do track and field in the spring," another kid said.

"How about you sound off your names as you take turns jumping up to run the bleachers?" Derek suggested. "I'll see if I can keep your names straight."

They began doing that, and Derek focused on learning faces with names. Buffy had already decided to stay for the first practice to make sure the students weren't upset that their new coach was a werewolf. Although some of the boys looked anxious, the six female students looked excited. The team wasn't too large with ten boys and the six female students. It took a special type of athlete to go out for cross country as it required a tremendous of endurance.

After they ran the bleachers for ten minutes, Derek motioned for them to line up. "We're going to go five miles today at a fast pace," he said. "I want to assess where all of you are when it comes to speed and endurance."

"Are you going to run with us?" one of the girls asked, looking hopeful.

"Yes," he said. He looked at Buffy, who nodded.

"I'll take the end," she said.

Derek looked at the group of teenagers. "Try to keep up," he said. Then he started running.

One of the boys whooped excitedly and took off, determined to impress his new coach. The rest fell in line and begin jogging. The girls, though, elbowed there way to the front to stay right behind Derek.

Buffy snickered as she watched the last take off—she couldn't blame the girls for enjoying the view. Derek's ass was prime grade.

Derek took the students into town, calculating a near three-mile distance before he has them heading back. At first, he kept the pace slow enough for them to match, but then he poured on the speed. Some of them kept up for a few minutes, but they quickly fell behind.

He saw that the gap between him and his students had widened, so he slowed. "Pick up the pace!" he called.

"We never run this fast," a student mumbled, not realizing Derek could hear him.

Derek grinned, enjoying their suffering.

When they got about a mile and a half from the school, Buffy decided to pick up the pace herself and began passing the students. A few of the male students grinned as they tried to keep up with her, but she kicked it up a notch, leaving them behind.

Several students whistled and called out to her, causing Derek to look over his shoulder. He grinned when he saw Buffy on his heels. Slowing down, he said, "I see you're having no trouble keeping up."

"Don't you know that I never get tired by now?" she asked with a wink.

"I believe we've established that I can wear you out," he reminded her, looking smug.

She laughed. "I bet a slayer can run faster than a werewolf," she said.

"You're joking?" he said, surprised.

Buffy didn't reply but passed him instead.

"Go, Miss Summers!"

"Show him who's boss!"

"My money's on the werewolf," Tim said.

"Didn't you hear what Donnie and John were saying about her?" Phil asked. "She saved their life when they were attacked by a vampire."

"Vampires? We have vampires?" Alex asked in alarm.

"Is she a werewolf?" Tim asked, feeling upset and betrayed at the thought. Why didn't she tell him that she was like them?

Phil shook his head. "No, she's not. She didn't get claws or anything, but she's like a superhero when it comes to fighting," he said. "But Donnie said the vampire seemed to recognize her and called her Slayer."

"What's a slayer?" Tim wondered. Phil shrugged.

The boys had slowed their pace and had a few others listening. Then they stopped as their new coach was a near blur as he finally overtook Buffy right before she made it to the field.

When they made it to the field, Buffy was pouting and looking up at Derek.

"I can't believe you beat me!" she said.

"I can't believe you thought you could beat a werewolf," Derek said, snickering in amusement. Learning that she was competitive was not a surprise. The sexy pout she had, though, was pushing his self-control limits as the rest of the kids approached. More than a few threw themselves on the grass, gasping for air.

Derek was breathing hard himself and walked over to the cooler to grab a bottle of water.

"How are you not breathing hard?" Tim asked Buffy.

"It takes a lot to make me tired," Buffy said. "I'm a martial artist. You should check out the self-defense class I'm going to be teaching."

"I'm not in music," he said.

"I'll be having one on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school for a half hour," she said. It was exhilarating to be able to directly help so many students. At Sunnydale, she saved who she could, but she foolishly didn't even train her friends. It was a wonder that Xander hadn't lost more than just an eye or that Willow wasn't killed.

Tim smiled. "I'll be there," he said. "Especially if you tell me why a vampire seemed to know you and what a slayer is."

The other team members all looked at Buffy, waiting for reply.

******To Be Continued******

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