As midnight slowly approached, Derek was sitting in his Camaro in front of Mercedes home. The house was completely dark, save for the slight glow coming from Bentley's room on the second floor. He'd been sitting in front of her house for nearly an hour, trying to convince himself to get out. Or drive home. So far the debate had left him sitting in his car for nearly an hour. He rubbed his face in frustration. It was coming up on midnight and he was still internally debating it. He wanted to talk to Mercedes, no he needed to talk to her. But it was coming up on midnight. But the topic was too important to wait until morning.
Derek shook his head and grabbed the door handle. He quickly climbed out of the car and shut the door. Forcing himself not to overthink the situation, Derek walked across the yard toward the front door. He'd knock and if Mercedes didn't answer he'd just drop by in the morning. Like a normal person would have. Derek sighed and headed for the door. He walked up beneath the porch light and reached for the door.
The sound of splashing water caught his attention. It was slight movement, like someone moving smoothly through the water. Derek stepped from the door and headed around the side of the house, where the pool was. He walked around the house, past the kitchen and turned the corner. He stopped dead, taking in the sight. The backyard was incredible. From the back door, it opened to an oasis. Derek had only ever seen the house from the front, he had no idea what was out pack. Now he understood why Wayde was so adamant about buying her property.
The ground was laid with stones, creating rustic feeling. The pergola seemed to be made from tree limbs, most likely from her own property during the build. The interior limbs were decorated in soft while lights while the larger exterior beams held large flower blossom lanterns. The mixture of lights cast an impressive array of colors across the ground. The furniture was made of refurbished pallets. Dozens of colored pillows and cushions covered the wooden pallets that had been placed around the fire pit. The fire pit was built into the ground about five yards from the house, five more yards behind that was in ground pool. The pool was decently sized and the last structure before the yard was covered in grass. The pool was lit similarly to the solar lights that lit up the walkway and pergola. A small diving board was installed at the deep end of the pool. Ten feet from the board was a slide leading into the water. The far side of the pool was a rock wall built into the ground. It was impressive to say the least.
Derek's attention shifted from the backyards appearance to the pool itself. Even in the dim lighting, he could make out a figure within the pool. As he stepped closer, the dark figure became Mercedes. She was lying at the bottom of the pool in the shallows. Her hair fanned out from her head in a dark halo. Her eyes were closed as her body floated just a few inches above the pool floor.
Mercedes kicked her legs and pushed her body up to the surface. Her head broke through first. She brushed her wet hair for her face and stood up. The water was at least six inches from her hips when she straightened out. Her swim suit was a two piece. The bottoms were white in bikini style, while the sides were mesh opening. Her top was a crop shirt with the cap sleeves mesh like the bottoms. He caught a few peeks at her large tattoo piece wrapping around different points on her body.
As she stood in the pool, Derek realized Mercedes hadn't noticed him yet. He cleared his throat and stepped into the light. "Mercedes."
Mercedes response was immediate. She spun around quickly, sending her soaking hair over her shoulders like a whip. Her honey eyes turned violet as she raised her right arm. A moment before her fin emerged, Mercedes realized that it was Derek. She gasped heavily and lowered her arm. Her eyes shifted back as her stance became relaxed. "Derek? What the hell are you doing here? You should be resting."
"I could say the same for you." Derek shrugged. "You're the one who seized twice and took a stinger through the leg."
Mercedes shrugged in return. She walked through the water toward the stairs and began her slow ascent. She took hold of the metal bar, still favoring her left leg. Several hours beneath the water had done much to heal her leg, but it was still far from fully healed. Even once she was, she doubted the scar would fade away. The seven inch scar was red and two inches wide. There were jagged edges to the scar from where the Echidna had twisted its tail. By morning, not only would Derek or any pack members see it, but it would still be visible to human eyes as well. Her hands were no better either. She picked up the towel off the back of one of the lounges and wrapped it around her body.
Derek watched as her hands fumbled with the towel. He could imagine how difficult it was for her. He'd been stabbed through once before and knew how the healing process was. But Mercedes had been stabbed through muscle and tendons in a very active place. Without thinking, Derek moved closer toward her and secured the towel around her body. Mercedes stepped from him the moment the towel was secured around her body. Her head was turned from his, avoiding looking at him.
"Sorry." Derek said, lowering his hands from her. He caught sight of the lack of throat bruising this time. Clearly the philological healing hadn't taken place yet, but that was why he was here.
Mercedes shook her head and reached for her hair. She began the slow process of working the water form her hair with her weak hands. "You never answered my question."
"I needed to talk with you." Derek answered.
Mercedes said nothing, but stared off toward the ground. She nodded slowly and walked toward the fire pit. Derek followed a few steps behind her. Mercedes lit the fire and took up one of the lounges while Derek sat across from her in one of the chairs. "I had a feeling this would happen, but I honestly expected you hours ago."
Derek frowned. "You expected me?"
"Of course. Granted I expected you to be a lot more furious with me." Mercedes answered.
"Mercedes-"
Mercedes held up her right hand, silencing him. "Before you verbally thrash me, just let me get this out. Please."
Derek nodded slowly, unsure of where the conversation would go now.
Mercedes took a deep breath before beginning. "You have every right to be furious with me, Derek. What I did to you, it was more than just an invasion of your privacy, it was a malicious attack on your mind. I cannot apologize to you enough, or do anything to make up for what I did to you. No one deserves to have their memories abused in that way." Mercedes paused briefly. Her honey eyes were locked on the fire between them, unable to meet his own. "And I'm sorry it was the only way to save you."
This was not what Derek had expected to take place when he came by. He had the purpose of apologizing for nearly killing her, not to have Mercedes apologize for saving his life. "Mercedes-"
"I'm not finished." Mercedes replied. she swallowed hard. "No one really knows what to assume with...my kind. When we...transform, we search for the memories with the greatest emotional response. But what no one would expect is that we don't just see their memories linked to who they see, we feel it too. The first meeting, the first kiss," Mercedes absentmindedly rubbed her shoulders. "everything." She lifted her eyes, finally meeting Derek's gaze. "I'm sorry I desecrated Paige's memory. I know you loved her, I felt it, and neither of you deserved that. And if there had been any other in your life that cause even half of the happiness you felt with Paige, I would have used her instead. But she was the only memory you had that was tainted my vengeance or murder."
"I'm not mad at you, Mercedes." Derek said quickly, cutting off whatever was left of her speech. "I didn't come here to yell at you, I came here to thank you. What you did saved my life today and I nearly killed you."
"How can you say that?"
"Because it's true." Derek stated. "Who was it that gave us the library? Who was it that sacrificed her body for the cure? Who put her life in danger to lure the Echidna out. Who was the one who killed it? Now you can try an talk your way out every answer, Mercedes, but the fact of the matter is that you are the one who saved an entire town today. You saved more than a handful of people today. If it weren't for you, Beacon Hills who be a slaughter waiting to happen."
Mercedes was speechless. "But...I'm not-"
"You are, Mercedes. you're the real hero." Derek replied. "You've just made yourself the villain too many times to see it. But you're a hero. And today, we owe you a debt."
For a long moment, silence fell between them. Derek had said what needed to be said and Mercedes was still trying to wrap her mind around it. Derek knew it would take more than this conversation to convince her that he was right. After all that had happened to her growing up, building up her self-esteem would take time. And after day, he had time to do so, because of her.
Breaking the silence, Derek rose from the chair. "I think I've kept you up long enough. I should go."
Mercedes shook from her thoughts and stood up. "Okay."
"Tell Bentley to take it easy on you for a few days." Derek offered.
Mercedes offered a weak laugh. "He'll be just as worn down as the rest of for the ext. few days."
"He's a tough kid." Derek said. "Just like his mom."
Mercedes watched him with wide eyes.
"Goodnight Mercedes." He turned around and began the short trek back to his car.
Mercedes stood rooted in her spot as Derek turned the corner of the house. Her thoughts were a whirlwind of a mess. She could hardly keep herself on one topic before she jumped to another one. She couldn't get Derek's words out of her head. But as much as she wanted to forget them, she couldn't. Something he said stuck with her, had awoken something long since dormant. "Goodnight." she whispered.

Finished! I know it's not the greatest ending ever written, but I couldn't figure a better one. But we got a little bit of closure on Mercedes and Derek, we learned more about Mercedes skills as a siren. Just a heads up, the next installment and there will be one, will go further into Mercedes past. So keep an eye out for that one.