25; Who You Gonna Call?

After the final bell rang, signaling the end of the school day, Cassidy made her way to her locker to grab the books she would need that night. Once she was done, she shut the locker door, then walked down the hall heading for Isaac's locker.

She had told him that morning she would meet him at his locker to give him a ride to work, then she planned to go to Stiles' house for their study date.

Looking in her purse for her cell phone, she planned to send Stiles a quick text to tell him she would be at his house soon, but when she turned a corner, she slammed into someone hard, almost knocking her down until she felt someone grab her arms to keep her upright.

Cassidy glanced up and gasp in surprise when she saw it was Derek she had crashed into. She took a quick step back and was surprised when he pulled her back to him and looked at her closely. She felt her heart racing, wondering what he was going to do, but he surprised her when all he did was softly say a name. Her sister's name.

"N-No it's Cassidy." She nervously said. "I'm Cassidy remember? Parker is my sister."

"Right, Cassidy." Derek said, taking a step back and leaning against a bank of lockers. He silently cursed himself about the mistake he made, but for a moment when he first saw her, he could have sworn she was Parker and for that moment he was actually happy to see her.

For a moment he regretted chasing her off. For a moment he wanted to take her in his arms and apologize for everything, but that thought only lasted for a moment. Now, he was on a mission- a mission he needed to complete fast or he wouldn't live to see another day.

Cassidy looked at him closely and noticed he didn't look good at all. He was pale, sweaty and looked like he was about to pass out at any moment.

She knew she should run away screaming, he had always creeped her out before, but right now he didn't look so creepy. She also thought back to the things Parker told her about him, and if her sister believed he was innocent, she trusted her judgement.

"Do you, uh, do you need something? Do you need help?" She asked him, then suggested,"I can call Parker for you."

"No! Don't call her." Derek snapped, causing her to take a step back at his outburst. He clinched his jaw as he glanced down at the floor. He didn't mean to snap at her, but he did not want to get Parker involved.

Looking back up, he used a nicer tone,"Where's Scott?"

"What? Scott? Why do you need Scott?" She asked confused. She couldn't understand why Derek needed him, especially since Scott and Stiles had him locked up for murder recently.

"He owes me." He vaguely said.

"Oh. Well, um, no, I haven't seen him since lunch, but he might still be around here somewhere."

Nodding his head in thanks, Derek went to take a step until a wave of dizziness hit him, causing him to fall back into the lockers. Cassidy rushed over to his side, grabbing his hurt arm by accident to help him stand up straight. He bit his bottom lip to keep from howling out in pain.

Looking down at the floor, he saw a drop of blood hit the floor and placed his foot over it to hide it. He needed to find Scott fast and get out of there before it was too late.

"Are you sure I can't call someone for you?" Cassidy offered again. She didn't wait for him to answer as she added,"Just hold on a minute. You obviously need help, I'll call Parker."

With him looking like he was about to pass out and with Parker being in medical school, she knew her sister would know what to do. She reached into her purse to pull out her phone, but before she could pull it out, Derek reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"Don't!" He snapped.

"Ow! You're hurting me." She whimpered when Derek accidentally tightened his hold on her.

Derek removed his hand and opened his mouth to apologize, but before he could say a word, they heard someone approach them and call out,"Hey! What the hell's going on over here?"

Cassidy glanced behind her and was surprised to see that it was Jackson. It had been a long time since he tried to come to her rescue.

"Look, man, whatever you are selling, she doesn't want any." Jackson snapped as he came to a stop beside Cassidy.

Even if he dumped her a couple of years ago and they weren't friends, he still felt a need to protect her. Plus, he had been wanting a chance to talk to Scott's new drug dealer friend, Derek, anyways.

"McCall might be into it, but not Cassidy." Jackson added.

"He's not selling anything, he- " Cassidy being to say until she realized what Jackson said. She turned to look at him as she asked,"You think Scott is taking something? He wouldn't do that."

"Don't be so naïve, Cassidy, of course he is. How else do you think he got so good all of a sudden." Jackson said. Pointing at Derek, he added,"He's selling him something."

Before Cassidy could comment, Jackson looked at Derek and asked,"What is it, huh? Is it Dianabol? HGH?"

"Steroids." Derek said, realizing what Jackson was asking him.

"No, girl scout cookies." Jackson sarcastically said back. "What the hell do you think I'm talking about?"

"There's no way Scott would take steroids." Cassidy angrily said, not liking that Jackson was accusing him of taking something.

"He's not." Derek said over to her, hoping to put her mind at ease.

Jackson scoffed at the comment, he knew Scott had to be taking something to make himself better. He looked over at Derek, seeing how terrible he looked, then said,"Oh, and, uh, by the way, whatever it is you're out selling, I'd probably stop sampling the merchandise. You look wrecked."

"Jackson!" Cassidy hissed out in warning at the way he was acting. Looking over at Derek she had to admit he had a point. Derek did look bad, very bad.

"I'll find him myself." Derek quietly said, taking a step to walk past the two teenagers to find Scott on his own.

"No, we're not done here." Jackson snapped as he reached out to grab Derek's shoulder.

Derek quickly spun around and slammed Jackson into the row of lockers with his hand on the back of his neck. Cassidy saw Jackson flinch in pain and rushed forward to help. She called out Derek's name and saw him look down in surprise at what he had done. He took a small step back and saw the shocked look on both of their faces, then without a word, he turned to walk off.

Jackson laid a hand on the back of his neck, feeling a couple of small puncture wounds. Cassidy looked over at him and saw the pained look on his face. She reached out to check on him as she asked,"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He snapped as he brushed her off. "I don't know what kind of freaky shit you and McCall are into, but you're on your own next time."

"Hey, I didn't ask you to get involved." She snapped back.

"Well, I didn't see any of the nerd herd coming to your rescue." He pointed out. "Forgive me for trying to help. I won't make that mistake again."

"Why do you even care?" Cassidy asked as she folded her arms across her chest. "Because the last time I checked you and your little hell spawn girlfriend hates me."

"I don't hate you, Cas." He quietly said, his face softened as he took a step toward her. "I never hated you."

Cassidy looked up at him in surprise. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, having a hard time forming any words. Jackson smirked at the look on her face, then reached up to push a lock of hair behind her ear until they heard someone call out her name. She jumped back from Jackson and turned her head to see Isaac heading toward her.

"I stand corrected. Looks like one of your knights in shining armor is rushing to your rescue now." Jackson sarcastically said. His voice came out bitter as he added,"Although he looks more like a dork in tin foil to me."

Cassidy shot him a dirty look and opened her mouth to tell him off, but before she could say a word, he gave her his trademark smirk then walked past her and brush past a confused Isaac, who had just approached her.

"Is everything okay?" Isaac asked with a concern look.

"Yeah, Jackson was just being his usual charming self." Cassidy sarcastically said.

Isaac glanced down and saw a red mark on her arm from where Derek had grabbed her earlier and assumed Jackson had hurt her. He lightly touched the mark then angrily asked,"Did he do that?"

"What?" Cassidy asked confused. She looked down to see what he was talking about, then said,"Oh, no, Jackson didn't do that."

"Who did?" Isaac asked as he looked up at her with hatred in his eyes which surprised her. She didn't think she had ever seen him as mad before, but he hated the thought of anyone hurting her.

"That... it's not a big deal. It was just an accident. Everything's okay." Cassidy said, flashing him a smile to let him know everything was fine.

"Okay." Isaac nodded. He hated seeing any kind of mark on her, but if she said it was an accident he believed her and wasn't going to push the issue.

Cassidy smiled as she linked her arm with his, then said,"Come on, let's get you to work."

•••

After riding around for most of the day to clear her mind, Parker was finally heading home with plans to pig out in front of the television for the rest of the night. She had a long emotional day and just wanted to turn her mind off for the rest of the night. Coming back to Beacon Hills was turning out to be a lot harder than she thought.

Every thing she drove past; every street, every landmark, every building, reminded her of her past and every moment she had spent with either Derek or Camden. Both boys were a big part of her life.

She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard her cell phone ringing. She reached out to grab the phone and glanced down to see it was Cassidy calling her.

"Hello?" Parker greeted as she answered the call. She waited a few seconds but when Cassidy didn't say anything back she added,"Hello? Cassie? You there?"

"Yeah, I'm... yeah I'm here." Cassidy said back.

"Is everything okay?" Parker asked, confused.

"Yeah, I mean I don't know. I hope so." Cassidy sighed, then added,"I wasn't even sure if I should call you or not."

"Cassidy, what's going on? Is something wrong?" Parker questioned, fearing the worst.

"I saw Derek."

"Wait, what?" Derek? As in Derek-Derek?" Parker asked surprised.

"Yeah, your Derek." Cassidy said, then quickly added,"Well, I don't mean 'your Derek' but your ex Derek."

"Yeah, yeah, I know what you mean, Cassie." Parker said, interrupting her rambling. "Where did you see him?"

"At school. He was in the hallway and for a moment I think he actually had me confused for you." Cassidy explained.

"What? That makes no sense at all." Parker mumbled, trying to figure out what would make Derek go to the school, obviously disoriented and confused.

"I had offered to call you, but he was against that idea. Parker he looks bad though, like really bad."

"What do you mean?" Parker asked, feeling her heart drop at Cassidy's next words.

"He looked sick, like he's dying or something."

Parker swallowed hard as she felt tears fill her eyes and she wondered what could be going on with him. The only thing she could think of was he went up against the alpha or either a hunter. Either one could be deadly for him.

She took a deep breath to control her emotions and opened her mouth to say something back to Cassidy, until she passed Stiles' Jeep in the road and saw someone who looked a lot Derek in the passenger seat.

'What the hell is going on?' Parker thought to herself as she quickly did a u-turn and began to follow the Jeep.

"Parker, are you still there?" Cassidy asked when it got silent over the line.

"Yeah, I'm here." Parker said, then added,"You did the right thing calling me. Don't worry, Cassie, I'll take care of it."

Parker called out a quick bye before ending the call. She tossed the cell phone into the passenger seat as she pulled in behind Stiles' Jeep at the local vet's office.

Reaching into the backseat, she pulled out the first aid kit she always kept in the car, then stepped out of the car and ran to the back door. She knocked on the door and waited a few moments, but when there wasn't an answer, she began to beat on it over and over again until the door finally opened to reveal a surprised Stiles.

"P-Parker? Wha-I mean, h-hey, what's up?" Stiles stuttered out as he casually leaned against the door frame and hoped she didn't suspect anything.

"Let me in." Parker commanded as she tried to walked past Stiles, but he quickly moved to block her from entering the building.

"Wh-why? Why do you need to come in?" Stiles nervously asked. "We're not open. Dr. Deaton isn't here-"

"Then why are you here?" Parker interrupted with raised eyebrows.

"I-I just like to come by sometimes, you know, hang out with the dogs and stuff." Stiles lied, hoping she bought his explanation, but even if she had not seen Derek in his Jeep she would still know he was lying.

"Right, yeah, that sounds believable." Parker sarcastically mumbled. "Plus, I'm sure this is a great place to bring a dying werewolf, am I right?"

"Right, exactly." Stiles said without thinking. His eyes widen when he realized she had tricked him, then tried to quickly explain,"Wait a minute, no, I mean there's no dying werewolves inside. Because werewolves don't exist. Wh-why would you say something like that? That's, just, that's crazy."

"I said it because it's true." Parker said. Narrowing her eyes at him, she added,"Now move."

Parker didn't wait for him to say anything else as she pushed past him and rushed inside the building. She glanced around for Derek for a minute, then looked back at Stiles. "Where is he?"

"Who?" Stiles asked, trying to play dumb.

"Look, now is not the time for games, Stiles. Where the hell is Derek?" Parker snapped, taking the teenager by surprise. She didn't mean to yell at him, but as more time past she become more and more concern for Derek.

"How do you-"

"How do I know about Derek? How do I know about werewolves? How do I know he's dying?" Parker interrupted, guessing the questions she assumed he was going to ask.

After his mouth dropped open in surprise and he nodded his head to her questions, she added,"I just know, but now's not the time to explain. So where is he?"

"Follow me." Stiles softly said, he didn't know what her history with Derek was, but he could tell how upset she was.

Parker followed Stiles further into the building and into one of the back rooms. She gasped in surprise when she saw Derek sitting on top of a pile of cat litter bags. She knew what Cassidy meant now, he did look like he was dying.

Hearing her heart racing, Derek forced himself to raise his head and mumbled out her name. He quickly closed his eyes and shook his head, knowing he must be hallucinating like earlier when he thought Cassidy was Parker. He knew there was no way she could really be in front of him right now. Not after the way he chased her away.

Parker rushed across the room and dropped down onto her knees in front of him. She raised her hand to softly caress the side of his face and lowered her eyebrows in concern when she noticed how damp and warm his face was. That was not a good sign.

At feeling her touch, Derek opened his eyes and was surprised that he could still see her and she felt so real. He assumed his mind was playing tricks on him in his final hours.

"You're not real." Derek mumbled as he closed his eyes again.

"Derek... Derek, open you eyes." Parker whispered as she lightly touched his cheek again.

Derek slowly shook his head and tried not to groan out in pain before he mumbled out again that she wasn't real.

"Derek, look at me..." Parker began to say. When she saw his eyes open again, she softly said,"I'm real. It's really me."

"You shouldn't be here. You shouldn't be involved." Derek breathed out. Even if he was happy to see, the last thing he wanted to do was pull her into his world again.

"No!" Parker snapped. "Don't start that again. I'm not going anywhere and you're too hurt to push me away this time so just deal with it."

Stiles stood off to the side and watched as Parker opened the first aid kit she brought in. She reached out to grab the bottom of Derek's shirt and carefully pulled it off so she could get a better look at the wound on his arm.

She gasped in surprise when she saw how bad it was. She glanced over her shoulder to look at Stiles as she asked him what happened. Stiles filled her in as much as possible, which also caused her to question him about how he and Scott got involved in all of this. He knew he was supposed to keep Scott's secret, but since she already knew so much he didn't see any harm in telling her.

When he was done explaining, she nodded her head in understanding at what he said, then turn back around to try to clean the wound as best she could, although she had a feeling it wasn't going to do much good.

As she continued to tend to Derek, Stiles heard his cell phone beep letting him know he had a new text message. He pulled out his phone and quietly groaned when he saw he had another text from Cassidy. She had sent him one earlier, wondering where he was since they were suppose to get together after school, but he had ignored it since he was busy with a dying werewolf. But he knew he couldn't ignore her a second time.

He nervously tapped his foot as he tried to think of an excuse to tell her to explain why he was standing her up again.

"What's wrong? Is it Scott?" Parker asked as she looked over her shoulder to look at him.

"No, it's Cas." Stiles said. He sighed and ran a hand over his hair as he added,"I was supposed to meet her at my house, but because of all this werewolf crap I'm having to disappoint her again."

"So this is the big secret you've been keeping from her." Parker stated as she glanced behind her to look at him again. Everything was beginning to make sense to her now.

"Yeah and I hate it. I want to be honest with her, but how do you tell someone about all of this." Stiles said, meaning all the werewolf stuff.

"I don't know." Parker said back. "I've hated keeping all of this from her too, but like you said, how do you tell someone about this."

"You don't." Derek mumbled, getting both of their attention. He looked at Parker as he softly added,"When you really love someone, you have to protect them. You can't get them involved. You can't drag them into this world."

"You dragged me into this." Stiles pointed out.

"That's because I don't love you. I don't even like you." Derek pointed out as he leaned back against the wall, trying to find a way to sit that didn't hurt as bad.

Stiles gasped dramatically, then said,"Hurtful."

Parker shook her head at the two with a small chuckle, then looked up at Stiles when his phone went off again. She could tell by the look on his face that it was her sister texting him again. She nodded her head toward the door and told him to go.

"What?" Stiles asked confused.

"Go be with Cassidy. I'll take care of this." Parker said, nodding at Derek.

"You sure?" Stiles asked excitedly. He wanted nothing more than to go home and be with her, but he had to make sure before he ran off to leave Parker alone with a dying werewolf.

"I'm sure, now go." Parker said. She looked back over at Derek when he began to moan in pain, then quickly added to Stiles,"But call Scott on the way and tell him to hurry the hell up."

She watched as Stiles nodded his head then rush out to door. She turned back to look at Derek, who was still leaned back against the wall with his eyes closed.

"Everything's going to be okay." Parker whispered as she reached out to grab his uninjured hand and gave it a small squeeze. She sniffed and wiped a lone tear from her eye. "Everything has to be okay, because I can't lose you, Derek. I just can't."

•••

A/N; Thank you to everyone reading the story and/or adding the story. Also a big thank you to Mkay-212, suncatcher24, dearlyfantastical5511, LionHeartMisfit, ScornedxRose, princess-snow510, Phoenix, Vanillastar, dianecrespin, PartyInTheBackBuisnessUpFront, Guest, weekendrusher, Undeniable Weirdness, Booklover9477, xCrisisx, Lucy Greenhill, vampluver19, RoseRedGurl , BloodMoonWanes, , katyisawkward, randi101, Lollypollybluffy, SuperPotterWhoLock, yessifarts, emily2500, Guest and hiccup for reviewing the story.

Happy reading!
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