It's The Same, Wherever You Go
Chapter Nineteen
Dress Shopping
Jaydra groans deeply as she feels the tweezers go deeper into her skin, trying to pull the bullet out of the hunter's shoulder wound.
"You sure you don't want the anesthetic?" Deaton asks, trying to go as quickly as possible, as to not hurt the young woman longer than he has to.
"That would just leave the bull-AHHHH!" she screams out in pain as Deaton grabs onto the bullet. "L-Leave the bullet in there longer . . ."
The sound of the bullet hitting the metal pan sitting to Jaydra's side sounded very similar to a choir of angels singing. Who knew?
Just as Deaton began to place a bandage over Jaydra's shoulder, a low groan from Scott's location made the two look over at the young werewolf.
"Welcome back to the land of the conscious," Deaton says, walking over to Scott, and helping him steady himself as the reckless pup sits up. "You doing okay?"
But before Scott could answer, the small bell that alerted Deaton that someone entered the building rang out. Deaton goes to see who came in but was stopped when Scott grabs onto the vet's arm. But Deaton slowly uncurled Scott's fingers from his skin and walks out to see the customer.
"I'm sorry, but we're closed," Deaton says once he walks into the front lobby. The voice that followed made Jaydra's skin run cold.
"I'm here to pick up," Peter says, and based on the tone of his voice, Jaydra had a feeling that the Alpha had a smirk on his piehole.
Deaton kept his body and voice calm as he talks with Peter. "I'm not sure I remember you dropping off."
"These two wandered in on their own," Peter explains, a small laugh in the words.
"Even if they did, I'm afraid I can't help you," Deaton says, his voice growing more and more cold to the other male. "We are closed."
Peter's voice sounds like it's getting closer as if he's walking closer to the main desk in the lobby. "Well, I think you can make an exception this one time, don't you?" he asks, his footsteps stopping for a moment.
"I'm sorry," Deaton repeats, standing firm. "That's not going to be possible. Maybe you can come back during regular hours."
Now, Peter has lost all sense of formality as he snarls at Deaton. "You have something of mine, and I'm here to collect."
"Like I said, we're closed," Deaton says once again.
Peter starts walking again, before pausing, before very softly saying, "Mountain ash. That's an old one."
Jaydra lets out a sigh of relief, knowing that werewolves can't pass Mountain Ash like ghosts and demons can't cross salt. But that relief is short-lived, when a chair suddenly chucked across the way, crumbling into nothing.
And finally, after finally realizing that he's not getting Jaydra and Scott, Peter leaves the clinic.
"We have to find Derek," Scott says softly. "If not, Peter's going to use Allison to find him . . ."
Jaydra looks over. "How do you . . . Wait, he threatened her, didn't he? Before he left." Jaydra receives her answer as Scott nods.
"Let's get out of here, and let's find Derek," Scott says, grabbing his shirt and pulling it on.
"I would normally advise not moving too much after being shot, but I'm guessing that advice won't still too well, will it?" Deaton asks, walking back into the room. The two teens shake their head, giving him their answers. "Very well, but if the stitching is torn, come back for a touch-up."
"Better keep it open twenty-four hours then," Jaydra says, walking out the back door, followed by Scott.
ITSWYG
"Call it again!" Scott says, searching under his bed for his cell phone.
After leaving the animal clinic, Jaydra called Stiles and had him meet the two at the McCall house. Upon arrival, Scott requests his two friends to help him find his cell phone, which has been missing since the previous night.
"It's not here," Jaydra says, stretching her back.
"Okay, so you lost your phone," Stiles states, looking at his werewolf best friend. "Why don't you just get a new one?"
Scott rolls his eyes. "I can't afford a new one," the pup says, his chocolate brown eyes scanning across his room once again. "And we can't do this alone, so we need to find Derek."
Stiles blinks, before trying to reason with Scott. "Well, 'A', you're not alone. There're Jay and me," the buzzcut teen explains. "And 'B', didn't you say Derek walked into gunfire? He sounds pretty dead."
"You said that when the Alpha punched a hole into his chest," Jaydra snaps, searching behind Scott's computer. "And besides, I think the ambush was for Kate, or the other Argent's, to catch Derek and use him to get to the Alpha."
"All right, so then just let them do what they're planning, you know?" Stiles offers. "They use Derek to get to Peter, problem solved."
"Not if they kill him after," Jaydra growls out, looking over at her two friends.
"And not if Peter's going after Allison to find Derek!" Scott rationalizes, before sitting on his bed. "I can't protect her on my own, Stiles. Which means we either find Derek first . . ." Scott's words slowly drift off, before he shakes his head. "Just help me!"
The three continue to look for the phone, only to end it with nothing.
"You know, maybe you lost it when you two were fighting," Jaydra says, looking over at Scott.
"Yeah, you remember that, when he was trying to kill you after you interrupted him trying to kill Jackson," Stiles says, snarkily. "Are you starting to see a pattern of violent behavior here?"
Jaydra rolls her eyes, looking at Stiles. "He wasn't going to kill anyone."
"And I'm not letting him die," Scott promises.
Stiles sighs heavily, clearly not happy with the plan to keep Derek around. "Could you at least think about letting him die? For me?" When there wasn't a response from Scott, Stiles pauses in his search to look up at his friend, only to see the pup standing there, still.
"What's wrong, Scott?" Jaydra asks.
"My mom just got home from work . . ." he says softly, clearly trying to focus in on his mother.
"Is she okay?" Stiles asks. "What's she doing?"
Scott blinks a few times, bringing his hand up to his eyes. "Crying."
Jaydra's heart broke for the poor werewolf pup. He wanted to protect his mother from Peter but resulted in hurting his mother in return.
"Scott, you can't protect everyone," Jaydra says softly, not wanting to tell him the truth in life, but he needs to hear it.
"I have too . . ." he says, determination refilling in his eyes.
ITSWYG
The next day in the Locker Room, things weren't looking good for Scott.
"What do you mean that I can't go to the formal?!" he says, his eyes wide as he stares at Coach Finstock.
Finstock looks at Scott like he grew another head. "McCall, you're failing my class and two others," he explains. "They told me to cut you from the team. I told them I'd sooner cut off my last remaining testicle than cut my best player!"
Scott blinks, trying to understand the logic here. "S-So the compromise is that I can't go to the dance?" he stutters out.
Coach nods. "Yeah."
Scott puffs out his chest. "Then I quit the team."
Finstock laughs, before growing very serious again. "No, you don't. And if you show up at the dance, and I see you there? I'm going to drag you out by your teeth," he threatens, before leaving.
"What am I going to do now?!" Scott wails to Jaydra and Stiles.
"Well, there's an idea, but you won't like it," Jaydra says, making the werewolf look at her. "You can have Jackson take Allison to the formal."
Scott's face grew red at the thought of it, but the more he thought about it, the more he realized that Jaydra was right. Once his body was completely relaxed, he walked over to Jackson's locker, requesting him to take Allison to the formal.
Jackson raises an eyebrow, not believing it. "You want me to take her to the formal?"
"I don't want you to," Scott corrects. "I need you to."
"Screw you," Jackson spits out, before looking at Stiles and Jaydra. "No, you know what? All three of you can go fuck yourselves."
"Hey, you know that these two saved your life, right?" Stiles interjected, pointing to Scott and Jaydra.
"They left me for dead," Jackson says, turning to leave.
"We were shot at for you!" Scott says, his mouth agape at the audacity that Jackson had.
Jackson stops and looks back at the group. "Oh yeah? Show me the bullet wound."
Scott's shoulders sagged. "You know it healed . . ."
"How convenient-" Jackson was cut off when Jaydra, who had been silent this entire time, walks up and takes off her shirt, showing off the stitching that was done to her upper shoulder.
"This prove it to you, smartass?" she asks, before shrugging the shirt back on, and leaning against the lockers. The three of them watch Jaydra's movements, noticing that this isn't her usual self. Jaydra was stuck in her mind, trying to figure out where Derek was, but only Stiles and Scott knew that.
"What's with her?" Jackson asks, looking at the two teens behind the hunter.
Stiles sighs. "This isn't about Jay, now focus. You going to help us or not?"
A large grin passes over Jackson's face before he gets up in Jaydra's. "What's wrong, Princess? Your werewolf Prince leave your ass?" he laughs loudly, only to freeze at the sound that was heard.
From the back of Jaydra's throat, a deep growl was forming, and she began to move to punch Jackson in the face, only being stopped by Scott. Barely.
"Jay, Jay!" Scott calls out. "You need to calm down!"
"You three are insane!" Jackson says, turning to leave, but before he could, Scott calls out to him.
"One more thing," Scott says, before his eyes start to glow, his teeth and claws elongating, before he growls and pins Jackson against the wall.
"That should convince him," Jaydra says, watching Jackson run down the hallway, to find Allison. "Kinda a shame that I'm not going."
"You're not going?!" Scott asks, looking at her with wide eyes. "Why not?"
"I'm not going to be inside, Scott," Jaydra explains. "I'm gonna hang outside, keep an eye out for Peter."
Scott nods, running a hand through his shaggy brown hair. "That's probably a really good idea."
"That's why I thought of it," Jaydra smirks, leaving the locker room, and heading to her first class.
ITSWYG
Later that afternoon, Jaydra follows Lydia and Allison to the mall, promising Scott that she'll stay close by and protect her from Peter. So what a huge surprise when Jaydra meets the two girls at the bottom of the escalator of Macy's.
"Well, look who it is!" Jaydra says, smiling widely as she sees the two friends.
Allison grins widely, her eyes sparkling seeing another familiar face. "Jaydra!" she greets warmly, whereas Lydia just waves. "You shopping for a dress for the formal?"
Jaydra shakes her head, her sandy blond hair falling into her face slightly. "Sadly, no, I'm working that night. So, I'm doing some shopping around for some little things," Jaydra lies, holding up a small bag that holds some jewelry and perfume.
"Too bad," Lydia says, pursing her lips. "And here I thought I was going to get a chance to see you in a dress."
Laughing slightly, Jaydra steps onto the escalator with the two other girls. "Sorry, Lyd," she says, winking up at the strawberry blonde teenager. "You're totally not my type."
Rolling her eyes, Lydia flips her hair over her shoulder. "I'm everybody's type."
"Well," Allison interrupts, gaining the hunter's attention. "Since you can't go, will you at least walk around with us while we choose our dresses?"
Jaydra nods, smiling. "Sure! And who knows, I may find a dress I want to get anyway."
"Okay, good to know," Lydia says, before turning to look at Allison. "Now, back to my question, is there something wrong with you?"
Allison groans softly, hoping the conversation was over when Jaydra stepped in. "There's nothing wrong, I just have a lot on my mind."
"You could at least smile," Lydia sighs, looking around the store. "Haven't you heard the saying, 'Never frown. Someone could be falling in love with your smile'?"
Jaydra raises an eyebrow. "I actually love that quote," the hunter admits, rubbing the back of her head. "My mom used to say it all the time."
Lydia glances over at Jaydra before her focus goes back on Allison. "So, smile, Allison. I'm buying you a dress."
"On one condition," Allison smirks, making the strawberry blonde teen raise her eyebrow. "You are going to cancel on whatever dumb, roided-up jock you said yes to, and you're going to go with someone else."
"Who?" Lydia asks, crossing her arms.
Jaydra grins widely and wraps her arm around Lydia's shoulders, making the girl turn and face her date for the Formal. Stiles Stilinski. "Him," Jaydra announces, smirking. And at her reaction, Jaydra repeats what the preppy girl said earlier, "Don't frown, Lyd. Someone could be falling in love with your smile."
Pursing her lips, Lydia grabs some dresses, before grabbing a hold of Stiles. "Oh-Okay . . . So you're just gonna try these on right now?" Stiles stutters. "All of them? Is this a twenty-four hour Macy's?"
Jaydra laughs as Stiles is being dragged away, before looking over at Allison. Rubbing the back of her head, Jaydra lets out a huge sigh. "Allison?"
"Yes, Jaydra?" Allison asks, picking up different dresses and holding it up to her body.
"I . . . I want to apologize," the green-eyed hunter says, not looking the brunette in the eyes. "I haven't been the warmest person you met since you moved here."
Allison blinks, looking up at Jaydra. "It's okay . . . I didn't notice any hostility," the teen admits.
Jaydra lets out a breath of relief as Allison goes back to looking for dresses. Until a new voice enters that results in Jaydra freezing.
"Oh, that's not your color," Peter Hale's voice drifts in, making Jaydra twist around. "Sorry if that was intrusive, but considering your skin tone, I'd go lighter."
Allison snorts a laugh. "Because I'm pale?"
"Fair," Peter corrects, taking her wrist and picking up an almost white dress, holding it up to her arm. "See? Much better. I have a unique perspective on the subject." The Alpha looks up, his blue eyes locking with Jaydra's green. "Ah, Jaydra. Good to see you again."
"Peter," the hunter growls out, reaching down to shove her hands into her pockets. While in her pockets, her fingers rolls over her phone, punching in a code she has memorized.
"Are you two shopping for a dress for a high school dance?" he asks, his voice holding a hint of danger.
"Formal, actually," Jaydra corrects.
"Attention shoppers," voice over the intercom projects. "To the owner of a blue Mazda, license plate . . ."
"Did she say blue Mazda?" Allison asks, focusing in on the numbers before her eyes widen. "MY CAR'S GETTING TOWED!"
As the brunette runs towards the exit, Peter just starts laughing. "I have to say, Jaydra, I continue to be impressed by your ingenuity."
Jaydra crosses her arms and smirks. "An Alpha complimenting a Winchester, rare."
At the mention of her family name, Peter grins wickedly. "I still say a Winchester would be a wonderful addition to my pack." This just earns the Alpha a deep, heated glare.
Walking over to the rack of dresses, Peter's blue eyes occasionally look up and look at Jaydra before finally picking a dress out of the multiple numbers. Pulling the dress into Jaydra's view, the hunter's eyes widen.
The dress was a mermaid style dress, very form fitting a the top, yet when it passes the hips it flares out beautifully. The top part of the dress is a very sparkly white, turning into a greenish-blue color halfway down, before fully turning black for the flare out. The dress was absolutely gorgeous.
"Oh, I think Derek would not be able to resist you in this, my dear. Honestly, no man could," Peter says, taking Jaydra's hand and comparing the dress to her skin. "Now, while you are a shade darker than our fair Allison, you're still fair skinned. It would look absolutely ravishing. And seems like something you would like."
"And how would you even know what I like?" Jaydra asks, snatching her arm back from Peter's grasp.
"Oh?" he chuckles as if the answer was obvious. "When I was still in the early stages of healing, Derek would come into my room to visit, and we'd always end up talking about you. Derek loved to mention how your eyes seem to glow as if they were werewolf eyes." Peter smiles and places a hand on Jaydra's cheek, focusing on the hunter's eyes. "Kind of cute, actually, considering who is saying it all. But, do you know what that boy admires the most about you?"
"The fact my boobs are real?" Jaydra snorts, back stepping, even though there's a light blush on her face.
Peter tosses his head back and laughs loudly. "Your undying loyalty," he states, growing serious once again. "Even when he complains about how stubborn and stupid Stiles and Scott acts, he always praises you."
Jaydra's eyes widen, before turning to walk away. "Then you'll know that I will always fight with my friends instead of joining you?"
"Even if you lose Derek?" Peter calls out, making the hunter stop, before walking away. Never giving him an official answer.