It's The Same Wherever You Go

Chapter Twenty-Six

Who Is It?

The days following the pool incident pass with little drama, until one evening the youngest Winchester receives a text message from her Alpha.

[Any way you can come by the den tonight?] Derek asks, making the young woman raise an eyebrow.

"Why?" Jaydra mumbles to herself as her fingers glide over the letters on her phone. "And why do I have a feeling that it's something not really legal?"

But despite having those feelings, Jaydra grabs a nearby jacket and throws it on. Racing down the stairs, and silently thankful that John was out on patrol that night, Jaydra leaves the house and heads towards the train yard.

"Well, well, well, I was looking for that jacket earlier," the Alpha's voice says, a light smirk on his face as he watches Jaydra exit her car.

Green eyes glancing down, Jaydra becomes painfully aware that she is, indeed, wearing the leather jacket she stole from Derek's apartment a few days back.

"Too bad," the sandy, blonde haired hunter says, crossing her arms. "It's mine now."

"That so?" Derek challenges, his eyes holding a light red tint to them.

Jaydra's about to smart off to the Alpha again, only to stop when she notices a new vehicle approaching.

Derek's playful demeanour vanishes as he notices the vehicle as well. "Come on," he orders gruffly and walks inside the building.

Following the Alpha inside, Jaydra notices that Erica and Isaac are dragging Jackson into the middle of the warehouse, and the poor human is fighting like crazy to get away.

"What happened on the night of the full moon?" Derek asks calmly, looking over at Jackson.

Looking up, from where the two betas threw Jackson in front of Derek, the teenager glares up at him. "Nothing! Nothing happened."

Derek's greenish-brown eyes glance over Jackson's body before sighing deeply. "You're lying," he says, before standing up and pulling on a black glove, making Jaydra raise an eyebrow.

Jackson's eyes widen in fear at the donning of the black glove. "N-No, wait! I-I can prove it!"

"Prove it?" Jaydra asks, looking over at Jackson. "How?"

As the teenager's face turns bright red, he quietly admits, "I taped myself."

Snorting a laugh, Isaac walks around and raises an eyebrow, asking the question everyone was thinking, "You taped yourself?"

"Well, isn't that what all young men do at that age?" Jaydra asks, raising her hand in a jerking motion, smirking at Jackson.

"Why you-!" he snarls out, jumping up to get into Jaydra's face, only to shrink back when Derek steps in front of him and growls.

The Alpha's eyes burn dark red as he glares down at Jackson. "Watch. Your. Tongue."

"Anyway," Jaydra says, trying to keep the peace. "What do you mean you taped yourself?"

"It was the full moon," Jackson starts, trying to prove that he wasn't afraid of the Alpha. "And maybe while you and your pack were curled in the corner having an existential crisis about turning into a monster, I was preparing for the so-called gift your big, bad Alpha promised me, and what did I get?" Jackson snarls, looking over at Derek, his eyes filled with hatred. "Nothing. Do you want proof? Let me get the video."

Derek strokes his chin in thought before an evil grin comes across his face. "No, I have a better idea."

Showing the true reason Derek was wearing the black gloves, he pulls out a shard of the glass the Kanima broke in the pool area, a few nights prior.

"What's that?" Jackson asks, backing away slightly.

But the second the teenager tries to back away, Erica and Isaac grab him and force him down onto his knees and pries his mouth open.

"You know, Jackson," Derek starts, looking over the piece of glass. "You've always been kind of a snake."

"A viper in particular," Jaydra calls out, leaning against a steel beam, watching the scene intently. Piecing the clues together, the hunter knew the test that was about to be given.

Nodding his head to the sandy blonde's comment, Derek grins down at Jackson again. "And everyone knows a snake can't be poisoned by its own venom."

Tilting the glass up, Derek's keen wolf sight allows him to watch a drop of venom drip down the length of the glass and pool up on a sharp edge point. Once enough venom collects, the drip falls from the glass, and into Jackson's mouth.

The reaction was immediate.

Jaydra's hair stands up on end as she remembers the way the venom affected her in the mechanic shop nearly a week ago. Feeling all of her body locking up, and feeling absolutely helpless was one feeling she didn't ever want to feel again.

Watching Jackson's body lock up, Derek kneels beside the snake of a human. "You're still a snake, Jackson, just not the one we're looking for." Standing back up, the dark haired Alpha nods to his betas, before walking into the train car.

Turning to glance once more at the frozen teen, Jaydra leaves the room to follow her Alpha, who was sitting on one of the many rows of seats inside.

"What now?" she asks, sitting beside Derek.

"We go after the next target," he says, glancing over at Jaydra. "What about Lydia?"

"Lydia?" the green-eyed hunter gasps. "Why would you suspect her?"

Running a hand through his hair, Derek sighs. "She was attacked by an Alpha, Jay. Not something you should just walk away with."

"But . . . Wouldn't the signs show up earlier than it did now?" Jaydra asks, her brain rushing around, trying to find reasons why her favorite redhead can't be the Kanima. "A-And besides, if she was the Kanima, wouldn't Jackson have built up some immunity from the venom?"

"Who know what's brought the sudden change on," Derek reasons. "But she's the next target to test."

Glancing over at the worrying hunter, Derek pulls her close to his body and kisses her softly, before pulling back and giving her a small smile. "Go on home and get some rest for tomorrow, okay?"

Biting the inside of her mouth, Jaydra's green eyes lock onto Derek's, before giving in and standing up to leave. Kissing him once more, Jaydra leaves the warehouse with only one thing on her mind.

Find a way to prove Lydia's innocence.

ITSWYG

The following day, Jaydra walks up and joins Stiles and Scott in their plan to figure out who the Kanima is.

"All right," Stiles begins, repositioning the backpack on his shoulder. "I only found one thing online called a Kanima. It's a werejaguar from South America that goes after murderers."

Jaydra chuckles and looks over at her roommate. "That's exactly what my dad's journal says. So the lore is right, but I don't think it's trying to kill you."

"Why do you think that?" Scott asks, stopping at his locker and quickly putting in the combination.

"I think it's trying to keep you away from the main mission," the green-eyed hunter muses, playing with a strand of her sandy blonde hair, deep in thought.

"But what's the main mission?" Stiles interrupts, voicing his opinion.

Shrugging her shoulders, Jaydra looks over at her two friends. "No fucking idea. So the only thing we have is the information Stiles and I have."

"Yeah, and that thing was not a jaguar," Scott muses. "But Stiles and you did see it kill somebody, which is probably why it was after you guys."

"You may have a point," Jaydra says, leaning up off the lockers and following the two to the next class.

"Which is why it's still trying to kill you and it won't stop until you're both dead."

"I'm really starting to question this 'friendship'," Stiles mutters, walking past his werewolf best friend.

ITSWYG

The three amigos sit near each other in Coach Finnstock's class, still trying to decipher the little information they have.

~This sucks,~ Jaydra thinks in the back of her mind, tapping her pencil rhythmically on her table. She's so far in her mind that the hunter doesn't notice the nuisance that decides to sit beside her.

"Hey, three amigos, what the hell is a Kanima?" Jackson snarls in a soft tone at Scott and his group.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Jaydra turns to snap at Jackson for mentioning the creature but stops when Finnstock begins speaking.

"All right, listen up!" Coach Finnstock snaps, his eyes going over the group. "A quick warning before we begin our review. Some of you, like McCall, might want to start their own study group."

~Way to keep people's grades a secret,~ Jaydra criticizes in the back of her mind as she listens to the rambling.

"Because tomorrow's midterm is so profoundly difficult that I'm not even too sure that I could pass it!" Finnstock says, a slight proud smirk on his face. "Now, I need a volunteer at the board to answer the first question." And without waiting for a poor volunteer, the coach picks someone at random.

Once the focus on one of the random students, Jackson leans over and glares at Jaydra. "Thanks to you and your Alpha's experiment, I'm going to consider therapy!"

Scott's and Stiles widen as they hear the conversation, turning to look at Jaydra with questioning looks.

"Something you might actually need, ever consider that?" Jaydra counters, writing down the notes on the chalkboard.

"Paralyzed from the neck down!" the co-captain snarls. "Do you have any idea what that feels like?!"

"I'm familiar with the sensation," Stiles mutters, a shiver going through his body.

Jaydra nods, glancing over at the Lacrosse player. "Same."

"Wait . . . Jaydra, why did Derek test him?" Scott asks, his brown eyes narrowing at her. "Did you two think it was him?"

"Derek wants to narrow down the list of everyone he thinks it is," Jaydra says before her eyes widen. "Shit, I forgot to tell you two! Derek's next name on the list is Lydia, and I don't know when or how he's going to test her."

"Lydia?!" Stiles hisses, before glancing up to see Finnstock still focusing on the chalkboard.

"I think I heard Isaac and that Erica girl talk about Lydia and chemistry class," Jackson offers, looking between the three.

But apparently, the board lost the interest of Finnstock as he calls on the informant. "JACKSON! Do you have something you want to share with the rest of the class?"

"Um . . . Uh . . ." Jackson stutters, his brain scrambling for an excuse. "J-Just an undying admiration for my . . . my coach."

Smiling at the notion, Finnstock replies, "That's really kind of you. Now shut up!" After that explosion, the coach picks his next victim.

"How do we know it's not her?" Scott asks, looking back at Jaydra and Stiles.

"Because I looked into the eyes of that thing, okay?" Stiles defends. "And what I saw was pure evil, and when I look into Lydia's eyes, I only see fifty percent evil."

"Really?" Jaydra asks, raising an eyebrow.

Slumping his shoulders, Stiles says, "All right, maybe sixty . . . You know, but no more than forty on a good day!"

Chuckling at his desperate attempts to keep Lydia in the clear, Scott looks at him. "That's not a very good argument."

"I'm aware of that," Stiles says, rubbing his face. "But I swear it's not her . . ."

"I'm actually with Stiles on this one," Jaydra says, looking up to see that Lydia was walking up to the blackboard, but her eyes were glazed over.

As if in a trance, Lydia begins to write something all over the blackboard, but nothing relating to anything coach Finnstock was teaching.

Jaydra watches as the chalk begins to leave behind letters on the blackboard. S.

"Um . . . I don't think it's Lydia, but I also don't think that she's fine," Jaydra says, watching as Lydia continues to write the same letters over and over again, in a frantic motion.

When the red-headed student finally finishes, Coach Finnstock claps his hands, gaining the attention from the classroom once again.

"Okay then!" he says, his eyes looking around for some answer to the frantic writing of the brilliant student. When none came forward, he chose to overlook it. "Anybody else want to try answering? This time in English?"

"What was that?" Scott asks, looking at Jaydra. "Greek? Latin?"

Shrugging her shoulders, Jaydra pulls out her phone and snaps a picture of the letters before the coach decides to erase it. Looking over the photo, Jaydra's eyes when as she realizes what the letters actually mean. Flipping the picture around, she turns and shows Scott, Stiles, and even Jackson.

"It's not Greek," she says.

On the screen of the hunter's phone, the phrase, "Someone help me" was clear as day.

ITSWYG

As Coach Finnstock's class ends, Jaydra has to go to her next class, which unfortunately wasn't with Lydia, and somehow, Derek knew that.

As she sits in History class, Jaydra pulls out her phone and silently texts Derek throughout class.

[Seriously, Derek, I don't think it's Lydia. Call off Isaac and Erica,] the emerald eyed hunter begs in her text.

[I have to see if she passes the test, Jay. You know that. I need to protect my pack.]

Jaydra's eyes widen slightly at the determination the Alpha felt, but that still didn't sway her opinion on the matter. [What about my pack then? Cause Lydia's in mine.]

Derek's message took a little longer to be sent to her. [I know she is. And look, I'll hear you out on this, but I'm not going to let anyone else die. Especially you, Jaydra. You're too damn important.]

Jaydra's eyes widen as she blushes at the meaningful text, but even though the Alpha was a smooth talker, it wasn't going to change her opinion on this. Her fingers flew as she texts him back.

[But I can't let you kill my friend, Derek. Not until I actually see her turn into a Kanima,] she writes, before texting out a request to him. [Just . . . give me some time to do some research of my own.]

The next thing she got from Derek equally gave her some relief, and utterly fill her with stress.

[You have until tonight, but Lydia failed the test.]

ITSWYG

The class slowly went by, but the moment Jaydra was free, she all but flew to the chemistry hallway to meet up with her friends.

"Derek's outside waiting for Lydia," Scott says after the group made it into a small, empty classroom.

"Waiting to kill her?" Allison asks, wanting to make sure she's on the same page as everyone else.

Scott nods. "If he really thinks she's the Kanima, then yes. Especially after what happened at the pool."

"It's not her," Stiles says, still standing his ground.

Running a hand through his brown hair, Scott looks over at the teen. "Stiles, she didn't pass the test. Nothing happened."

"I won't believe it's her unless she turns into it," Jaydra says, standing beside Stiles.

Even while the friends were divided, Allison chooses to be the voice of reason. "It doesn't matter because Derek thinks it's her. So either we can convince him that he's wrong, or we've got to figure out a way to protect her."

"He won't do anything here at the school," Jaydra says, leaning against a table. "Too many people here, and there's a huge chance people would call the police if they saw him."

"What about after school?" Allison asks. "And what if we can prove that Derek's wrong?"

"By three?" Stiles asks, his eyes narrowing in skepticism at Allison. "That's impossible."

"Derek gave me until nightfall to find something to prove it's not Lydia," Jaydra offers.

"That gives us some time," Allison sighs out, before tapping her chin in thought. "There could be something in the bestiary."

Scoffing, Stiles leans against the wall. "Oh, you mean the nine hundred page book written in archaic Latin that none of us can read? Good luck with that!"

"Oi, I can read Latin!" Jaydra snaps, before looking at Allison. "But it's not just Latin. As if they're keeping it away from other hunters, the Argent Bestiary is a mix of different types of Latin."

Allison looks up. "Then I have one other person that might be able to translate it!"

Scott rubs the back of his neck before letting out a shaky breath. "I can talk to Derek. Maybe I can convince him to give us more than just until tonight to prove that it's not her. But if anything happens, you let me handle it."

"I'm going with Scott," Jaydra announces, heading to the door. "And I'm heading on out, because Scott, you can give your speech, but I'll never listen to it. I'm a Winchester." And with that, Jaydra leaves the classroom, ready to confront her Alpha.

ITSWYG

As she walks out onto the Lacrosse field, Scott quickly catches up, just in time to see Boyd standing in front of where Derek parked his car earlier.

"I want to talk to Derek," Scott growls out, glaring at the dark skinned teenager.

"Talk to me," Boyd challenges, a dark smirk on his face.

"I don't want to fight," Scott says, his voice even and in control. He really didn't want to fight the young beta.

But Boyd didn't take it like that. He thought Scott was scared of him. "Good, cause I'm twice the size of you."

Scott nods, agreeing with the young werewolf. "True, but I'm twice as fast." In a blink, Scott rushes at Boyd and tackles him down to the ground.

Rubbing her forehead, Jaydra walks over and grabs Scott and pulls him off. "Stop this pissing contest you two!" she growls and goes to walk past Boyd, only to stop when Derek walks out from his car toward them.

"She failed the test," Derek says, shoving his hands into his jacket pocket.

"Yeah, which doesn't prove anything!" Scott says, brushing off the dirt from his small scuffle. "Lydia's different."

Nodding his head in agreement, Derek acknowledges, "I know. At night she turns into a homicidal walking snake."

Running a hand through her hair, Jaydra groans. "The facts just don't add up, Derek. Even you and I know that the person and the creature need to line up more than this!"

Turning his greenish-brown eyes on her, Derek questions, "But if you were doing this experiment, how else could you explain how she failed?"

Jaydra's eyes widen, he was using her own hunter's tactics against her, and it's working. "I . . . I don't know . . ."

"I'm not going to let you kill her!" Scott interjects, his chocolate brown eyes staring down Derek.

Derek chuckles softly, his greenish-brown eyes never wavering. "Who said I was going to do it?"

Jaydra's eyes widen. "Isaac and Erica . . . B-But you gave me until nightfall!"

Derek nods, looking over at Jaydra. "And that still holds true. We will capture her and then you have until nightfall, but I can't wait much longer than that, Jay. I won't let this thing kill again." Derek's gaze flows back to Scott. "I don't know why you think you have to protect everyone now, Scott, but even so, Lydia has killed people and she's going to do it again, and next time, it's going to be one of us."

"What if you're wrong?" Scott challenges, his chest puffing out slightly.

Derek sighs heavily and rubs his eyes. "She was bitten by an Alpha! It's her!"

"You saw that thing up close! You know it's not like us!" Scott tries again, this time his voice holding a hint of desperation.

Derek's eyes widen slightly before his mouth falls open in shock. "We're all shapeshifters! You don't know what you're dealing with! It happens very rarely and it happens for a reason!"

Jaydra's eyebrow raises at this before her emerald eyes widen in shock and fear. "You mean the legend that the shape you take reflects the person that you are?"

The Alpha nods and smirks at Scott. "Even Stiles calls her cold-blooded."

"What if she's immune, though?" Scott cross-examines. "What if she has something inside of her that makes her immune to the poison, which is why she didn't get paralyzed!"

"That would explain why an attack from an Alpha didn't turn her either," Jaydra says, rubbing her chin in thought.

"No one's immune!" Derek screams out, running his hands through his black hair. "I've never seen it or heard of it! It's n- . . . It's never happened!"

Jaydra notices the break between his words as she remembers that Jackson was hell bent on getting the bite from an Alpha. And now that Derek's one . . .

"What about Jackson?" she demands, her green eyes narrowing on his. When Derek doesn't say anything, she continues, "That's why you tested him, isn't it? Because you gave him the bite, didn't you?!"

"Jaydra . . ." Derek says, trying to calm her rant down.

"Peter said that the bite either kills you or turns you," Scott interjects. "But nothing happened with Jackson, right? And you have no idea why, do you?"

"No," Derek admits after a few moments of silence.

"Well, I have a theory," Jaydra says, crossing her arms. "Lydia's immune and she somehow passed that onto Jackson, which is why the bite didn't turn him."

Derek shakes his head. "I don't know what Jackson's deal is, but Lydia failed the test. Going by your theory, then Jackson should have too."

"You can't do this!" Scott yells out, stepping up to the Alpha.

Sighing, Derek looks over at the young beta. "Look, I can't let her live and kill someone else!"

His shoulders go slack as Scott loses all hope in convincing Derek. "I was hoping I would convince you, but then . . . I wasn't counting on it."

"What?" Derek growls, looking over at Jaydra.

The said hunter smirks and crosses her arms. "You're not the only one that's tricky, Hale."

"Fuck!" the Alpha growls, turning and running off to his car with Boyd behind him.

ITSWYG

After Derek and Boyd took off, Jaydra runs to her Nissan Skyline and races over to where Stiles, Allison, and Jackson took Lydia. The McCall household.

After Jaydra arrives, she exits her car and waits for Derek's arrival. And he didn't keep her waiting for long.

"You can't stop all of us, Mama Wolf," Boyd smirks, stepping forward, only for Derek to pull him back when Jaydra swings her Kusarigama in Boyd's general direction.

"No, but I can at least keep you occupied," Jaydra comments, squeezing the grip of her weapon.

"Why are you even helping her?!" Erica screams. "She's a monster! And deserves to be killed!"

Jaydra snarls at Erica and raises her voice. "AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT MY FATHER WOULD SAY ABOUT YOU!" she yells, making the Beta's eyes widen. "But you don't see me pointing a fucking wolfsbane bullet at you four do you?!"

Isaac steps forward. "Because you know us, Jay-"

"AND I FUCKING KNOW LYDIA TOO!" the sandy blond screams with her teeth gnashing together. Taking a deep breath, Jaydra lays her Kusarigama on the roof of her Skyline. "I don't want any of my friends to die tonight, and I will fight to keep you all alive. So, no weapons."

Falling back into a boxing position, Jaydra looks at the Betas and forces herself to hold her own against the first wave of attack. Boyd.

The tall, dark skinned, male rushes at her and uses his strength to keep her busy so that Isaac and Erica can sneak past the busy hunter.

When, suddenly, a loud roar comes from the house mere moments after the betas ran inside. Jumping back, Boyd stands next to Derek as Jaydra turns to look at the house only to see Scott walking out the door, growling.

"I think I'm finally getting why you keep refusing me, Scott," Derek says, a small smirk on his face. "You're not an Omega, you're already an Alpha of your own pack . . . But you know you can't beat me."

Scott looks up in thought and nods, only to grin at the Alpha. "True, but I can hold you off until the cops get here."

Derek's eyes widen as he turns to listen to the sirens in the distance that's slowly approaching.

But before Derek and Boyd can grab the incapacitated betas, the scaly, green, Kanima rushes out of the house and runs off into the darkness.

"WOULD SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?!" Lydia shrieks, running out of the house.

With wide eyes, Jaydra makes the comment that everyone was thinking.

"Oh. My. God . . . It's Jackson . . ."