Chapter 10: Hostile Tendencies

Meredith Fell had every intention of going into the hospital that Wednesday morning. Her patient was sick. It didn't matter that her career was on the line. It didn't matter that this kid had a werewolf - or maybe more - as a friend. Stiles Stilinski was her patient, and whatever was happening to him now was her doing. She needed to be there to try to fix it. To fix him. Damned the consequences to herself.

Clipping her badge onto her coat, Meredith swung open the front door of her new apartment, and then promptly slammed it shut.

"Now, is that any way to treat an old friend who traveled across the country to see you?" Came the voice from the other side of the door that she was seriously considering bolting.

Meredith straightened, pulling on the handle and greeting her guest with a wry, half-crooked grin. Then she noticed Elena standing in the hall and offered a genuine smile.

"Sorry. I wasn't expecting you. Guess I'm a little jumpy."

"Oh, well, that's probably because you used my blood to heal some stranger, who just so happens to be surrounded by werewolf pals." Damon leaned against the frame and crossed his arms.

Meredith's brow creased.

"Liz called and told me the whole Lifetime movie story. You felt bad. You gave the kid vampire blood. A werewolf threatened you. Let's skip the ending where he and his werewolf buddies eat you and call it a wrap on this production, okay? You're leaving, now."

"Excuse me?"

"Damon -"

"We don't have time for good cop, bad cop, Elena. Or any heroics. I agreed to come, to grab Mer, and to get the hell out of werewolf territory."

"And I told you that we should help these people."

"Do you see this?" Damon pointed to his head, turning to face his girlfriend. "Does this look like hero hair to you. We're leaving."

"Hold on," Meredith lifted her hands. "Don't I get a say in this?"

"Yes."

"No."

Both vampires answered at the same time.

"Look, I appreciate the concern - I think. But I have patients that need me."

"What? Are you the only doctor in this one-horse town?"

"The only one with any supernatural knowledge to try to figure out why a bunch of patients who should be dead, miraculously aren't."

"What, did you just leave the vampire blood laying around for everyone to take a swig?" Damon rolled his eyes.

"I didn't bring much with me. Just what I had left. For an emergency. That was the last of it. And yet, somehow, yesterday morning, Beacon Hills Memorial turned into Touched By An Angel . Some kid who got cut up at a Lacrosse game and was pronounced dead and put in a body bag, just got up and walked out with his dad and their lawyers. A patient on life support for five years, woke up. Patients who should've been dead - who were dead - aren't. There was a big highway pile up. I was there all day yesterday and didn't even get up to see the boy I had helped until late, and he was sleeping again. I would've still been there if one of the other doctor's hadn't practically pushed me out the door when I could hardly stand on my feet. I just worked three overnights in a row. I got home this morning and popped a sleeping pill. But my pager's been going off all day. One of the nurses finally called my home phone. The board, the news, everyone is crawling around the hospital looking for answers to what happened yesterday. I woke up, saw all the messages on my pager, listened to her voicemail, and was heading out the door when you showed up. Now, I really need to go."

"No, you don't." Damon leaned both hands on either side of the threshold.

"What are you going to do, Damon? Hold me hostage in my own apartment until I come out, and then carry me caveman style all the way to the airport?"

"Or I could just find the landlord of this place and compel them to invite me in."

"Or you could just come to the hospital with me. That way, you can make sure I'm okay and I can help my patients."

"Yes, let's go to a hospital where there are werewolves . We're not exactly on Klaus' Christmas card list, so I don't think he's keen on curing us."

"They haven't shown any hostile tendencies -"

"I'm about to show you some hostile tendencies -"

"Damon, enough."

"I really think there is more going on here," Meredith sighed. "These are good kids. I've met them."

"Except the one that threatened you!"

"What would you do if you saw your friend's doctor suspiciously switching blood samples? He was a lot more in control of his temper than you ever are. I saw his face, Damon. He was scared. They all are. They refuse to leave their friend alone in the hospital. Like they're keeping watch. I even saw one of them pacing around outside when I left this morning. And that was at 7:00 AM. They never leave. And one of them - a girl - she was released from the hospital after being in for an animal attack less than six months ago. The kid that I helped - his friends said he was beaten up and then passed out while driving. The girl that was with him when he lost consciousness? The one that was attacked. From everything that I've found, every medical report, every news article, these kids look more and more like the victims . Not the monsters."

"She could be right, Damon," Elena folded her arms. "We know from Tyler that not all werewolves are like the ones that took Caroline. What if there's another pack here? Hurting these werewolves? Or what if it's something else?"

"Who cares , Elena? Not our problem."

"But we're here, and we know something's going on. If we just leave now, people could die. And then we'd be just as bad as whatever is doing all this."

"If we don't leave now, we could die."

"I don't care. I'm calling Jeremy. Maybe he can go through some of Alaric's research. See if there's anything about Beacon Hills -"

"Stop."

"I told you, Damon -"

"No," Damon lifted a single finger, "stop. I think I heard something."

"And I smell something," Elena's eyes widened. "How many?" She whispered, knowing it was futile against a werewolf's equally sensitive hearing.

"Three heartbeats," Damon flexed his fist. "We have to go, now ."

"Maybe they're the kids," Meredith glanced over her shoulder, checking the latches on her windows. "I was expecting one to show up eventually with questions."

"One, not three . And you were expecting this and you still stayed? I thought Ric would've picked a smarter girl than that. Get out here. We have to leave."

"No. I ran here. I'm not running again."

"Then invite me in and I'll drag you away. See? Not running."

There was a small crash from inside the apartment and Meredith turned to face the noise, unknowingly backing up, and over the threshold. The second her feet hit the hall, Damon had her around the shoulders.

"Time to go!"

"Let go of me!"

Two masses tore through the doorway then. A shock of blonde hair and a pair of broad shoulders were all that the vampires saw before they were tumbling to the ground. As soon as the group was all on their feet again, Damon grabbed Meredith and the vampires sped down the hall and out into the parking lot without hesitation. Damon secured Meredith in the passenger seat and was about to get in when he sniffed the air. The werewolves were close behind and Damon hardly had time to reach into his backseat before the male was on him. Damon rolled against the side of the car as his attacker slammed his body into the door. Without missing a beat, Damon tossed something small and clear toward the other man. The grenade exploded, just as the werewolf was turning away. The wolfsbane exploded, searing the back of the man's shirt, and the skin underneath it.

The blonde paused in her advance on Elena, watching her Alpha sink to his knees. Damon stood over the weakened werewolf, smirking and lifting his arm. The blonde was already screaming in protest and horror as the car door flung open and Meredith nearly fell out, crouching in front of the wailing werewolf.

"Damon, no!"

The vampire's hand was nearly at her throat when he saw her and stopped short.

"These are the ones I was telling you about."

"And? They attacked us ."

"Because you attacked her ," the girl stepped forward, waving an arm toward the doctor.

"I didn't 'attack' -"

"Just, shut up," Meredith stood, "and help me get him inside before my neighbors call the police and you try to kill them too."

Damon obeyed, side-eyeing the werewolf as he lifted the man's arm over his shoulders.

"Grab the bag, Elena."

"Damon -"

"I'll play nice for now. But I'm not taking any chances. Grab it."

Elena watched the blonde, who in turn stared her down, as she moved toward the car, hoisting the bag out of the backseat and over her shoulder. She sighed, frowning as she watched her boyfriend none-too-gently drag the injured werewolf through the front doors.

"Well, this should be fun."

A/N: Finally, some action! And we get out of Stiles' hospital room. How am I doing? Love it? Hate? Wondering where the hell Stefan is? Leave a review!