Derek was all but ready to put a bullet into the man they believed to be Sarkissian when he informed them that 'his people' were watching Sarah's kids. He told them that if he didn't get $2 million, then the FBI would be contacted, and the kids would be killed. Derek's fingers itched on the trigger, he wanted nothing more than to kill the man for even threatening them. Sarah couldn't help but notice the change in Derek's demeanour the moment they were brought up.
"How long do we have to get you the money?" Derek queried, lowering his gun.
"You've got twenty-four hours" Sarkissian replied, as she shoved past Derek.
"Follow him" Sarah ordered, surprised when Derek made no move to follow him.
"No, you follow him. I'm going to the museum" Derek stated, placing the gun back into the waistband of his jeans.
"Is that a tactical decision or personal?" Sarah asked, raising her eyebrow.
"I can spot and deal with whoever is following them better than you can and we both know it" Derek retorted.
"…Keep my son safe" Sarah insisted, as Derek nodded.
"So, how does it feel? Being on the eve of your sweet sixteen?" Kat grinned, swinging her arm over John's shoulder as they walked with their group through the museum.
"It would feel better if my mum had actually remembered" John mumbled.
"Of course, she remembers. You're her son" Kat pointed out.
"Has she mentioned it to you?" John inquired.
"…No. But that doesn't mean she forgot!" Kat exclaimed as John shoved her off his shoulders.
"Who forgot what?" Cameron frowned, approaching the pair.
"John thinks his mum has forgotten his birthday" Kat informed her.
"Birthday?" Cameron frowned.
"As in the day you were born. Like mine is 4th September" Kat clarified.
"Pretty memorable for a mother, right?" John scoffed.
"But it was sixteen years ago" Cameron retorted.
"No, a birthday is like a holiday. It's like once a year, every year, people just kind of…celebrate you, I guess. You get presents and you eat cake. It's fun" John explained.
"Would you like it if I got you a cake?" Cameron suggested as John rolled his eyes, as the machine clearly didn't understand, and walked away.
"…I'd like it if you got a cake," Kat told her, as Cameron titled her head.
"I do not understand why he is upset" Cameron stated.
"Celebrating someone's birthday shows you care. For your mum not to remember it…well, that just plain sucks" Kat went on, as Cameron nodded, but still seemed lost at the concept.
"Hey, do you know Derek's birthday?" Kat couldn't help but ask.
"Yes. It is December 24th" Cameron informed her.
"Oh, so he's a Christmas Eve baby…that explains why he's so grouchy" Kat laughed at her own joke.
As if on cue, Kat was surprised as she noticed the very same man walking over to them, his eyes darting around the large room. She noticed his shoulders seemed to sag in relief when he spotted her and quickened his pace.
"Speak of the devil" Kat grinned, as he approached the pair.
"You're being followed by Sarkissian's men. Go get John, meet us in the car in five minutes" Derek informed them, ordering Cameron.
The machine quickly found John admiring a large dinosaur skeleton on the other side of the hall and began to march over to him. Kat was about to follow her when Derek moved so he was in her way, a serious look on his face.
"We don't have time. We need to go. Now" He insisted.
"We can't just leave John!" Kat exclaimed, in disbelief.
Before she could say anything else, Derek had taken her hand in his, surprising them both. He expected her to continue arguing, or rip her hand away, but instead, it seemed to have a calming effect on her. Derek began to lead her away from the hall, finding her unusually compliant. He saw her look over her shoulders a few times, spotting John and Cameron making their way to one of the other exits. Almost involuntarily, he found himself rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand, in a reassuring gesture. Somehow Cameron and John were the first ones to the car, most likely Cameron had found a quicker and easier exit. John audibly sighed in relief when he saw them but started to frown when he noticed how their hands were intertwined. The moment Derek recognised this, he pulled away, not looking at John as he made his way to the driver's seat.
Things were quickly coming to a head, and they all knew that it was time for fight or flight. They were tired of running. As they piled into the internet café that they knew Sarkissian was involved with, Kat couldn't help but be nervous. They were in his territory, not theirs.
"Where is he?" Derek questioned, approaching the front desk.
"Who?" The man behind the counter asked.
Obviously getting annoyed at this stupid display, Sarah grabbed the man by the back of his neck and slammed his head down onto the counter. The humans in the group couldn't keep the smug smirks off their faces at the action.
"Need I repeat?" Sarah inquired, as the man timidly pointed to the back door.
They all but ran into Sarkissian not far into the corridor, who ran in the other direction when he spotted them. He managed to lock himself in some sort of safe room, as Sarah slammed on the door.
"John, go check the office. See if he stashed the Turk in there" Sarah advised, as John nodded.
"I'll go with him" Kat exclaimed, running after him.
The pair began to ransack the office, throwing papers and boxes everywhere, but there was no sign of the Turk. John spotted an adjoined room in the office and burst in, only to find a smiling little girl.
"Hi…what are you doing here?" John announced as the girl took out her headphones.
"Waiting for my dad to finish his work" The girl replied.
"Right, listen. I need you to stay in this room with the door closed. Even if you hear loud noises or you get scared, you need to stay in here. Can you do that for me?" John asked.
"Yeah" The small girl answered, trustingly.
However, when there was a loud bang from behind them, he saw how the little girl flinched and didn't trust that she would listen to him. He ushered Kat in, hoping she would be able to reassure the girl more.
"Have you ever played hide and seek?" Kat queried, stooping down to the girl's level.
"Yes! It's my favourite game" She giggled.
"Okay, well I need you to play that now. My friends and I are the seeker's and you have to stay as quiet as you can, so we don't find you. Sound like a deal?" Kat went on, as the girl nodded enthusiastically.
Giving her another small smile, she stood up and closed the door behind her, praying that the little girl wouldn't get involved. The last thing she wanted was a child's blood on her hands.
"Let go of me!" She heard John hiss from the hallway.
Instantly, she ran to the wall closest to the door and peaked down the corridor. She had to stifle a gasp when she saw Sarkissian had someone managed to capture John and was pointing a gun at his head. Without a moment's thought, when they passed the doorway, Kat sprang into action. She grabbed Sarkissian's hand and was able to bend a few of his fingers backwards, hearing a satisfying snap. This led to him dropping his gun, but he still used his injured hand to hit Kat in the face, throwing her off balance. John quickly pulled himself free of the man's grasp, who cried out in pain. However, Sarkissian rushed to pick up his gun, and now had it trained on Kat's head, a pissed expression on his face.
"You really shouldn't have done that" He growled.
Soon enough Kat found herself being dragged out into an alleyway, with the weight feel of a gun pressed to her neck. She could hear footsteps running behind her, as Sarkissian whipped them around.
"Stop!" Sarah shouted, holding her gun up.
Kat shared a look with John, who had tears beginning to well in his eyes. She couldn't think of any way this would end well. Suddenly she spotted the little girl from before being pushed through the doorway by…Derek.
"What the hell are you doing?" Kat exclaimed as she saw the gun Derek was holding near the child.
"Whatever I have to" Derek retorted, his eyes firmly on Sarkissian.
Kat couldn't believe that Derek was willing to put the little girl in danger, even going as far to threaten to kill her. There was a line that he was crossing, and Kat wasn't happy about it.
"You don't think I'll shoot her? I will!" Sarkissian insisted, pressing the gun further into her neck.
"You hurt her, and you'll be dead before you hit the ground" Derek warned him.
"Don't-" Kat began, but she never had the chance to finish her sentence.
In one quick motion, Derek had placed his hand over the child's eyes and raised his gun, shooting Sarkissian expertly in the head. Kat felt her heart stop beating for a moment, as the man beside her dropped to the ground. Derek had gone through with his threat.
"Kat!" John cried, as he ran forward, pulling her into his arms.
She numbly wrapped her arms around his shoulders, her breathing erratic and shallow. She could feel John was shaking against her.
"You're okay, you're okay" He repeated, more to himself than her.
Sarah was quickly by their side, her hand going to Kat's shoulder, gripping her their tightly, as if to make she was there. Kat looked up from where her face had fallen into the crook of his neck, her eyes meeting Derek's. The man who only moments ago appeared so calm, seemed to be barely able to stand upright now. He thought she was about to die, she realised. Was that the moment? Was it possible that Derek had just stopped her death?
Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! It seems like Derek and Kat are going to continue to grow closer, but how far will Derek let it go? Please leave a review:)
olischulu: Things will be starting to change in Season 2, as Kat will begin affecting events. I hope you continue reading the story:)
GertrudePerkins9: Thank you! I'm really glad you like this story:) I will be adding more of her backstory in soon, and that's a really good idea for flashbacks. Kat will end up have quite a big effect on events.