Disclaimer: "I do not own Teen Wolf. The show, the characters, and any quotes from the show belong to Jeff Davis and his amazing team of writers. I only own Nixie, and anything I make her do or say."
On a side note, I believe I mentioned this when I first wrote for Season 4, and I just want to restate. I'm not an expert in legal practices or the government system. As far as Nixie goes and the situation she ends up in, I have no idea how realistic my version might actually be. But again, since Isaac spent the majority of season 2 and season 3 living in other peoples' homes, without his actual guardians... I'm hoping you'll have some leeway in that department for Nixie.
Also, as far as the numbers for each person on the dead pool. You'll probably notice that I changed several amounts. That has to do with how much I end up making Nixie worth, once you get to that part. And because I still wanted the total amount to balance out at 117 million, other numbers had to change. So, just an FYI, that's why that happened. :)
Okay, I think that's all I wanted to say. Oh, and to warn you that this chapter is long. Like, compared to before, it's exceptionally longer than it used to be. But I like it a lot better. Hope you do to. :)
Alright. Sorry for the interruption. Enjoy!
Chapter 4: Episode 4x4
Jordan feels very confused at this point. Here he is, standing on the roof of the hospital with the rest of the officers. Sean Walcott, the only survivor of his family, now dead. Why the boy had even come up here was a mystery in itself, but that's not what has Jordan confused right now.
What confuses him, is that he has the strange desire to call Nixie? Not that he could. He didn't have her number. But he felt like this was something she should know, considering she had been one of the people who had first discovered he was a cannibal. And… he couldn't help but feel like she, already, had more insight into this than he did. And considering he was the cop and she was supposed to be the high school student… he had half a mind to go find her and question what she knew about it… almost to the point of demanding answers from her.
He knows that's not smart though. Nixie was a lot of things, and as far as he could tell, all of them were good. But one thing she definitely wasn't? Easily intimidated. He'd wager you could point a gun to her head and she wouldn't even flinch. The girl had taken on ninjas for Pete's sake, and had done so as if she'd trained for it her whole life.
That in itself, was just another thing that made him feel like this was probably something she knew more about than he did right now. Sighing as he looks over the body and the rest of the roof for evidence, he pauses in his investigating when Noah walks up to him.
The sheriff says, "Let's get everyone off the roof now. And see if you can stall the M.E. for five minutes. I've got an expert of my own coming to take a look." Jordan stares at him in disbelief and asks, "You have an expert on teenage cannibals?" Noah gives him a look, and then says, "Just… five minutes, Parrish." Sighing, Jordan motions for everyone else to go ahead and step off the roof.
Glancing back for a moment, Jordan realizes it's not just Nixie and her friends that definitely know more about this than everyone else. Noah did too. And why everyone else was satisfied to remain in the dark, was beyond his understanding. But one thing he definitely knew for certain, was that he was not. He'd have to bide his time, he knew that much. Young as they all were for the most part, Jordan had already seen plenty enough to know that they were careful with who they spoke to about certain things and which questions they asked and even which questions they answered.
But eventually… he'd show them he could be trusted. He'd show Nixie that he could be trusted. And somehow, making her see it, is really the biggest thing he finds himself concerned with, as he finally steps back inside the building.
Noah sighs once everyone is gone, and then turns and jumps a little in surprise when Derek is already standing there, looking down at the body. Sighing, Noah says, "I guess you've been there long enough to hear that we need to be quick about this. Scott said this kid called himself a wendigo." Nodding, Derek confirms, "Cannibalistic shape-shifter. But… I haven't heard of them in Beacon Hills for a long time. They must've been well-hidden."
As Derek continues looking around, trusting his senses to guide him, he frowns and asks, "How many people did Scott say were up here?" Noah sighs, "Just Sean, and the axe murderer… who apparently has no mouth. You wouldn't be able to explain anything about that, would you?"
But Derek is only half listening, because he knows that's not true. Aside from Scott and the other two that Noah just mentioned… there was another. He can see the blood smear on the side of the building as he looks. Shaking his head, Derek says, "There was someone else. Someone young. And male." Noah asks curiously, "You can smell his fear?" Derek nods, but adds, "And his blood."
Noah watches as Derek pulls out his phone, and then asks, "You calling Scott?" "No. If Scott didn't mention it the first time, I doubt he's going to mention it to either of us now. I'm calling someone who can definitely get the bottom of it." "And who's that?" Derek grins slightly, and then says, "Nixie."
He walks with Noah to the side of the roof, and before he calls, he motions to the door that the other officers left through, and says, "He's going to catch on you know. In fact, I think he already is." "Who?" Derek gives Noah a look and says, "Your second in command. Parrish." "Why him?" "Because he's smart." "And why do you think that?"
Derek sighs and says, "Because Nixie says he is. And he's not overlooking the things that most people do so they don't have to try and understand things that are sometimes too difficult to believe. He's digging, and he pays even closer attention to the unusual things that keep going on in this town. Like how Lydia, and Nixie by consequence, keep showing up and crime scenes. Or how Scott, Stiles, and Nixie can always be found at the station, somehow involved in all of the strange and bizarre cases, somehow."
Noah leans back against the wall next to him, and then sighs, "For now, he stays in the dark. And if someone does bring him in, it won't be me that does it first. I'm still relatively new, to all of this. And aside from Stiles telling me that Nixie's sixth sense is a good thing to judge by, I don't have a clue how I'm supposed to determine who we can trust with all of this."
Derek nods in understanding, "Give it time, sheriff. It gets easier."
Nixie picks up on the fourth ring and answers, "Yep." "You were asleep, weren't you?" Raising an eyebrow at Derek's question, Nixie says, "It's one in the morning… consequently, a morning when I thought I wouldn't need to still be awake. So yes, I was quite obviously, asleep." "And now you're cranky."
Derek smiles when Nixie laughs on the other end before she says, "I am not cranky. I will have you know that 'crank' is not an emotion that I possess in the entirety of my personality." "Right. How could I forget?" "I don't know. In my opinion, it's pretty standard information."
Derek chuckles, but then asks, "Did Scott tell you about earlier tonight?" "Yeah. Cannibal dead. Ax murderer still on the loose. Bad things are happening in Beacon Hills again. Shocking stuff." "A wendigo is dead, if you want the technical term." Nixie blinks, and then says, "Let me get this straight. He was a supernatural cannibal? That's a thing? We have those?" "Yes, Nixie." "Great. And next, someone's going to tell me that mermaids are actually real as well. Are there fairies, too? Because that one might actually be interesting." "Alright, tone down the sarcasm a bit." "Can't. Ironically enough, the more tired I am, the more sarcasm comes out of me."
She takes a breath and then says, "But I will try to wake up a little more for your benefit. What do you need?" "Did Scott tell you that someone else was up here?" "Who do you mean? Based on his story, I count three if I include Scott and the two others." "Yeah. And that's the story he gave Noah too. But… he's leaving something out."
Sitting up in bed, slipping on shoes, Nixie asks, "Leaving what out?" "Someone else was up here Nixie. Someone who was terrified, and someone who ended up bleeding. I wish I could give you more than that." "No, that's fine Derek. Thanks." "Sure. What are you going to do now?" "Go and slap Scott in the back of the head for not giving me all the information. Seriously. Everyone needs to just stop withholding things from me. As the one person who always demands all the information, I think I'm entitled at times, for you guys to actually listen."
Derek nods and says, "Go easy on him Nix. I can smell his anxiety up here too." "Noted."
As soon as she hangs up, she prepares to head out of the apartment. But then, she pauses and turns back to look at it. And… well, there's no time like the present. She already knew she'd have to leave. Might as well do it now.
Walking back to her bed, grabbing two bags from beneath it, she begins shoving her stuff in there. It wasn't much, to be honest. The majority of her belongings were still scattered between everyone else's houses. Scott, Stiles, and Lydia all had drawers that held a selection of her clothes. Even Kira had cleared out some space for her to keep some things if she wanted. And it had actually given Kira a further sense of belonging when Nixie filled it with a couple shirts and some jeans almost a day after Kira had made the room.
Bottom line though, it meant that packing up her personal belongings from the apartment was easy and quick. She packs up her boots and the other pair of shoes she owns, and then shoves the clothes she does have here in the bag on top of them. Then she goes to the bathroom and packs up everything from in there in the other bag. She also takes all of her protein bars and some canned food from the cupboards before zipping up both bags. As for her laptop and other school books, she crams it all into her normal shoulder bag. The laptop, apart from her smartphone, was the only piece of electronics that Nixie hadn't sold. She'd thought about it once… but in the end, she needs it for school.
At her door, she glances back at the apartment one last time. She'd expected to feel… well, something. It had been her house for quite some time.
But house or not… it had always been an empty place. The times when Isaac and even Malia had stayed with her, were the only times she'd ever actually enjoyed being here. And for that reason, she feels no sorrow or sense of loss as she steps out the door, locks it, and then removes those keys from her key chain.
Marcus was still up in his office, watching something on his computer. He jumps when Nixie bangs on the window, and then dangles the keys for him to see before dropping them on the counter and heading for her bike. Throwing one leg over, cranking the engine, she glances back when he comes out and asks, "What? That's it? You're not even going to argue about it? Not going to see if we can make some kind of deal?"
Nixie glares at the man and says, "First of all, there's no price you can give that I can meet. I don't have the time or money to make it happen. And second… there's no deal you can work out that I would ever even dream of saying yes to." Revving the engine again, she tips her fingers to her forehead and then at him in a 'goodbye' gesture, and then takes off out of the parking lot.
It doesn't take her long to find her next destination. She'll need to get to Scott's house afterwards, and she needs to do it quickly. But she also can't show up at his house with all of her stuff along with her. He'd know something was up if she did that. So… to the shack first.
She'd found it back when she'd been mapping out the woods so they could better track and find Malia when she was a coyote. And honestly… finding it had been the thing that finally made her plan a possibility. She'd always had a plan to leave before Marcus could ever kick her out, or otherwise. But she'd never been sure where she would go, until she found this place.
Down an abandoned and nearly invisible dirt road, hidden deep within the trees, brush, and wildlife of the preserve, was an old rundown shack. From the looks of it, the building had been abandoned an exceptionally long time ago. It's overgrown with plants, vines, and weeds. And that's just the outside. As Nixie rams her way into the stuck front door, she enters into a room filled with cobwebs, dust, dirt, and funk in every corner.
The main room was the living room, or den, with an old fireplace that hadn't been used in ages. To the side, there is what had once been a kitchen/dining room. There's an old, fenced in patio at the back of this place, and there is an old and rickety set of stairs that leads into what Nixie assumes is either a very small bed space, or just an attic. Whatever else this place might've been, it most certainly hadn't been built for more than one person.
But Nixie didn't need it to hold more than one. She just needed it to hold her until she could figure this out. At most, she needed it until she turned eighteen. After that, she wouldn't have to worry about Noah performing his duty as a cop and turning her over to child-services, or something equally terrible. She knows she doesn't have to worry about Marcus reporting her gone. If he did that, he'd probably lose the meager hold he had on his guardianship of her, and whatever small sum of money he still got paid to supposedly, 'take care of her'.
Nixie removes the old coach from the den area, which is the only piece of furniture in this room. She shoves it into the vacant dining area of the kitchen. Though the kitchen was still furnished, she didn't actually expect any of the old appliances to work. So she wouldn't need that room. And she didn't care how many times she managed to clean it… she was not about to try and sleep on that sofa.
From the kitchen, she finds an old broom. Sweeping out the den, she chucks the dirt and dust out the front door and down the two small steps there. And for now, that would have to suffice. She grabs her stuff and drops it on the floor by the fireplace, and then heads back out to her bike.
No more time to waste. Scott has some serious explaining to do.
Scott has just asked, "So… what are we going to do?"
Then both he and Stiles jerk when Nixie says, "First, you're going to explain why you didn't actually give me all the information about what happened tonight." She gives Scott a look that has him ducking his head slightly, while Stiles looks at her in bafflement as he asks, "How the hell did you find out?" "Good question, considering the answer should be because one of you told me!"
Sighing, she says, "I don't actually know much. Just that Scott didn't tell me everything. So… what did you leave out?" Scott lifts his head and is about to answer wearily, when they all hear the muffled exclamations coming from his bathroom. Nixie's eyes snap in that direction, and then back to her boys as she asks, "What… in the hell… did you do?"
Scott doesn't try to stop her as she marches into the room. And upon pulling back the curtain, Nixie stares down in complete bewilderment. Because there is the new freshmen. Liam Dunbar.
Duck-taped and held hostage in Scott's bathtub. A hostage. Scott kidnapped Liam.
Liam stares up at her for a moment, and for reasons he doesn't even understand, he feels a little sense of peace settle over him. He still didn't have a clue what was going on, or what was going to happen… but somehow, Nixie being in front of him, made things a little better.
Nixie, on the other hand, is still staring down at him with a mixture of what looks like rage and astonishment. Then she says softly, "Scott… get in here." He comes, and then sighs and says, "Look, I…" Liam, from his position of lying down in the tub, jumps in surprise too when Nixie swiftly slaps Scott upside the head.
Sighing, having expected nothing less at this point, Scott asks, "Satisfied?" "No. What, the actual, hell?! You kidnapped him?!" Scott glances over at Liam, and then leans closer and says quietly, "I bit him!"
Nixie stares at him a moment more, and then pinches the bridge of her nose. Gesturing out towards his bedroom, she says, "Go. Just… give me a minute."
After he's gone, Nixie looks back down at Liam. He says something in a muffled reply, and as she makes to leave, he squirms more urgently, and she can tell he's pleading for her to not leave him here. Coming back for a moment, she says, "Liam… I know this seems like a ridiculous thing to ask right now. But I need you to calm down, and give me a minute. Just do that for me. I'll be back."
Back in Scott's room, Nixie stands in front of both of them, Stiles and Scott siting down on the end of the bed again. Shaking her head in annoyance, Nixie finally says, "You're both incredibly lucky that I love you. I hope you both know that." Scott nods, and then stands up and wraps an arm around her. Kissing the top of her head, he says, "I'm sorry. It's just… you'd already had a bit of a day. And I didn't want to…" "Yeah, yeah, alright."
She hugs him back though, and then he sits back down and Nixie says, "After I left the school. Tell me what happened."
Scott and Stiles give her an account of what had taken place. How they'd either broken or sprained Liam's ankle or knee at practice. How they'd taken him to the hospital. Stiles had then gone back to help Malia study math, which reminds him… "We need to talk to Lydia in the morning about the notes she gave Malia. Because those… those aren't notes. But I didn't want to bug her about it tonight… seeing how she located a house full of dead human carcasses that were carefully preserved in a meat locker."
Nixie nods at that and says, "Fine. Then what?" Scott explains that after that, he was still at the hospital when Lydia had called about Sean, and after rescuing Melissa, he'd chased Sean up onto the roof. That's where things had gotten really complicated. Sean had taken Liam hostage, and after struggling with him, Liam had been nearly tossed off the roof.
Scott had been trying to pull him back up, when Sean had grabbed him and twisted his arms behind his back. And as Liam had continued to slip from the side of the roof, Scott had done the only other thing he could do. He'd bit Liam on his left forearm in order to prevent him from falling to his death.
Then Scott had panicked and… yes… he'd kidnapped Liam and brought him to his own house until he could figure out what to do.
For a moment after that, Nixie paces in front of them and says nothing. But after a moment, she pauses and turns to Scott. Bending down in front of him, she says, "Let's start with something simple first. Yeah? Like, I'm proud of you." Scott smiles gently down at her and kisses the top of her head again. Sighing, he says, "Thanks." "Of course. And I know this is about to get really complicated… but you did what you had to do Scott. You did a good thing. Know that. Alright?"
He nods, and then Nixie stands back up and says, "Now… you obviously should not have wrapped him in duck-tape and chucked him in the bathtub. Duck-tape fixes many things… but this is not one of the things it can fix." Scott nods, and then Stiles lifts a hand and says, "I suggested dumping his body in the desert. We could…"
At Liam's muffled scream of fear, Nixie fixes Stiles with a hard stare and says, "We are not hurting Liam." Stiles huffs and asks, "Why not?" "Because I like Liam. And as of yet, I don't see anything really wrong with him. And the only reason you don't like him is because he's better at lacrosse than both of you."
Liam looks up when she marches back into the bathroom. And even though he's tied up in a tub, she fixes him with an annoyed look and says, "And I told you to take it easy. What part of that did you not hear? Hmm?" Rolling her eyes in annoyance, she then returns to her boys and says, "We're not hurting him." Scott nods in agreement, though Stiles says, "I still think…" Nixie gives him a look and says, "Currently, I'm still not thinking about slapping you in the back of the head. If you want to keep it that way, stop it. Now."
He lifts his hands in surrender, and then says, "Well, if we're not getting rid of him, then we need to talk to him. Scott, let's get him out here."
They sit him down in a chair in the middle of the room. And while Scott and Stiles debate with each other about whether pulling off any of the tape is a good idea, Nixie moves in front of Liam. Bending down, she says, "I know that it seems a cruel thing to say at this point. With all you've been through tonight. But… if I pull the tape off your mouth. I need you to promise me that you're not going to yell or scream. You're just going to use your normal, inside voice."
He stares down at her for a moment, but then nods in understanding. So Nixie reaches forward and gently pulls it off his mouth. He winces a little, to which Nixie says, "Sorry. Scott must've used a new roll."
As soon as it's finally off, Liam takes a deep breath of relief. And though he didn't, at this moment, have a problem with Nixie, his eyes instantly turned to glare when Stiles takes his turn to speak and says, "Now… Liam. You've seen a lot of confusing things tonight. And, well, more confusing things are going to happen, because of the confusing things that happened tonight. Do you understand?"
Liam gives him a look after a moment and says, "Not really." Nodding in approval, Stiles says, "Good. That's good." And then Scott comments, "I don't understand either." Stiles gives him a look, but then smiles victoriously when Nixie says, "Well, I understood, and it makes sense. But then again, I'm very fluent in the language of 'Stiles'. So… yeah."
Then she adds, "But it's not good for Liam to not understand. We want him to understand. Kind of the whole point of him sitting here and being forced to listen to us." Stiles nods, and concedes, "Yeah, I do tend to confuse other people. Even when I don't mean to sometimes." Nixie nods, and then gives Scott a little nudge. When he looks over at her, she raises an eyebrow and whispers, "You're the alpha. More importantly, you're definitely his alpha. It'll be better if it comes from you."
Nodding, Scott takes a breath, and then says, "Okay… Liam. What happened to you tonight; what I did to you… which I had to do in order to save you? It's… it's gonna change you."
And Nixie has to pinch the bridge of her nose again when Stiles immediately adds, "Unless it kills you." Throwing up her hands, giving him a look, she nods when he concedes, "Shouldn't have said that." "Yeah, no shit, Sherlock."
Liam asks softly, "What?" And then, as he continues to breathe heavily, to gasp and sniffle now… Stiles sighs and says, "Oh no. Is he… is he crying?" Nixie gives him a look and says, "If he is, it's your fault. Dumbass." Stiles gives her a look in return, but doesn't argue with her as Scott bends down in front of Liam. Gently, he tries to comfort him by saying, "Liam? It's going to be okay. You're going to be alright. And you're not going to die."
Liam just sniffles again, and then Stiles bends down and says, "Probably not." Scott turns to him with an annoyed look and says, "Stop it." But Stiles only concedes, "Okay. Possibly not."
Then his body actually leans forward as he receives a hard slap to the back of the head. Glancing back at Nixie, who shakes her head in annoyance, Stiles simply says, "Sorry." "Just shut up Stiles. Unless it's helpful, shut up." Scott nods, and then says, "Look, just help me untie him."
Nixie steps out of the room for a bit, pinching the bridge of her nose again. Now they had to deal with an ax murderer, a Kate Argent who was now a were-jaguar, and also Liam Dunbar, who was, in all likelihood, about to become a werewolf. She was still in the hall, leaning against the wall behind her, pondering how she was going to handle this current situation, when the distinct sound of a chair smashing to pieces is heard from Scott's room.
She can hear Stiles ask, "Liam, what the hell is your…" But then Stiles gets punched in the face, and Liam leaps out of the room two seconds later.
It's not lost on Nixie when he suddenly pauses, and then looks down at his left leg. The leg that had apparently been either broken or sprained earlier tonight. It had healed. Liam was already healing.
Which meant he was definitely not dying. He was turning into a werewolf.
As he makes to hurry on, he pauses about a foot from her, as though worried she would try to stop him. But as Nixie looks him over… she decides that would be a rather bad idea. Liam didn't need anyone else trying to force him to listen or to stay in one place. He needed to clear his head. He needed to know that at least one of them wasn't going to try and force their information onto him and down his throat.
So, with that in mind, Nixie shrugs and says, "I have one request." Liam walks up to her slowly, but when she doesn't move, he relaxes a bit and asks, "Yeah?" Glancing back to where she can hear Scott and Stiles scrambling, she says, "Don't turn in my boys." Liam looks like he'd argue the point, so Nixie adds, "I get that this was really bad. How Scott brought you here and how Stiles was talking about dealing with you. But Stiles… he said that more in sarcasm than anything else. Stiles just… doesn't understand that, on a rare occasion ever now and again, there is a time when sarcasm should be kept silent."
Shrugging again, Nixie says, "And as for Scott. He panicked and reacted badly. But he did save your life tonight. There's no denying that. You know that." Liam nods after a moment, and Nixie adds, "So just give me that. Don't turn my boys in. Don't tell anyone what actually happened last night."
Glancing back towards the room, she says, "And if you plan on getting out of here… I suggest you hurry. Because here they come." Sure enough, Stiles and Scott come racing out of the room, and Stiles shouts, "GET HIM!"
They all end up crashing down the stairs, Nixie wincing as she hears them fall. But after a brief struggle, in which all Stiles manages to hang onto in Scott's leg, Liam makes it out the door and into the dark of the night.
Coming down to join them, sitting on the bottom step, Nixie sighs and says, "Well… that was interesting." Stiles looks over at her and asks, "And what were you doing? Just standing there? He's…" "He's a teenage boy, who doesn't need other teenage boys kidnapping him. He's had a lot of terrifying and bizarre things happen to him tonight. What he needs is to be given a moment to try and wrap his head around some of it, before you two go about trying to explain the rest."
Standing up, offering them both a hand to help them up, Nixie says to Scott, "Give him tonight. He's not going to tell anyone about you or what he saw. So just give him tonight. Find him tomorrow at school. Try again. And hope he's not still too angry about being kidnapped. Best we've got right now, in ways of a plan."
Scott nods after a moment, and then sighs and says, "Listen, thanks for coming. I should've…" Nixie moves to hug him tight, and then says, "Yes, you should've. Because I'm awesome. Plus, my presence sort of guarantees that these things work out better than they would without me." Chuckling, Scott says, "Can't argue with that." "Exactly."
Then she hugs Stiles, and then says, "Alright. Both of you, get some sleep. I'm going home and going to bed. See you both tomorrow."
And with that, she takes off on her bike again, heading to the shack in the woods to get what little sleep she can manage.
Sliding one of her bags under her head, and finding a blanket and throwing it over her, she settles down and closes her eyes. Because tomorrow… tomorrow was looking like it was going to shape up to be a hell of a day. Not to mention the rest of the semester.
When Nixie opens her eyes the next morning, it's raining outside. Sighing as she looks out the meager window in this room, she hops up, changes, and then heads out the door. It's a shame she'd left Lydia with her leather jacket. Sure, Lydia had needed it at the time, and Nixie doesn't regret handing it over. But… even without a hood, that jacket was better suited for the rain. The zip-up hoodie she was wearing was not.
Plus, as she checks on her bike outside, she realizes that she's only got a little less than a quarter of a tank left. Her bike got excellent gas mileage, but even it didn't last forever. Which means that, though there were more important things to do, she would have to work at the diner tonight if she wanted her bike to be on standby for when she'd really need it.
It also means that she can't drive it to school this morning, or else she risks using up necessary gas that she may need to have before she can afford to refill the tank. So, in the rain and all, she makes sure her bag is tightly closed, and then takes off down the path and then up the road to get to school… on foot.
As her phone rings, she answers, "Yeah?" Stiles answers, "Hey Nix. So, I was thinking. We should, all three of us, probably approach Liam together and try to talk to him this morning." Nixie sighs and says, "That would sound good… except I think I'm gonna be a little behind this morning. How about later?" "Sure, if we can find him. But, how on earth are you the one who's running late? You're never late anywhere. You're always…"
Stiles pauses for a moment, and then asks, "Are you… outside?" "Kind of have to be to get to school." "On your bike?" "No. It's low on gas. Which, by the way, reminds me that I need to work at the diner tonight so I can refill the tank. So if this plan to persuade Liam extends into that bit of time, you're on your own for a while."
Another pause, and then Stiles asks in disbelief, "Are you running to school?! In the rain?!" "Well, I would've taken the bus… but it was running late." "Nixie… it's raining?!" Raising an eyebrow, Nixie says, "As I'm the one running in the rain, I am acutely aware of the weather conditions, Stiles." "Nixie… I could've picked you up."
Yeah. Not from where she currently was. No sir. Shaking her head, Nixie says, "And then we'd both be late. No, you need to be with Scott when he confronts Liam again. Just get there and worry about him. That is priority number one." Sighing on the other end, Stiles says, "Someone will come to get you soon." "Don't worry about me Stiles. I got this."
At the station, Noah answers his cell phone with a tiny huff of annoyance before he asks, "Stiles, what now? There have better not be anything new that happened between last night and this morning."
He'd been expecting some sort of new catastrophe to have occurred, which wouldn't have been the most surprising thing in the world. But instead, it surprised him more when Stiles simply asks, "Dad, can you go pick up Nixie?" Blinking in confusion, Noah asks, "Why? What happened to her? Is she hurt? Where is… "Whoa, dad, take it easy. She's fine. She's just… she's running low on gas, so she's running to school this morning because the bus is late." "Running? It's raining." "Yeah, which is kind of my point. So, can you…"
Noah nods and says, "I'll see what I can do. She coming down the road from her apartment?" "Yeah. Or, I assume. It'd be too much to run through the woods in the rain right now. Even for her." "Right. I'll get on it." "Thanks dad."
As Noah steps out of the office, grabbing his jacket as well, Jordan looks up and asks, "Anything I can help with Sheriff? News about Sean Walcott?" Noah shakes his head, but then pauses. He loves Nixie to death, he really does. But, he needed to be here for when the FBI came back to talk about Sean, the apparent cannibal.
And… well, Jordan was offering, and Nixie has always liked him best out of all the deputies. Turning to him, Noah says, "Actually… I do have a favor to ask. Might seem a bit unconventional though." Jordan raises an eyebrow and says, "You say that like this is the first time that's happened in this town."
Grinning a little, Noah says, "If I give you an address, think you can drive towards it and find Nixie on the way." Snapping his head up at hearing Nixie's name, Jordan frowns and says, "Sure. But why…" "She's low on gas and is, apparently, running to school this morning. In the rain. Stiles asked me to go get her, but with the FBI on their way…" Jordan nods, already having been grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair. Slipping it on, he says, "Just tell me where." "Thanks Parrish. The address is here."
He writes it down, and then Jordan nods and says, "I've got it, Sheriff." "Thanks, Parrish. You're a good man."
And as Jordan cranks up the car and pulls out of the lot, he shakes his head at himself before saying aloud, "You really are quite a mystery, Nixie Haven."
He gets about halfway down the road leading to the apartment complex that Nixie apparently lives at. That's when he spots her, a completely soaked individual, running at a well-paced sprint down the opposite side of the road. Shaking his head in disbelief, Jordan quickly makes a sharp U-turn so he can come up alongside her.
As soon as he starts catching up to her though, Nixie glances back and then darts into the woods. Blinking in utter confusion, he pulls over and hops out. Glancing into the darkness of the trees, he shouts, "Nixie!"
At the sound of his voice, Nixie pops out from behind the tree she'd hidden behind. Spotting her, Jordan rolls his eyes and says, "Get over here and in the car!" She jogs back up to him, and asks, "What are you doing here?" "Inside first."
He opens the door for her and then shuts it behind her. After he slides back behind the wheel, he cranks up the heat. Glancing at Nixie, he asks, "Are you insane?" "No. But, I will concede, that I am just this side of crazy." When he just stares at her, she shrugs and asks, "What?" "Why were you running in the rain?" "My bike is low on gas. I'm going to work a shift at the diner later to get money to fill the tank. Until then, consider my bike out of commission."
Pulling back onto the road, Jordan asks, "Why didn't you get Scott or Stiles to get you?" Nixie pauses on that one, and then says carefully, "They have their hands full this morning." Jordan doesn't miss how she suddenly became guarded with her answer. Some other thing had happened, a thing that existed within the realm that was the weird and bizarre that seemed to constantly occur in Beacon Hills.
Sighing, Jordan then glances over again when Nixie says, "You didn't answer my question. What are you even doing here?" "Stiles called the sheriff to let him know you were running in the rain. He would've come to get you, but I offered to help out, so he sent me so he can talk to the FBI when they get to the station." Nixie blinks and asks, "The FBI is coming? Again?" Jordan nods and says, "It's not every day you find out a family in the neighborhood used to be cannibals." "Right."
They drive in silence for a while, until Jordan hears Nixie sigh beside him. Glancing over, he asks, "What's wrong?" "Oh… nothing. I just… I told Stiles not to worry about this. I'm fine." Jordan raises an eyebrow and says, "You were running to school. In the rain. The chances of you getting pneumonia increased exponentially, given those facts." "I was fine. I'll have you know, I have a patented method for avoiding such annoying illnesses and conditions." "And what exactly is that?" "Stubbornness."
For a moment, there's nothing but silence. But then Nixie grins when Jordan just starts laughing. Looking over at her again, he says, "I don't doubt you're incredibly stubborn. But for my sanity, please take off the soaking wet jacket you're wearing. It's not helping the case for you avoiding pneumonia." "Fine. Pull on this sleeve, will you?"
He grabs the sleeve she hands to him and holds it while she slides her arm out. Handing it back to her, touching her skin, he stares at her again before saying, "You're freezing." Nixie raises an eyebrow and says, "No. You just think I am. I'm always cold." "Nixie, you shouldn't be that cold all the time." "What can I say? I'm cold-blooded."
She pauses though when Jordan says, "You're, quite literally, the least cold-blooded person I've ever seen. So, that's not it." Turning back to him, Nixie finally grins a little and says gently, "Look, I appreciate the concern. But, and I promise you this is true… I feel fine. Honest."
He stares at her a moment more, his eyes roaming over her for a moment. Asking her to take off the jacket for her health was a wise decision. Asking her to take it off for his own health… bad decision. Her jacket wasn't the only thing soaked through. The shirt she was wearing beneath was soaked as well. And it clung to her, everywhere.
Her long hair was also soaked and hanging down around her face and shoulders, dripping water onto her skin and letting it run down into the clothing. Jordan has to jerk his head away from her to avoid finding himself in a rather embarrassing position.
He does glance back at her though, and he can't help but smile. She, quite obviously, didn't think she had that kind of effect. On anybody, let alone him. She wasn't looking at him like she wanted to catch him looking at her. She wasn't flaunting her rain-soaked body, or trying to cover it up for fear of how she looked. She really didn't think there was any need, either way, because why should he look at her.
Jordan knows the answer to that. Because she's beautiful. And he finds himself a little angry that no one had actually taken the time to make sure she knows that for herself.
It's while he's watching her again that he sees her shiver a little. Not like she was really cold… but more like a shiver had finally run up her spine. Nodding, Jordan then says, "Do me a favor. Don't get straight out of the car when we get to the school. Alright?" Nixie looks over at him and asks, "Why?" "Please?"
Smiling again, Nixie nods, and then settles back into the seat again.
After a little more silence, Jordan takes a breath and decides to ask if she knows anything about Sean Walcott. She obviously did, and she might not even tell him. But Jordan felt he would be remiss if he didn't try to ask. "So… you heard about Sean Walcott right? From the hospital?"
When he gets no response, he expects to look over and see her in extreme thought on how to avoid his question. But, he finds himself pleasantly surprised when he sees her asleep in the seat next to him.
His questions could wait. Let her rest while she could.
When he pulls in at the school, he leaves the car running as he hops out and runs around back to the trunk. Inside is a bag that he'd carried with him when he'd been at the police academy. In all honesty, he'd been meaning to take it out and get rid of some of the shirts, because none of them fit anymore.
But… well, they'd fit her.
Coming back to the car, he slides inside and shuts the door quietly behind him. Nixie stirs anyway, opening tired eyes to look out the windshield. When she wasn't waking up for one of her friends or to head off on some urgent chase, it always took Nixie a bit longer to make sure the sleepy look was gone from her eyes.
As Jordan looks at her now, he wonders how she's awake at all. Then she glances around before turning to Jordan. Blushing slightly, she says, "Sorry. Guess I fell asleep." Chuckling, Jordan says, "It's good to know I drive so well, you feel safe enough to fall asleep." Nixie offers a gentle laugh, and then says, "Thank you for the ride." "Hold on a minute."
Handing over the long-sleeved, dark gray t-shirt, he says, "You should put on something dry when you get in there." "Parrish… I'm fine." "Nixie, I would really hate for you to catch pneumonia." "I already told you. I'm stubborn."
He surprises her by leaning closer across the seat towards her. Putting the shirt gently in her hands, he says, "Humor me. Please?" She stares at him a moment more, and then ducks her eyes and bites her lower lip a bit.
Jordan definitely needs to ask her to stop doing that.
Looking back up at him, she holds up the shirt in one hand, and then says, "Thanks, Parrish. Really." Smiling over at her, he nods and says, "Anytime, Nixie."
There was that phrase again. 'Anytime, Nixie.' And she still believed him too. It was uncanny, how effective that little phrase was turning out to be, and how much it warmed her heart.
She changed into his shirt and her gym sweatpants in the locker room. The shirt itself is a bit too big for her… but it's comfy and warm. More importantly, it's not soaking wet. Then she pulls her hair into a ponytail, a few strands still falling out, and then hurries to change out her books and head to class.
Nixie was almost there, when some bulky new freshmen bumped into her and sent one of her books skidding off down the hall. Sighing in annoyance, seriously not in the mood for this today, she glares at the poor kid for a second before moving to try and retrieve her book.
Liam, however, gets there first. Picking it up, he hands it over a bit timidly as Nixie approaches him. But he relaxes when Nixie simply takes it back and asks, "What are you looking at me like that for? You'd think we were already worst enemies or something. I let you leave last night without argument. Take that to heart before you look at me like I just kicked your only puppy."
He smiles a bit, and then asks, "Um… it's Nixie? Right?" She nods and says, "And you are Liam. New freshman at Beacon Hills. And apparently one of the only gentlemen that exists within your grade. Bravo on that count, by the way." He smiles a little wider, but still blinks in surprise when Nixie comes up to him and glances down at his schedule. Nodding, she says, "Nice, well-rounded set of classes. You need any help?" "Well… actually…" "Where you going?"
He points out his history class on the list, so Nixie turns on her heel and says, "Right this way Dunbar. Keep up with me." Liam does keep up with her, with ease. As they're getting to the door, he asks, "Is um… is Parrish, like, your boyfriend?"
Nixie freezes about a foot away from the door. Turning slowly to Liam, she asks carefully, "How do you even know Parrish? And why would you think that? And what does it matter?" Liam blinks in surprise at the suddenly cautious and… maybe even hostile tone she's taken. Like he'd just threated her with bodily harm or something.
He shrugs after a moment, and then says, "I just… I mean, I don't know who he is. I just… thought I'd ask. Cause, you know…" Tilting her head, Nixie says, "I don't, actually. So why were you asking about Parrish?" And in spite of her still, slightly territorial tone, Liam raises an eyebrow and says, "You're wearing his shirt."
Blinking in confusion, Nixie asks in simple surprise, "How do you know that?" "It's got his name on it." She blinks again, and then rolls her eyes and asks, "Well, how was I supposed to know that? Geez." At Liam's puzzled look, Nixie explains, "Parrish is not my boyfriend. He's a cop at the sheriff's station. I was running to school in the rain this morning, and Stiles got his dad to send Parrish after me so I didn't catch pneumonia. That's why Parrish gave me the shirt too."
Giving Liam a look, she asks, "Satisfied, Mr. Curiosity?" He nods, and then just stands there staring at her for a bit. Raising an eyebrow, Nixie asks, "What?" He ponders about how to answer her for a moment, and then says, "I… don't like either of them. Your boys? I… I don't…" Nixie nods and says, "Yeah. I had a feeling the kidnapping part would put a bit of a hindrance on this new friendship for a while." Liam nods, and then says, "But you… you feel…"
Remembering what Scott had said recently… about how she smelled, and had always smelled, like safety, comfort, and home; Nixie nods and says, "Yeah. That's apparently never going to go away." Reaching out gently, she puts a hand on his shoulder, and watches as he relaxes even further at her touch.
It was really quite annoying, at least to Nixie. Because it made no sense, as far as she was concerned. She was touching his shoulder, and he felt better. It's not like she was giving him a present… or a kidney.
She'll admit though… it was a pleasant side effect. Scott and Stiles might have to go to extremes to talk to Liam at this point… but not Nixie. Squeezing his shoulder a bit, Nixie says, "Look… I know how you must feel about Scott right now. Even if he did save your life… the duck-tape thing and the tub… he should've known better. And I am appalled for the both of us, believe me, where his behavior and reactions on that point are concerned."
Coming closer, Nixie adds, "But… he is a good man. He panicked, and handled the situation badly last night. I give you that. But he's a good man. You don't know what he's done… all that he's worked to try and accomplish and overcome, just in the past two and a half years."
She releases him, nods towards his classroom, and then says, "Just… give him a chance. Maybe not right away. But… I know things must be getting a little weird for you. You're probably hearing things you aren't used to hearing, and seeing things and feeling things that don't feel or look normal." Liam's eyes widen upon hearing how she already knows that. Nodding, Nixie adds, "Talk to Scott eventually, Liam. It will only get easier if you let him help you."
After that, she takes off to her class with Lydia and Kira. Settling into a chair next to them at the table, she pauses upon hearing Kira ask, "These are your math notes?" Glancing down at the screen with them, watching as a rather cryptic page of dashes, figures, shapes, and lines scrolls through, Nixie makes a thoughtful noise in her throat and says, "No wonder Malia's failing."
Lydia gives her a look, but grins all the same. Nixie grins back and asks, "Any idea?" "No. And some of them are my notes. Mixed in here for now. But… I think the rest may actually be a code." Nodding, Nixie nudges her shoulder while saying, "And you said you didn't have any idea. Like that's ever actually happened."
Lydia grins again, and then they look to Kira when she asks, "But, you don't remember writing it?" Lydia shakes her head, "Not in the slightest." Then Nixie adds, "But… considering her drawing of a tree led us to the Nemeton… we should probably work on figuring out what this means. Preferably, before it tries to kill us all. Or before someone tries to use it to kill us. Neither option really suits me very well."
Lydia nods in agreement, and when Kira realizes that, sarcastic tone aside, they weren't joking, she leans down to look at it closer. Tilting her head, Kira offers up, "Maybe it's like the Enigma Code the Allies used." Nixie blinks and looks away from the screen to ask, "The what now?" Kira laughs at her, "Remember, my dad was a World War II buff? And mom was… well, she was in it, so…" Nixie nods, and then says, "Great. More history lessons. As if I'm not having a hard enough time passing the class I already have to take."
Looking up at Nixie with a frown, Lydia asks, "You're having trouble?" Smiling gently, Nixie answers, "No more than usual Lydia. I'm merely pointing out that, as this is my least favorite subject, I would appreciate it if our encounters with the supernatural didn't constantly lead us back into it." Lydia nods in understanding, and then looks at her code again. Tilting her own head, she says, "Actually… I think this might be a variation on something called the Vigenere Cipher."
Sighing, Nixie says, "Which sounds like something else from history. Do I need a lesson on that as well?" Lydia shakes her head and says, "I know how to crack it. With a key." Raising an eyebrow, Nixie asks, "Why do you have to say it like that?" "Like what?" "Like it's the easiest thing in the world."
Right then, before Lydia can comment, Natalie hands over the keys to the lake house. She states the rules again, and then reminds Lydia to lock up the basement since some animal keeps getting down there to scratch up everything. But as soon as she's gone, all three girls look at each other, knowing that it's not an animal. It's Malia, trying to stay locked up and safe on the full moons.
As class is about to begin, Lydia glances over at Nixie, and then reaches back for the jacket she'd hung from the back of her chair. Handing it over, Lydia says, "Thanks for letting me borrow it." "Yeah, no problem."
She wants to bug Nixie about all the patchwork that's been done to it, and what she knows that has to mean for Nixie and the injuries she must have by now. But before she can get on that, she pauses upon finally seeing the back of Nixie's shirt.
'Parrish'… in white letters was printed on the back, along with the Police Academy emblem. Nixie was wearing his shirt.
And Lydia already knows Nixie had been running in the rain. Stiles had told her about it earlier. But even so, Parrish had to have known that Nixie would have gym clothes she could change into when she got here. Parrish didn't have to give Nixie one of his own shirts.
Whether either of them knew it or not… this was turning into something between them. And Lydia, before all was said and done, was going to move mountains of her own if she had to, in order to see them together.
Given all that Nixie's done… all she's been through… and as many times as she's been hurting in secret? Lydia knows, without a doubt, that Nixie deserves at least that much from her.
"I'm not sharing my basement."
That's Malia's first reaction to realizing they're going to have to bring Liam to the lake house, since he was most definitely turning into a werewolf. Control, on Liam's part, was going to be minimal at best. And with Malia still needing help too… it wasn't going to be good.
While Lydia goes about explaining that it's actually 'her' basement, Scott looks over at Nixie and shakes his head. As soon as she'd arrived to help them plan for getting Liam to the house, he'd told her that he still wanted her to work at the diner today. By now, every one of them was aware that she'd run to school in the rain before getting picked up. Scott didn't want her doing that again. So she would be working tonight so she could fill her tank.
Besides… with the way things were looking lately, they were going to need her and her bike soon. Racing down the streets at speeds that would have most people shitting their pants to even think about.
Nixie wasn't exactly thrilled with it… but it wasn't like Scott was planning on taking on this 'Mute' without her. This was just Liam. They were going to try and help him through the full moon. And if all else failed, someone could call her to come and help.
She turns to look at Stiles when he says in Malia's defense, "Alright, she's still learning." Scott nods in understanding, "We're gonna use the boathouse for Liam." Kira asks, "Why?" He points to Nixie in response, "Nixie pointed out that the support beams in there are pretty sturdy and strong. We can chain him to one of them if we have to." And Nixie adds, "Which you probably will."
As all eyes fall on her, she says, "What? I'm just saying, people. He's a brand new, literally a day old, werewolf. Let's manage our expectations a little bit, shall we?" They all nod, and then Kira points out, "That still leaves us with figuring out how we even get him out there in the first place." Nixie points to Kira in approval of that point. Stiles pipes in, "I say if it keeps him from murdering someone, we just chloroform the little bastard and throw him in the lake." To which Malia instantly responds, "I'm in."
Scott smiles when Nixie, who had moved between the two, slaps them both in the back of the head. Stiles jerks and says, "Owe!" Malia simply rubs the back of her head slightly, not offended. It had been explained to her that, while Nixie's slaps would hurt a little, they were given out with love. An annoyed love… but love, nonetheless.
Nixie then wraps an arm over Malia's shoulders and says, "Remember. We don't take Stiles' threats of murder seriously. We take mine seriously." Malia nods, and then turns to Scott when he says to everyone, "And we're not killing or kidnapping him. Well… we're not kidnapping him again." Nixie gives him a thumb's up, making him smile again.
Lydia then suggests, "So, let's be smarter. We'll tell him there's a party and invite him." Stiles gives her a look, "You're going to ask out a freshman?" "No. I am done with teenage boys." Nixie nods approvingly, and then grins a little at Lydia. They'd already discussed this earlier in another of their classes. And there was really only one person in the group that could get this done without looking suspicious yet.
Looking to Kira, Nixie adds in, "But… since you guys are going to be playing a trick on someone… why not let our very own trickster handle it?" Kira looks around at everyone wide-eyed and says, "Me? No way! Not me!" Lydia nods, "Yes, you! Do you know what they call a female fox?" When Kira gives her a confused look, Nixie adds in, "A vixen." Lifting her eyebrows suggestively, Lydia finishes, "Be a vixen, Kira. You can do it."
As they all begin departing back to class, knowing what they have to do, Nixie pauses behind the bus as her phone rings. "Yeah, Derek? What's up?" "I would've told you last night… but I figured you had enough to deal with concerning Scott and whoever was on the roof with him. You ever figure that out?" "Yeah. Some kind named Liam. We have a new werewolf now, by the way. Fun stuff."
Derek chuckles, and then says, "Well… the Mute was here." A brief pause, before Nixie asks, "Are you alright?" "He didn't come for me. At least, not yet. He came for Peter. I walked in and he had a tomahawk sticking out of his chest." Nodding, Nixie says, "I'm glad you waited. Is he dead?" "No." "Pity."
Grinning, Derek says, "I'm about to burn the wolfsbane out of his wound. In any case, I'll be at the police station later tonight to show some of the Mute's stuff to Noah. Peter managed to grab some of it in the struggle. Will you be there?" "Yeah." "You sure? Scott told me you would be working tonight."
Nixie rolls her eyes and says, "Yeah, but not all night. Long enough to earn the money for a new tank of gas. Then I'll be out of there. When are you coming?" "Not sure. This could take a while." "Be sure to tell Peter I hope it hurts like hell." "Will do. I'll see you later Nixie." "Oh, obviously. Scott's already benched me from helping with Liam. I wouldn't miss this for the world."
The diner was crowded today, which meant that Nixie was able to work a lot of tables and earn a lot of tips, on top of what she made for working there at all. So after she finished up a four-hour shift, she filled her bike to the brim with gas, and then took off towards the station.
When she got there, Derek still wasn't in, and neither was Noah for that matter.
Nor was Jordan at the time, which Nixie frowned at, before then blushing a little because that part shouldn't matter so much to her. It really shouldn't.
Plopping down on the couch next to where his desk is, Nixie pulls out several history books and spreads them over the couch. Then she pulls out her laptop, and bunkers down there to start working on the history essay that's due at the end of the week. Might as well work on these things when there was time. Heaven only knew when the next crisis was going to hit in this town.
She was an hour into working on it, halfway through the paper, when one of her books fell down on to the floor… again. This had been a periodic thing for the past hour. She had too many books, to be honest. She only needed three sources for the essay, and one of those was the textbook. But Nixie had six, because all of them seemed to have information she wanted that the others didn't.
Not her fault someone wasn't already smart enough to put it all in one book. Seriously.
Sighing, Nixie is about to move her laptop over so she can get it again. And honestly, having to get the book off the floor wouldn't be so annoying, if not for two reasons. The first being that, she was covered in notes, her laptop, and other books. She had to move it all to get the one that fell, and then settle back in again.
The second reason… was because Haigh was in the office. And rather than help her each time he saw a book fall, he laughed from behind his desk. The rest of the office didn't help either, but Nixie didn't really mind them. They were surely busier than they appeared. But Haigh was openly laughing at her… and she was about to sucker-punch him. Well, after she uncovered herself from her work.
That's when the books appears beside her again. Looking up from her computer, she blinks in surprise when she finds Jordan there, bent down to her level at the moment. Smiling gently, he looks around her and then touches the book and asks, "Did it piss you off, or is it simply being unhelpful at the moment?"
Nixie laughs, making Jordan grin wider. Then she says, "Um… no. No, I need it. I just… keep dropping it on the floor. Well, not dropping. That implies I was holding it. So it apparently just keeps creeping towards the edge and falling off on its own." Jordan nods, "Right. Because it's obviously not your fault that it keeps falling down." "Well, obviously."
He chuckles, and then picks the book up again as he stands. Setting it on the edge of his desk, he moves a couple of stacks of folders out of the way. Then he pulls up a spare chair and says, "Here. This'll probably work better for you."
Nixie stares at him for a moment, but then says in a timid sounding voice, "I don't… want to get in the way. If…" Jordan turns to look at her again, only to find her biting her lip again. God, he really needed to tell her to quit. But that would probably get him in even more trouble. So instead, he simply says, "Nixie, if I thought you'd be in my way, I wouldn't have told you to sit here. Now come on. For the sake of history, sit here."
Smiling, and even laughing again, Nixie says, "If it's for the sake of history, maybe I'd better stay here. I'm not actually very fond of the subject." Jordan glances to all of her books, and then asks, "Really?" She nods, and then says in understanding, "Oh, don't let the books fool you. I actually despise this subject. But… I am a fan of good grades. Hence the mound of information that I currently possess."
Jordan chuckles again, and then gently takes the laptop from her lap. Sitting it on the desk, he says, "Come on. For the sake of a good grade then." "Ah. Well, you have me there."
They work in silence for a while after that, Jordan on case files and reports, and Nixie on her essay. Jordan is about halfway through his stack when he looks back over to see how Nixie's faring. Currently, she has her blue highlighter in hand, going over a particular section in the book that she'll need for the ending.
She sighs in annoyance though when it runs out of ink. And she doesn't have any more. She tries to force it to work, just long enough to get to the end.
She's still fighting with it when an orange one suddenly slips into her line of sight. Glancing to her right, she sees Jordan holding an orange highlighter out to her. Smiling gently, he says, "Looks like you could use it." Smiling, Nixie takes it and says, "Thanks." "Sure thing. Just hope the color change doesn't screw you up." "It won't."
After finishing with that section, she sticks the highlighter between her teeth without even batting an eye. And as Jordan looks over at her again… he can't help but grin at her. Whether she liked it or not, there were times when you looked at her and couldn't help but think that she was adorable. And right now was one of them. The girl had a pencil stuck behind one ear, a red pen stuck behind the other, and his highlighter in her mouth, and a look of deep, but also contented concentration in her eyes.
The fact that she was still wearing his shirt certainly didn't hurt matters either.
He watches her read through a few more lines of her paper, and then she finally pauses. Glancing downward, Nixie slowly takes the highlighter out from between her teeth.
When her eyes cut over to him, Jordan can't help but laugh as a quick blush rushes into her cheeks. Ducking her eyes, Nixie says, "Sorry. I… wasn't even thinking. I just…" Jordan puts a gentle hand on her back and says, "Nixie, it doesn't even bother me. If it did, I would've told you to give it back. Or, you know, maybe I would've just taken it back out of your mouth."
Nixie turns to look at him again, and then grins and says, "No you wouldn't." Chuckling again, Jordan says, "No, I wouldn't. However, the point is… it doesn't bother me. Besides, I wasn't even using that highlighter." Nodding, Nixie says, "Well, fair warning, it's probably going to happen again." "And if I suddenly change my mind, don't be surprised when I reach over and snatch it back."
He grins when she just laughs at him, and then they both set back to their work.
It's been another hour, and it's dark outside, when Jordan realizes that Nixie isn't leaving any time soon. And she also didn't have any dinner with her to give Noah. That was another sign he'd picked up on. A way for him to guess at when their gang had a serious issue to discuss at the station. When she or Stiles were simply there to be with Noah, they had dinner for him too. And since there was no dinner…
Jordan was about to ask what might be up… when Derek Hale walks into the door. And Jordan doesn't even want to start to get into why there had once been a kid who had prints that came up as Derek Hale. He's sure that, somehow, there's an explanation. He's also certain that nobody is going to tell him what that is.
Yet.
Noah walks in right behind him, and as Nixie looks up from her work, she saves her work on the computer one more time before closing down and packing up. Jordan sighs inwardly, wondering what sort of crisis they're working on in secret now. He had a great deal of patience, and he often prided himself on that aspect of his character. But it was taking all he had to not start demanding answers to his questions. Like, why high school students needed to be so involved with such dangerous cases? I mean, it's good that, in the end, the terror seems to stop and the bad guys seem to get caught. But still…
And… okay, yes. It concerns him a great deal that Nixie, in particular, seems to always end up involved in these messes. It concerns him a lot. Probably more than it should.
He pauses in his work though when his orange highlighter is gently set in front of him. Nixie smiles gently when he looks up at her. "Thanks again, Parrish. Really." Smiling, he nods, "Anytime, Nixie."
Her smile grew a little bit at his words, and as she turned to walk into the office with Derek and Noah, Jordan found himself grinning as well. If that simple response made her that happy… he'd make sure to say it as often as he could. Well, granted that she wasn't doing something that he completely disagreed with.
Inside the office, after Derek explains what happened this morning in more detail, Noah picks up the glove/keyboard that Derek had brought. Frowning in thought, he says, "I still don't get why this guy has no mouth. I mean… how can he eat?"
Nixie slaps a hand over her mouth to hide her laughter. Because yes, that was a brilliant question. But of all the things Noah could pick to worry about right now, at this very moment… he picks worrying about how the ax-murdering mute could possibly eat.
Derek gives Noah a look, and then turns to Nixie and asks, "Really?" She shrugs helplessly, so Derek turns back to Noah and answers, "Peter didn't get a chance to ask. He was a little busy,fighting him off… with a tomahawk buried in his chest." And at that, Nixie lets out a burst of laughter. Both men turn to look at her, and she shrugs helplessly again and says, "Hey, I'm sorry. But you both are fully aware that sarcasm is my favorite form of humor. The universe would literally cry if I didn't laugh right now."
Noah shakes his head and says, "Well, we can't have that." "Exactly!"
Nixie then turns slightly, just meaning to glance out the window of the office to see Parrish at his desk. Which, she realizes, shouldn't be a great concern of hers… but she wanted to see him again.
Except he wasn't there. And his coffee cup was gone too. He must've gone to get more.
And again… she realizes she probably shouldn't notice so much about the man. Geez, she really needed to figure this out.
As Derek and Noah turn back to the device, Noah finally huffs in aggravation and asks in amazement, "And who runs around with a tomahawk?!"
Meanwhile, Jordan had gone to get himself another cup of coffee. And while he'd been standing there… he found himself making a second cup without even realizing it. One with entirely too many ingredients and sugar to be for anyone who actually worked in this office.
He has no idea why it suddenly feels like second nature to get her coffee. He does know that she looks like she needs it. There are some dark circles forming under her eyes again. The girl really needed to start setting aside some time for sleep.
As he'd carried both cups back, he pauses at the sheriff's door, and hears the question about the tomahawk. And… okay, why the hell do they need to know about tomahawks?
But, he does know at least one answer to the question, so he steps in just a bit and says, "I carried one for IED removal in Afghanistan." All three heads in the room swivel to look at him. And then Noah can't help it. He laughs when Nixie says, "That's it. I'm either getting a bell for the door so we can hear it open. Or I'm putting a bell on every single deputy in here so I can hear them come in. Which would you prefer Noah? I will personally pay for the bells. I'm that dedicated."
Jordan raises an eyebrow and asks, "What if I don't want to wear a bell?" Nixie simply raises one back and retorts, "Who said you had any say in this?" Noah laughs a bit harder, and then says, "Don't worry Parrish. I'm not letting her 'bell' any deputies." She turns back to him and says, "Door then. Fine." "Nixie…" "You're giving me that look, like you want me to stop joking. I'm not joking. I'm dead serious. Bell. Need it. Like, yesterday."
Noah rolls his eyes with a grin, and then Nixie looks back at Jordan. Grinning slightly, she winks and Jordan grins in response. Then he gestures to the device in Noah's hands and says, "Anyways… tomahawks are standard for the IED removal teams. And so is that."
All heads swivel to him again, and then Derek asks, "Do you know what it's used for?" Stepping further into the room to get a look, he absentmindedly hands over the cup of coffee meant for Nixie, and then sets his down on the desk. Nixie stares in surprise at the cup she's suddenly holding. And when Derek looks over at her, raising an eyebrow in question, she shrugs in bewilderment.
But she can smell the heavenly scent that clearly tells her that it's meant for her. And as she takes a sip, she closes her eyes and soaks in the warmth and the flavor for a moment. Derek narrows his eyes at her, wondering what all of it was about.
But then they look to Jordan again when he says, "Well… this one looks like it's been modified."
When no one responds to that, Jordan looks up, only to see Noah and Derek both looking behind him. At Nixie.
She'd taken a second sip of coffee and was soaking it in, when she opens her eyes to find them looking at her. Blinking, she asks, "What?" Jordan glances at her too, but doesn't interrupt when Derek simply glances back at Jordan, nodding towards him, and then looks to Nixie again.
Nixie glances between Derek and Noah, and then slumps her shoulders and says, "Not the both of you too." Derek shrugs and says, "Stiles is right. Your ability to know who we can trust the most is… uncanny." "That does not make it guaranteed. Plus, there are plenty of people around that I don't like… but that doesn't mean we have to go hunt them down or put them on a watch list."
Taking a step towards her, Derek says, "You know who we can talk to. You always know. Just like, even when I was an ass, you knew I could be better. So, can he be better?" Rolling her eyes, Nixie says, "No. Jordan's already pretty great. Only thing he could do better would be to not argue with me as much. And he's only really done that, like, once." Jordan holds up a hand and says, "I'm still not sorry about that." "And I am still well aware."
Looking to Derek again, realizing he isn't going to flinch on what he wants to know, Nixie rolls her eyes again, but then says softly, "Yes. We can trust him." Derek nods after looking in her eyes for a moment, and then moves to shut the door to the office. Jordan then looks over at Noah, who simply says, "Show us."
It takes him about a half-hour to hack into the keyboard of the glove. Modified as it was, the protection on it was still minimal. In fact, the glove's protection might've been downgraded in the modification process.
And through the process, though Noah and Derek had stopped watching what he was doing long ago, Nixie remained behind him, watching him work on the laptop from over his shoulder.
She was smart. That was a given. But she was not a certifiable genius like Lydia. There was still a lot that Nixie was willing to admit she didn't know. And whatever Jordan was doing right now… this was certainly one of those things.
Derek was watching them both from the side of the room, though neither of them knew that. And what he found was, at least in his opinion, fascinating. Nixie leaned forward every so often, when Jordan was working on something new to get into the device. And every time she did, Jordan would feel her get closer, and then begin giving explanations about what he was doing.
The result was a smiling Nixie. But not in the normal way. Nixie could always be counted on for a smile and a hug. This was… well, it was different. It was like she felt flattered that Jordan was freely giving her the information she wanted. Even more than that… she looked almost giddy at the fact that she didn't have to ask him. He just started talking.
Derek was honestly about to walk up to her and comment, when Jordan finally says, "Okay, I think I got an IP address." Nixie is back over his shoulder, and Noah comes around to look while asking, "That means we can find him. Right?" Nodding, Jordan adds, "Definitely. Especially if…"
That's when the glove starts jerking. All eyes flit to it, and then Jordan finds himself struggling to hold back a grin when Nixie whispers, "Trippy." Noah gives her a look, to which she says, "What? If that shit isn't trippy, then I don't know what is. It's a handless glove, people. A handless glove that's moving. Work with me here. Please."
Jordan digs into the mainframe of the device some more, and then says, "I think I found a message. Anybody recognize the handle 'Benefactor'?" Nixie shakes her head, and then as a new message pops onto the screen, Derek leans in and reads, "Money transferred. What does that mean?"
Jordan feels Nixie lean back from him, so he turns thinking that maybe she remembered something about the name 'Benefactor. But when he turns to see her, she doesn't look like she remembers a name. She looks like she just realized something truly terrifying.
Noah looks back to her too and asks, "Nixie?" She wracks her brain slightly, trying to make sure she still thinks she's on the right track. Derek turns to her too and says, "Nix. What…" She cuts him off and says, "He came after the Walcott's. All of them. A family a cannibals."
Derek nods, and then she looks up at him and says, "He came after Peter. And… he's coming after you." It takes him another minute to catch on, and then he leans back in his realization. Nixie then adds, "And he's being paid. Which means he's not a hunter. He's not killing for himself. He has targets. He has a list to go after. So he's worse."
Noah then nods and says, "He's an assassin."
Complete silence follows that statement for a moment. Then Nixie grabs Jordan's chair and spins him back around. She's not harsh or anything. She doesn't shove him back to the desk. She simply isn't in the mood to waste time. Gesturing to the computer, she says, "Find him."
Jordan doesn't even look at Noah right now to see if that's what the sheriff wants. He knew the answer would still be yes. But even if it hadn't been, Jordan would've started working on it anyway.
Nixie's eyes were suddenly fierce and sharp. Not that they were ever unfocused… but he could actually feel the anger emanating from them right now. Anger at this person who was coming after Derek.
Sure, Jordan wasn't privy to the rest of what was going through Nixie's mind. That, if this assassin was after Derek, then maybe he was also after Scott and the rest of the pack. But she could fill him in on that later.
Nixie surprises herself with that thought. Jordan wouldn't be informed later. He didn't need to know. He shouldn't be someone that she wanted to keep up to date on all this.
But he was… and she did want to.
Five minutes later, Jordan says, "It says he was signed in on the school's wifi network." Noah nods and says, "That's where I'm headed then."
Nixie leans back, prepared to go with him, when Noah says, "Nixie, I do wish you'd stay here." "Noah, I…" But before she can argue, her phone rings. Glancing down at the ID, seeing Lydia's name, she pauses for a moment to think. She could definitely take the call while still going with Noah to the scene. But, if Lydia was calling, then it was likely that something at the lake house was wrong, which meant she was needed there as well. And much as she'd like to, she couldn't ask Noah to wait.
Derek finally comes up to her side and says, "I'll go with him. I'll keep an eye on him. Besides, the chances are that he's not even there anymore. I'll call you if anything happens." Looking up at him, Nixie says, "The minute something happens." "I will do my very best to make that happen, Nix. Promise."
Nodding, Nixie hugs him and feels him press a kiss to the top of her head. Then she turns to Noah and hugs him. Sighing, she says, "If he's there, shoot first and ask questions later." Noah hugs her in return, and then both of them head out the door. Though while Nixie is preparing to answer the phone, Noah looks back to Jordan at his desk.
His best deputy looks up at him, and then watches as Noah makes a pointed look at Nixie before looking back to Jordan. Which Jordan takes as a sign to keep an eye on Nixie while she's there, if he can. Nodding to confirm he understands, Jordan then watches Noah head out the door with Derek.
As Jordan goes back to work on the laptop, trying to see if he can find any more information, Nixie answers the phone and asks, "Yeah, Lydia? What's up?" The lengthy pause is not a good sign. Frowning, Nixie asks, "Lydia?" The quiet voice that answers freezes Nixie in place as Lydia says, "Hi… Nixie."
Glaring at the window in front of her, Nixie asks, "Who hurt you? And how painful do you want their death to be?" Another pause, and then Lydia asks in a slightly cheerier tone, "Aren't you are the police station? You sure that's the best place to be planning a murder?" Nixie shrugs and says, "I'm in Noah's office. Very secure. Parrish is the only one here."
Turning to him, she asks in a loud whisper, "You wanna help me get rid of a dead body later." And though Jordan is quite certain that, if it boiled down to it, Nixie actually would kill somebody for Lydia… he knows at this current point, she's only joking with him. So he gives her a thumb's up, to which Nixie smiles wide and says into the phone, "See? Parrish is on board."
Lydia laughs slightly, but the sound is still tainted by her own worry and weariness. Smiling gently, Nixie says, "Lydia, talk to me. Tell me what's wrong. I will fix it." "You don't even know what's wrong yet, Nix." "True. But, you know, I'm kind of awesome. Whatever it is, I'll fix it." She smiles when Lydia laughs again, and then says, "Talk to me."
Sighing, Lydia says, "It's… it's so stupid really. I mean… now that I think about it, I feel…" She takes a breath, and then admits, "There's wine on the carpet." Frowning, Nixie asks, "Why is there wine on the carpet?" "A freshman… well, I guess it was more my fault, actually. Anyways, I was getting him out of the room and dropped the wine glasses."
Frowning again, Nixie asks, "A freshman? Why is there a freshman at the lake house?" Then she pauses, and says, "You know what? Start over. At the beginning, please. And I will wait until you're done to ask questions."
So Lydia explains what's happened so far tonight, and when she's finished, Nixie pinches the bridge of her nose from where she's now sitting on the arm of the sofa in the office. Looking back up, giving Jordan a brief smile to try and ease the concerned look on his face, Nixie then says, "I'm fairly certain an actual party was not part of the plan. How much wine was spilt?"
Lydia looks down and says, "Um… maybe half a glass. I'm not…" "I'll get it out." Lydia blinks in surprise, and then asks, "How?" Shrugging, Nixie answers, "How hard could it possibly be to get it out?" "Nixie… its red wine on a white carpet." "Yeah, I got that. And again, I ask, how hard could it possibly be? It's not like it's impossible. It can be done, it's been done before."
Laughing a little, Lydia says, "It's alright, Nix. I have some spare money at home. I can pay for a cleaner. It'll probably be about five-hundred. It's…" Nixie stands up to start pacing a bit, more out of boredom now than anything else. But she does relax further and smile when Lydia laughs hard as Nixie asks, "Why would you pay a cleaner five-hundred dollars to clean it, when you have me and I'll do it for free? That makes absolutely no sense. It is also, by the way, an insult to my cleaning abilities. I might not be a Cinderella by any means, but I can clean a damn carpet. And why in the hell are you still laughing? I'm serious."
Jordan grins at the smile that's evident in Nixie's tone. She was working very hard to try and get Lydia to relax about this situation. That's what she always seemed to be doing. Helping her friends and making them feel better when it seemed that the world might be falling apart around them.
While she's been talking to Lydia, Jordan had long since given up finding any more useful information from the keyboard. He'd gotten everything useful he could out of it. And after that, he'd meant to close down the laptop again. He really had. Because, while the sheriff did have a laptop they could've used, it had been in his squad car at the time, and Nixie's had been closer. So she'd pulled hers back out and set it up for them to use.
And since she hadn't actually shut the computer down the first time, her history essay was still an open icon on the task bar. And Jordan found that he couldn't help himself. He opened it up to take a peek at it.
Which… well, it started as a peek. Nixie was nearly finished with her essay, which was already ten pages long. She was going to have no problem writing college essays. But… as Jordan had looked at the page she'd left off on, he found one paragraph that was made up, entirely, of a single sentence. Then he'd scrolled to the top and found several sentences that seemed to do the same.
And he couldn't help it. He started making notes in her document. He even wrote on a sticky note and stuck it to the laptop, which said, 'Too many commas'.
Jordan, amidst reviewing her work, had honestly missed when she hung up with Lydia. He missed when Nixie came to see what he was doing again. And he missed when she left the room for a moment.
He only realized she was paying him very close attention again, when she read his note aloud, "Too many commas?" Glancing back to see her over his shoulder again, he ducks his eyes for a moment, saying, "Uh… sorry, I… it was…" But Nixie simply sits a steaming cup of coffee next to his empty one, and then tilts her head while reading over some of the notes he's made. Frowning, she asks, "How can there be too many commas?"
Leaning back to stand up straight, she adds, "I mean, I guess there could be. But I'm fairly certain I'm using them correctly. It's not like every other word has a comma. It's just doing its job of breaking the sentence apart. That's what commas are for."
Jordan finally grins and says, "So does a period." Looking down at him, raising an eyebrow at his little quip, she grins back while asking, "Alright, genius. Enlighten me, with your 'oh so vast wisdom', on the use of commas."
He takes a sip from his coffee, which is black, just how he likes it. Then he says, "Well… commas are used after conjugations most of the time, so that's a good rule of thumb. Beyond that, you try to judge it by reading the sentence aloud. Or just in your head. A comma should probably go wherever you feel like you're supposed to stop and take a breath."
Pointing to her paper, to a paragraph that is made of one sentence, he says, "Also, this makes the paper look rushed. Like you're trying to cram as much information into the reader as fast as you possibly can." Nixie frowns a bit and says, "I am." Chuckling, Jordan says, "I understand that, mayber for you, getting all the information as fast as possible probably always seems best. But when you're writing a paper, you want to write it as though you know that the person who is going to read it, is going to take their time. They don't want to feel like you're trying to cram the information down their throat. They want to be informed, and to read it at their own pace."
For a moment, Nixie just stares down at him, a slightly conflicted look in her eyes. Then she leans in closer again, over his shoulder, and asks softly, "So… where are there too many commas?" The disappointed tone she uses makes Jordan chuckle again. He can't help it. Turning to see her, her face literally directly over his shoulder, he says, "You know, it's alright to not have everything perfect the first time. That's why they call them rough drafts."
Nixie smiles at him after a moment, and then blushes a little at the proximity of their faces. Ducking hers for a moment, she then looks back to the screen and asks, "So… where?" Jordan watches her a moment longer, and then clears his throat and turns back to her computer, pointing out to her again what he means and where she could best break up her paragraphs.
He's almost proofread her entire essay, when the radio clipped to his shoulder crackles to life. Noah's voice on the other end says, "Parrish? Come in, Parrish." Reaching up, he says, "This is Parrish. Go." "It's Stilinski. I need you to get down to the school. Quickly. And make sure you bring your bomb disposal gear." Nodding, Jordan says, "Ten-four."
Standing up to leave, he freezes when Nixie suddenly move in front of him. Grabbing the button his radio, still clipped to his shoulder, Nixie leans up to speak into it, "Noah?" After a moment, Noah asks, "Nixie? What radio are you on?" "I'm on Jordan's. Obviously. And don't even begin to argue with me. You're at the school, with a bomb… I'm coming. Now, where's Derek? Is he alright? Are you alright? What happened?"
Noah looks over to Derek, and then hands over his radio. Derek nods and says, "I'm fine Nixie. We… hit a snag. It's been taken care of. I'll explain everything when you get here." Over the radio, in the background, Nixie can hear Noah ask, "Why are you encouraging her?" To which Derek answers, "You say that like she won't just drive herself down here if Parrish leaves her behind. Only difference is, rather than an agreeable Nixie, we'll get a pissed off one. And I'd rather have the agreeable one."
Amidst their talking, Nixie was on her toes so she could speak clearly into the mike. And she probably would've at least slumped down, or maybe even tripped a bit and fallen… if not for Jordan.
It had been instinctual. That's what he going with anyways. He can't be certain he would do that for anyone that came this close and commandeered his radio to talk into. No one else had done it.
Which, in hindsight, he knows means that Nixie is the only one he'll end up holding like this. She was, in all likelihood, the only one he'd allow to get and remain this close. And when he'd seen her tilting slightly, as though about to lose balance, his hands had gone to her hips to keep her steady.
She hadn't noticed it at first. She was too focused on figuring out that both Derek and Noah were alright. But now that she knew that information… she darted her eyes over to Jordan, only to find him watching her. Blushing, she lets go of the radio and says, "Sorry. I was… I didn't…" Shrugging, squeezing gently to try and assure her that it's fine, Jordan says in understanding, "You were worried. It's alright. But… we probably should go. If there's a bomb in play, I need to handle that as soon as possible."
Nixie nods, and when Jordan actually helps her pack up her stuff, she asks, "You're helping me go with you?" He nods in answer, and then chuckles and says, "I might not agree with it entirely. But Derek Hale is correct. Leaving you behind certainly doesn't mean you won't just end up there anyway. Come on."
As they exit the office, Haigh looks up at them, and then smirks and says, "Nice shirt, Nixie." She turns to look at him in annoyed confusion… but then remembers that she's still wearing the shirt Jordan had given her. She'd very nearly forgotten that it actually belonged to him. Glancing back at him, standing behind her, she says, "Sorry. I, um…" Jordan gives her a look and says, "I gave you the shirt, Nixie. Why are you apologizing?"
Then to Haigh, he says, "When you find a girl in the rain, wet and freezing, you do what you can to warm her up and get her dry as quickly as possible. Pretty sure that's not even something you need to be taught. It's common sense."
Haigh frowns and glares at their backs, even as Jordan clearly doesn't care and guides Nixie out of the room. It annoyed Jordan as well, maybe even more than it did Nixie, that Haigh seemed to be trying to make her feel bad about being in his shirt.
His annoyance vanishes though, and he smiles when Nixie turns to him with a beaming look of satisfaction. Practically bouncing beside him, she says, "You are my favorite person today. Do you know how many times I've tried to piss him off that much? And I don't mean scare him. I'm good at scaring him. I mean, just piss him off so completely. That was beautiful. I wish I'd had a camera."
Chuckling, Jordan opens the door to his SUV so Nixie can get in, and then he takes off to get to the school as fast as he can. Because, happy as she was now, Jordan could tell that Nixie was still antsy about the idea of Noah and Derek being at the school… with a bomb.
Which… yeah. That would be enough to make anyone a little antsy.
Nixie had known there would be a limit to Jordan's willingness to bring her along. And the limit happened when they arrived and she wanted to head inside the school to check on Noah and Derek… even before he'd put on his bomb disposal gear.
In hindsight, Nixie thinks that maybe, if she'd waited for him to be ready, he might've let her follow in behind him. But she hadn't waited. She'd tried to go. And so now, here she was, sitting in the cop car, tapping her foot restlessly while waiting for any one of them to come out.
And heaven help them if the school blew up while they were still in it. Dead or not, she'd find a way to make them feel the harsh slap she'd give each of their heads. Jordan included.
Which… yeah, she should really figure out why he's already one of the people she considers okay to slap if they do something really stupid. She should figure out a lot about him. Maybe everything.
But again, that would have to happen when they had a moment's peace again. You know? When a mouthless assassin wasn't trying to kill them all, and 'benefactors' weren't hiring people to murder supernatural creatures in Beacon Hills.
It's been ten minutes when Derek exits the building. Sighing in relief, Nixie rolls down the window and asks, "What's going on?" Derek nods his head back towards the school and says, "The mute was here. The whole thing was a trap." "Did he hurt you guys? Where did he go?"
Derek grins down at the determined and vengeful look that enters Nixie's gaze. But he says, "As much as I would love to watch you kick his ass… he's already dead." "How?" "Peter showed up. Must've been tailing me since I came to fill in the sheriff on what had happened at the loft. And… well, you know Peter. Apparently he's a 'creature of habit'."
Rolling her eyes, Nixie says, "Whatever. I still don't like him. But, at least for now, I'm not going to go and try to kill him again. At least, not for that." Derek gives her a look, to which she says, "What?! I'm glad the mouthless bastard is dead! Sue me!"
Derek chuckles a bit, and then glances back at the school. The deep and confused look of concentration on his face has Nixie tugging gently on his arm. He turns back to her, and she asks, "What's wrong?" He smiles gently, "It's nothing you need to be concerned about. I…" "If it has anything to do with you, then it most certainly does. So spill it."
When Derek still seems to hesitate, Nixie says, "Please, Derek. What's wrong? Maybe I can help." Smiling again, he bends down to kiss the top of her head, and then sighs in aggravation before explaining. "It's just… there was blood on the floor when we got here. And I should've smelled it right when we walked into the building. And if the Mute really was following me today, I should've caught his scent as well. And I didn't."
Then he looks to her again and shows her the color of his eyes. Still a bright gold, not the shining blue that they were supposed to be. Frowning, Nixie asks, "Is this still because of what Kate did to you?" "I don't know. I've never heard of anything like this happening before. It's beyond me. All I know is, I was fine before she buried me in an Aztec church."
Nodding, Nixie sighs and says, "Yeah. I've heard that does tend to bum a person out." Derek, who had gone back to looking at the school, slowly turns to look at her again. Narrowing his eyes, though his grin takes any heat out of it, he asks, "Oh? And we have jokes now?" "Nope. But we do have sarcasm. There is never a shortage on sarcasm. I come fully stocked, twenty-four-seven."
Chuckling, he then tilts his head to listen to the school again. Nixie glances between him and the school, and then asks worriedly, "What? Is everything alright? Jordan's still fine, right?"
Derek nods, but then pauses and turns to her again. Smirking a little, he asks, "By the way, since when does the sheriff's deputy get you random cups of coffee? And apparently, make them the very same way Stiles makes them for you?"
Nixie can't prevent the blush that suddenly rushes to her cheeks. Turning away, she says, "Stiles taught him how. He… wanted to thank me for saving him and Noah when the Oni came that night. So, he knows how to make my coffee. It's not a big…" But Derek interjects, "And since when are you on a first name basis with the deputy?" Giving Derek a look, she says, "I called him Jordan this one time. Geez. It's not like…" "Nixie, don't even start with me. We all know that, at least where the adults are concerned, you don't call them by their first name unless you like them and trust them. A lot." "Well, I call Noah by his first name!" "Noah is like your dad. And Melissa is like your mom. Chris and I are friends. But Jordan…"
Giving Derek a slight glare, Nixie says, "You haven't answered my question. Is he alright?" "Parrish is fine. So is Noah. Now, back to what I was discussing." Derek's smirk just grows as the blush continues spreading across Nixie's cheeks. Finally, she huffs and steps out of the car. Moving to pace, she says, "Jordan is good and he can be trusted. I don't know what more you want me to say. Calling him by his last name… feels wrong."
Derek stops teasing at that. Tilting his head, he asks sincerely, "Wrong?" Nixie nods, and then sighs and says, "I don't know how to explain it Derek. He's Jordan. That's the best I've got right now. He's the best deputy at the station. He's a very good man that we can trust. And… I don't want to call him Parrish."
And as that thought solidifies in her head, she blushes again when Derek says, "Don't worry Nix. Your secret is safe with me." "I have no idea what you're talking about." "And I actually think that, at least for right now, maybe you really don't know what I'm talking about." When Nixie throws him a confused look, he smiles gently again. "You'll figure it out, Nixie. In fact, I'm certain Lydia will help you figure it out; sooner rather than later."
She doesn't question him about what he's talking about again. Nixie is just glad he drops it so she can stop blushing. And what is there to blush about? She's concerned with Jordan's safety. He was dismantling a bomb! It was an incredibly valid concern.
And as she keeps thinking about that, her pacing becomes more agitated. And though Derek tries to assure her verbally that everything is still fine, he doesn't dare try to get in the way of her pacing. He'd wager that she'd just walk right through him at this point.
As Noah and Jordan exit the building later, Noah sighs and says, "Uh oh." Jordan follows his gaze to where Nixie and Derek are beside his cruiser… Nixie pacing back and forth in front of Derek in a worried fashion. Shaking his head, Noah says, "Come on. We better go make sure she's not about to walk a trench into the parking lot."
Within the span of time that they've been inside disarming the bomb, two other officers have arrived, and are now able to head inside and gather up all of the bomb components in evidence bags and boxes. Noah sends them in, and then as he and Jordan get to the cruiser with Nixie and Derek, he asks, "How long she been pacing?"
Derek shrugs and says, "About five minutes after Parrish went inside is when she started. I wouldn't harp too much on her about it though. It was either that, or risk her tapping a hole straight through the floorboard of the car." Nixie looks up at all three of them and says, "Hello. I'm right here."
Grinning, Derek says, "Yes, we know. I told you they were fine." "Yeah, well, excuse me for wanting visual confirmation as well." Turning to Noah, she asks, "So… you alright?" He nods, and when she gives him a doubtful look, he nods to Derek and says, "He did as he promised he would. He looked out for me. I'm fine. I promise."
Nixie nods in approval after a moment, and then snaps her eyes to Jordan. He had been about to walk away, to the trunk so he could remove his gear. He already had the thick torso guard off, when he froze as Nixie asks, "And where are you going?" Turning to her, he says, "To get out of this getup." She raises an eyebrow, and then says, "There's a system here. Learn it. Derek's alright. I've confirmed Noah's alright. Now, are you alright?"
He stares at her for a moment, and then says, "I'm fine. But why so worried? I mean…" Nixie's eyes widen as she looks at him, and then she exclaims, "Why on earth would I not be worried?! You were in the school! Disarming a bomb! A highly lethal and explosive bomb! What part of that leaves any room for me to not be worried?! Someone tell me, please!"
Jordan raises an eyebrow at that, but Noah says gently, "Translated, she was very worried that something was going to go wrong, and we were all going to blow up and die. And if we had, she would've been very unhappy with all of us." Nixie nods and says, "See, Noah gets it. Come on Jordan. Get with the program."
He grins at her a bit, and then says, "Well, I'm fine." "Then what took so long?" He nods to that and says, "Yeah. The wiring was very intricate and it took a while to figure out which wire was going to be the right one to cut. But after that, it was pretty easy."
Nixie nods after a moment, and then sighs. Running a hand over her hair, she says, "Everyone needs to, seriously, stop worrying me so much. I'm too young to be having so many minor heart and anxiety attacks." Noah chuckles and then draws her in for a hug. Then he looks to Derek and asks, "Let me give you a ride home."
He nods his appreciation, and then walks up to Nixie as well. Kissing the top of her head, Derek says, "Be careful Nixie. I'll see you later." "You better." He chuckles, and then walks with Noah back to the cruiser they came in.
Nixie then moves to the back of Jordan's cruiser with him, watching as he removes all of the bomb disposal gear he'd put on earlier. As he's stowing it away, he glances down to see her tapping her heel on the ground in a gentle rhythm. All of this… whatever it was… it still had her deeply worried. Bomb threat gone or not.
Shutting his trunk gently, he leans back against it and asks, "You alright?" She glances over at him, her tapping ceasing in her surprise at the question. Then she says, "Of course. I'm great. You're the one that just diffused a bomb. We're not worried about me. We're worried about you. Very worried. Do you do that often? Is that regular? It shouldn't be. That's extremely dangerous. And I don't' care if you're certified as an IED. There are bomb squads here for a reason. You should've…"
She pauses when Jordan moves to stand in front of her. Putting a gentle hand on her shoulder, he says, "It is not a common occurrence. I went in to identify one bomb last year, and that wasn't even real. This one makes two, and the sheriff probably only asked me to do this because he knows it's late, which means it would've taken the bomb squad even longer to arrive."
Grinning slightly, he asks, "Satisfied?" Nixie stares at him a moment longer, and then grins herself. Laughing softly, she says, "Mostly. Pacified for the moment, in any case." "Good." Leaning back from her, he adds, "You know… you worry too much. I mean… you always seem to be worried. All the time, almost. It's not what I'd call, healthy."
Nixie doesn't argue with him on that, but shrugs and says, "Can't be helped. Everybody I care about always ends up in dangerous situations." Jordan tilts his head at that, a silent question obviously hanging in the air between them now. Why on earth did all her friends have to be at the center of the dangerous activities in this town?
Nixie doesn't elaborate on that point though… even if she is fully aware that's what Jordan would like to know. But it does fill her with relief and appreciation when Jordan doesn't press her for more information.
In truth, Jordan knows he's much closer to the heart of all this than he was even a few hours ago. In the span of this evening, he'd become an even greater confident of the sheriff. He'd managed to impress even Derek Hale, whom Nixie was so fond of.
And, though he suspects it had always been true, he'd gotten verbal confirmation that Nixie trusted him. In fact, her words inside the office had been that Jordan was already a pretty great individual. One in whom there wasn't a whole lot of room for improvement anymore. She trusted him to help them. And if Jordan were to wager a guess… she might trust him even more than she was letting everyone else around her believe.
But all of that could wait to be dug into another day. Because his last revelation of the night had happened only a few minutes ago. And that was from Nixie as well.
She'd said his name. His first name. Not Parrish, like she usually said. Not the beginning of his name, and then a backtracking so she called him by his last name instead. No… this time, she'd called him Jordan, without any hesitation. And it hadn't been lost on him. It had actually taken a great deal of willpower to not just stand there, gaping at her, with his mouth dropped open in surprise.
Bottom line… there would be no more pushing for today. He'd already gotten more in this one evening then he ever expected he'd get in a week's amount of time with her. And besides, if Nixie trusted him, he suspects that all he needs is to exercise a bit more patience, and eventually she'll let him in more.
So he doesn't press. He simply nods towards her side of the cruiser and says, "Come on. Let's get back so you can get home."
But as he starts to guide her there… Nixie can't stop herself. Sure… nothing had actually gone wrong while he'd been in there. But he'd been disarming a bomb, people. A bomb! And Nixie's mind had already run through about fifty different scenarios in which something could've gone wrong, and then Noah and Jordan could've died.
In that respect, it should probably be considered impressive that she managed to wait this long. But not anymore. Jordan had no sooner started pulling her around to her side, when she launched herself at him. Her arms wrapped around his waist in a tight hug, and her head fell naturally onto his chest.
Jordan froze in complete surprise for all of a second. But after that, he simply smiles down at her. Wrapping his arms around her in return, he then can't help chuckling when Nixie says, "Never nearly die again. And I don't know why you're laughing. I'm serious. Don't…" Jordan rubs a hand up her back and shushes her gently before saying, "I know you are. And to be frank, I wasn't aware I'd been close to dying this time. But, I will do my utmost to try and prevent it happening in the future. I make no promises, except that I'll try."
Sighing against him, Nixie nods and says, "I'll take it. Thank you, Jordan." "Anytime, Nixie."
She's just laid down on the floor, a bag under her head for a pillow, and a spare blanket she had draped over her to keep warm. Scott had already called to inform her that, while the night hadn't gone quite as planned, it had gone pretty well. Chris had shown up, explaining that he'd gotten her calls and Scott's texts, and then went out to help them.
Nixie sent Chris a 'thank you' text, and was about ready to fall asleep, when her phone rang again. Glancing at it, she answers, "Hey Lydia. What's up?" "Hi Nix. So, has Scott already talked to you?" "Yeah. By the way, was that Mason kid actually able to clean the carpet?" "No, he couldn't find any club soda anywhere. He was really sweet though." "Noted. Don't worry. I'll get around to it as soon as possible." "Thanks."
Then Lydia sighs and says, "So… I guess you know that Malia has control now?" "Yep." "Good. So, that leaves the fact that I managed to decipher a third of my freaky math notes." Sitting up off the floor, Nixie asks, "And what are they?" "Remember how I told you they were a cipher?" "Yeah. And you needed a key word to crack it." "Exactly. And… well, I found the word. Some voices from… um… inside the music room at the lake house told me."
And Lydia can't help but smile when, without even missing a beat, Nixie says, "Well, make sure you thank them for both of us. Now, what does this third of the notes show you?" "It shows me one third of what must be an entire list of names. I'm sending you a picture now."
Nixie holds the phone away from her face so she can see it. And this third of the list is as follows…
SEAN WALCOTT – 250
DAVID WALCOTT – 250
MICHAEL WALCOTT – 250
CHRISTINA WALCOTT – 250
LYDIA MARTIN – 15
SCOTT MCCALL – 25
DEMARCO MONTANA – 250
DEREK HALE – 5
CARRIE HUDSON – 500
KAYLEN BETTCHER – 250
KIRA YUKIMARA – 5
ELIAS TOWN – 250
Putting the phone back to her ear, Nixie sighs and says, "Please don't tell me that is what I think it is." Lydia replies worriedly, "I'm afraid so. It's a dead pool. A dead pool with all of the supernatural creatures in Beacon Hills. And… Nixie… we're all on it."
Silence reigns for a moment, and then Lydia can't help but agree when Nixie sighs, "Well, shit. Have you sent this to everyone else?" "Not yet. Kira was with me. She knows. You think I should give it to everyone?" "Give it to Stiles at least, for now. He can put it up on his board; maybe put something together or find a connection that we can't. We'll talk about it with everyone else tomorrow. Sound good?" "Yeah. See you then." "See ya."
Nixie lays back for a moment to contemplate what she just heard. Then she hops up and goes over to her school bag. Pulling out a thick black sharpie marker from one of the pockets, she then looks to the picture on her phone again, and then starts scrawling the names onto one of the tan walls in the room. She'd already dusted all of them off with a rag earlier, so it was easy now. And besides, she wouldn't really call this vandalism. Vandalism implied that someone would eventually come back and be offended by what you'd written. And no one was coming down here any time soon. That was for certain.
When she's finished, she also marks off the names that have already been taken care of. All of the Walcott's, and according to Scott, Demarco Montana had also been found dead tonight. So… yeah. Just because the mute was gone, didn't mean their troubles were over. There was more than one assassin in this town.
Nixie hopes that they're, at the very least, smart enough to leave her people alone. Because heaven help the pitiful idiot that tried to kill a member of her pack.
Hell would freeze over first. And a deep chill sweeps through the room as Nixie ponders what she'll do to the person that comes even close to killing her friends.
Chapter 4! This ended up being a lot longer then I'd imagined it would. Hope you still enjoyed it thoroughly. :)