When Peter woke up the next morning, the other bed was empty.
"Braeden?" He asked but the bathroom door was open, she wasn't in there either. Peter came up to a sitting position and rubbed his face to get more alert.
Braeden didn't have much to begin with so it was hard to tell if she'd packed up and left for good. Peter wouldn't blame her, he might have done the same. Especially with the blackmailing going on. Peter had told her that it was nothing to worry about but he had to admit that it was hard to believe.
Peter rolled out of bed and went to the bathroom to freshen up. He would figure out what to make out of the situation once he was dressed.
He was in the middle of shaving when the front door opened.
"It's me," Braeden announced.
"Where have you been?" Peter asked but continued shaving. He heard the door falling shut and the telltale jiggling of the key.
"I needed to move," she said over the rustling of paper bags. The smell of coffee filled the air. "Got us breakfast."
Peter finished up in the bathroom and then he joined her at the small table.
"How are you?" He took a moment to have a look at her but she looked fine. Maybe moving around a bit stiffly, though.
"Better." She nudged a paper bag in his direction. "I would feel even better with Deucalion off my back."
"Same here." He peeked into the bag. Waffles and a muffin. Usually, he was more of a savory breakfast kind of guy but waffles would do as well. They were drenched with syrup and topped with whipped cream, the few berries on the side didn't make it any healthier but Peter picked up the fork nevertheless.
Braeden ate with gusto which was the important part. She hadn't eaten much the last few days, she needed a few calories.
"Did you call Coach yet?" Braeden asked and licked whipped cream off her thumb.
"I just woke up, give me a minute."
His call with Coach turned out to be very interesting. First Peter asked about Ennis and Deucalion. Ennis had not been the most popular, quite some people were happy that he was gone, and he hadn't been more at the bottom of the hierarchy. He'd been the one for the heavy lifting, to drive a truck from A to B, or to guard something that didn't need guarding. The highlight of his career had been when he'd been sent out to collect some small debts. He'd been allowed to beat up a few people then.
Nobody missed him and nobody understood why Deucalion was out for blood. Even without knowing the full story, most agreed that Ennis had it coming.
"I think it's more about you than Ennis," Coach admitted. "Deucalion wants to put you in your place right from the beginning so you don't get any ideas."
"Maybe," Peter agreed. It made sense. "By the way, did that tripod guy show up again?"
It was probably nothing but Peter wanted to cover all the bases.
At that question, Coach let out a laugh.
"He's working for me now."
"Come again?"
So Coach told him how Isaac, of course it was him who else would it be, had caught some shoplifters, and in return Coach had offered him a job. He was supposed to be working in the afternoon.
"What was that about?" Braeden asked when Peter ended the call.
"Looks like my stalker is now working in Coach's pawn shop." Peter put the phone on the table. "He's working to pay for a camera. He wants to take pictures of higher quality." His gaze flickered over to where the envelope was sitting innocently on his nightstand. If Braeden hadn't been in the room with him last night, he might have jerked off to those. He should take them with him to his date with Stiles, though.
"You think he took the pictures?" Braeden followed his gaze.
"Most likely." Peter reached for his coffee, thinking. "You're keeping an eye on the warehouse?"
"Just talked to my guy while I was out for breakfast," Braeden said. "The cops took everything but I kept it clean, they can't tie it to you or me. They have connected Ennis to New York but I'm not sure if he was important enough to get linked back to Deucalion."
"Do they have any suspects?" Peter asked. He had been focused on what was going on here in New York but Braeden had been on her phone all day yesterday, he trusted her to stay up to date with what was going on out there.
"Not me if that's what you're asking." She gave him a forced smile over the rim of her cup. "I don't think they're looking too hard, though. I should go back and see for myself. Tie up some loose ends. Besides, that was not the only location I have to keep an eye on."
"That's dangerous."
"It's more dangerous for me to stay in New York," she pointed out. "I won't stay for long. Just to see what there is to see and then I might head out north, we're expecting a big delivery there next week."
She was right. She would be safer if she left New York. Besides, the world didn't stop spinning just because Peter had a few problems. He had a business to run.
They agreed that she would stay for the day to rest up, making the most out of the ultimatum Deucalion had given them, and that she would leave in the morning.
She already looked ready for a nap when Peter left for his lunch with Derek. He promised to bring her something before he went over to confront Isaac at the pawn shop.
"I can come with you," she offered but Peter declined.
"I can handle one teenager," he assured her and left before she could give him her opinion on that one.
When Peter entered the coffee shop, he found Derek already waiting in the same booth as before. On his way over to him Peter scanned the crowd but he didn't spot any familiar faces.
"I hope I'm not late." Peter slid into the seat across from Derek.
"I arrived here just a minute ago." Derek shook his head. "Had to stay a bit longer because of a student. He failed an assignment and we had to talk about how that affects his grade. He's not very cooperative." Derek let out a tired sigh. Peter understood that he didn't want to fail his students but they had to show at least that they were willing to do their work.
"That wasn't Isaac, was it?" Peter only half-joked. By now he expected Isaac to come up everywhere.
Derek chuckled at that.
"He said that you think he's stalking you."
"When did he say that?" Peter asked carefully. What else had Isaac told him? Had he told Derek about the vet clinic?
"Yesterday. He's scared of you." Derek gave him a look as if that was a ridiculous idea. "When I told him that you'd be here today he promised to have lunch on the other side of the planet."
"You would have loved to let me run into him here," Peter realized. When they had been younger, before the fire, they used to be close, now he knew why again. Derek could be a bit of a bastard.
Derek didn't dignify that with an answer, he just gave him an amused look over the rim of his glasses.
When the waitress came over to take their order, Peter ordered something to go for Braeden as well.
"That friend of mine," Peter explained when Derek raised a questioning eyebrow at him. "She's recovering from that accident in a motel. I promised to feed her."
"Sounds like more than a friend," Derek said carefully. "Is she your girlfriend?"
"Are you worried that I'm cheating on Stiles?" Which did remind him that he'd wanted to talk to Stiles about that. Were they exclusive or not?
"That's something you have to discuss with Stiles." Derek raised his hands to emphasize that he didn't want to go there. "But if you have a girlfriend you could bring her some time."
"She's not my girlfriend," Peter clarified. "She works for me and she's a good friend, but no, we're not together."
The waitress brought their food, interrupting their conversation for which Peter was glad, he didn't want Derek to wonder too much about Braeden.
"How illegal is it what you do?" Derek asked casually while he bit into his sandwich.
Peter choked on his bite.
"Do you want to brief me on what to say in case the police come knocking?" Derek continued, unimpressed by Peter's coughing.
Peter had to wash down the bite with some coffee before he was able to speak again.
"What makes you think that?" He finally managed to ask for which he got a look that clearly said please.
"You do know that I'm a professor, right?" Derek's eyebrows rose over the rim of his glasses. "It's part of my job to know how to research stuff."
"You researched me?"
"I didn't ask Stiles for help but what I found on my own was enough to read between the lines." Derek shrugged and took another bite of his sandwich.
"What's up with Stiles anyway?" Peter wondered but this was his opening so he continued: "But speaking of it, somebody is trying to blackmail me."
"That somebody isn't Isaac, is it?" Derek seemed worried about his student so Peter did not tell him that he intended to have a little chat with him later today.
"No." Peter shook his head. "It's somebody I tried to do business with, things went sideways, and now he wants something from me I'm not inclined to give him."
"What does he have on you?" Derek asked, interested but not particularly worried. In Derek's case, it would be the fire and his involvement with Kate. Or maybe his relationship with Stiles, as he'd pointed out before being gay could very well cost him his job even today.
"Stiles," Peter answered. "Somebody took pictures of him and me." He didn't need to elaborate on what kind of pictures he was walking about. "He threatened to give them to you if he doesn't get what he wants."
"I'm going to let Stiles open the mail for a while," Derek said dryly. After a moment he added: "How did he get pictures like that?"
"Hell if I know." Pete shook his head. "But I'm going to make sure to close the curtains on Saturday."
"You better."
"If Stiles still wants to see me, that is." Stiles might want to end their arrangement with this.
"He's going to get a kick out of it." Derek sounded sure of it. "It's going to turn him on."
"Now I can't wait for Saturday." Peter couldn't help a smile. He absolutely had to bring the pictures now.
"He's going to have questions, though," Derek just had to dampen the mood.
"I know." Peter didn't add that he had some for Stiles as well. "What about you? Don't you have questions?"
"Can you promise me that Stiles is safe with you?" Derek became serious.
"I never wanted to drag you into this. You or Stiles," Peter said quietly. "That's the reason I didn't come to your wedding, too dangerous."
"And now it's not too dangerous?"
"I don't know." Peter had talked to Satomi earlier. She hadn't promised anything but she was willing to see what she could do. According to Coach, Deucalion didn't have the support he needed to go on a vendetta. Even Kali was inclined to let it go.
"Maybe I should leave New York, at least for a while," Peter said and put his half-eaten sandwich down. Braeden did have a point there.
"But you don't want to." Derek finished the sentence for him.
"I will leave if me staying puts you and Stiles in danger," Peter said and he meant it. "But at the moment it looks as if I can still smooth things out."
"Just don't disappear for another decade."
They managed to get back to lighter topics and Peter left with the promise to be there for their Sunday dinner.