Chapter 10: Can't feel you.

"Wake up, sweetie."

It feels like an umpteenth number of needles pierce through his skin, dragging him out of his unconscious state to a world of endless agony. Opening his eyes reveals to be a gigantesque effort and even when he does, it takes him a couple minutes to focus past his numb mind and the glaring lamp directed at him to take a good look at his surroundings. His sore muscles and the pressure on his skin tell him he's tied up, the cold against his back tells him he's tied up to a fence, and he can see wires attached to his bare skin. Rage swirls inside him as he gazes upon the person standing in front of him, the cocky smirk he's come to hate unnerving him that much more.

"What are you going to do to him, is that going to kill him?" a familiar voice catches Derek's attention, and he recognizes Scott's girlfriend when he looks up.

"Oh come on, kiddo, don't get all ethical on me now," Kate Argent says to her niece, who is standing right next to her, looking all innocent. Derek hates this, being showcased like a freak for Kate to entertain Allison. He pulls at the restraints but with no results, the chains burning his wrists. "Looks like someone's grumpy," Kate Argent adds, pursing her lips into a pout.

It hits him all of a sudden. Danny. Danny was with him. He felt Danny's pain and he's almost positive that Argent bitch shot Danny too, even when his mind was clouded by the throbbing he was suffering through. Derek looks around frantically, looking for any signs of the boy and his heart speeds up when he finds that Danny's nowhere to be seen. Looking past Argent's shoulder, he can see a steel gate in front of him, effectively keeping Derek from hearing Danny's heartbeat or even detect his scent.

"Looking for someone?" She cocks an eyebrow at him, that smile still present on her face. She can probably see the fear marring his features; it's not like he's hiding it very well, he has no control over his growing fear for Danny's safety.

"No," Derek growls at her and it's not hard for him to sound angry. Because he is. He can't even stand the sight of that woman who keeps ruining his life. She betrayed him—no, betrayal isn't even strong enough to describe the level of horror her acts embody—and destroyed his life, his family. And now she's back to do some more damage, going so far as to hurt a minor. Come to think of it, she did murder children that were much, much younger than Danny in the past.

"Are you sure?" She turns on a switch and he can slowly feel shocks of electricity ripple through his skin, burning every single nerve on its way and inflicting him even more pain than he is already in. When the shocks finally stop, Derek's left panting and his muscles are still pulsing wildly under his skin. "What about that cute werewolf friend of yours?"

Derek chooses to ignore her, his heart jumping at the mention of Danny. He hopes she hasn't got Danny too, the poor kid's suffered enough as it is because of Derek. He's got too much guilt in him already, he doesn't need to add Danny to his list of victims.

"What is he?" Derek can hear Allison ask, her voice loud in his head. The electrical current has messed up his senses; everything is too loud, too cold, and too bright; he has to close his eyes to avoid even the faintest light in the dim room.

"Shape-shifter, lycan. Werewolf," Kate chuckles. "To me he's just another dumb animal."

Another shock hits him again and he can feel himself shift back and forth between his human wolf forms, unable to sustain the burn going through him. He feels dizzy and completely drained out of every ounce of energy he had left in him. He's completely powerless and can't even muster up enough force to resist Kate when she grabs his face.

"Come here," Kate's voice resonates in his head as he lets her open his mouth. "See these, right here? These are canines, also known as fangs. Made for the tearing and rending of flesh. Not something you'd find on those cute little leaf-eating herbivores, is it?"

"This is a joke to you?" Allison sounds baffled, and Derek almost wants to snorts at her naïve question. Kate Argent is a monster in her own way, and Derek is positive she takes pleasure in doing this. Hunting werewolves.

"Sweetheart, there are werewolves running around in the world," Kate lets go of his mouth, finally, and Derek wishes he could rinse his mouth profusely with some much needed whiskey. "Everything's a joke to me, how else do you think I stay sane?"

Except Kate Argent is anything but sane, Derek wants to say.

"So…it was him at the high school and all the animal attacks?"

"There's actually three of them…wait, four, if you count that other kid we've got, right, Derek?" She turns to look at him with a cocky grin, causing him to pull at the chains like a mad man. He's furious now that he knows for sure she's got Danny too, probably locked up in another room. He watches her turn her back on him, leading her niece towards the door. "There's another younger one like him, called a beta, and then there's the alpha. Alpha's the pack leader…bigger, stronger, nastier. Those…are the real ugly monsters."

"I'm not here to play, Derek," Kate warns him when she returns, her gaze cold and serious—the likes of which all killers possess. In an instant they're filled with mirth again and it really puzzles him how she can switch back and forth between those two personas. She's a real sociopath, is what she is. He assumes she got Allison home first before coming back, if the leather coat she's wearing now is any indication. "Well, at least, not for now."

"Spare me and kill me now," Derek grunts as she approaches. He's been awake for what feels like hours now and he feels like crawling out of his own skin. He's shirtless and standing against cold metal behind his back. It's the most uncomfortable position ever, this condition is torture in itself.

"I'd love to, but I need something from you first," she walks closer and Derek cringes as her scent invades his senses. It's been years and she hasn't changed at all, from her perfume to the craziness in her eyes. Derek never stops wondering how he could actually fall for her act. He blames it on his younger and more naïve self but really, there is no excuses in the world that could justify what he did—albeit, not willingly, but still, it's led to what happened six years ago. "I need you to tell me where the alpha is—"

"I don't know."

"Come on, Derek, he killed your sister," Kate says while rummaging through his things unashamedly. "Now, either you're not telling me because…well, you want to kill him yourself, or for some reason…you're protecting him."

Derek doesn't bother participating in the conversation, he's just so exhausted. His body has been healing practically nonstop for the past 24 hours and he can't remember the last time he ate anything. His body is bereft of any energy, add to that all the physical and emotional stress he's been going through, and he's just barely a living corpse. He hears Kate giggle and the sound irritates him, the sound getting closer until he feels her hand grab his chin.

"Look at that sour face," she says, sounding amused while holding his driver's license next to his face. "I bet you always used to get people coming up to you saying, 'Smile Derek, why don't you smile more?' Don't you just want to…kick those people in the face?"

"I can think of one," oh how Derek wishes he could bash her face in the wall. Or on that table where she keeps that damn power generator.

"Promise? 'Cause if I thought you'd be that much fun…I'd let you go."

She heaves a long tired sigh and picks up his phone. "All right, let's see. Nothing, nothing, nothing. God I hate this detective crap."

"Are you going to torture me, or just going to talk me to death, huh?" Derek mutters, having now reached his limit. He just can't stand the sound of her voice anymore; he wants to rip her vocal cords out.

"Oh sweetie, I don't…I don't want to torture you," she says, pacing the room. "I just want to catch up. Remember all the fun we had together?"

"Like the time you burned my family alive?"

"No, I was thinking more about the hot, crazy sex we had," she comes up to him, causing him to arch his back against the cold metal behind him. There's no word to describe how he feels about the hunter in front of him. Hate has stopped being strong enough a long time ago. "But the fire thing, yeah, that was fun too."

Her last words set him off and his body just lunges forward on its own but the chains keep him just a few inches from her God damn smiling face, causing her to chuckle.

"I love how much you hate me. Remember how this felt?" she crouches down and licks up his abs and it feels like acid on his skin. He growls at her with all the might he can muster up, even more unnerved all he gets is a chuckle from her. Thankfully she walks back to the table and sits down on a rotten-looking chair, tapping her fingers annoyingly on the wood.

"Unfortunately, Derek, if you're not going to talk…I'm just going to have to kill you," she tells him, already putting her fingers on the power switch. "So…say hi to your sister for me."

Derek could care less about her death threats. Truth be told, now that his sister's gone, he doesn't really have a reason to live on. Except Danny. But he's just being unrealistic about that. He's not going to get his happy ending, not ever. So he might as well leave this crappy world and end this torture.

"You did tell her about me, didn't you?" Kate interrupts his thoughts. "The truth about the fire?"

His hearts speeds up as she reminds him once again of what he did. God, just kill him, now.

"Or did you?" Kate lets out a fake gasp and comes up to face him once again but he just can't look at her right now as guilt and shame seize him up. "Did you tell anybody? Oh, sweetie, that's just a lot of guilt to keep buried. And it's not all your fault.

"It happens! Handsome young werewolf mistakenly falls in love with a super-hot girl who comes from a family that kills werewolves. Is that ironic? Is it…ironic…that you're inadvertently helping me track down the rest of the pack…again?"

She lets out a chuckle as Derek lets the words sink in, lets them get to him right where he's the most vulnerable. It's hard enough having to live himself, he doesn't need her to tell the great tragedy that is his life—especially considering she's the one who is responsible for decimating his family.

"We're just a little bit of history repeating," she says and walks back to the power generator, her finger tapping on it. "History repeating…It's not Jackson, is it? See, I thought it was him, but no, no, no, no, he's got a little scratch on the back of his neck but…he's not in love with Allison. Not like Scott."

Damn it. Derek blames his vulnerable state for not being able to conceal any feelings on his face. If she gets to Scott, Peter will be left facing the hunters alone, and no matter how strong he is, he won't fare well against all of them.

"Oh, sweetie, I really don't want to torture you," she repeats herself, and the door slides open, revealing a bald man entering the room. "But he does."

When Kate comes back, Derek is so badly beaten up that he can hardly make out the words she's saying to him.

"Now that we've established Scott is the second beta, I still need to know where I can find—"

"I don't know," Derek says automatically, too sore and tired to speak, let alone think of an answer. He earns a slap for cutting her off, the blow weak compared to what she's already put him through.

"Have you got no manners anymore?" She says with a cold tone, settling the chair in front of him and sitting down. "As I was saying, before you interrupted me, I need you to tell me where I can find the alpha, I'm afraid Scott McCall won't be enough to find him."

"I don't—"

"Oh and I almost forgot, you still haven't told me…who is that other werewolf?" She cuts him off with as much arrogance as he expects her to show, and cold shivers run underneath his skin when she brings up Danny again.

"I don't know whom you're talking about," Derek spits, flickering his gaze away from her but she stands up and catches his jaw brusquely to force her eyes on his.

"Come on, Derek, don't play dumb," Kate returns. "You know whom I'm talking about. That hottie I caught you making out with right before I shot you both? Who is he, exactly?"

Rage surges through Derek when Kate confirms her shooting Danny. She just signed up for her death penalty. On the other hand, he also starts panicking now that he knows she saw them. It's not surprising though, she did shoot him right after he and Danny kissed, she couldn't have missed that.

"He's just some clingy teenager who thinks I'm in love with him," Derek says wryly. Denying would just raise her suspicions even more so he decides to go for sarcasm. The thing is, Derek could not qualify just what Danny and he are exactly other than mates and even that doesn't cover it. Danny's been sending mixed signals, what with his kissing Jackson and all. But Derek would rather focus on the other part, where Danny defended him against his own father, the sheer possessiveness he felt coming from the boy moments before he got shot. He doesn't even know how Danny's doing, has no idea what they could've possibly done to him. But he can't show how much he cares about him, for fear of letting them use that knowledge to get to him. And he can't have that, he can't have Danny getting tortured and hurt even more than he's already been because of him.

"Well, are you?" She gives him a scrutinizing look.

"I know better than that, thanks to you," Derek replies drily. "What do you think? I just used him for sex, he got attached."

"Right," she drawls and Derek can't tell if she got the lies he fed her with. She spins on her heels and walks over to the steel door, sliding it open before going back to the power panel and turning the power switch on again. This time, other than his own screams, he can now distinctively hear someone else's voice coming through and it just seizes his heart, making it skip several beats.

"See, I noticed something while my dear colleague was having fun with you," Kate says, pacing in front of him. "I heard that poor kid screaming like he was skinned alive when no one was even touching him. And he just kept shouting your name, so I figured you two are more than what you pretend to be."

Derek remains silent, his chest constricted by fear as he watches Kate keep on with her rant.

"And I also noticed how fast you healed, both of you, that's not standard healing, even for you," she stops pacing, standing inches from his face, same grin as ever. "You two are mates, aren't you?"

Derek comes to with a start, gasping for air to breathe. He's alone in the room, it looks like they finally left him alone when he passed out. He feels suddenly cold and he doesn't know where the hunters have gone, can't remember falling asleep to begin with. But then it strikes him as clear as day, he realizes why he's been pulled from his unconscious state. He can't feel Danny anymore. He's never even realized until now that, to some degree, Derek could feel the teenager's presence. It's hard to explain, but now that it's gone, it's conspicuously missing. It's almost like Derek could feel him intrinsically, the same way he's aware of his very own existence. This new void in him is excruciating, even more so than the wounds he's suffering or the uncomfortable position he's in. A thought occurs to him and he tries to ignore it, but it keeps nagging at him, supplying an answer for this sudden inability to feel his mate. But he can't, he can't imagine that…that Danny could be dead. He can't compute that. He would kill himself. If the Argents don't do it, he'll do it first thing when—if—he breaks free from them. The steel door suddenly slides open and he can see Kate come in, looking quite flustered and mad.

"I've officially lost my patience, Derek, tell me who the alpha is," she threatens him, gun pointed at him. "Is it her? That woman?"

"What woman?" Derek mumbles, truly confused now, unable to think properly past the hollowness he feels in his chest. It's terrifying how empty he feels, how incomplete his life seems now, meaningless even.

"Don't be cute, now," Kate retorts harshly. "She came for your little jailbait and now he's gone, with one of my men nearly killed in the process. So…tell me, now, is that her? Is she the alpha? Who is she? Where can I find her?"

"I honestly don't. know," Derek shoots back, unfazed by Kate shouting at him, too caught up in his own misery to care much about Kate. He breathes out in relief, glad to know Danny escaped, safe and sound, he assumes. He doesn't know what woman Kate is talking about, but if said woman risked her life and hurt the hunters to get Danny free, he can only assume she only has Danny's best interests at heart. That alone is enough information for Derek, he doesn't need to know more about whom she is, how she found them, how she managed to even overpower the hunters. If anything, he feels like he can die in peace now, the prospect of death seeming so sweet to him.

"You're utterly useless," Kate mutters under her breath. "You leave me no choice, Derek."

tbc...

This chapter incorporates a lot from the show, with my own twist. I know, I decided to keep the past Derek/Kate, even if I hate it, it does make sense. Although I find it weird Derek didn't try to kill Kate, especially considering he KNEW it was her doing. I mean, wtf, Derek? *sigh*

I hope you enjoyed this, thank you for reading! :) Let me know what you think.