Author's Note:

I took a little bit to update this chapter. I was going to try and write it on friday, but couldn't find the spark. Then the weekend was hectic with me turning 18 and having an awesome birthday bash! Lots of dancing and drinking, but mostly dancing. So now I'm updating because after party clean-up duty, I found time to write. Getting down the interactions with Sam, Avery and Derek has been a lot harder than I expected. I'm really challenged to write Derek as close to his on-screen character as possible. I don't want to write him sounding like an entirely different character. The following chapters are set to lead into the episode "Raving" just so you're all aware of where we are on the Teen Wolf timeline.

Enjoy and thanks again for the reviews! :)

Chapter Fourteen: On Her Behalf.

Sam was following Derek towards the entrance of the train depot.

"Derek. Stop." Sam called. Derek had hold of the door handle, but froze in place. He swiveled on his heel and faced Sam.

"She's just like that, she doesn't mean to insult anyone." Sam tried to defend his sister. Derek dropped his gaze, wetting his lips before talking.

"She sounded pretty bent on getting a reaction."

"But she's always been like that. She means well." Sam was extremely sorry.

"I know." Derek replied, but he was still angry underneath. He hated the fact that she, of all people, was showing him up. He hated being beaten by anyone. It was a feeling of weakness that sent every fibre of his being into overdrive. He became enraged because the last time he had been weak, he got most of his family killed.

Derek would have said more, but he didn't know exactly what would make Sam feel better. He was mad and he needed time on his own to cool it. He wasn't going to throw a tantrum and carry on that they were his guests and should behave like that. He needed them much more than they need him. With Jackson on the loose and hunters abound he could do with a few extra allies. That had been the main reason why he let them stay.

He never forgot Sam; the events that occurred ten years ago still were vivid on his mind. Their fight, Avery's attack and then their talk in the forest. But if Sam had come back for any other reason than being a supernatural predator, neither of them would have hesitated to throw the first punch. They would have been out for blood. That's what Derek had to believe in his heart. He couldn't hold onto fantasies of the Sam before him being the same one who had once been his best friend. For all he knew, Sam could have been in cahoots with Kate about the fire. That was something he didn't dare dwell on.

Beforehand, he had eavesdropped in onto Avery's training with Erica and something she had said rung true. He needed the element of surprise. In order to fight the likes of Gerard and his mindless band of hunters, Derek needed his own secret weapon.

"I'll speak to her and ask her to calm it down." Sam nodded to himself, about to go back to his sister.

"Don't bother." Derek brushed his gesture off, "I'll talk to her later."

"Are you sure that's smart?"

"As far as I'm aware, she's the only one here that actually doesn't bite." Derek said in a derisive tone. Sam sighed and bit the inside of his mouth.

"Just… thank you for letting us stay here." He said.

"I'm not doing it out of the bottom of my heart." Derek replied swiftly, shifting his weight onto one foot. "I need your help.

"There's more than just hunters in this town."

"Other wolves?" Sam questioned.

"One, but he's not the problem. There's another Kanima, except it's mutated. It looks like a giant lizard."

"I don't think that's a Kanima. Kanimas a cats, not lizards." Sam sounded puzzled.

"That's what I thought at first, until we were trying to take it down and it got confused by it's own reflection."

"So why exactly do you need my help?"

"Strength wise, you'd be on equal par with it. Only it has a nasty habit of secreting paralyzing venom. I'm not sure, but it might be possible that you're immune to it. In Kanima form of course." Derek added.

"How exactly do you plan to do that?"

"We know who it is and all we need to do is corner him and take him down." Derek explained.

"Why though?" Sam furrowed his brow, "I don't get why you have to 'take him down', which I assumed means—,"

"Kill him. Yeah." Derek cut him off.

"He's tried to kill some of my pack on multiple occasions and he has a habit of killing random citizen's of this town in a gory way."

"But—,"

"He killed Isaac's dad and nearly Erica and I the other night at Beacon Hills High."

"So is this a revenge mission then?"

"No this is a keep my pack and the citizen's of Beacon Hill's safe mission." Derek said with conviction.

"You realize that the Kanima is just the vessel. The one to blame is it's master. If you want to stop it you have to find the master."

"You sound just like that other wolf I know." Derek laughed slightly.

"I feel like we might get along." Sam joked back, but there was seriousness in his voice, "I need more information about this. If we can trap it maybe that's the better bet. I just know that if I was in his position you'd wish that someone would go after the real bad guy."

"Wait till you meet him in human form. The guy's not exactly the friendliest."

Derek and Sam had spoken some more about Derek's plan to fight Kanima with Kanima. It seemed logical; Sam had agreed to help as long as the kid Jackson Whittemore wasn't killed. Derek was extremely reluctant and had debated strongly that repercussions were far worse than the benefits of saving Jackson. Alas, he needed Sam so he caved in, but never outright promised. He just strongly implied he would do the 'right' thing. Sam on the other hand had said it could a sort of repayment for letting his sister and himself hide out.

Overall it was a good deal from where each stood. Only there was one dilemma; they weren't sure if Sam could be paralyzed by Jackson's venom. If he was immune, then taking Jackson down would be much easier. If he wasn't, he'd only be useful in taking down hunters which was still better than nothing. Derek still had a small amount left over from when they tried to test Lydia so he would use that on Sam and hope for the best. The only thing in the way of his plan was one feisty brunette.

xxxx

Erica and Boyd had gone back to their homes and Sam had asked Isaac to do some further training downstairs. So on the first level only Derek and Avery remained. Avery was asleep, bundled up into a corner of one of offices that used to sell train tickets. Derek opened the door to the room and slowly paced in. Every time he looked at her, he found his eyes drawn to her cheek with the laceration. He had never agreed with what Peter had done, but Derek couldn't deny Peter done what he set out to do. The Venators went running and his family had been safe from them ever since. It should have been Sam though; if they had attacked anyone for revenge it should have been him. Not her. So as much as she infuriated him, he didn't blame her for treating him spitefully.

If it was possible, he would do this without her. But since Sam had no control over shifting without a push from Avery, they needed her help.

Derek leant on a desk that sat in the middle of the room and cleared his throat.

"Sam, go away." She grumbled and turned away, "I haven't slept well in weeks."

Derek didn't move and continued to stare at her. She knew he was still there.

"Seriously. Go away!" she whined, turning back and rubbing her eyes. When she saw Derek standing there with the tiniest smirk playing his lips she grew even more frustrated.

"So from a temper tantrum you quickly resort to watching people while they sleep. Way to go Edward." She got to her feet.

"Edward?" Derek raised an eyebrow.

"You know, creepy vampire from those books. In love with some annoying-as-fuck human girl. I don't know. It's just a joke." Avery shook her head.

"So I'm Edward… which makes you who?" he toyed with her. She frowned as he spoke and let disgust grow across her face.

"Funny." She scoffed.

"You've got the annoying-as-fuck part down." He replied with a serious face.

"Except not in love with you in the slightest." She quipped, "In fact I would go as far to say that if I ever thought of you in that way I would have to send myself to a mental asylum for fear I had gone mad."

"Harsh." Derek faked petulance.

"I don't date men that get into a huff when a girl beats them." She almost laughed.

"Well it's a good thing that I don't date women that have a disrespect for authority and a wish to get everyone those around them killed."

"Right?!" Avery raised her voice, "Because you're so much better yourself. It's a work of a genius turning three pathetic teenagers into werewolves just to use as bodyguards. Do they realize just how dangerous the Argent hunters are? Or maybe about Gerard Argent's psycho knack of severing werewolves in half?

"But I'm not done." she continued on, Derek's face was growing red, "You not only drew those innocent kids into this mess, you convinced them that they needed this. That they needed the drama of pain and death. Derek, I have a disrespect for your authority because you in no way earned it and if that seems like I want everyone around me dead, then you really need to re-evaluate your assumptions of people. From where I stand you're the one attracting death."

Avery and Derek were fuming. Derek was letting her words sink in, just when he thought he had gotten over their last encounter, she started ripping at the verbal scars from before.

"Well?" Avery flung her arms out openly, daring him to respond. He didn't. He just continued to stare her angrily in the eyes. Her words had hit home. He was reckless, he'd always been. But after the fire he had just done what he needed to survive. It may not have been the best choice and it may have hurt people, but he was safe. What he hated though, was the fact that Avery had the nerve to think that after one day that she knew him! She had no clue at all.

"That's what I thought." Her words echoed in the silent room, after Derek didn't respond. She tried to move past him, but he put his arm out and grabbed her wrist tightly.

"What do you want?" she faced him, fire in her eyes. She was leaning away, fist clenched in his grip.

"You're wrong." Derek said with an unusual calmness in his voice. He didn't want to give her the satisfaction of enraging him enough to turn full wolf. He loosened his hold as she yanked her hand free and rubbed it.

"Prove it." She challenged him. He was more than happy to oblige.

"You know the bond you have with Sam? The feeling that you'd do anything to protect him, even if it meant risking your own life?" he asked, her gaze said it all. She knew exactly what he was talking about, "I didn't mindlessly turn them or manipulate them. They needed this and regardless of what my original intentions were, we have that bond. They are my family now."

"I never doubted that." She said quietly, dropping her gaze. "So if you care about them as much as you say you do, then maybe you'd think about letting the reigns go a little bit? I know a thing or two."

"Just a little. But I'll still have a tight grip on them." Derek nodded, "You seem to be a good planner. We need someone like that."

Avery mimicked Derek's nod and stepped back. She was still unsure about him, but had decided to give Derek a chance.

"I suppose you didn't come here for lecture." She said, inviting to explain himself.

"Not exactly, but I had a feeling I was going to get one whether I liked it or not." Derek said with smugness.

"So what did you come in here for?" Avery ignored his comment, but smiling a little to herself.

"Before you start to shout again, Sam has already consented." Derek said cryptically, "But there's a bigger problem than just the hunters. We've got a lizard problem."