TW: Brief mention of attempted suicide.
Chapter 46: The First Beta
"We're leaving. Tonight, during the game."
Erica stood with her head bent and arms around herself, leaning against the window where the hospital buzzed behind them. The extensions in her hair hung limp over her shoulders, contrasting with her increased frizz up top where her natural hair was. Joe was in the middle of getting dressed after a doctor had taken a look at her now non-existent wound, mumbling in fascination, but confirming that she would be allowed to home. Finally.
"What, all of you?" Joe's brows were furrowed. A lot of people had been visiting her, but Erica had been yet another surprise. She first suspected Derek had sent her as a messenger as he hadn't been back since their little talk the other night, but Erica's next word disproved that.
Erica shook her head. "No, just me and Boyd. Isaac hasn't decided yet."
"What about Derek?"
Her hazel eyes shifted and she seemed to shrink under Joe's gaze. Aha. Okay. Without Derek. That explained her nerves. Joe did not need werewolf-senses to catch up on Erica's anxiety.
"Right," she said, in lack of anything smarter. Derek's words from a few weeks ago came back, how wolves without a pack would die either at the hands of another pack or the hunters. "Where are you gonna go? I mean, no offense, but you're both minors and you don't even have your driver's license yet."
Erica mumbled something about another pack. Apparently she and Boyd had heard it out in the woods the other night — at least twenty wolves. Safety in numbers, Joe thought. When you're at the bottom of the ladder, any boss would do. Joe let out a long breath and shrugged on her jacket with only a small twinge in her ribs. Kate was still out there. Gerard was still out there. Who knew who else was still out there, just waiting for a pair of newly turned werewolves to stumble into their path?
Then again, wouldn't distancing themselves from Derek make them safer from the Argents? In theory, at least?
"Why are you telling me?" she asked and Erica only shrugged, unable to look at Joe. "It's not because of me you're leaving, right?"
"No," Erica said sullenly, "not really." Which was not the same as 'no'. "I know Derek told us there was a price, that the bite didn't come for free, but he never said it would be like this!"
"If it's any consolation, I don't think he knew it was gonna be like this either."
Joe was not trying to defend him. Of all his bad decisions, turning the teenagers had been his worst. Something must have happened while she was in the hospital. Either during the full moon or after. It was not that long ago that Erica had nearly begged for Derek when she was dying from the kanima-poison. Loyalty went both ways and Joe now worried Derek had spent too much of his time on Joe instead of his pack.
"Are you sure, Erica? I mean, you don't have to go back to Derek's if you don't want to, but what about your parents? Or, I guess, you can come stay with us if-"
Erica had scoffed loudly at the mention of her parents. She looked down at her boots, rubbed the toe into the floor. "Trust me, they won't even notice I'm gone."
Joe sighed and wondered again how much of this could have been avoided by some free therapy-sessions for all the high schoolers. "Fine, but what about money? Food? Shelter?"
"If we find the other pack, they're gonna take care of us."
She said it with so much conviction Joe guessed it must be a werewolf-thing. Like it was unthinkable for another pack to not take them in and then not take care of them. Beyond Joe's understanding, probably. "Okay, but if you don't find the other pack for some reason, or if anything happens, or you need help — call me. You have my number right?"
Finally, Erica glanced up at her, large eyes wide as she nodded. Joe had suspected the girl had saved her number after the little phone-stunt at the depot.
"And if shit really hits the fan," Joe said as she leaned over the small table in her hospital room to scribble a number on a piece of paper, "call this number. It's my dad, he's in the FBI. He's an ass," Erica tried to hide a smile, "but he's been through so much weird stuff that he'll probably be able to help. Now I'm gonna sound like my aunt, but seriously, call me if you need me. Anytime."
"Yeah," Erica said as she accepted the piece of paper with the phone number to Joe's dad. "Okay, I will."
Joe watched Erica leave, casting nervous glances over her shoulder, like Joe was doing lately as well. Waiting for an Argent to pop out of the shadows. With Stiles' help, Joe had changed phones and all her passwords, hopefully locking out anyone with malicious intent. He'd given her a stern lecture on trusting evil-looking high schoolers to fix stuff for cheap. Apparently he'd harbored suspicions against Matt for a while now, solely based on a bad vibe from the now dead teenager.
So Derek was losing his pack. No wonder he had seemed moodier than usual lately. That was probably what Doctor Deaton had wanted to talk to her about. Joe could at least hope that was it, but with her luck, there was probably more.
According to Kane, the kanima would seek out a new master immediately — which meant they were back to square one and pretty much forced to await any new mysterious deaths. Some part of her wondered if a werewolf wasn't eligible as the kanima-master, because right now Derek himself would seem like the guy in town with the most stuff to avenge. Or not, if you considered that he also blamed himself for the fire as much as he blamed Kate. She just hoped their last conversation did the trick and he realized she was actually out there. Harsh truth better than comfortable lies.
Kanima with new master, Kate out there, Jimmy missing, Erica and Boyd leaving — Matt dying seemed like a feeble win and Joe realized her near-fatal injury had been for naught.
"Hey."
"Hey yourself," Joe answered Scott, who leaned against the side of the open door to her room. If she looked tired, he looked even worse. For some reason, Scott had insisted on picking her up from the hospital instead of Joe just hitching a ride home with Aunt Mel.
Scott seemed to pull on some reserve strength and gave her a wane smile. "Ready to get out of here?" He held up a small bag. "Got your meds. Thirty milligrams every four hours."
"Jeez, that sounds like a lot," Joe mumbled, even though she hadn't really considered how much she had been administered during her stay. The doctors were apparently expecting her to relapse or something despite her miraculous recovery. "Guess I'm not driving."
"Guess not," Scott agreed and took the small bag with her laptop and toiletries out of her hands. He made another thin attempt at a smile. "Got you coffee as well."
At the sight of the familiar Beacon Coffee-shop logo on a paper cup, she lit up and eagerly accepted it, already inhaling the delicious fumes as they walked slowly to the front desk of the hospital. "You are my favorite cousin, you know that?"
"I'm your only cousin."
"I mean, probably, but we can't be sure. I could have some on my mot- bleh." Joe stuck out her tongue at the taste of what she had expected to be a regular oatmilk cappucino. "This tastes like-" She smacked her lips, shuddering at the sudden horrid sensation she had swallowed an ashtray. "Like something burnt? What is this? Decaf?"
"Uhh, yeah." Scott both sounded and looked halfway panicked and apologetic. "Yeah, decaf, I thought you weren't supposed to have caffeine with-"
"Oh, no, this is disgusting," Joe complained as she tried another sip. "Sorry, Scott, even the hospital coffee's better than that."
Ignoring Scott's alarmed look, because these coffees weren't cheap, she dropped the whole cup in a trashcan. His hand shot out to grab it mid-air.
"I'll, uh, go pour this out," he explained and Joe winced at her own stupidity — a whole cup of coffee in the trashcan would make a mess when they emptied it out. "You go sign your discharge papers." Joe thought she saw him glance at her medicine bag as he made a beeline for the nearest restroom.
At least her dad's insurance had pretty decent coverage for gunshots, Joe thought as she signed the necessary papers at the front desk. And his tax for not even visiting her would be footing the deductible, she thought and registered that the bill would be forwarded to his address.
Eventually Scott emerged from the restroom and they made their way to her car. It still smelled a bit of bleach and Joe wondered again if that was Jimmy's own work or the Argents covering their tracks. After being stuck in the hospital for so long, she felt a sense of urgency to do something again, but right now she just wanted to go home. Technically she was still on bedrest for a few more weeks — standard practice following her surgery. Ridiculous, because she felt fine.
Her baby cousin however, did not look fine. He drove in silence, clutching at the steering wheel, forehead furrowed in thought.
"Everything okay, Scott?"
"Yeah, yeah, everything's fine." He drew in a deep breath, not looking at her. "Just nerves about the game I guess."
"Right," said Joe, letting him off the hook despite the obvious lie. She was not looking forward to the game either, but her alternative was spending the night alone back at the house and with Kate still on the loose, she could not stomach the thought. Stiles, bless his heart, had smuggled out the shotgun from the sheriff's station and returned it with her car, but Joe would still feel like a sitting duck. 4+1 shotgun shells was probably not enough to take out Kate.
By any luck, Kate had died out in the woods somewhere, too badly injured by Jimmy's bite. Joe could not bring herself to believe it for more than a second though. You needed to take Kate's head off to make sure she stayed down, and even then, bury it some distance from the body.
A bite from a regular werewolf would just hurt. A bite from an Alpha would either turn or kill. A bite from whatever Jimmy was would what? No idea. She just prayed that Jimmy had gone into hiding, not that he was captured by either of the Argents. Scott and Stiles had gone up to check the cavern at her insistence, because she had to know if Derek told the truth, but could not find any sign of anyone having been there since they escaped. Same with his apartment.
Scott sounded older than his years. "You okay?"
She looked over at him, who in turn had a concerned frown and watched her hands wringing together. Forcing her hands apart, she flexed her fingers, trying to get the tension out.
"It's a mess," Joe answered and Scott nodded in agreement. Nothing else to say. Kate, the kanima, Derek — it was a mess. Something about Scott's behavior bothered her, so she glanced at him again: "Are you sure you're okay? Did something happen, Scott?"
A moment's hesitation before he shook his head. "No, nothing happened. I just- I just wish there was more we could do." He shrugged as he made the final turn onto their street. "I wish it was as easy as calling Uncle Rob this time. I'm not," he gave her a puppydog-look, "saying that was easy, but at least then the cops were looking for a killer. Now that Matt's dead, it's..." Trailing off, he shrugged again.
Neither got out of the car when he parked at the house.
"I'm supposed to go to work," Scott said slowly, obviously conflicted, "but I can stay here if you want. Just say the word."
"Aunt Mel's home, right?" Joe asked and furrowed her brows when her question made Scott look away before he nodded. "Then I won't be alone. If Kate shows up, I'll shoot first and call the cops later."
"She won't." He sounded so sure that Joe raised her eyebrows at him. "At least I don't think so. Just- just trust me on this. Please."
"I trust you," Joe said and reached over to squeeze his shoulder. "Go to work. If she didn't come after me the week and a half I was at the hospital, there's no reason she should come tonight." Hopefully she managed to convince Scott more than herself. "Tomorrow we'll figure something out, call Dad again or," she shrugged, "or I'm gonna need your help digging up a grave."
That at least earned her a faint grin. It faltered again as he seemed to make up his mind about something. "You haven't heard from Derek lately, right? Or any of the others?"
"Just Erica. She came by just before you did. They're leaving, something about finding another pack. Why?" Joe hated the mild panic in her voice that she tried to play off as indifference. "Something happen with Derek?"
At least Scott was so preoccupied he did not tease her about Derek for once. He shook his head, almost too quickly for her to believe him. "No, they've gone into hiding. Isaac, Erica and Boyd haven't been to school since the full moon. "
"Hey," Joe said and shifted her hand to ruffle up his hair, which he didn't even bother to protest. "We'll figure this out. Kanima and Kate and everything else. Worst case we'll have to kidnap Jackson Whittemore again and subject him to intense therapy-sessions. Now go to work and we'll see you later at the game."
"I'm- I'm not sure Mom's gonna come to the game."
Joe stopped getting out of the car and sighed, because she knew she had to ask. "You guys talk yet?"
"No. Haven't even talked to Stiles, not talked-talked. And Mom..She's- she's afraid. Not just me. It's-" Scott slumped in his seat and now ruffled up his own hair. "It's like when she's not working, she's afraid of everything. And I get it, I mean," he sighed deeply, too deep for a sixteen-year-old, "she watched the two people closest to her get shot in the same night. Doesn't matter that we both healed, she thought she was losing us." Now Scott looked at Joe with the eyes of a kicked puppy. "I know how she feels, because I thought I lost you."
"I'm not going anywhere," Joe said with a closed smile and tapped his shoulder with her fist. Yeah, she was getting really good at these comforting gestures. "Except that right now I'm going inside to take a shower with non-industrial strength soap for the first time in a week and a half. Listen, kid, your mom's gonna come around, you know that, right?"
"I guess," he said, but did not sound convinced. Scott swallowed and handed her the medicine bag. "Every four hours, remember?"
"Every four hours," Joe repeated in a shrill voice as she snatched the bag. "Can you at least pretend I'm the adult here? For the last time, go to work. I'll be fine. We'll be fine. We're supposed to look after you, not the other way around, remember?"
For some reason her words only seemed to make him more troubled. He left her car in the driveway and took his bike to work, as if things were normal, but the frown on his face never cleared.
Aunt Mel had just woken up when Joe came inside as she'd had the graveyard shift last night. Like Scott had mentioned, she still jumped at the slightest of sounds, so Joe moved slowly and quietly around the house. Maybe it was just as well Aunt Mel was on the Joe-was-just-confused-train when it came to Kate Argent, because something had her more on edge now than Joe had ever seen her before.
It was a comfort for them both not to be alone in the house at least. Joe got the first crack at a shower and relished when her curls returned to normal instead of stringy even if she barely managed to close her eyes while washing them. The morphine should dampen her paranoia, but she felt like the opposite.
As abnormal as things felt, Joe made an attempt nevertheless. Fake it 'till you make it. While Aunt Mel showered, Joe made herself a decent cup of coffee and took up her usual thinking spot in front of the kitchen window.
It only took a glance out the window into the backyard for things to go south.
"Are you kidding me?" Joe murmured and put her cup down to join Jimmy Carter — because who else would be lurking in her backyard with glowing purple eyes? She opened the back door and repeated her statement: "Are you actually kidding me?"
"Hey, Joe," Jimmy said and Joe didn't know if he was trying to imitate Derek or if it was just a werewolf-thing, because Jimmy stood with both hands in the pockets of his leather jacket. Brown leather jacket though, so he was like an autumn version to Derek's winter complexion. Derek wouldn't wear olive colored slim-fit pants either, like Jimmy currently was. "How are you faring?"
"What," Joe started, already on the verge of frustrated tears, "the hell is wrong with you guys? Is it a thing that you lose all social skills after receiving the bite? How am I faring? Take a wild guess, buddy! How are you faring?"
Jimmy nodded slowly. "I understand your agitation."
"You understa-" Joe bit in a silent scream. "Where the hell have you been?"
"In hiding."
"Meaning what?" Joe barked, throwing her arms out wide.
"I've laid low."
"Oh God!" Joe yelled sharply into the afternoon daylight. "You know what, can you wait here for like a sec so I can go get my shotgun, 'cause I really want to shoot someone and you're looking like a real good candidate right now!"
Joe forced herself to take a deep breath as she noticed the flash of panic over Jimmy's face. Great, Joe, threaten to shoot a guy who's been tortured for days with the perpetrator still at large. Good job.
Joe blew air out her mouth. "Jesus, I'm sorry, Jimmy. I'm pumped full of drugs and I've been worried sick about you, I thought the hunters..."
"They did not," Jimmy said quietly, as he knew where she was going with that statement. "I hid in your car until the shooting ended and they moved on without ever spotting me. As yourself, I have spent the last week recuperating. You saved my life and I am grateful."
"Nearly got you killed in the first place." Joe pinched the bridge of her nose hard, not caring if Derek could feel it, he would be fine. Especially after all those twinges in her knuckles earlier and she could imagine him punching a wall repeatedly or something else totally dumb. "How are you alive, by the way? One wolfsbane bullet should have killed you, if you are what I think you are, and you took three..." She squinted at him. "What are you?"
"A werewolf." He sighed at her skeptical frown. "A special one. Not unique, but not that common either."
"Oh my God, Jimmy," Joe said slowly, feeling like tearing her hair out. "I am not in the mood to force answers out of you. If I wants partial truths and no facial expressions, I'll call Derek. You gotta give me something here, buddy. Someone's gotta tell me something or I'm gonna lose my mind."
Jimmy, new and improved, at least had a semblance of his old manners. He rubbed his beard, like Derek's it was getting a bit out of control. "It is a complicated process to explain, but you saw my diminished appearance before?" As she nodded, he gave her a thin shrug. "I have been ingesting wolfsbane in controlled dosages for a while now to regulate the process. Built up a tolerance, I suppose you could say."
"Is that why your eyes are..." She just gestured to her own eyes.
"No, that is a mere coincidence actually," Jimmy said with a half smile. "But I can see how you would draw that conclusion, given the color of the wolfsbane flower." Something weighed on Jimmy's mind and he shifted a bit, taking his hands out of his jacket before putting them back in again. "I, uh, want to apologize for my behavior at the reunion dinner, where I acted both rude and entitled, and," he glanced around the desolate backyard, still waiting for spring to get back into full bloom, "if I frightened you when I paid you a visit a few months ago."
Joe scoffed and hugged herself. "I wasn't frightened. Just thought it was weird why you lurked in the bushes. Why were you lurking in the bushes?"
"Ah, well, I was quite weak at that time." Jimmy licked his lips and looked over at the spot where he most likely stood. "I, well, hm. This might be easier to understand if I tell you about Paige first."
Yes, Derek's tragic teenage romance who he probably never had time to get fully over, let's talk about her. God knows Derek couldn't. Joe tried to turn off her own mind, she was being jealous over a long dead girl.
"Paige Krasikeva was not only a talented cellist and Derek's girlfriend, she was also my one and only friend in high school." Jimmy talked slowly, but with a steady voice, like this was not the first time he had told this to someone. "The reason I became fascinated-"
"Obsessed."
"-with werewolves in the first place," Jimmy said as if he hadn't heard her. "You see, her death was covered up and I knew something was amiss, so I dug and dug and dug until I discovered the truth about what happened to her." Joe waited while Jimmy gathered his thoughts, still not sure how this was related to her in any way. "And after Derek became the Alpha, I suppose I felt compelled to see if history was repeating. If Derek would try and turn my one and only friend yet again."
Joe let this sink in along with the ice forming in her core. "You were checking to see if I was still human?" She had not missed his statement of 'one and only friend', a brave term for someone he had nearly shot a few days earlier. "If Derek had bit me?"
"With the mate-bond, I could not see any reason why he would not."
With Derek's history concerning Paige, Joe could see exactly why he had not. Or why he had never suggested or even hinted towards it. To be honest, she was not sure he would bite her even if she asked for it. If he had watched what he thought was the love of his life — because let's face it, who didn't think like that in high school — suffer so much that he agreed to kill her...that kind of trauma would take some healing to get past. It was a wonder he had managed to turn Isaac, Erica and Boyd now that she thought about it. He had to have been a hundred percent sure they would respond well.
She realized Jimmy had a small smile on his lips and she quirked her brows. "What?"
"Nothing," he said and now put his hands behind his back. "Your scent changes when you think of Derek. It turns sweeter."
"That is seriously the creepiest thing you have ever said."
He shrugged, as if it was to be expected. "I have analyzed your actions over the last few months. Sheriff Stilinski said you tried to report me missing. I am, again, touched by your concern, when I have done little to deserve it lately." Jimmy cleared his throat. "Which is why I voluntarily came forwards to the police and backed up your claim about Kate Argent being alive. The Sheriff and the DA are working on getting a warrant for exhuming the grave."
A large weight lifted off Joe's shoulders, like she could finally breathe again. For Jimmy to get over his own stupid paranoia and talk to the police, it was a miracle. She dashed forward and threw herself around his neck. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Jimmy returned her embrace rather stiffly, patting her back awkwardly, before she felt him freeze completely. Both their heads turned to the side at the sound of a low, steady growling. A pair of red eyes emerged from the forest.
"Oh dear," said Jimmy and pushed Joe away as Derek Hale, enraged Alpha, attacked.
She landed in a heap on the grass and watched two equally large werewolves tear into each other, red versus purple eyes. Her first thoughts went to Aunt Mel, whose nerves would not exactly improve if she glanced out the window to a full carnage in her backyard.
"Okay, guys, stop!" Joe shouted and got up from the ground. She swore loudly when Jimmy landed a hit, but most of her pain came from her knuckles from the hard punches Derek rained upon Jimmy. Their feet and claws tore into the grass every time they gained traction for lunging at each other. "Guys! Come on! Private property here!"
The loud snarls and almost-roars echoed in the night and Joe cast another worried glance at the upstairs window, hoping Aunt Mel was still in the shower and not hearing this.
Derek and Jimmy seemed almost equal in strength, but what Jimmy lacked was technique. Joe thought she had seen Derek fight hard against Scott, but he had seriously been holding back. The guy moved like a cross between a ninja and a professional MMA-fighter, including backflipping across a tree to kick Jimmy straight in the face.
"Hey!" Joe shouted again, but to no avail.
Throwing her hands up in frustration, she stalked over to the heavy concrete flower pots Aunt Mel had made herself in a sudden burst of DIY-inspiration. Joe took a short breath and slammed her shin into the edge of the flower pot with everything she had. "Goddamnit, motherf- mmmh!"
Both she and Derek let out loud grunts of pain, both legs buckling and Joe hopped around clutching the sore spot, swearing incessantly. At least it got his attention as his face whipped towards her in confusion.
"Oh, Joe, no, I'm not the jealous type!" Joe shouted as she hopped around, mimicking Derek's words before reunion dinner. "I call bullshit on that one!"
Jimmy held his distance when Derek stopped attacking and they stood panting with six feet between them, arms still out with claws ready. Derek's face morphed back from his wolf-state, so he could give her the full force of his disapproving glare.
"Are you two absolutely out of your minds? You can not fight in our backyard!" She put her bruised foot down slowly and limped closer to the two knuckleheads. "Are you so chock full of testosterone that your brain's not getting sufficient oxygen?" She waited for an answer while Jimmy also morphed back to his normal face. "Look at the state of the lawn. Aunt Mel's gonna be pissed."
Jimmy carefully scooted his foot out to nudge a patch of grass back in place. Joe sighed and put her hand on Derek's arm to maintain balance and tap into that pain-relief as her shin throbbed like a sonnuvabitch. Apparently you needed skin-to-skin contact and he was wearing a jacket, so it didn't stop hurting at all.
The two hotheads seemed to have calmed down and Derek put his arm lightly on her back to steady her.
"So, now that we're all here," Joe said with a serious frown, "I'd like to officially welcome you to the first meeting in the Kate Argent Victim Support Group."
Derek rolled his eyes excessively and let go of her back while Jimmy raised his eyebrows in polite shock.
"How much morphine do they have you on?" Derek asked her while crossing his arms, forcing her to let go of him as well.
"Not enough," Joe replied instantly and tested her foot if she could put weight on it again. "Shit. So, what's up? Why is the backyard so popular for you guys? Is it a canine-thing? I'm not gonna make a dog-joke, just want to know if I have the foundations for one."
Derek glared at both her and Jimmy in turn. The scratches and bruises on either of their faces had already healed. The coldness in his eyes reminded her that they had not ended things on friendly terms. She had no idea if he even believed her about Kate yet. "You should stay home from the match tonight. We think Gerard might be planning something."
"Gerard Argent is always planning something," Jimmy said. "It's his default state."
Joe saw how Derek's biceps flexed inside his jacket. "I don't remember asking for your opinion."
"Not an opinion, merely an observation." Jimmy's smile was stiff.
"How about you observe your way back into whatever rotten cave you crawled out of?"
Jimmy was about to snap back, but he took a deep meditative breath. "While I understand your frustration with my presence, rest assured that I have only Joe's best interest in mind. I apologize if I have overstepped any boundaries."
Unfortunately, this blatant show of self-restraint and communication skills did not impress Derek. "Did you have her best interest in mind when you tried to shoot her head off?"
"No, I am willingly admitting that I was out of sorts that night."
Derek's lip curled. "Out of sorts? Why do you talk like you're from a 19th-century realism novel?" He noticed their raised eyebrows and scoffed. "Just because I didn't go to college, doesn't mean I'm illiterate. How about when you let her get captured by Kate, have her best interest in mind then?"
Okay, so, progress. He did believe her about Kate, but as he did not have the whole story on how she ended up in the Preserve that night, it would be best to intervene before Jimmy spilled the beans.
"If we can ignore your dick measuring contest for half a second," Joe cut in, noticing how both Jimmy and Derek squirmed at her words, "going to the game at least means there'll be people, you know, witnesses."
Derek was shaking his head as she talked. "And how many of them will be working for the Argents? If you think Gerard knows Kate's alive, if there is even the slightest chance he knows about us-"
Joe tried to ignore how her heart skipped at the word. Us.
"-then you can't go to the game. He will use you to get to me, no matter how human you are. Scott won't be able to protect both you and his mom."
It's a mess, Joe thought. A huge mess.
"Okay, fine, but where am I supposed to go? I'm not staying in the house alone just waiting for Kate to come finish the job. Where are you gonna be?"
Will you stay with me? was what she wanted to ask, but could not work up the nerve.
"We're working on something, something to stop Jackson and by extent Gerard," Derek said with a dismissive shake of his head. Dismissing her. Separate the mates, Kate was succeeding even now. Which was actually the least worrisome part of that statement.
It was hard to breathe but she managed to choke out: "Gerard controls the kanima?"
"Oh dear," Jimmy said again. "That does not bode well."
Casting a weird look towards Jimmy, because Derek had a point about the way he talked, Joe tried to think of what this meant. The strange look Derek sent her did not make it easier. "What?"
"You didn't know?" he asked, sounding as genuine as he ever did. His lips were slightly parted in confusion and there was just a hint of bunny-teeth she had never really noticed before. It made him look slightly more human.
"How and why would I know?" she demanded and winced when she accidentally put too much pressure on her throbbing foot. "No one tells me anything! And oh my God, that is terrifying, I am not staying home tonight. Not a chance."
With an impatient huff, Derek asked: "You got somewhere you can go?"
"Somewhere where I want to lead either a homicidal bitch or a venomous snake monster? No, Derek, I don't."
This guy with his logic! Unbelievable. They glared at each other, neither relenting an inch until Jimmy cleared his throat.
"I'll stay with her." To his credit, he did not shrink too much at the withering and disbelieving glare Derek sent him. "Use your senses, Hale. Joe is not attracted to me and I'm not attracted to her."
Joe scrunched up her face, wondering if she should be insulted or relieved. "Excuse me, Joe is right here."
"I don't care about attraction," Derek practically growled as he strode up to Jimmy's face. His nostrils flared as he stared down the equally large man. "I don't trust you."
"But I do," Joe said with a sigh and limped over to them to put a calming hand on Derek's shoulder, before they started tearing up the flowerbeds again. "And it's my decision."
She found it hard to not backtrack at the look Derek gave her. His eyes roamed her face, looking for traces of something she was not sure of. Whatever he found was not enough for the most stubborn werewolf in the world.
"No."
"Oh my God, Derek!" Joe yelled and her fingers clawed the air, imagining his throat. "If you don't trust Jimmy, if you don't trust me," she gave him a warning finger as he looked as if he was going to protest, "and you don't, don't bullshit me — trust yourself, okay?" Joe turned to Jimmy. "Jimmy, are you currently plotting my demise in any sort or form?"
"No, I am not," Jimmy said evenly. Not done, he continued: "I owe you my life and in turn is willing to give it to protect you."
He seemed so sincere that Joe blinked several times. "Jeez, that's a little intense, dude."
Joe peered at Derek whose face locked in a dark frown. Less angry, more puzzled. Less angry, not completely devoid, as it always simmered right beneath the surface. He and Jimmy stared at each other and again, Joe felt like a definite third wheel.
Eventually, Derek nodded reluctantly. "Keep her in the house. Protecting her from Kate is easy compared to protecting her from herself."
"Hey. Stop talking about me like I'm not here."
Jimmy never let his eyes waver from Derek as he too nodded. "I will."
Half-expecting Derek to just go running back into the woods, she raised her eyebrows when he continued glaring at Jimmy until the latter tilted his head lazily to the side.
"I understand you want some privacy," Jimmy nearly drawled, "but I'll be just as able to hear you from inside the house as out here."
With a tight sarcastic smile, Derek said: "But I won't have to look at you."
Both Joe and Jimmy rolled their eyes at that, but Jimmy relented almost theatrically and sauntered into the kitchen, closing the door with a decisive Joe found herself alone with Derek — again. Their alone-times had not exactly ended on a positive note lately so Joe did not even bother to try.
"So, did you realize I was telling the truth about Kate before or after Jimmy went to the Sheriff?" she asked, not in the mood for any of Derek's self-loathing at the moment. "Or do you still need to wait for the exhumation to believe me?"
It was definitely a werewolf-ting, because Derek put both hands inside his jacket as he sighed. "I believed you when you first told me."
"But?"
"But she's exceptionally good at covering her tracks."
"And?"
His nostrils flared. "And it was easier to believe she wasn't back. Happy?"
"Ecstatic," she bit back and he must have realized his poor choice of words as she could see the way he ground his teeth together. "So now you got yourself a babysitter. What are you still doing here?"
"Trying to apologize," Derek said in the same scathing tone she was using.
Her eyebrows raised and she crossed her arms over her chest. "For something you actually did or just for some arbitrary reason you feel guilty?" When her words made him hesitate, she rolled her eyes. "Examples of what you did do: Attack Jimmy on sight, not believing me about Kate and talking with Aunt Mel behind my back. Examples of what you didn't do: Make Kate abduct me, force Matt to shoot me, or magically create a mate-bond between us. So, which is it? What do you want to apologize for?"
Derek seemed to study his feet while she talked, but looked up at her with an open honest expression. "For leaving when you asked me not to."
"Oh," she said lamely as the fire inside of her died out all at once. Pursing her lips, she focused on the overgrown bushes separating them from their closest neighbor. Was he trying to make her cry? She shrugged half-heartedly. "That part's actually okay. If I were you, I'd probably have left a lot sooner."
"I wouldn't have left at all if I didn't think you were safe, from any of the Argents," Derek said slowly, but an annoyed wrinkle appeared between his brows as she rolled her eyes again, fire flaring back up."What?"
"Nothing, just guessing you're gonna repeat that exact same phrase about why you're leaving now. You're thinking I'll be safest away from you, right? Is that because you're worried about me or because you're worried I'll be a liability? You know what, don't answer that. How about this, I'm worried about you right now, Derek, because whatever you think's gonna happen tonight gotta be pretty bad if you thought I'd be safer staying here alone. Gerard controlling the kanima's one thing, but what are you not telling me?"
As expected, this made him clam up and she sighed in annoyance.
"Too broad a question? Okay, my bad. I guess we don't have all night to cover everything you're not telling me. Let's start small. Why are you suddenly okay with me staying here with Jimmy? I don't have your nose or ears or whatever kind of sense you just used that apparently held more weight than my opinion. Do I still need to watch my back?"
Hard to tell if he was angry or just taken aback. Eventually he cleared his throat, but cast a glance towards the house before apparently making up his mind. "He tried to mask his fear when you mentioned Kate."
"I have no idea what that means."
"It means," Derek followed her lead and crossed his own arms now, "that he'll be on high alert. He'll catch her scent before she gets anywhere near the house."
"You think she's gonna come here? Tonight?" Joe asked, completely unable to mask her own fear in any capacity other than coupling it with rage. One thing was herself, she apparently had some sort of mystical faster than normal healing going on, but Aunt Mel did not.
"I don't know." At least he was not lying to reassure her, even if he kept his voice soft. "Before we can figure out what she actually wants, it's impossible to determine any next move. There's not a trace of her anywhere, she's laying low for some reason and we think it's got something to do with whatever Gerard is planning."
"Or she just doesn't want to expose herself to the public as she'd be the most wanted fugitive in the state."
It must be nearing four hours, because she could feel the edge of the morphine fading away.
"If she wants to separate us, aren't we playing straight into her hands by splitting up?" Joe asked and tried to pay attention to the micro-expressions fleeting over Derek's face. "The Argent's bestiary said something about always separating the mates when hunting them." Joe inhaled slowly, trying to keep her voice neutral when she continued: "You know that's why she told me all that stuff, right? To drive a wedge between us. If you haven't noticed, it's working and I'm sorry, Derek, but it's only because you're letting it."
He bowed his head as he looked to the side. "I know."
Patience running thin she only gave him a few seconds before she sighed. "That doesn't help."
He probably didn't even know that Erica came to see her earlier. If he wasn't even going to offer up something about how his pack had left, she was not going to bother trying for anything else. She'd just get her facts from literally everyone else.
"Look, I'm sorry I didn't tell you when I first thought Kate might have been alive, but even I didn't really believe it at the time and now I'm positive you wouldn't have either."
Derek made a half-shrug, half-nod motion as if to say 'that's fair' with his gaze still fixed a few feet to her left.
"I'll sit out tonight's game, but that's all I'm gonna promise you. If you or Scott or Stiles or anyone else I care about is in trouble, you cannot expect me to cower inside the house."
"Joe," he said as he finally looked at her again. He sounded tired and he probably was, "you got out of the hospital today."
"And I don't even have a scar, so what's your point? Derek, again, I'm not a high schooler you need to look after. Think that was the first time I've been hurt? Think that was my first time in the ER? Trust me, getting shot is a cakewalk compared to getting my bones reset when I broke my leg at fourteen."
She had a strange sense of deja vu from talking with Derek in the backyard. Like when he came to see her last time, when she called the cops on him, there was that conflicted look in his eyes. Like he was not fully sure what to think of her or the situation. Then he'd made some weird comment on how she wasn't scared, but angry — Joe had no illusions this time. She was angry, yes, but also terrified.
At his incessant silence, she shifted her weight onto one hip and gave him a tired look. "You can't always be there to protect me, Derek. I'll admit I'm not a hundred percent sure what 'mate' means, but I'm pretty certain it's not 'bodyguard'."
For some reason, that made his brows furrow. "Did Deaton talk to you?"
"I mean," she blinked, wondering where that had come from, "if you count throwing some vague questions at me as 'talking to me', sure. Why?"
"Nothing." His eyes darted out to the side in thought. Right. Nothing. "Just some advice he gave me."
Even from where Joe stood — safely distanced to not be swayed by his scent — she could see how his whole body language screamed 'tense'. The way he moved also betrayed that he was under a lot of pressure — he never wasted any energy on unnecessary gestures, but somehow he seemed even more guarded than usual. She had a feeling Jimmy was not the only one on high alert now.
So out of everything she expected to happen, him holding out his hand to her had not been at the top of her list. She was stuck between raising her eyebrows or glaring at the hand, so she did both.
"Your leg," Derek said simply, but there was definitely something soft and vulnerable in his eyes if she paid attention.
"My leg's fine," she said and Derek looked like he resisted the urge to roll his eyes. It was not a complete lie, it was just a mild twinge now. Didn't matter. She nodded at his outreached hand, palm facing up like so many times before. "That's too easy."
"I know."
Joe found herself anchoring down in the simmering anger to prevent herself from being drawn in by his bright glittering eyes. He wanted a staring-competition? Fine, she was not giving in.
To her surprise, again, Derek did. "I'm sorry for not believing you," he said slowly, not breaking eye contact, "and I'm sorry for talking with Melissa behind your back. Just- just let me take your pain, Joe."
"And Jimmy?"
"I am not sorry about Jimmy."
Two out of three wasn't that bad. Still glaring at him, she reached out her hand and let the tips of her fingers touch his. The pain pulled into him immediately while she let him know: "This isn't over."
His face was unreadable. "This?"
"This conversation. Me being mad at you. Kate being back. Pick your poison."
"I know."
"Good for you because I don't know shit," Joe snapped and pulled back her hand when her leg felt tingly instead of painful. He'd said that so many times tonight she worried he was suffering a stroke. As he just watched her without saying anything, she folded her arms and tilted her head to stare back at him. "What?"
"Nothing." The answer came too fast. Eventually he straightened up with newfound exasperation. "Do you think you can convince Melissa to stay home as well?"
"Absolutely not."
His eyebrows raised at her immediate response.
"I'm not letting my aunt get caught in the crossfire," Joe said and shifted her weight again now that her shin was okay. "If Kate shows up tonight, I'm not going to try and have her arrested. I'll shoot to kill."
As Derek did not offer any reply, Joe figured this conversation was over and turned on her heel. Leaving him and his strange behavior behind her, she started moving towards the door. She paused when he said:
"You're not a killer, Joe."
"Neither are you, Derek."
Without looking back, she went into the kitchen and by the time she closed the door, Derek had left.
Jimmy had found a newspaper that he studied with great interest and Joe was grateful he was at least going to pretend he hadn't heard every single word of that conversation. Scowling at the now cold cup of coffee, she emptied it out in the sink and scoured the cabinets looking for tea, as the McCall-household was a caffeine-loving one.
Aunt Melissa's voice came from around the corner. "Okay, so, it might be hard to get good seats tonight because it's the finals- uh, hello?"
Joe abandoned her search for tea and turned to see Aunt Mel giving Jimmy a wary, but polite smile. He returned it and continued leaning over the counter to read the newspaper, probably making internal judgment on the reported events.
"Uh, Aunt Mel, this is Jimmy Carter, a friend of mine," Joe said absentmindedly and waved her hands between them. "Jimmy, this is my aunt."
"Melissa McCall," Aunt Mel said and shook Jimmy's hand. She kept glancing at him, but addressed Joe. "Uh, are you- is Jimmy joining us for the game?"
The coffee machine beeped as Joe turned it back on. She rubbed the back of her head. "I, uh, kind of decided I wouldn't go. Feeling kind of tired and just wanted to stay in, catch a movie and stuff." Wait for Kate to show up so I can shoot her and stuff. Not something she was going to tell Aunt Mel at the moment.
Aunt Mel used her hand to indicate the large muscular man in the kitchen she had never met before. "With...Jimmy?"
"Yeah," Joe said easily and leaned against the counter.
"What about...Derek?" Aunt Mel spoke slowly and carefully, trying to gauge either of their reaction to the name.
"What about Derek?"
"Is he gonna come over to...watch a movie?"
When Joe just furrowed her brows and said: "Huh?" Aunt Mel grabbed hold of her arm and steered her out of the kitchen while excusing herself to Jimmy over her shoulder. Aunt Mel brought her to the hallway, presumably out of earshot from Jimmy, even though that would probably be a few miles further out.
"Look, when I said I was glad you were going out again," Aunt Mel started in a low voice and Joe realized what was going on. "And I said I-
"Oh, no, no, it's not-"
Aunt Mel didn't hear her, just kept talking: "-support casual sex as long as you stay safe, but too much of a good thing can be bad too, Joe."
Joe's face was hot. "Oh God."
"And I guess I'm out of tune with how kids date these days, with polyamory and sexting and beneficial friends-"
"Aunt Mel, please stop."
"-and you are of course free to do what you want, and who you want, and if that includes two very good-looking guys," Aunt Mel glanced towards the kitchen, "that's fine, but I just want you to think through if you're doing this because you want to or just because of the thing with Alex."
Joe grabbed Aunt Mel's shoulders, anything to make her stop talking. "Aunt Mel. Jimmy is just a friend. A platonic, non-sexual friend. Alex and I are fine, also platonic and very non-sexual, and she and Maddy are also fine, non-platonic and hopefully sexual."
A worried furrow still lingered between Aunt Mel's brows, but she nodded at Joe's words. "And Derek?"
"Derek is..." Joe pursed her lips, but ended up saying: "Complicated."
She continued reassuring Aunt Mel nothing was amiss and practically led the woman to the front door so she wouldn't be late for the game. Gerard was after Derek, not Scott, so Aunt Mel would be safer at the game than at the house. At least Joe hoped so.
Jimmy, bless his heart, pretended he had not heard her and Aunt Mel's conversation either. He declined her offer of any hot beverage, as the only tea they had smelled of cardboard from sitting in the box for so long. Apparently he was not supposed to have caffeine. Joe took her pills as per doctor's orders and was probably not supposed to have caffeine either, but didn't care.
Instead of watching a movie, he told her what he knew about Gerard instead. This was not the first time Gerard had been in Beacon Hills.
"It just doesn't make sense," Joe murmured, well into her second cup of coffee with so much creamer it probably counted as a whole meal. After Aunt Mel left, Joe had put her phone and shotgun on the counter to have both readily available. "Kate must've had help. Maybe she could sneak out from the hospital without being seen, or even pay of those cops watching her, but the tapes? No. He must know she's alive, but why does he have such a hard-on for Derek? Like, revenge is a decent motive, but she's not even dead."
Jimmy agreed with her. "Normally I would have said it seemed like a convenient excuse, but he's also controlling a creature created for vengeance. I'm not sure that would work unless his very soul was dedicated to exacting revenge." The empty kitchen seemed to grow emptier with each passing minute. "Maybe we are taking this too literal. Perhaps his desire of vengeance is because even if Kate isn't dead, their family name has been dragged through the mud. Their reputation is dead."
"Then he would target you, not Derek," Joe murmured, referring to the newspaper article following Kate's fake death. "No, I'm not too sure about how strict the supernatural is, but according to Scott, when Matt started breaking the rules, he suffered consequences by turning into a kanima himself. That's very on point regarding most legends by the way. So if the kanima found a master in Gerard, it's because Gerard lost something, something that's impossible to get back, that he blames on Derek." She sighed and thought about it. "Or maybe it's not Derek he's really after."
That was just something Gerard was saying. He could very well be lying to them, as long as he was seeking vengeance, the kanima would not care until he started killing the 'wrong' people. So what had Gerard Argent lost? Victoria Argent came to mind, but Joe doubted the connection between father and daughter-in-law would be that strong. Name, status, wealth — all that was petty stuff. What would Gerard hold high enough in esteem that it would be considered reasons for blood revenge if he lost it? Himself, was the only answer she could think of, but that made even less sense.
"I'm so sorry about giving up your location," Joe said thickly after they had stared into the counter for a while, each lost to their own thoughts. "To Kate. I'm so, so sorry. I should have respected you wanted to be left alone, I shouldn't have tried so hard to find you. I'm sorry."
Jimmy sighed and stretched out his now thick neck. "I think a lot of this would have been avoided if I had trusted you from the start. With my lapse of judgement regarding a certain shotgun," he nodded towards the weapon on the counter, "we can call it even and," he gave her a disappointed look, "I'm the reason she managed to take you anyway."
"I distinctly remember making that decision myself," Joe said, feeling a sense of deja vu.
"Did you?" Jimmy tilted his head. "I was the author of that text, Joe. She spent some time forcing it out of me, what to write," he gave a short laugh, "and I know you. You would have suspected a trap no matter what I wrote, but if I made it vague enough, desperate enough — you just can't resist a mystery, can you?"
The back of Joe's neck felt hot and she cleared her throat, not knowing how to respond.
"I just hoped you wouldn't be stupid enough to come alone, but you were," Jimmy said, sounding equally sad and disappointed. "I have to agree with your mate, the hardest thing it seems is protecting you from yourself." Now he leaned over the counter and his eyes flashed purple. "And if you ever rush out like that again, without thinking and without backup, I'll hogtie you and deliver you to Derek myself."
It was her own threat from the reunion dinner, paraphrased and probably not as empty. And as stupid and embarrassed as she was now, there was something inexplainable about how antsy she had felt that night. Like she literally could not sit still. At that point, she almost worried she would have left the house no matter what text she got. There was another thing Jimmy had said that worried her more though.
"How long?" Joe asked, not having the nerves to embroider the question. Jimmy's eyes turned hard and away from her.
"A few days, I think. It's hard to tell..." He blew air out of his mouth. "She wanted to know about you and Derek. Almost obsessed. At first I thought it was because she worried about the mate-bond, but I suppose in the end it was more psychological in nature. She asked me how it felt when you helped her instead of me that night. She saw me, you know, making my escape."
The distinct sensation of Joe's organs churning against each other made her shudder. She thought Jimmy was dead and Kate was alive. That's what the first-aid class taught her. Help them who can be helped.
Jimmy surprised her by giving her a small smile. "I appreciate your concern, Delgado. But there is nothing Kate Argent could say or do to me that is any worse to what I have already done to myself."
"How long have you been in therapy?" Joe found herself asking and cringed at the sound of it. No tact, no sympathy, only questions. Nosy Josie. She tried to explain: "You mentioned anger-management and unless court-ordered, and you don't have any convictions, I checked, that's usually not a viable option until after some counselling."
"Since I was fifteen," Jimmy mumbled and stared out the kitchen window. Joe saw his reflection and how his eyes glowed purple. "A proper psychiatrist, thank God, not her."
Joe nodded, as that had been her expectations. "Grief counseling for Paige."
"No." Jimmy shook his head slowly, almost a wry smile on his lips. "Cognitive behavior therapy for suicide attempt." He might as well have punched her in the stomach and Joe bent over the counter with wide eyes. "Although I did more than attempt, I suppose, given the color of my eyes. I succeeded."
No air left in her lungs, Joe gasped softly. "Jimmy, I..."
"Prescription pills, my father's. Overdose. I fell asleep in my bed and woke up in the hospital, getting my stomach pumped after they revived me with CPR." Jimmy smiled again as he noticed Joe's silent crying. "I am faring a lot better now, Joe. You see, Paige's death was covered up as a suicide. And much like Derek, I blamed myself for it."
He inhaled slowly, still speaking in a calm voice, detached from the subject. "It has taken years of counselling to realize neither of us are to blame, really. Derek was a gullible child, much like I was impressionable. Joe, I want you to understand, I did Peter's bidding because I had to, not because I particularly agreed with his methods."
It sounded like there was more to the story, but he never got that far when Joe's phone rang. The number wasn't saved and Joe steeled herself for Kate's husky voice on the other side, but was instead faced with a lot of rustling sounds, almost like someone running and breathing hard.
"Hello?"
The voice came desperate, far away from the microphone. "Joe!"
So much panic in one word, so much fear, that Joe could only press her phone closer to her ear, as if that would make any difference. "Erica? What's going on? Where are you?"
No answer, just more running, a few sharp slithering noises and then a grunt.
"Erica? Erica!"
A crackling noise. The line went dead and Joe felt the loud beep grow inside her skull until it threatened to split open. She only noticed she dropped the phone when it clattered to the floor.
Seems like there's two things I just can't help: long chapters and cliffhangers. I swear I have no idea how this chapter ended up this long...
Also, this was supposed to be more lighthearted, but then it just wasn't. Joe was, understandably, pissed off after what happened in the last chapter. But hey, at least Jimmy's talking and Derek's doing...something?
Disclaimer: I promise there's a Halegado-kiss (Joseferek-kiss) happening before season 3.
For anyone confused about the timeline, the events of today's chapter would have been the day after Gerard used the kanima to threaten Melissa McCall at the house, same day as the lacrosse championship game.
Thank you for reading as always and I hope you enjoyed it :) Please let me know what you think in a review, they mean the world to me! Happy you guys enjoyed "The Realist" as well, hopefully Derek's perspective helps round out the last chapters.
Thank you to you guys who review (almost) every single chapter, you are so awesome I don't even have words. Love you guys and have a nice weekend!