Chapter 47: The Returned

"We're sorry. You have reached a number that is disconnected or no longer in service."

Beep beep beep

"We're sorry. You have reached-"

"Damn it!" Joe slammed her phone down after re-dialling Erica's number for the fifteenth time now. She glared at Jimmy by her side. "Can you please drive a little faster?"

In her car, Jimmy sat hunched in the front seat and followed every speed-limit despite Joe's insistence they were in a crisis. He had snatched the car keys out of her hands when she made a mad dash for the door following Erica's call. Joe had blown up, thinking he was going to try and stop her from leaving, daring him to follow up on his threat. She had yelled for several minutes, using the words 'sixteen years old!' a lot.

When she paused to catch her breath, he explained that because of the morphine, she was not fit for driving anywhere. So he would do it, but could she please go change to something more suitable for running around in the woods looking for a lost girl? At his insistence, she also remembered to arm herself with her full arsenal of weapons, including the handgun he had kept for her since the night of the full moon. Taser, shotgun and 9mm pistol. For some reason, she felt like the Wal-Mart version of Kate Argent.

He declined her offer of a gun, saying something along the lines of 'being the weapon', which was a cliche, but she would let it slide.

At least Jimmy must have realized arguing with her about going to find Erica would be futile, and instead tried to hold his word to Derek about keeping her safe by making sure she was 'fit for fight'. Not that they were rushing blindly into the forest anyway, which had been her initial attempt of a plan. Jimmy drove them to the high school where the parking lot had emptied out after the lacrosse match. A few cars were still there though, including Aunt Mel's old clunker and Stiles' Jeep, so that meant Scott hadn't left yet. Good, as they would need his nose.

"They're probably in the locker roms," Jimmy offered and led the way, but Joe stopped him from going across the field. They would be easy targets and she directed him so their silhouettes would blend in with the bleachers. Better paranoid than killed. They stopped dead when a few guys in lacrosse-gear exited the building, talking animatedly and gesturing wildly.

"Dude, turn on your senses and warn me next time," Joe hissed when she got her breath back. She put the shotgun down as she had come too close to gunning down a pair of Scott's teammates. So much for Derek's 'high alert'-theory.

Terse indignance in his voice as Jimmy waved her on. "I will have you know, I have not been doing this for that long."

"I thought you had taken steps," Joe hissed back. "Take more steps."

Unfortunately for her adrenaline-riddled brain, Jimmy did not rise to the bait as easily as Derek. They entered the school building and unlike the last time she and Jimmy made their way to the locker room, the lights were still on, making it almost bearable. At least until Jimmy froze behind her and she turned slowly, heart hammering in her ears. The tense atmosphere made it less funny when he sniffed the air and the disturbed look on his face removed any kind of humor from the situation at all.

His voice was barely a whisper: "No...No, that's impossible."

Joe put her shotgun up and scanned the hallway, looking for anything to indicate movement or threat. Nothing. She glanced back at Jimmy who had visibly paled. "What?"

He shook his head. "I'm not sure. It shouldn't be possible." She saw the faint glimmer of purple in his eyes as he gave her a hard look. "Keep your gun up."

"Dude, remember what I said about that mysticism?"

Joe did as told though and pressed the stock tight against her shoulder, just like her dad taught her. She fell into a commando-walk, also just like her dad taught her. Knees slightly bent, rolling heel to toe, trying to keep both her eyeline and barrel steady. It also made the least noise, but if there were werewolves waiting on the other end they would hear her heavy thudding heartbeat.

The closer they got to the locker rooms, the more she could detect Derek. She doubted Jimmy would be that scared of Derek based on their altercation earlier, which meant there was something else, which meant Derek might be in danger. Just the thought made her flex her trigger finger outside the trigger guard, itching to shoot.

Jimmy did not let his guard down when they got closer, still sniffing the air with an increasingly worried expression. They reached the doors to the locker room and spread out on either side. Eyes locked, Joe waited for Jimmy to nod that he was ready and she counted under her breath. 3, 2, 1-

"Holy shit!"

Scott swore from inside and Joe forgot all about counting. She tore around the corner with Jimmy closeby, shotgun up and ready to take down whatever threat awaited. Everyone froze as they rushed through the door. Joe and Jimmy stared at the scene and four pairs of eyes stared back.

Including the ones belonging to Peter Hale.

"Shoot him!"

Joe reacted even before the order came through and fired.

It would have hit its mark — Peter Hale's head — if Derek's hand hadn't swept out to angle the barrel up as she pulled the trigger. The loud blast echoed and all the werewolves flinched while plaster rained from the ceiling tiles as opposed to Peter Hale's brain matter.

Peter Hale(!) had ducked with his hands over his head, but looked to be unharmed, though slightly shocked as he stared at Joe. She stared right back.

Derek, for some reason only in a t-shirt, gave her a pointed look, still holding the shotgun barrel. "So him you listen to?"

He referred to Jimmy, but Joe could not tear away from Peter Hale! to look at either of them.

"You never gave me an order I wanted to follow," Joe said breathlessly, staring at Peter Hale and not comprehending. It was definitely him, definitely looking a lot better than last time she saw him and definitely alive. "What in the Stephen King's Pet Sematary hell is that?" Seeing as no one else was falling over themselves to fight the guy, even Scott stood frozen over by an open locker, Joe put the shotgun down. "Just, what?"

"Hello, Joe," said Peter Hale with a slight smile when it became apparent she was not shooting him again. He gave Jimmy a slightly more puzzled look. "And you. How," Peter did not look too pleased at the sight, "strange a coincidence to see you here when I am quite confident I killed you. You look," he tilted his head, "different."

Instead of answering, Jimmy looked to be holding himself back by the very edge of his calming meditation tapes. He let out a low rumbling growl.

"Oh, I see," said Peter with palpable enjoyment. "Interesting."

"So you're trying to convince me you didn't know?" Derek asked Peter, who in turn gave a shrug. Derek looked at Jimmy instead. "Either of you?"

Jimmy, near snarling, shook his head. His gaze was locked at Peter, more anger and fear than Joe had ever seen before. An act, maybe? She could not help her mind that raised the question. A good act in that case. Could anyone fake that amount of tension in their body?

"I'm more concerned with the fact that you know and is currently doing absolutely nothing about it," Joe demanded of Derek, stepping in front of Jimmy to shield him somewhat. She gestured with a strained arm to the previously dead werewolf mass-murderer. "I mean, how?"

"Worm moon." Jimmy's voice sounded guttural. He seemed to visibly fight to get himself back in control. "First full moon in March." Another deep breath as something dawned on him and he looked disgusted, but it was hard to tell if it was because of Peter or himself. "The girl."

"Girl? What girl? Do you mean Lydia?" Something dawned on Joe as well. "Wait, the full moon was more than a week ago." Joe sent Derek a suspicious glare. "Did you know about this?"

"He had to," Jimmy said before Derek could answer and ignored the exasperated look Derek gave him. "Needed his blood to go through with it."

Feeling like she was in the midst of a tennis match, Joe turned back to Derek.

"So you've known for a week and a half?" His blank stare told her everything she needed to know. Joe strangled imaginary-Derek in the air in front of her with her free hand, seeing and not caring about his annoyed frown. "Oh my God, Derek!" She gestured harshly between them and sounded out the word with her hand: "Com-mu-ni-ca-tion, goddamnit!"

No response other than that annoyed look that she was even there. So this was what Doctor Deaton had talked about! Whooeee, that was so much worse than she could have imagined.

Joe threw her head back and let out a frustrated scoff. "So, we're zero for three then. No one died that night! I've been going through all this post-traumatic stress for nothing!"

Peter leaned in, as if hard of hearing. "Excuse me?"

"Oh!" Joe turned to Peter with malicious glee. "Ho, ho, ho, you don't know, do you?"

Joe practically danced, waving the shotgun so much that Derek snatched it out of her grip so she would not accidentally give someone an impromptu haircut. She let him take it and used the chance to skip closer to Peter Hale, who looked just as alive as when he came to pick up her aunt for a date, only now he had a beard and slicked back hair.

"Kate Argent's back. Yeah. I know." She took some pleasure in watching his content smirk fade. Gesturing to both him and Derek, she said: "So it turns out both of you need to work on your throat-slashing techniques."

Peter did not look as shocked as he looked sick to his stomach.

"And how long have you known that, Derek?" Joe asked loudly over her shoulder. "Since the night of the full moon? What a coincidence!"

Derek gave her an unimpressed and disproving frown. "Are you done?"

"No! No, I'm not done! When your dead uncle who tried to kill us and was lit on fire and then got his throat cut open by your claws is suddenly standing in the high school locker room like nothing happened I am not done!" With harsh movements, she shook out her curls, trying to let off some steam. She wanted to yell more, wanted to scream, wanted to fight, but found nothing more to say. "Okay! Now I'm sort of done."

"Great," said Derek with a sardonic smile and his eyes flashed red. "Because I wanted to ask Scott what he and Gerard was talking about at the Sheriff's station."

They all turned to look at Scott and Isaac who had remained frozen by an open locker. Scott clutched a shirt, while Isaac held onto a shoe. Joe's eyebrows rose, at both the sight and the thought of Scott conspiring with Gerard Argent.

"Okay, hold on," Scott said and swallowed hard. "He- he threatened to kill my mom — and Joe. I had to get close to him." He nearly stuttered. "What was I supposed to do?"

"I'm gonna go with Scott on this one." Peter gave a wistful smile, apparently recovering from his alleged shock at the news about Kate and asked Isaac: "Have you seen his mom? She's gorgeous."

Joe didn't even think. Hearing that Gerard had threatened Aunt Mel had already made her adrenaline soar up. In one fluid motion, she pulled out the 9mm from her waistband, flipped off the safety and pulled the slider back to chamber a round — and shot once, hitting the floor between Peter's feet. With her limited experience with handguns, it was a lucky shot he didn't lose a toe.

The whole room jumped at the bang, but Peter most of all. He glanced both down at the broken tile and up at her manic face.

"You come near her again," Joe had an hysteric lilt to her voice, "you as much as think about her, the next bullet will go through your head! I'd like to see you heal your way out of that one, asshole." She shrugged excessively as Peter gave her a disturbed look, like she was not acting according to his expectations. "Look, I'm gonna shoot someone tonight and it might as well be you, Hale!"

"Jesus Christ!" It was Scott who found his voice first after the incessant ringing of the shot died away. He removed his hands over his ears with some care. "Where do you keep getting all these guns?"

"I have a sort of subscription going," Joe said and strolled closer to the pair of teens. "Every time Kate tries to kill me, I get one of her weapons." She grinned. "Just need one more stamp before I got the whole collection!"

She heard Derek's voice behind her muttering: "How much morphine is she on?"

"A lot," Jimmy answered weakly.

"Not enough!" barked Joe and put her hand with the gun down, but not away. "We're losing daylight here." She ignored Scott's comment about it being nighttime and pointed at Isaac with her finger. "You! Where's Erica?"

"Uh..." Isaac was not prepared to have the spotlight shifted onto him or being pointed at by strange women holding guns, even if it was turned away from him. "She and Boyd took off."

"Yes, I know that," Joe tried to keep her voice a bit more level and failed completely. "But do you know where? What direction?"

"What's going on?" Derek asked from behind her, sounding more confused than concerned.

"I don't know! Okay? I got a phone call and all I hear is running and Erica saying my name once and these sort of shwish shwish-noises-"

Scott's forehead smoothed out as realization hit him. "Like arrows."

"Exactly, which brings me to my next question!" She gave Scott a big grin. "Where's your girlfriend, Scott?"

"She-" He stopped himself and stepped away from the locker to glare at her. "Hang on a second. You are not shooting Allison!"

"I'm probably not shooting Allison," Joe corrected and he gave her a displeased frown equal of Derek Hale himself. "I'll just shoot Allison a little bit?" At his twitching uneven jaw, she relented. "Okay, fine, as long as she doesn't shoot me, I won't shoot her, how's that sound?"

"I thought morphine was supposed to be calming," Peter whispered conspiratorially somewhere behind her.

Derek sounded tired. "All evidence points to the contrary." He sighed and stepped up to Joe, gently lowering her hand that still held the pistol, reminding her to keep the sights pointed downwards. Even though he looked angry, he still managed to keep his voice somewhat even. "If the Argents have Erica and Boyd, that means they're after me. It's a trap. They'll expect me to come for them."

"Won't they just torture them to make them give you up?" Scott asked.

"Oh, no, they'll torture them," said Peter, sounding too happy about the fact. "Even if they know Erica and Boyd would never give up Derek."

"Why not?" Joe asked now, furrowed brows. Derek looked to the ground, nearly ashamed.

"Bond's too strong," it was Jimmy who answered first. "Between an Alpha and their Beta."

"Didn't they leave?" Joe asked, genuinly confused. She turned to Derek. "Are you still their Alpha?"

"Bonds aren't easily broken," Derek said darkly, not looking at her. "Even if they found a new pack, it would take time and effort before they committed themselves to a new Alpha. The Argents know this. It's a trap."

"For you," Joe said and pointed to herself. "They won't expect me. With a shotgun." He gave her a tired look and she shrugged. "And a 9mm." She took a second to consider before adding: "And a...Jimmy."

"Wait!" Scott nearly shouted, making her jump. "That's Jimmy Carter?" He waved at the stoic figure still lingering in the doorway, as far away from Peter as he could get. "I thought you looked familiar. Why do you- when did you start looking like that?"

Isaac tried to discreetly ask Scott: "Uh, who is he?"

"Joe's friend who helped her free Derek a while back, was working for Peter the whole time and tried to shoot her, but was bit by Peter first. Been missing since."

"I did not bite Jimmy, I ripped his throat out," Peter supplied helpfully. He sounded thoughtful. "With my teeth, so I suppose that counts as a bite."

Isaac nodded slowly, as if this was way beyond his paygrade. "Okay. Good to know." He looked at Jimmy. "How are you alive?"

"I planned ahead," Jimmy snarled, but looked straight at Peter. Joe found herself stepping between them again, as if keeping Jimmy focused on her would avoid a werewolf-altercation in the boys' locker room. Jimmy just nodded at Joe, as if he understood what she was doing.

"So if the Argents took Erica and Boyd, they might be the ones who took Stiles as well." Scott's hands tightened around the shirt he was holding and Joe realized it was Stiles' jersey. "To get to me."

Joe waited for someone to elaborate and when no one did, she barked: "Excuse me, what? Stiles is missing? How did you lose Stiles?"

"I didn't lose him, he got kidnapped," Scott defended weakly, brows pulled down softly.

"Oh God, so we are not one, not two, but three teenagers in deficit," Joe said and pinched the bridge of her nose, resting her elbows on her waist, gun still in hand. "Okay, I got an idea, just hear me out here." She moved to stand slightly to the side, increasing the distance to Derek for safety reasons. When she had everyone's attention, she pitched: "GPS-collars! We can get a multi-pack at Wal-Mart and-"

Scott groaned. "Really, Joe? Dog jokes?"

"You're the one standing with Stiles' shirt in your hands, my little K-9 cousin," Joe pointed out and shrugged at their disappointed looks. "Considering everything, yes, I think I'm entitled to a few dog jokes!" She blew air out of her mouth in a harsh noise. "Unfortunately that was the end of my repertoire for now unless I can figure out the one about a backyard. So, why are we still standing here looking pretty when we know Kate and Gerard probably have them strapped up to some electrical torture device?"

"In order to stop Gerard, we need to take out the kanima. The reason I'm standing here doing nothing," Derek gave Joe a quick sarcastic smile and gestured to Peter, "about him is because he knows a way to stop Jackson, maybe even save him."

Isaac raised his eyebrows. "Well, that's very helpful except Jackson's dead."

"What?" said Joe and Derek at the same time, both staring down Isaac who tried to take a step back into the locker.

"Yeah, Jackson's dead," Scott confirmed in a numb voice. "It just happened on the field."

"Oh my God!" Joe did not even know where to begin. To Scott she could only shake her head and ask: "Why did you not lead with that?"

"Because you literally started shooting when you came in!"

"Well, hello!" Joe snapped and gestured at Peter Hale. "I thought he was a zombie! Go for the head!" She noticed that Derek and Peter were giving each other dark looks, ignoring their squabbling and Jimmy on the side were glaring at both of them. "Okay, what's going on now?"

"Yeah, why is no one taking this as good news?" Isaac asked with a light twist to his brows.

Peter spoke slowly, looking mostly at Derek, probably communicating beyond words. If they both had been werewolves their entire lives, she wondered how much of their conversation happened unnoticable to her. "Because if Jackson is dead, it didn't just happen. Gerard wanted it to happen."

"But why?" Derek asked.

"Well, that's exactly what we need to figure out. And something tells me the window of opportunity is closing. Quickly."

"Okay, but if the kanima is out of the picture, what's stopping us from breaking Erica and the guys out?" Joe asked, leaning on one hip.

Derek raised his eyebrows and let out a weary sigh, as if she was really making him question this whole mate-thing. "Apart from the hunters you mean?"

"Okay I count like four of you guys and one of me," Joe said, gesturing to the room at large. "How are they supposed to take all of us?"

"We are not storming down the gates of the Argents, and even if we were, you would not be joining!" Derek snapped, clearly reaching the end of what little patience he usually had. "We don't even know where they're keeping them!"

"So we're just gonna let them torture our friends in the meantime while we 'figure stuff out'?" Joe could not believe this guy. Or any of these guys! "They have Erica and Boyd and Stiles," she counted them out on her fingers, "who are all the ripe age of sixteen-years-old, literal children, locked up somewhere, okay?"

"I know that!"

"So why are you not doing anything?" Joe yelled and stuck the pistol back into the waistband of her jeans so she would not fall for the temptation to just shoot him a little. She realized the morphine or stress or combination was messing with her mind, she was not acting rational, but so be it! The situation did not call for much rationality.

Derek's eyes flashed red and she saw his canines when he snarled. "They left the pack!"

"And you let them leave knowing what was out there!" Joe bit back undeterred. "That Kate was out there!"

He let out a sarcastic laugh, so far from humor it ended up on the other side. "And you're the one who saved Kate's life in the first place!"

Aware of Peter's newfound interest, Joe just shook her head, not taking the bait even if his words stung. "So she could get arrested and tried by a jury of her peers instead of being turned into some kind of martyr at the hands of a psychopath!"

She saw Peter roll his eyes a bit at the name-calling and Derek scoff at the sentence at large which only added more gasoline to her fire.

"If we're gonna go there, who was the one who bit Jackson and turned him into some giant snake monster in the first place? Yeah, if we tally up mistakes here, Derek, I think we both know which side the scale is gonna tip!"

"The only reason I bit Jackson was because your cousin couldn't stay off the damn lacrosse field until he got himself under control!"

"He wouldn't have needed to stay in control if your psycho uncle hadn't attacked him in the woods! And what about Erica and Boyd? Is that Scott's fault too? Or are they being held somewhere and tortured because of you and no one else?"

Half-tempted to just shoot him as he took a step forward with livid rage in his eyes, she never got the chance as Jimmy came to her side, purple eyes glowing and his teeth lengthening.

"No!" Joe put a finger into both Jimmy's and Derek's chests, keeping them at arm's width. "Stop it, both of you, we are not doing this again!"

It seemed to have some effect, at least they stopped coming towards each other, even if their eyes were still locked and nothing about their body-language translated into relaxation. Jimmy swallowed harshly and his eyes dimmed.

"Oh no, that is just more than I had expected, Mr. Carter," Peter said with a slow clap behind Derek. All turned to look at him, his expression locked between fascination and resentment. Apparently the purple eyes meant something to him, but it could not have been what Jimmy told her back at the house. Not unless Peter was a total sociopath. "Well done. As worrisome as it is, I am impressed. Normally I would bequest Derek to include you in his pack, but I can tell even if you are in no need for an Alpha, you seem to have found one anyway."

Jimmy retreated, face fully back to normal, but with a hard glint in his eyes. "Bite me."

As she looked at Derek in confusion, he looked at her in return. Jimmy was not acting particularly bonded to Derek, as he implored betas to be. It was not until she realized everyone was looking at her before she let out a laugh. They could not be serious. Physically impossible. Besides, she had enough bonds going around to random guys to last her for a while.

"You know what he is?" Derek, at least somewhat back in control, demanded to know of Peter. He in turn shrugged and returned to his default state of smug-looking.

A cover, Joe thought, keeping himself useful when it was just revealed his proposed solution for Jackson was in vain, as the guy was dead. Joe glanced over at Scott, who did not seem particularly phased by that fact, but he must be so focused on Stiles' disappearance.

At Peter's lack of response, she saw Derek's jaw flex, but he was restraining himself. She had gotten used enough to read him and he was definitely holding back what he was feeling and focusing on what was important. He scoffed at Peter. "Of course, since it's weird, you'd be the expert."

Derek turned to her, taking in a long breath as if her scent should be calming. "Rushing to the Argents is exactly what they want. We need to regroup and figure out a next move."

"How about I shoot Kate Argent, how's that for a next move?"

Her statement was met with utter silence until Derek crossed his arms and said: "You're speaking Spanish again."

"Vaya cosa," Joe said with an exaggerated shrug. Big deal. "Again, California, learn Spanish."

"Ya lo hice, ese no es el punto." I already did, that's not the point. Derek's accent actually sounded slightly Mexican, so he probably learned it on the streets and not in a classroom. He then decided to ignore her in favor of Peter. "What did you have in mind?"

Apparently, there was some kind of bestiary-thing in the Hale's possession as well. It would still be at the house, by his estimate. Guess that gave them a temporary next move.

They sidled out from the locker rooms, all eyeing each other warily, not an ounce of trust between any of them apparently. Except Scott and Joe, of course, and probably Joe and Jimmy. She and Scott walked in the front while he filled her in on what she'd missed, on how Gerard had threatened to kill someone during the game if he didn't hand over Derek and then tried to kill Isaac in the locker room with a broadsword.

Isaac seemed to follow on Scott's heel and gave her weird glances until she eventually raised her eyebrows at him in question.

"So, uh, you're not gonna start taking your clothes of again, are you?" Isaac asked, sounding equally intrigued and terrified at the prospect. Joe took her time to consider this.

"I mean, probably not. But the night's still young, so who knows?" Joe walked a bit ahead, eager to get to the car and actually do something. The guys took their clothes off all the time, what about equality of the sexes? "Tell you what, if everyone else keeps their shirt on, I'll keep mine on as well."

Isaac faltered a bit, his brows twisting together again, somehow looking up at her even though he towered over her. "That's...that's not exactly a threat." He flinched when Derek came from behind and grabbed his shoulder.

"Depends on your point of view, Isaac," Derek said and smiled, or at least, showed his teeth.

Joe's falsetto-tone echoed in the hallway: "Oh no, Joe, I'm not jealous."

Without turning around, she could hear Derek's extended inhale. She could also hear Peter's delighted tone as he seemed to pat Derek on the back: "Good luck with that one. I think you will need it."

That one?

Third time's the charm, Joe thought, and span around with her weapon already drawn. Two thin probes shot out and hit Peter straight in his chest as 50,000 agonizing Volts took him down. He spasmed, hands coming into his chest like a cripple, and crashed to the floor.

Without too much hurry, Derek sighed, reached down and snapped the probes out of his previously dead mass-murdering uncle's chest. No current keeping him rigid, Peter slumped forward, face down on the floor. Derek looked at her, like he was seriously questioning why he was bothering with this, and yanked once on the wires so the taser dropped from her hand and clattered on the floor.

"What? I told you. Don't talk about me like I'm not here! Now let's go, people to save and ass to be kicked! If you don't get a move on, I'm leaving without you."

"What the hell happened to 'keep her indoors'?"

"You are perfectly welcome to try and send her home, Hale."

"Sh-should she be driving?"

"She isn't, I still have the car keys. Thank God."

Derek, Jimmy and Isaac froze when Joe turned around, showing them she still had her handgun and was fully prepared to use it. Scott just kept walking, putting his arm out to turn her back around in the direction of the exit.

"This is the ice-rink all over again," he mumbled and she stuck out her tongue at him.

In the parking lot, she tried to snag the car keys back from Jimmy, but he was infuriatingly calm in explaining exactly why she should not be driving. Derek fully ignored her except for wordlessly handing the shotgun back to Jimmy, which did not make her frustration go down in any way. In the end, she got in the passenger seat of her Ford while Jimmy at least put more pressure on the pedals when trying to keep up with Derek's Camaro. Scott and Isaac followed in Aunt Mel's car, as she had hitched a ride with the ambulance that picked up Jackson.

"Your cousin is planning something," Jimmy said as they drove through the darkened roads into the Preserve, heading for the burnt-out Hale house.

Joe snorted. "Have you met Scott? I love him like he's my own flesh and blood, which he is, but he is not exactly stealthy."

"His heartbeat betrayed him several times. If he's not actively plotting, he at least knows more than he would let on." Jimmy's bearded jaw moved, as if he was chewing the insides of his mouth.

"Takes one to know one, eh, Jimmy?" Joe said with a theatrical wink. She leaned back in the seat and put her arm on the door so she could look over at him. "So, as your Alpha-"

He let out a humorless grunt. "Please refrain from taking Peter Hale's words too much into consideration. He is a master manipulator and by the looks of it, he already has his claws in Derek. No pun intended."

At the mention of that, Joe fell silent. Every night for the last week and a half, Derek came to see her at the hospital. Their conversations were not always as eventful as the night she confronted him about clamming up, but they had at least talked somewhat. He had deliberately decided not to tell her about Peter, like Peter had not killed her friend — although he was now sitting next to her fully alive — and held her up in a chokehold until she was sure she had taken her final breath.

When she had seen Kate Argent up at the cavern, her first instinct had been to tell Derek somehow, in any way possible, wanting to scream out just in the odd chance he would hear it. And how he acted tonight...Tired. Annoyed. Angry. All emotions she was used to from him, but not directed so much at her.

Things had not been the same since the night of the full moon.

Doctor Deaton's words about the pills, when she first requested them, came back to haunt her now. They were not intended for regular consumption. It dampened the bond, Derek said. One pill would last her one night. And she still felt as detached from him now as she had that night. Maybe Doctor Deaton got the dosages wrong or maybe the fact that it wasn't an exact science kicked in. What if the bond had not been temporarily dampened, but completely broken?

"You okay?" she asked Jimmy after a while, glancing over at him who had stayed uncharacteristically quiet. With the bomb he dropped just before Erica had called, she got the feeling it was somehow related to Peter and he had seemed genuinly shocked at seeing him alive. "With Peter and...everything?"

"Just thinking," Jimmy replied, but not harshly. "The one time I thought I outsmarted Peter Hale...and he had a Plan B too." Clearing his throat, as if those words were not really meant for her, he straightened up in his seat. "I did not share my history with you to make you feel guilty, Delgado, it was only because you asked."

"I'm not asking if you're okay because I feel guilty, Jimmy," Joe replied instantly, "it's because I care about you. You don't have to do this, you know? No one's gonna blame you for sitting this one out. This isn't your fight."

"And it's yours?"

Her face scrunched up in a grimace. "By proxy? Okay, the kanima's probably not my problem either, but Erica definitely is."

"Why? Who is she? The only thing I have gathered is her age and you don't seem like the kind to prey on high schoolers."

Joe rolled her eyes at Jimmy for the tactless attempt of a joke. Filled with some inexplainable rush of energy, Joe pulled her feet up in her seat and thumped them against the dashboard. She glared out of the window into the impenetrable darkness of the Preserve, wondering if Erica was out there somewhere. "One of Derek's betas."

"And?"

"And my friend," Joe admitted slowly.

"Which is exactly why I'm not going to 'sit this one out'," Jimmy said matter-of-factly as they approached the Hale house. Behind them, Aunt Mel's clunker was following the same path. Jimmy glanced over at her. "I consider you my friend, Delgado, and if you don't wipe that ridiculous grin off your face I'll stop the car this second."

Before she could even think of a reply, too busy smiling, Jimmy continued:

"Besides, I am a hundred percent positive you're going to get yourself killed without me tonight and I just can't have that on my conscience right now."

They pulled up to the Hale house and Jimmy was already out of the car before she thought to ask: "Hey. What do you mean 'right now'? Jimmy? Hey! What do you mean 'right now'?"

No answer. With a heavy sigh, Joe unbuckled and followed him. This was gonna be a long night.

So, obviously Joe is not completely in her right mind in this chapter. She's still on some heavy meds.

Also, hope I managed to keep the scene from being too confusing - it's always a risk when there's many characters at once.

As always, thank you for reading and please let me know what you think! I live for feedback and although it's nice to see the view-number stay high, I always love to hear your thoughts on a chapter to make sure I'm not derailing the story to something unreadable! There's a reason I'm not posting this story all at once, because I use your reviews to tweak (or even change completely) the next chapters. So, you know, please leave a review, they matter a lot! :)

Hope everyone is nearly done with their Christmas preparations (if you celebrate Christmas). Personally this will be my first Christmas away from my family because of Corona (I'll be with my in-laws, so don't feel too sorry for me), but this will be my first Christmas with daylight as I'm originally from north of the Polar circle and it's nighttime 24hrs a day there now. Is it weird I miss it? Sun and Christmas just don't mix for me...

Edit: Sorry if the Spanish is flawed! Using a translator because for some reason my school only offered German as a third language. PM me if you want to help me with some Spanish dialogue in later chapters :)