Poison and Wine

Thursday morning, Hailey woke up with a start the second she heard her alarm go off. She stretched her arms and legs after realizing she had been sleeping in an uncomfortable position, curled up in a ball. Stiles snored loudly beside her and she turned to see him sprawled out over most of the bed. Her eyes widened when she remembered Derek’s promise of calling her first thing that morning and she grabbed her phone.

She unlocked it as quickly as possible and frowned when there weren’t any messages or missed calls. Her heart started to pound as it all started to sink in again. Derek was missing. She turned over and shook Stiles. His arm flailed out to push her away and he rolled over, his face landing in the pillow.

“Five more minutes Dad,” he mumbled into the pillow.

“Stiles,” she sighed, shaking him some more. “Come on, wake up.”

“Hailey? Why are you in my room?” he asked, sitting up quickly and rubbing his eyes. Hailey laughed and shook her head.

“Stiles, you’re in my room you idiot,” she said as he ran a hand over his hair and looked around. He let out a puff of air and nodded his head.

“Right, yeah I remember now,” he said, stretching his arms over his head as he yawned. “Did Derek call you yet?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I haven’t tried calling him myself though.”

“Do you want me to do it?” he asked, holding his hand out for the phone.

“Please,” she said, nodding her head and handing it over. “I don’t think I can handle hearing his voicemail message again.”

Stiles hit send on the phone and held it to his ear, keeping his eyes on Hailey. She crossed her legs and shook her foot as her nerves took over. With each second that passed the frown on Stiles’ face grew. Finally he pulled the phone away and ended the call.

“Hails,” he said with a sigh, scooting over on the bed to wrap his arm around her shoulders as her head fell forward, tears dripping down. “There’s got to be a good explanation for this.”

“Like what, Stiles?” she asked, frustration clear in her voice. Stiles huffed and thought for a moment.

“Maybe when you told him Jackson was here last night he dropped his phone right away and came straight here.”

“Then why didn’t Scott answer it? This morning anyway, Derek said he was locking him up in some way.”

“He might still be locked up for all we know,” Stiles said, shrugging his shoulders. “But I have no idea where Derek took him. He changes the location every month.”

“Okay so that could be a valid reason… but what if it’s not?”

“Maybe it’s in his car. I saw it parked a few houses up, we can look in it when we leave for school.”

“I’m so not going to be able to focus in school at all today,” she said, shaking her head and running her fingers through her messy hair.

“I know but it’s better to distract yourself than sit around here all day by yourself.”

“Can’t we just play hooky?” she asked, batting her eyelashes.

“And do what? Sit here all day waiting for him to call?”

“No, we’d go out and look for him,” she said as if it was obvious.

“Hailey he could be anywhere.”

“Well let’s try to be logical,” she said, sitting Indian style and turning to face Stiles. “Who would have the knowledge to find a way to hurt Jackson and help Derek? At least, I think they were helping Derek.”

“It could be Deaton. Possibly even Chris Argent,” Stiles said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Allison’s Dad?” she asked and he nodded his head. “Do you think if it was him he would have told her?”

“Probably.”

“I’m going to call her,” she said, reaching for her phone. She hit send and listened as it rang a few times.

“Hello?” Allison answered sounding tired.

“Hi, did I wake you?”

“No, just haven’t fully woken up yet. What’s up?”

“This is going to sound kind of weird but did your Dad injure Jackson and help Derek last night?” Hailey asked, crossing her fingers and holding her breath.

“Um, I don’t know. I know he was out last night looking for Jackson. I never heard him come home though so it’s possible. Let me check,” she said and Hailey heard as Allison started walking around. Stiles cocked his head and gave Hailey a quizzical look.

“She’s looking to see if her Dad got home,” she said, pulling the phone away from her mouth.

“Hailey?” Allison asked as Hailey brought the phone closer to her mouth again.

“I’m here.”

“He’s not here. Let me try calling him and I’ll get back to you.”

“Thanks Allison,” Hailey said, hanging up and letting out a sigh.

“So?” Stiles asked.

“Mr. Argent isn’t there. She’s going to call him.”

“I guess we’re going to play hooky. You better be good at playing sick.”

“What about your Dad?” Hailey asked, raising an eyebrow.

“He’s working a double,” Stiles said with a smile. “I just have to be home by the time he gets home tonight.”

“Okay but for now you’re going to have to hide so that when my Dad comes in here looking for me he doesn’t freak out.”

“Closet or under the bed?” he asked with a sigh.

****

*Derek’s POV*

Derek groaned as he rolled over, clutching his side in the process. He looked down but there wasn’t anything there, just his torn shirt. Looking around he realized he was in an abandoned warehouse. Noises coming from the left caught his attention. He stood up to check it out, being very cautious.

He remembered he had been fighting with Jackson in front of Hailey’s house. Jackson had gotten him really good on the side and on his back with his claws and it hurt like hell. More than it should have. His vision had gone blurry and the last thing he remembered was hearing another car pull up and then he was dropped to the ground.

Rounding the corner carefully Derek peered over his shoulder. Someone was standing with his or her back to him. Derek tried to catch a scent but nothing was registering. He shook his head to clear his mind when the person turned and Derek realized it was Chris Argent.

“Argent?” he asked, his voice raspy.

“Glad to see you’ve finally come around,” Chris said, crossing his arms as Derek came all the way around the corner to face him.

“What happened?”

“I showed up and Jackson had you in the air by his claws. He threw you to the ground when he heard me. I hit him in the stomach with one of our wolfs bane bullets. Turns out, he had a more powerful form dusted on his claws,” he said and Derek furrowed his eyebrows.

“So how is it gone?”

“I took you to Deaton first. He gave you an antidote but it wasn’t one hundred percent. That’s why you’re just waking up now; your body needed the time to heal completely. I’ve never seen a form of it so strong.”

“Did Deaton know what it was?” Derek asked, crossing his arms.

“Apparently it’s the most poisonous plant to exist, aconitum ferox. Also known as Indian Aconite. You’re lucky to be alive,” Chris said and Derek inhaled sharply, his gaze softening.

“Thank you,” Derek said, nodding his head towards Chris. Chris nodded his head back in acknowledgement and cleared his throat.

“I don’t… I don’t want to make this awkward… but it has come to my attention that you’re dating Hailey Miner,” Chris said, raising an eyebrow.

“That’s none of your business,” Derek said coldly.

“She’s seventeen, Derek.”

“Thank you for pointing that out as if I didn’t know,” Derek said, rolling his eyes and turning to walk away.

“Derek, wait,” Chris said, taking large strides over and putting a hand on Derek’s arm.

Derek whipped around and punched Chris in the jaw, pulling his other arm out of his grip. Chris stumbled backwards clutching his face and stretching his jaw. Derek stood facing Chris with his fists clenched and breathing heavily. Before either of them could say anything Chris’ cellphone rang. Chris pulled it out of his pocket, keeping his eyes on Derek.

“Hello? Allison,” he sighed. “I’m sorry… yes, he’s with me… we’re at the warehouse… he’s alright, yeah…”

“What’s going on?” Derek asked.

“Hold on,” Chris said into the phone before pulling it away. “Hailey called Allison and was panicked because she hadn’t heard from you. Allison wants to call her back to let her know you’re okay.”

“No,” Derek said, shaking his head. “I’ll call her myself… if I can use your phone that is. I promised I’d call her first thing this morning.”

“You can use it,” Chris said, nodding his head in understanding. “Allison? Derek wants to call her himself… okay… I’ll be home when you get back from school… I love you, too… bye.”

“Thank you,” Derek said, taking the phone from Chris’ outstretched hand. Chris backed away to give Derek some privacy as he pushed the correct numbers by memory. Derek held the phone to his ear as it rang.

“Hello?” Hailey asked, answering the unknown number. Derek sighed in relief and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Hailey,” he breathed out and he heard a strange noise come from her.

“Oh my God… Derek where are you? How are you? Oh my God,” she said in a rush, her voice shaking and Derek was sure there were tears in her eyes.

“I’m fine… now. Chris Argent saved my life and took me somewhere else to keep me safe. I’m sorry I didn’t call you. I don’t have my phone.”

“Where are you?” she asked again, more pressing than before.

“We’re at an old abandoned warehouse, south of town.”

“Why won’t you tell me where exactly? I’m skipping school today so just tell me so I can come and get you,” she said sternly.

“You are not driving with a broken arm,” he retorted and he heard her sigh.

“Yes I know that. Stiles is skipping too. He’ll drive.”

“Good. Just tell him the warehouse. He knows where it is.”

“Derek,” she said with a sigh. He stayed silent as he waited for her to speak. “I’m so happy that you’re alright. If you…”

“Don’t,” he said quickly, pulling her away from those thoughts. “When should Stiles get to you?”

“He’s already here actually,” she said and Derek furrowed his eyebrows. “He stayed the night.”

“He what?” Derek asked, anger in his voice.

“Stop it right now. Nothing happened and you know it,” she said.

“I didn’t mean it,” he said with a sigh, shaking his head. “When can you get here?”

“Soon. We’re just waiting for Dad and Aaron to leave.”

“Alright, I’ll tell you everything when you get here.”

“Good,” she said. Derek waited until she hung up before pulling the phone away from his ear. He walked over to Chris and handed him the phone back.

“Just one more question,” Derek said and Chris looked up at him. “Did any of your guys find Jackson?”

“No. But he can’t have gotten too far. Unless Lydia had something up her sleeve that is,” Chris said, shaking his head. “We’ve got to be more proactive.”

“I know but what other options are there aside from killing him?” Derek asked.

“We haven’t been able to think of any,” Chris said sadly. “This has been going on for too long. Too many people have died and even more are in danger.”

“So, there’s really no other way,” Derek said, sliding down to sit on the floor and leaning against the wall.

“As of right now, no.”

****

“We’re almost there,” Stiles said, noticing how Hailey got more and more anxious the longer they sat in the car. “Less than five minutes I swear.”

“Hurry,” she said, her eyes glued to the window as she played with the lining of her cast.

Within minutes the warehouse appeared in the distance, growing larger by the second. Hailey reached over and unbuckled her seatbelt as Stiles got closer. He had barely parked the Jeep when she threw her door open and stumbled out, nearly tripping as she ran to the door. She attempted to slide it open but had trouble with only one arm.

Before Stiles could reach her to help the door was opened and Hailey was face to face with Derek. His eyes were soft when they met hers and she let out a relieved sound, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly. Derek melted into her as he wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing a hand up to the back of her head.

“Oh my God,” she whispered, her fingers tangling in the hair at the nape of his neck.

“It’s alright,” he said softly, pulling away slightly. Hailey leaned back and Derek brought a hand to her cheek, stroking it softly with his thumb. She closed her eyes, leaning into his hand as he leaned down and kissed her gently.

“Oh good, you’re all in one piece,” Stiles said, joining them in the entryway. “I was expecting a limb or two to be gone.”

“Really Stiles?” Hailey asked, turning to him and rolling her eyes.

“Just ignore him. I do,” Derek said, letting go of Hailey as Chris joined them.

“What happened?” Hailey asked, looking from Derek to Chris.

“You should explain since I don’t remember half of it,” Derek said, nodding towards Chris.

Hailey listened intently as Chris explained the previous nights ordeal. It wasn’t until he mentioned what happened to Derek that Hailey noticed the tears in his shirt and the blood stains all over. Her fingers were drawn to the holes created from when Jackson had stuck his claws in to lift Derek up and she looped them through, tears sliding down her face.

“There were traces of aconitum ferox on Jackson’s claws that entered Derek’s bloodstream when Jackson attacked,” Chris explained.

“What is that?” Hailey asked.

“Only one of the deadliest plants ever, if not the deadliest,” Stiles said. “It’s also called Indian Aconite and is very poisonous. Dude, how are you alive?”

“Is he right?” Hailey asked, looking up at Derek and Stiles scoffed. Hailey ignored him and waited for an answer.

“Yes,” Derek said, nodding his head. “Chris took me to Deaton who gave me something to clear it.”

“He was still very weak though which is why I brought him here. His body needed the time to heal and I figured this would be a safe place,” Chris added.

“And Jackson?” Stiles asked.

“We don’t know,” Derek said.

“We’re going to do our best to find him,” Chris added. “This has gone on for too long.”

“What do you mean?” Hailey asked, cocking her head to the side. Chris opened his mouth to respond but Derek shook his head, wrapping his arm around Hailey’s waist again.

“Nothing,” he said. “We should go. Scott must be pissed.”

“Right, Scott,” she said, nodding her head. She turned to Chris and walked over to him. “Thank you. For helping him.”

Chris nodded his head in response but it wasn’t enough for Hailey. She walked closer and hugged him briefly before turning back to Stiles and Derek. They walked to the Jeep and Derek opened Hailey’s door for her, intending to get in the backseat on the driver’s side but Hailey climbed into the backseat. Derek stared at her in confusion and she patted the seat next to her. He climbed in and joined her in the backseat, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as she rested her head on his chest.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” she whispered as Stiles jumped into the driver’s seat. “I was worried sick.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” he said with a sigh.

“It’s not your fault,” she said. “Besides, I had some distraction.”

“Thank you, Stiles,” Derek said, catching Stiles’ eye through the rearview mirror.

“That’s what I’m here for,” Stiles said, nodding his head to Derek in the mirror. Hailey smiled and closed her eyes, listening to Derek’s heart beating.

The three were silent aside from the instructions Derek was giving Stiles on where to go to find Scott. When they arrived Stiles pulled up next to Derek’s Camaro and they got out. Once inside they saw Scott left where Derek had locked him up. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw them.

“It’s about fucking time,” he sighed.

“Sorry for trying to stay alive,” Derek said, rolling his eyes as he unlocked Scott.

“You look like shit, what happened to you?”

“It can wait,” Hailey said, grabbing Derek’s phone from the floor and handing it to him. “You need to get home and Derek, you need to get out of these clothes.”

“Okay,” Scott said nodding his head. “Dude, I’m starving, we’re stopping for food on the way to my house.”

“Oh thank God,” Stiles said, putting his hand on Scott’s shoulder. They made their way to the Jeep and drove off leaving Hailey and Derek.

“You must be hungry,” Hailey said, turning to him. He shrugged his shoulders and walked over to the Camaro. “Do you want to stop for food or can I make you something?”

“You cook?” he asked, opening the passenger’s door for her.

“That’s a silly question,” she said with a smile as she climbed in.

“I think I’ll take you up on that offer,” he said, climbing into the driver’s side.

****

When they arrived at the Hale house, Hailey was hesitant to follow Derek inside. She still wasn’t accustomed to the house but she followed a half step behind him. As she entered she could hear Peter and Isaac talking in one of the other rooms. Derek led her in that direction and she hung behind him.

“What the hell happened to you?” Peter asked, a smirk on his face, noticing the bloodied and torn shirt Derek was wearing.

“Jackson tried to kill me. It didn’t work.”

“And what are you doing here?” Peter asked, looking at Hailey. “Shouldn’t you be in school?”

“What do you care?” she asked with a scoff.

“Feisty,” he said, his eyes glowing red. Derek growled and took Hailey’s hand leading her upstairs.

When they reached the top of the stairs Derek seemed to hesitate before leading her down the hallway to his room… if you could even call it a room. She walked in to see broken furniture about the room. He had no bed, just a mattress on the floor with a pillow and a blanket. His closet only held two things. The first was his leather jacket. The second, an item hidden in a laundry bag.

“What’s this?” Hailey asked, walking over to the closet and running her fingers along the bag. Derek turned to her from where he was looking for a clean shirt and she heard him sigh. She turned to look at him and noticed the sadness on his face. “Derek?”

“That’s um… that’s the suit my Dad wore when… when he and my Mom got married,” he said. Hailey’s eyes widened and she walked over to him, putting her hand in his.

“You kept it?”

“When I was little… I had this stupid little fairytale idea that when I grew up and got married I’d wear my Dad’s suit. You always hear stories of girls wanting to wear their mother’s wedding dresses but you never hear of boys wanting to wear their father’s suits. I told you it’s stupid,” he said, shaking his head.

“It’s not stupid,” she said softly. “Obviously there’s something special about it though.”

“There is,” he said, nodding. Hailey waited silently for him to speak again. He walked over to the closet and unzipped the bag. He slid the jacket off the hanger and brought it over to Hailey.

“What am I looking for?” she asked, gently taking it from him.

“You’ll know when you find it,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets and heading over to the grimy window.

Hailey lowered herself to the mattress and studied the suit jacket, her fingers grazing over the sleek fabric. She didn’t see anything on the exterior so she opened it up. Her eyes were instantly drawn to the left side. On the inner breast pocket was a stitched phrase, Where you go I go. She let out a breath as she traced the letters.

“My mother stitched that in herself the night before they got married. She put it there so it would be right over his heart. It sounds so cheesy.”

“It’s not cheesy at all,” she said, a tear sliding down her cheek. She put the jacket back on the hanger and zipped the bag up before joining Derek next to the window. “Come on, change your shirt and then we’ll have Scott and Stiles meet us at my house and I’ll cook you all something to eat.”

“But they’re eating now,” Derek said turning to her.

“It’s Scott and Stiles,” she said, amusement in her voice.

Derek cocked his head to the side and shrugged his shoulders. He walked back over to his dresser as he pulled his destroyed shirt over his head. Hailey couldn’t help but rake her eyes over his chest for the first time. Derek turned to grab a new shirt and that’s when she noticed the spiral tattoo on his back, right between his shoulder blades.

“What’s that?” she asked. Derek craned his neck to see and noticed she was looking at his back.

“A tattoo,” he said slowly and sarcastically. Hailey rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

“I meant what does it mean,” she said, pursing her lips.

“It’s called a triskelion. See the triple spiral? It stands for alpha, beta, and omega, for me at least.”

“Why do you have it? I mean, I like it, it’s kind of hot,” she said, a grin on her face. Derek looked down and shook his head before pulling a new shirt on. “But what’s the reason behind it?”

“It’s a reminder,” he said, grabbing his jacket from the closet and pulling it on. “An alpha and a beta can become omegas and a beta can rise to be an alpha. It’s almost like a vicious circle except it’s harder for omegas to come back once they’ve fallen.”

“How Shakespearean,” she noted.

“It’s something my Dad taught me when I was old enough to understand,” he said, putting a hand on her back and leading her back downstairs.

“Well I’m glad you’re able to have it with you always,” she said smiling at him as she climbed into the Camaro. Derek climbed in and started the car. “Should we have invited Peter and Isaac?”

“They left,” he said, shaking his head.

“Where did they go?”

“They’re out looking for Jackson,” he said and Hailey’s eyes widened. “Don’t worry, they’re sticking together. It’s safer that way.”

“I want you to call them every hour to make sure they’re all right until they get home,” she said seriously.

“Peter’s not going to like that,” he said, letting out a deep breath.

“I don’t give two shits about what Peter likes or doesn’t like,” she said, leaning back in her seat and crossing her arms. Derek laughed and drove to her house as she called Stiles to invite him and Scott over.

****

“Wow,” Scott said, letting out a low whistle. “So we don’t know if Jackson’s alive or not?”

“Not yet,” Derek said, shaking his head. The four of them were gathered on Hailey’s bed, wasting time until it was time for her mother to get home from work.

“What did Mr. Argent mean earlier?” Hailey asked, turning her head to look at Derek. “He said this has gone on for too long… does he want to kill Jackson?”

Derek hesitated to answer. The three teenagers were all looking at him, waiting. He sighed and his shoulders hunched forward as he nodded his head.

“Yeah, he does,” he said as Hailey stared to protest. “It’s the only way Hailey! We literally have no other options.”

“Inside he’s still just a scared teenager. There has got to be something more powerful inside of him or something that’s making him act out this way. No one deserves to die just for being different.”

“I know,” he said, shaking his head. “But we’ve wasted enough time as it is trying to come up with alternate options.”

“It’s not right.”

“We don’t know what else to do Hailey,” Scott chimed in, uncertainty on his face.

“It’s simple. Don’t kill him.”

“Hails,” Stiles said hesitantly. “I have to agree with them on this one.”

“I don’t believe it,” she said, looking between the three, eyes wide.

“Neither do I,” Derek said, his face contorted in confusion. “He’s out for your family, he threatened to harm the parents of two of your closest friends, and he almost killed me and you want to keep him alive?”

“It’s just… the whole Kanima thing happening after you bit him… and then turning into a werewolf after he was basically dead? There’s got to be something else. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“What are we supposed to do about it?” he asked, throwing his hands up in frustration.

“I don’t know yet,” she admitted. “But you’re not killing him. Not yet.”