Come What May

“So, has there been any progress with Lydia?” Hailey asked as she and Derek walked through the halls of her grandparent’s apartment complex on Christmas afternoon, showing him around.

“Allison tried to visit her the other day but Lydia’s mother said she wasn’t ready for visitor’s yet. And Scott’s been listening in on some of her therapy sessions by hiding in the bushes outside of the office. He said her therapist thinks she’s clinically depressed since Jackson and his family disappeared. So far she hasn’t said anything about there being werewolves in Beacon Hills,” he said, filling her in.

“Well… that’s good I guess,” she said, shrugging her shoulders. “I just want to know if she’s going to want to get revenge or just let it go.”

“That makes two of us,” he said as Hailey slowed down and looked at the door to their right. “What?”

“That’s Gerard’s apartment,” she whispered.

“How do you know?”

“I asked my Grandma last night before we went back to the hotel. Can you… smell him?” she asked, shifting uncomfortably.

“Nothing smells familiar,” he said, shaking his head. “I don’t even think he’s in there.”

“What does that matter? It’s not like we’re going in for a visit,” she said raising an eyebrow.

“No, but if he’s not in there, there’s a small possibility he could be…”

“Shit,” Hailey said, grabbing his hand and leading him to the staircase.

“He’s going to recognize me,” Derek said matter-of-factly.

“It’s not like he’s going to out you as a supernatural being in front of my entire family.”

“Maybe,” he said as they rounded the corner and entered the hallway that her grandparent’s apartment was on. Hailey’s hand hovered over the doorknob before twisting it and pushing the door open. As soon as she stepped in, she felt a hand on her arm as her mother pulled her into the kitchen.

“Honey, look who decided to join us,” Alyssa said rather cheerfully, tilting her head towards the living room.

“Ah Hailey, Merry Christmas!” Gerard said, looking up from his conversation with Aaron and Brady. His head turned when he saw another figure and Hailey noticed his eyes grow wide as Derek stiffened beside her.

“Either my eyes are playing tricks on me, Jake, or Derek Hale is holding your granddaughter’s hand,” he said, amusement in his voice.

“Oh you know Derek?” Marion asked, a smile on her face.

“Oh yes. Derek and I know each other very well,” Gerard said, sitting up straight and maneuvering his scooter closer to them. “Long time no see,” he said, holding his hand out.

“Gerard,” Derek said, curtly nodding his head, not moving his arms. That’s when Hailey felt the tip of a few of his claws against the back of her hand. Gerard slowly lowered his hand, never breaking eye contact with Derek.

“Well everyone, I should be going. I just wanted to give you all my best when I knew you’d all be here. In case I don’t see any of you again,” he said, looking up at Hailey as her breath hitched in her throat.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay for dinner? We have plenty,” Hailey’s Aunt Casey asked.

“That’s very kind of you but there is a roast goose dinner downstairs calling my name,” he said, giving a wave as he moved towards the door. “It was so nice meeting you all. And Derek, it was delightful seeing you again. Give my best to your pa—family,” he said with a smile before leaving. Jason stepped around Derek and Hailey to close the door behind Gerard, briefly placing his hand on Derek’s shoulder before re-joining Alyssa, Frank, and Casey in the kitchen.

“Are you okay?” Hailey whispered. Derek nodded, his lips pressed together tightly as he took deep breaths. Finally Hailey felt his claws start to retract and then he looked down at her, a worried expression on his face.

“Come here guys,” Aaron said waving them over to him and Brady.

“Grandpa’s putting White Christmas in,” Brady said, raising an eyebrow when he saw the look on Derek’s face.

“Have you ever seen this movie Derek?” Aaron asked as they all sat down.

“I don’t think so, no,” he said, shaking his head.

“It’s Hailey’s favorite Christmas movie. And it’s really old, like, almost as old as Grandpa,” he said, causing all of the parents to laugh.

“Hey, is Derek okay?” Brady whispered in Hailey’s ear as the opening credits started to play.

“Yeah,” Hailey whispered. “He just has a headache is all. He’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” Brady said, shrugging his shoulders before leaning back against the couch. Derek squeezed Hailey’s hand and she looked up at him.

“I’ll tell you everything tonight,” he whispered. “I’m just trying to process a few things.”

“Okay,” she whispered back before turning her attention back to the movie, enjoying as much of her Christmas as she could before Derek dumped any news on her.

****

“So what did you sense off of him?” Hailey asked as soon as she, Derek, Aaron, and her parents were in the car to go back to the hotel.

“Nothing,” Derek said, shaking his head, a puzzled look on his face.

“Huh?” Hailey asked.

“Not a single thing. I couldn’t catch a scent. I couldn’t even hear a heart beat,” he said causing the others to look at him like he lost his mind.

“That’s not possible,” Alyssa said, shaking her head.

“The oxygen tank wasn’t even on,” he added and Hailey bit her lip.

“So what does that all mean?” Hailey asked.

“I have no idea. That’s what I was trying to figure out all night. What the bite mixed with the ash pills could have done to him. I’ll have to talk to Deaton and Peter when we get home.”

“Should we just gather everyone together? I mean, as far as I know, Allison doesn’t even know that we found him.”

“Unless Stiles opened his mouth,” Derek said, rolling his eyes.

“I don’t think he did, I’m ninety-nine percent sure I would have heard from her,” she said and Derek tilted his head in silent agreement.

“Everyone can come over to the house the day after tomorrow,” Alyssa said. “It will give us some time to rest once we get home.”

“Thanks Mom,” Hailey said, smiling at her mother.

****

Two days later Hailey and Derek sat on the couch in her living room back home waiting for Allison and Scott to get there so they could tell them what little they knew about Gerard before everyone else arrived. Derek heard the car approach before Hailey and led her outside to part the ash line, which remained in place as an extra precaution, for Scott. Hailey tried to look cheerful as Allison climbed out of the car and said hello to her so she wouldn’t cause suspicion. They all went up to Hailey’s room and settled down on the floor, Hailey and Derek leaning their backs against her bed.

“How was New York?” Allison asked, a smile on her face. “Was the snow beautiful?”

“It was really nice to see my family,” Hailey said, remembering to smile. “Derek even came up on Christmas Eve.”

“Yeah Scott mentioned that. That must have been nice.”

“Yeah,” Hailey said, looking sideways at Derek.

“Is everything all right?” Allison asked, tilting her head.

“It’s just… while I was visiting my grandparents on Christmas Eve, a few hours before Derek came up, I met one of my Grandpa’s friends…”

“Was he creepy?” she asked with a slight laugh.

“You could say that,” Hailey said with a nod.

“What is it Derek?” Scott asked and Allison turned to him before looking at Derek and Hailey.

“What does he mean?” she asked and Hailey bit her lip. “Hailey?”

“It was your grandfather, Allison,” Hailey said softly and Allison slowly started to shake her head.

“No,” she whispered.

“Gerard’s alive,” Derek said and Allison continued to shake her head.

“No,” she said slightly louder, her voice shaking. Scott wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “How?”

“We don’t know,” Hailey said, giving her a sympathetic look.

“We saw him on Christmas when he stopped in to visit Hailey’s grandparents and obviously he recognized me and didn’t hide it. I couldn’t sense anything off of him,” Derek said shaking his head.

“What do you mean?” Scott asked, his eyebrows furrowing together.

“No scent, no heart beat… nothing. It was like there was nothing to him but a body.”

“Shit,” Allison said, putting her head in her hands. “What do we do?”

“Maybe we won’t have to do anything,” Scott said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Does he know that we’re friends?” Allison asked Hailey who nodded her head. “Oh God he could do anything, Scott. He could get revenge on you for tricking him, on Derek, on all of you just for being who you are. We already lost Boyd and Erica because they were trying to escape from him, he beat the shit out of Stiles…”

“What?” Hailey asked abruptly, interrupting Allison’s train of thought and she felt Derek flinch beside her.

“Uh, yeah, about that,” he said and Hailey looked at him.

“I’ll tell her,” Allison said, a few tears escaping. “I was part of it. Last year, Gerard basically… had me brainwashed and really brought out the hunter in me. We captured Erica and Boyd and he held them in the basement, their hands tied together with electrical wires.”

“Jesus,” Hailey whispered, inhaling sharply.

“It was the same night as the championship lacrosse game and once it was over, one of Gerard’s guys kidnapped Stiles. You know how Stiles is, he got mouthy with Gerard and Gerard beat his face to a pulp. It was horrible.”

“That’s why he didn’t want to say anything the other night when I told you guys,” Hailey whispered as she wiped her eyes.

“It’s not something he likes to remember,” Scott said. Just then the doorbell rang downstairs and they soon heard a few people coming up the stairs.

“Come in,” Hailey said when there was a knock on the door. Stiles opened the door and entered, followed by Danny, Isaac, and Peter.

“Oh hell no, we’re going downstairs,” Derek said, standing up when he saw the look on Peter’s face when he entered the room.

“It’s too crowded in here anyway,” Hailey said standing. She grabbed onto Stiles’ arm and held him back while everyone went down the stairs to the living room.

“You okay Hails?” Stiles asked, noticing the look on her face. She just shook her head and wrapped her arms around his neck. He reciprocated and soon felt a few teardrops on his neck. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Um,” she sniffed, pulling back and wiping her tears away. “Allison just told me about what Gerard did to you last year.”

“Oh, that,” he said, clearing his throat and looking down at his feet.

“God, if I had known beforehand I wouldn’t have mentioned it while you were in the room with Derek,” she said, shaking her head and he held up his hand.

“Yeah but you didn’t. And I’m okay, Hails. Now anyway. Then is a different story. Gerard is just… a whole other level of asshole,” he said causing Hailey to laugh slightly. It was silent for a moment as Hailey twisted her fingers around each other.

“I’m scared,” she finally whispered, looking up at him and he put his hands on her shoulders. “Things are finally just getting back to normal now that the whole Jackson thing was taken care of. And now this shit gets dumped on us.”

“Welcome to Beacon Hills where everything goes right and wrong at the same time,” Stiles said with a smile. “But seriously Hails, we’ve got you covered.”

“I know,” she said, nodding her head. Stiles linked his arm with hers and led her downstairs where they sat on the couch with Derek as he explained again that he couldn’t sense anything off of Gerard.

“How will we even know if he’s come to Beacon Hills then?” Isaac asked and Derek wasn’t sure how to answer.

“Keep your other senses intact,” Peter finally said. “You’ll be able to feel when something is wrong or different.”

“What if we just baited him here. Killed him on our terms,” Allison suggested.

“That’s actually not a horrible idea,” Peter said, pointing at her.

“Except that we don’t know what he’s actually capable of,” Derek said and Danny and Scott nodded in agreement. “Or how to kill him since he barely even seems alive to begin with.”

“So basically we wait?” Isaac asked and Peter crossed his arms against his chest.

“We wait,” he said and they all looked at each other uncomfortably, imagining the different scenarios that could happen.

“Can we change the subject now?” Stiles asked, breaking the silence, causing a few laughs to erupt.

“To what?” Hailey asked, a smile on her face.

“Where are we all celebrating New Year’s Eve?” he asked.

“And on that note,” Peter said, walking towards the door. “Who wants to let me out?”

“I’ll do it,” Hailey said, standing up and Peter grinned.

“Stiles can do it,” Derek said, glaring at Peter.

“Derek, come on give it a rest,” Hailey said shaking her head. “You of all people should know when he’s kidding. Granted it’s fucking annoying now but I’ve just accepted it because we both know he won’t do anything.”

“Scouts honor,” Peter said, holding one hand up and placing the other over his heart.

“Fine,” Derek growled and Peter opened the door for Hailey. He waited until they were near the sidewalk to place his hand on Hailey’s arm causing her to turn to him.

“It’s true, what you said in there, how I wouldn’t do anything. I could hear in your voice that you weren’t even so sure when you said it. You were just saying it for Derek,” he said, his tone changing completely from what she was used to.

“So how come he let me do it if it was that obvious?” she asked.

“Because he could sense it from me,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “You do know that your safety is a top priority for everyone that was just in that room, including me, right?”

“Of course,” she said, making eye contact with him for the first time ever.

“Despite everything that happened between Derek and myself this past year, he’s still my nephew. I have a lot of making up to do because we’re the only family the other has. You’ve been the best thing to happen to him in a very long time.”

“So why don’t you just treat him in a way that will make him like you again?” she asked, touched by the last thing he had said.

“Old habits die hard I guess,” he said, a grin on his face causing Hailey to laugh. “I’ll go do some research on this whole no heart beat, no scent thing and see what I can find.”

“Thank you Peter, for everything,” she said, reaching up and giving him a hug, surprising the both of them. It took a moment for Peter to wrap his arms around Hailey. Hailey let go and bent down to part the line for him, closing it once he had crossed. “Bye.”

She waited until he was out of sight before going back into the house. She heard Stiles talking animatedly as she closed the door and soon felt Derek standing behind her. Turning around she saw him leaning against the railing of the staircase, his arms crossed.

“What?” she asked.

“I haven’t heard him talk like that in a long time,” he said, tilting his head toward the window, meaning Peter.

“So are you going to be nice to him now?” she asked, walking over and putting her hands on his chest.

“I think I have to,” he said and she laughed. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her. “We’re going to figure this out. Nothing’s going to happen to you.”

“I know,” she whispered, locking her fingers with his and walking back into the living room where Stiles was now motioning around the room for how they’d set it up for New Year’s Eve.