"Omega"
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"What did you do now, McCall?"
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Casey was driving off away from the Sheriff's station after hearing from Scott that Lydia had disappeared from the hospital. Casey found herself picking up a call from Derek, who directed her to the cemetery where he was.
"Need a hand?" Casey heard Derek asking someone and she walked up to the freshly dug grave, and she walked over to stand next to him. She spotted the scared teenager in the bottom of the grave as she looked sympathetically at him.
"You okay?" Casey asked and the clearly terrified teenager nodded and by the look on Derek's face, the poor teen was stinking rather clearly with fear.
After helping him up and out of the freshly dug grave, Casey was driving off in a fixed up SUV with Derek in the passenger seat. "Beatrice?" He asked.
"With her pack." Casey replied as she continued to drive the vehicle, as she was following the GPS from Scott's phone.
"Tye?" Derek asked and Casey took the turn off toward the house, as Casey drove quickly.
"Tye is watching out for Talia tonight but Tye also mentioned that we might see an influx of lone werewolves, who come to Beacon Hills looking for an Alpha. You think that what happened tonight was a lone werewolf?" Casey asked and she was referring to the incident at the graveyard.
"It seems to be very likely. I didn't recognize the scent, I might see if Tye can find out where exactly the omega went. But what if it's an entire pack?" Derek was thinking out loud and Casey hit the brakes, as he nearly jolted forward.
"Then we can handle it. You have a professional hunter, your little brother, a cousin that you can call, we can work to fend them off. It wouldn't be the first time that I have gone against an entire werewolf pack, Derek." Casey reminded him and Derek's eyes glowed red. "Hey, you feeling it?" She asked and Derek nodded a little.
"Yeah." Derek had gone back to his familiar, silent but deadly approach and Casey reached out a hand and she rested it on top of his hand. "You sure that you want to be in the same car as me, right now?" Derek asked and Casey glanced over at him.
"I told you before Derek, that I am not scared of you." Casey reminded him and Derek shrugged, as she winced a bit.
"You are bleeding again, Casey. From the gunshot wound in your stomach." Derek's eyes were concerned as he spoke and she unzipped her jacket and glanced at it, and she nodded.
"Shit. I must have somehow ripped the stitches." Casey muttered and she was getting out of the car. Casey walked to the back of the car, her hand pressed quickly down over the wound as she was opening the trunk to find the bandages.
Derek held up the bandages and Casey looked at him.
"They have a distinctive sort of scent." Derek said and he held it toward her. "Now get in, I'll drive." He said.
Casey winced and she walked around to the passenger side door and she got into the car. Derek helped her quickly with the bandages and now, she swiftly handed the car keys over to him and Derek drove off with the car, once Casey's bandages were replaced.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"Are you going to ask Tye to track the Omega?" Casey asked as Derek climbed into her house through the open window.
"I haven't decided yet." Derek's words were clipped and irritated, as Casey was looking over at him quietly, from where she was cleaning one of her knives and Casey put the weapon down.
"What's wrong?" Casey questioned and Derek sighed, glancing at her. "Don't try to lie to me, Derek, we both know that I know you too well." Casey reminded him rather surprisingly patiently with him and Derek nodded.
"Jackson's body is rejecting the bite. He had black blood coming out of both of his ears, his mouth and his nose." Derek admitted and she sighed. "I bit him. So it's either something wrong with me or there is something wrong with him." Derek said.
"Did you talk to that graveyard kid? Isaac Lahey, about the Bite?" Casey asked and Derek nodded a little. "If he agrees, you think that he'll turn?" Casey asked.
"We won't know unless it happens." Derek murmured and silently, Casey put the knife away as she stood up. "Why are you looking at me like I'm a puppy?" He asked.
"I'm not- Wait, there's a look for that?" She asked and Derek smiled a little. "Look, Der it is obvious something up with Jackson. I mean, what could it possibly have to do with you--" Casey's words trailed off and she looked at her phone, as a series of rapid alerts were now all popping up quickly on her phone. "Oh god." She whispered.
"What? Casey, what is it?" Derek asked and Casey was shaking her head.
"Stay in here. Don't move, I need you to listen to the conversation." Casey pleaded and Derek nodded, as Casey's body was shaking and the doorbell rang. "Please don't leave." She said and he looked at her.
"What's wrong?" Derek asked as the doorbell continued to ring. "Casey, your heartbeat is going a hundred miles a minute, what the hell is going on?" He asked.
"Gerard Argent." Casey whispered and Derek moved his arms around her at once, smelling the fear all over her. "I have to go down there, Derek, but you have to stay hidden. Promise me that no matter what they say, you will stay hidden here." She whispered and Derek nodded.
"I promise." Derek murmured and he looked at her, before she walked away from him and went down the stairs real quickly, silently preparing herself.
Casey opened the door to the house and she found that Gerard Argent stood at the forefront of a group of hunters, which also included Victoria Argent and Chris Argent, amongst others. Some of the hunters that she was able to recognize and others that she did not.
"Can I help you?" Casey asked as she forced her tone to remain calm, as she kept her head blank and hoped that her expression was the same.
"Casey Branson, I have not seen you now in nearly eight years. Is it true that your involvement with the Hale family is the reason that my daughter is dead?" That was Gerard's way of blaming her and Casey's eyes remained calm, icy in fury.
"No." Casey replied.
"Do you know where the new Alpha werewolf is? As I understand it, Derek Hale was a close friend of yours throughout high school. And that he was also the father of your child that died. My sincere condolences." Gerard was enjoying this, playing with Casey's emotions and swiftly with practice, she was keeping them all in check.
"I don't know where Derek Hale is. He did not even know about our daughter and as it were, I intended to keep it that way. I have not heard from him since he became the new Alpha." Casey coldly spoke and Gerard looked at her.
"You will regret lying to us, if you have been." Gerard said and silently at the real threatening words, Casey was staring at him.
"You just threatened a valued member of the local law enforcement, Gerard Argent. I would watch your words in the future, if you ever speak to me that way again." The words were a matter-of-fact, as Casey was watching them. "Good day." She said as she shut the door in their faces.
Casey looked up to see that Derek was standing in front of her, and she walked right into his open arms. Derek's eyes glowed red and she buried her face in his shoulder, as she started to shudder from terror. "I won't let them hurt you, Casey, I swear." Derek whispered and she was crying, as she was breathing in short and choked-sounding cries. "I've got you." Derek murmured and she sighed. "I hate to leave you right now, but something is happening in the woods." He said.
"I'll leave the window open." Casey murmured and Derek nodded a little bit as he disappeared out of the house. Casey was staring up at her bedroom ceiling some hours later, when she heard a quiet thud. Casey grabbed a knife at once, until she spotted that it was Derek on the ledge.
Casey set down the knife and when she saw that he wasn't going to come inside of the house, she climbed out of the window to sit next to him on the ledge. "Gerard Argent. He just cut a homeless Omega in half, declaring that he and his family would no longer be following the Hunter's code." Derek said and she looked at him. "If I hadn't grabbed Scott and Tye in time-"
"Tye was out there?" Casey asked softly and Derek looked at her. "Gerard is going to kill all of you." Casey whispered.
"If he finds out that you know exactly where I have been all this time, then you will be a target too." Derek murmured.
"I'm a hunter. He can't do much to me without incurring the wrath of others, like us." Casey murmured.
"What exactly right now, do you mean by that?" Derek asked softly as Casey looked at him.
"My mother is the youngest child of Araya Calavera." Casey replied and Derek's eyes widened slightly at the words. "That was what Araya was so quick to take in Talia, because she is one of her family by blood. Whether she has the werewolf gene from you or not, Talia would still be under her protection. Which is why Araya gave her the option to stay with them still, as long as she went by the code." Casey reminded herself and also was explaining to Derek and he looked at her.
"I always wondered what this tattoo was about." Derek murmured as he looked at her outer right forearm. There was a tattoo of a bullet with a skull stamped into it, and he looked at her. "You're a part of the Calavera family." He said and she nodded slightly.
"I am still under their protection by blood and by the hunting law, but that is, just as long as I remain human." Casey murmured and Derek nodded. "I don't want to have to kill myself, Derek, just because the Bite worked. That is what my grandmother will make me do."
"What happens if you don't?" Derek asked as he looked over at her. "I mean, if you don't go through with killing yourself, what happens then?"
"Then she will hunt me down by her own power Derek, until she gets close enough to kill me herself." Casey replied and Derek reached out and took her hand in his. "I don't want my own grandmother to look at me like I'm a monster." Casey whispered.
"Casey, you wouldn't be a monster." Derek said and he looked at her.
"You don't know that." Casey replied and Derek fell silent, unsure of what to say to that. "Derek, with the state that my mind has been in for the past, nearly seven years now... I'm fucked in the head, Der, I don't even want to think about what I would do if I had claws, fangs and control issues." Casey whispered as Derek looked at her. "Of all the people that you could give the Bite too, I should be at the bottom of the fucking list." Casey whispered.
"What makes you so sure, that you would have control issues?" Derek asked as she shook her head.
"You know the old legends about how werewolves are afraid of fire? Which are all of them, mostly untrue?" She asked.
"Your fear of fire." Derek said and she nodded. "You don't need to be afraid of it though, not anymore. Nobody else will try to burn your house down, Casey. Kate did it to my family because we were werewolves, why would anyone do it to you?" He asked and she looked down. "Casey, I swear that I won't let anyone hurt you." Derek said and she shuddered. "Come on, now I've scared you. Casey, I'm so sorry." Derek said and she hugged him tightly, as Derek moved his arms around her. "I didn't mean to scare you." Derek said.
"Doesn't matter." Casey whispered as he looked down at her. "It doesn't matter, I don't care."
"Yes it does matter, Casey. I care about you, I care about our pack and I need you to trust me as much as I trust you. Which is not going to happen, if I keep scaring you off." Derek said quietly.
"You're not scaring me off, Derek, you are just startling me." Casey whispered and he sighed, as he felt her shivering and he gave her his jacket. "Thanks." She said quietly.