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[I MISS YOU, I'M SORRY]

1.04 || if i break enough of kate's bones

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Aurelia drums her fingers against the surface of the desk in Peter's study as she looks at her laptop, idly bouncing her leg. She glances away from the computer screen briefly to glance at her notepad, well, it was Peter's notepad but she didn't think he'd mind. She was trying to work out a lesson plan for Coach and she'd decided if she wanted some peace and quiet to actually get it done, this was the best place for that. And while she was here, she figured she may as well work on new wards for Peter's apartment that would both keep unwanted guests out and alert her if anyone came in, her and Derek included.

And for some reason she'd decided she may as well do them both simultaneously because apparently she liked having headaches. She reaches behind her blindly, hitting the volume button on the cd player in an attempt to drown out the thoughts of the people in the building.

She doesn't look up again until she hears the front door of the loft open and she frowns slightly as she looks at the study door before getting up to walk out of the room. She tilts her head when she sees Derek before she sees the blood dripping down his arm and onto the floor. "What the hell happened?" She asks as she heads over to him.

"Well, Kate's in town now." He says and she immediately frowns in concern at that, looking up from his arm.

"What?" Aurelia asks and he nods a little.

"I was tracking the Alpha. He attacked her car on the way into town. And somehow I ended up getting shot instead of him." Derek says and Aurelia forcefully pulls his jacket off his shoulders before grabbing his arm gently to look at the wound. "How hard is it to get blood stains off wood floors?" He asks and she glances up at him before looking down at the small puddle of blood and the trail from the door to where they were standing.

"Not that it's important when you have a hole in your arm but it's very easy with magic." Aurelia says.

"Okay, uh, what's with the blue smoke?" Derek asks.

"It'll be because of the strain of wolfsbane she used in the bullet." Aurelia says.

"Don't suppose you know which strain?" Derek asks lightly and she shakes her head.

"No, but I'm sure if I break enough of Kate's bones she'll tell me." Aurelia says.

"I'd rather you didn't walk straight into the Argents' house and start violently assaulting one of them when I can't help you." Derek says and she hums, scrunching her nose up.

"I'll just go get the Alpha. Clearly he doesn't like her." Aurelia remarks.

"Yeah, hate that too." Derek says and she hums before pausing with a frown.

"Wait, the Alpha specifically went after Kate on her way into town?" Aurelia asks, looking up at him again and he nods a little.

"Yeah, passed a lot of other people and then jumped on her car." Derek says and she hums with a confused frown. "What's that face for? He's a werewolf, she's a hunter." Derek says.

"I know. Don't worry about it." Aurelia says and he frowns.

"Already am. What's with the look?" Derek asks and she shakes her head a little.

"He hasn't gone after any of the others. But Kate barely even made it into town. Just seems a little odd." Aurelia says with a shrug and Derek hums.

"Well, I doubt we're the only people Kate's pissed off." He says and she nods.

"No, I know." Aurelia says. "Come on. We can try burning this out. At least then we'll know if you need the specific strain of wolfsbane or not." Aurelia says and Derek nods.

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Aurelia glances up from her bag, abandoning her search for her keys when she hears Derek's thoughts before rushing down the hall. "Hey!" Aurelia calls when she sees Derek pinning Jackson to a locker with a hand at the back of his neck and the werewolf glances at her before he staggers back slightly and she rushes to catch him. "What the hell are you doing here? Are you crazy?" Aurelia asks quietly and he shakes his head a little as she glances down before she spots the blood dropping onto the floor. "Shit, come on." She mutters, wrapping an arm around him as he leans against her before leading him down the hall.

Aurelia trips slightly over the edge of the curb when Derek stumbles a little, falling into her a little heavier. "Okay, Der, I love you, but you're a heavy guy who is, like, over half a foot taller than me. I need you to get to the car before one of us gets run over." Aurelia says.

"I'm trying." Derek responds and she sighs.

When they get over to her car, she gets him to lean against it while she rummages through her bag for her keys. "Oh, are you kidding me?" Aurelia mutters as she roots through her bag before looking up and steadying Derek when he sways slightly. "You okay?" She asks with a worried frown and he nods a little.

"Lia? What the hell's going on?" Scott asks as he rushes over to them and she glances up to see Stiles' Jeep stopped at the front of a queue of traffic behind them.

"I was shot." Derek says, still gripping Aurelia's arm.

"He's not looking so good, guys." Stiles says as he climbs out of his Jeep.

"Not helping." Aurelia says and he shrugs a little.

"Why aren't you healing? Why isn't he healing?" Scott asks, glancing at Aurelia.

"I can't. It was- it was a different type of bullet." Derek says through a groan of pain.

"What, a silver bullet?" Stiles asks, sounding slightly excited.

"No, you idiot." Derek says impatiently as Aurelia looks at Stiles incredulously and he shrugs again and she makes a slightly frustrated noise.

"Wait, wait. That's what she meant when she said you had forty-eight hours." Scott says and Aurelia and Derek both look at him with slightly startled looks.

"What?" Aurelia asks, her tone slightly sharper than she intended, as Derek asks, "What? Who-who said forty-eight hours?"

"The one who shot you." Scott says and Aurelia clenches her jaw.

"Okay, that's it. I'm going to take her gun and I'm going to shove it-"

Aurelia cuts off when Derek sways again, slamming into her side with a pained grimace and she gently grabs his arms to steady him and hold him up as his eyes flicker between werewolf blue and his normal green. "What are you doing? Stop that!" Scott says desperately.

"Scott!" Aurelia snaps impatiently.

"I'm trying to tell you, I can't." Derek responds.

"Oh, for fuck's sake. Stiles, open the passenger door, Scott, help me get him to the Jeep." Aurelia says.

"Wh- The Jeep? My Jeep?" Stiles exclaims.

"Yes, your Jeep! I can't find my keys. Move!" Aurelia says and he groans in frustration before heading over to the car and wrenching the door open as Scott helps haul Derek to the car.

Aurelia pushes the door of the Jeep shut before heading to her car, opening the glovebox and rummaging through it for what she needed for a quick pain relief spell. "Why should I help you?" Scott asks as Aurelia walks back to the Jeep.

"Aside from the fact that you need me, her." Derek says, gesturing at Aurelia and Scott and Stiles both glance at the witch.

"Fine. I'll try." Scott says.

"If you can't find it. I will." Aurelia says firmly before climbing in the backseat and Stiles and Scott share a slightly concerned look.

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"Hey, try not to bleed out on my seats, okay? We're almost there." Stiles says and Aurelia and Derek both look over at him.

"Almost where?" Derek asks.

"Your house." Stiles responds.

"What?" Aurelia and Derek ask at the same time before the latter follows up with, "No, you can't take me there."

"I can't take you to your own house?" Stiles scoffs.

"Not when I can't protect myself!" Derek counters.

"You've got Lia!" Stiles argues.

"That place doesn't even have all of the windows!" Aurelia retorts.

"Okay, what about yours?" Stiles asks.

"No. The Argents might know where we live. They know Derek and I are friends too. Or, Chris does at least." Aurelia says before Stiles pulls over at the side of the road.

"Alright, what happens if Scott doesn't find your little magic bullet? Hmm? Are you dying?" Stiles asks.

"Not yet. I have a last resort." Derek responds.

"What do you mean? What last resort?" Stiles asks before Derek shows him his arm. "Oh, is that contagious? You know what, you should probably just get out." Stiles says with a grimace.

"Start the car. Now." Derek demands.

"I don't think you should be barking orders with the way you look, okay? In fact, I think, if I wanted to, I could probably drag your little werewolf ass out into the middle of the road and leave you for dead." Stiles says and Aurelia rolls her eyes, sighing impatiently as she sits back.

"Start the car, or I'm gonna rip your throat out. With my teeth." Derek growls and Stiles stares at him for a moment before starting the car back up.

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"What am I supposed to do with him?" Stiles asks, on the phone with Scott while Aurelia leans forward, resting her chin against Derek's shoulder with her hand resting against his arm with a faintly purple glow around it to take his pain. "And by the way, he's starting to smell." Stiles says and they both glance at him briefly. "Like death." Stiles responds and Aurelia hums softly in discontent, gently squeezing Derek's arm. "What about your boss?" Stiles asks before looking over at the two of them after a pause. "You're not gonna believe where he's telling me to take you." Stiles says before handing Derek the phone.

"Did you find it?" Derek asks.

"How am I supposed to find one bullet? They have a million! This house is like the frickin' Walmart of guns!" Scott exclaims in response and Aurelia tilts her head a little.

"Look, if you don't find it, then I'm dead, alright?" Derek says.

"I'm starting to think that wouldn't be such a bad thing." Scott responds and Aurelia frowns a little as she gently squeezes Derek's arm.

"Then think about this. The Alpha called you out against your will. He's gonna do it again. Next time, either you kill with him, or you get killed. So, if you wanna stay alive, then you need me. Find the bullet." Derek says before hanging up and Aurelia takes Stiles' phone and turns it off before putting it down.

"How you doing, you okay?" She asks and Derek nods a little.

"Yeah, I'm good." He says and she nods gently as she turns her head to rest her cheek against his shoulder.

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"Hey, does Nordic Blue Monkshood mean anything to either of you?" Stiles asks as Aurelia helps Derek into the animal clinic.

"It's a really rare form of wolfsbane." Aurelia responds as Derek leans heavily against her.

"He has to bring me the bullet." Derek says.

"Why?" Stiles questions.

"Cause I'm gonna die without it." Derek responds.

"Come on, let's get inside." Aurelia says and Derek nods as she gently pulls his arm around her further.

"Okay, you know," Stiles starts as Derek falls against the examining table. "That really doesn't look like anything some echinacea and a good night's sleep couldn't take care of."

"Stiles, shut up. You're not helping." Aurelia says.

"When the infection reaches my heart, it'll kill me." Derek says, moving to search through all the cupboards and drawers.

"Positivity just isn't in your vocabulary, is it?" Stiles asks, sounding slightly impatient.

"If he doesn't get here with the bullet in time, last resort." Derek says and Aurelia steadies him slightly as he stumbles, grabbing something out of the last drawer he opens.

"Which is?" Stiles prompts.

"You're gonna cut off my arm." Derek announces, holding the saw up.

"Oh, my God, are you guys crazy?" Stiles exclaims.

"People need to stop asking me if I'm crazy. I'm starting to take offense." Aurelia complains.

"Oh, my God. What if you bleed to death?" Stiles asks as Derek leans against the table.

"It'll heal. If it works." Derek says and Aurelia nods a little.

"Ugh, look, I don't know if I can do this." Stiles says.

"Why not?" Derek asks impatiently.

"Well, because of the cutting through flesh, the sawing of the bone, and especially the blood!" Stiles retorts.

"You faint at the sight of blood?" Derek asks.

"No, but I might at the sight of a chopped off arm!" Stiles exclaims.

"Alright, fine. How about this? Either you cut off my arm, or I'm gonna cut off your head." Derek threatens.

"Okay, you know what? I'm so not buying your threats any-" Stiles yelps slightly when Derek's hand snaps out to yank him forwards by the front of his shirt. "Oh, my God! Okay. Alright. Bought. Sold. Totally. I'll do it. I'll do it." Stiles says and Aurelia rolls her eyes before looking at Derek with a concerned frown when he falters slightly. "What?"

"Der?"

"What are you doing? Lia, what's he doing?" Stiles asks and she shakes her head before Derek doubles over the edge of the table, throwing up black blood onto the floor. "Holy God, what the hell is that?" Stiles exclaims.

"Okay, that's good. It's good." Aurelia says and Derek nods.

"That's your definition of good?! What's your definition of bad?" Stiles exclaims, gesturing at it.

"It's my body trying to heal itself." Derek explains.

"Well, it's not doing a very good job of it." Stiles retorts.

"Now. You gotta do it now." Derek says urgently.

"Why can't Lia just do it?" Stiles asks.

"Because she's an empath! She can't start cutting through my arm when she's going to get distracted by the pain!" Derek responds and Aurelia shrugs a little with a nod when Stiles glances at her.

"Look, honestly, I don't think I can-"

"Just do it!" Derek snaps impatiently.

"Oh, my God. Okay, okay." Stiles says as he picks up the saw, resting the blade on Derek's arm. "Oh, my God, alright, here we go." Stiles says.

"Stiles! Lia!" Scott calls and they all look up.

"Scott?" Stiles calls back before the boy rushes into the room.

"What the hell are you doing?" Scott asks.

"Oh, you just prevented a lifetime of nightmares!" Stiles announces, his relief clear in his voice.

"Did you get it?" Aurelia and Derek ask simultaneously and Scott pulls the bullet out of his pocket before holding it up and Derek reaches out to grab it.

"What are you gonna do with it?" Stiles asks as Derek looks at the bullet.

"I'm gonna," Derek says and Aurelia glances at him with a worried frown. "I'm gonna," Aurelia immediately reaches out to catch Derek when he slumps slightly, prioritising easing him to the floor gently over catching the bullet. Which probably wasn't the best priority but sue her.

"No! No, no, no, no," Scott says as Aurelia kneels next to Derek.

"One of you get that bullet. Now." Aurelia says.

"It fell in a drain!" Stiles argues.

"Figure it out!" Aurelia retorts and he scoffs incredulously as Scott heads over to the drain the bullet had rolled into.

"Scott, what the hell are we gonna do?" Stiles asks as Aurelia tries to wake Derek up.

"I don't know! I can't reach it!" Scott responds.

"Use your claws!" Aurelia says.

"He's not waking up." Stiles says and Aurelia just ignores him. "I think he's dying. I think he's dead!"

"Stiles, shut up!" Aurelia snaps impatiently.

"Oh, I got it! I got it!" Scott exclaims as Aurelia places a glowing hand against Derek's arm before shocking him and the werewolf shoots up.

"Give it." Aurelia says to Scott and he holds the bullet out towards them as she hauls Derek up to his feet, propping him up against the table as she hands him the bullet before looking for a lighter. She turns back to the table to see Derek tipping the wolfsbane in the bullet out onto the table. He shifts to the side slightly as Aurelia uses the lighter to set it on fire before she steadies him slightly when they both lean back a little at the sparks it causes.

Derek quickly brushes the wolfsbane into his hand before moving it towards his arm and Aurelia looks at him when he hesitates slightly before grabbing his hand and slapping it against his arm. "Sorry." She says before pushing the wolfsbane into the bullet wound with her thumb, stumbling back a little as she grips her arm when Derek falls back with a pained exclamation. Stiles gently grabs Aurelia's arm when she grabs the edge of the table, steadying her a little.

"That. Was. Awesome! Yes!" Stiles exclaims after a moment and Aurelia shakes her head a little before moving to help Derek up.

"Are you okay?" Scott asks.

"Well, except for the agonising pain." Derek responds, his voice thick with sarcasm.

"I'm guessing the ability to use sarcasm is a good sign of health." Stiles remarks briefly.

"Okay, we saved your life, which means you're gonna leave us alone. You got that? And, if you don't, I'm gonna go back to Allison's dad, and I'm gonna tell him everything." Scott says, looking between the two of them and Aurelia frowns at him incredulously as she scoffs lightly.

"You're gonna trust them? You think they can help you?" Derek asks.

"Well, why not? They're a lot freaking nicer than you are." Scott retorts and Aurelia scoffs incredulously.

"Oh, yeah, they're fucking wonderful." She remarks dryly.

"I can show you exactly how nice they are." Derek responds angrily.

"What do you mean?" Scott asks.

"No. Absolutely not." Aurelia says, turning to look at Derek.

"You got a better idea? They're not gonna get it until they see for themselves what they're capable of." Derek says.

"No! Derek, you can't just parade him around for your convenience! Take them to the fucking cemetery. There's plenty of proof there." Aurelia says.

"That's not going to work and you know it." Derek says quietly. "Aurelia, they need to know." Aurelia stares at him with a clenched jaw for a moment.

"This isn't right, Derek." She says.

"I know. But we haven't got a choice. Do we?" He responds and she sighs before turning and walking past Scott and Stiles out of the animal clinic.

"What was that about?" Stiles asks and Derek turns to look at them.

"Scott, let's go."

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"You don't have to come in." Derek says when they park outside the care facility and she glances at him briefly before turning off the engine and throwing the car door open and Derek sighs before nodding for Scott to follow them as he climbs out of the car.

"What are we doing here?" Scott asks, rushing to catch up with the two of them.

Aurelia walks ahead of Derek and Scott slightly, pushing open the door to Peter's room gently before walking in and sitting on the arm of the chair beside the bed as Derek and Scott walk into the room and over to Peter. "Who is he?" Scott asks when neither of them speak.

"My uncle. Peter Hale." Derek responds.

"Is he like you? A werewolf?" Scott asks.

"He was. Now, he's barely even human. Six years ago, our house caught fire. I was at Aurelia's and my sister was at a friend's. Thirteen people were trapped inside. He was the only survivor." Derek says.

"So, what makes you so sure that they set the fire?" Scott asks and Aurelia sighs impatiently as she stares at him. She was so sick of that question.

"Cause they're the only ones that knew about us!" Derek responds angrily.

"Well, then, they had a reason." Scott says.

"What?" Aurelia asks incredulously and he glances at her.

"I-"

"What reason justifies setting fire to a house when there's children inside? Or full stop? Little kids, Scott." Aurelia says and he falters slightly.

"She's right. You tell me what justifies this." Derek says before turning Peter's chair around and Aurelia shakes her head a little as she glances at Peter. "They say they'll only kill an adult, and only with absolute proof, but there were people in my family that were perfectly ordinary in that fire. This is what they do. And it's what Allison will do." Derek says and Scott glances at Aurelia briefly.

"What? If you think I'm going to stick up for them, you're sorely mistaken. They're killers, Scott. They'll preach a good cause, tell you they're doing it for the right reason, tell you they're protecting people. But the reality is, no matter how many rules they claim to have, most of the people they'll kill will be completely innocent people. Kids, humans when they're wrong. They'll claim they need absolute proof but they won't actively go out of their way to get it if they think they're right. It's what happened to my Mom. Allison's grandfather was with some of his hunters at night, they found her in the woods and they killed her. They didn't know who she was. They had no proof she was supernatural. But they killed her." Aurelia says.

"Well, she was a witch." Scott says.

"Oh, and that justifies them killing her?" Aurelia snaps.

"No, that's not what I meant." He says immediately.

"They don't care what you are. They don't care who you are. They don't care if you've never hurt a soul. If they find you and think you're a threat, you die. They'll kill you. If they find out you're a werewolf, they'll kill you." Aurelia says firmly.

"What are you doing? How did you get in here?" Aurelia glances over at the door to see Jennifer standing in the doorway and she rolls her eyes.

"We were just leaving." Derek says before pulling Scott out of the room and Jennifer looks at Aurelia pointedly when she doesn't move.

"Yes?" Aurelia asks.

"You're not supposed to be here." Jennifer says.

"Yeah, you're not supposed to be working tonight. Cara tells me when all the nurses are on shift. Well, she tells me when you're on shift. And I texted her on the way over to make sure you hadn't swapped for tonight because she worked today. And she confirmed, you're not on shift for another two days." Aurelia says and Jennifer narrows her eyes at the witch. "What do you want to sit here all night? Because we can." She asks and the woman hesitates for a moment before walking away from the door and Aurelia sighs impatiently. "One of these days, I swear to God." She mutters as she gets up, heading towards the door before pausing with a frown and turning back to look at Peter, tilting her head a little. She steps back into the room with a confused frown because she could have sworn she briefly got a very clear read on him and she hadn't been able to do that in six years.

It was probably just because she kind of suspected he was the Alpha so she was just projecting but she really wasn't sure. Also, that was probably her stupidest theory on the whole Alpha thing because while it explained a few very specific things, it was kind of completely ruled out by the six year coma. She shakes her head a little with a frown before sighing.

"Yeah, definitely losing it. 'Bout time." She mutters to herself, gently brushing a thumb across the back of his hand before sighing and turning to walk out of the room, pulling the door shut behind her.

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