Burn Amongst Humanity [D. Hale ]

|II|

"Second Chance At First Line"

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"Sometimes, our emotions are the most useful of tools."

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"Derek, why in the hell am I here at the High School on my break?" Casey asked as she walked up to him and he was standing next to the bleachers.

"Watch." Derek wasn't feeling very descriptive at the moment, as he had made very clear, as he was nodding at the lacrosse practice.

"What am I watching for, Derek? For teenagers running at each other to try and appease an insane coach?" Casey asked.

"No. You are watching out for the teenager named Scott McCall, who had his first full moon experience last Friday and nearly got captured by the Argents." Derek said and Casey looked at him. "What?" He asked and she was shaking her head.

"Wait-wait, the fucking Argents are back in town?" Casey asked as he was looking at her, right before he was getting back to staring at the lacrosse team. "You-you should have, just told me before." Casey mumbled under her breath and she tried to focus on the lacrosse team, while her hands and her body shook.

"They can't hurt you right now. They don't even know that I'm in town, not yet." Derek murmured and she was trying and failing, to slow her heart down. "Easy." Derek said and Casey felt his hand holding hers, as she was glancing at him in surprise.

"Thanks." Casey murmured and Derek's nod was subtle, as Casey felt the shift in the air. "That's him, isn't it?" Casey asked as the teenager, who was going again, he looked pissed off.

"Yup." Derek answered quietly and this time, when Scott reached the guy on defense, the defenseman was sent flying back and he hit the ground hard. "At least a dislocation." Derek murmured and Casey narrowed her eyes, as Scott was breathing heavily, and now, Stiles was dragging him off of the field. "You see why I called you?" Derek asked.

Casey sighed, quickly nodding at the words and she lowered her head. "Do you really even need my help?" She asked and he nodded slightly.

"Are you still good at intimidating people?" Derek asked and Casey was staring at him.

"Derek, I'm a cop." Casey reminded him and Derek nodded a little. "Am I dealing with Scott or with Stiles?" She asked.

"I'll deal with Scott, you deal with Stiles. Meet back at my house after?" Derek asked and awkwardly, Casey was shaking her head. "Right." Derek muttered at the sight of her obvious worry, a bit little awkwardly.

"Later Derek." Casey said and he caught onto her arm gently and she looked at him. "Yeah?" She asked.

"I wanted to stay in Beacon Hills you know, after the fire. But, Laura was... she insisted that we had to leave." He said and she nodded a little.

"I get it, Derek, this town is full of ghosts for you." Casey murmured and he let go of her arm and Casey walked back to her squad car in silence as she got into her car and she pulled out her phone and sighed.

"Derek is back in Beacon Hills, right along with your family and Laura, she is dead."

Casey sent off the text message and when it said "delivered," she put her phone away and she drove off swiftly away real quickly after the fact.

Casey heard a knock on the front door, hours later and she was nearly asleep on the kitchen table. Casey was rubbing her eyes quickly and she opened the door, and Derek was standing there. "I can barely touch the door, Case, what in the hell did you do to your house?" Derek asked.

"Got the door replaced with one that was partially made, of ash wood and oak." Casey muttered and she waved him inside. "Doors and windows, all of them are now all lined with mountain ash, if I open them, then you could get into the house without my assistance."

"Hunter first?" Derek asked and she nodded a little, shutting the door and locking it. "Did you have any luck with Stiles?" He asked.

"I cornered him after school was out and I think I pissed him off a little bit but, I was successful. Coffee?" Casey asked as she refilled her cup of coffee and Derek took another one from her.

"Thanks. Also, I had a very much similar reaction from Scott." Derek said and she shrugged a little bit. "Are you still scared of fire?" Derek asked as she nodded a bit. "What the hell were you even doing out there?"

"I was sick, I was out for a walk and stupidly, I ran into the fire to try and help. You already know, exactly what happened to me afterwards." Casey murmured and he glanced at her. "I am covered in burn scars. Middle of my back, down, covered in them."

"If you wanted to help, you should have called the Fire Department!" He snapped as Casey flinched noticeably at his tone of voice. "Sorry." He said as she was shaking her head.

"That was the first thing I did, Der, I called the Fire Department." She said and he looked at the coffee cup in his hands. "I also managed to tackle my dad, who is currently rotting in prison for the rest of his days, because of his involvement in the fire."

"Your dad was involved?" Derek's tone of voice had changed, it was less angry and more surprised, as she was nodding a bit. "You should have gotten out of this town." Derek said quietly and Casey shook her head.

"I couldn't." She murmured and Derek's eyes narrowed suspiciously and Casey sighed. "Come out." Casey called out quickly as Derek raised his eyebrows at her words. "Not you." She murmured quietly.

An older teenager quietly walked into the room as Derek's eyes widened at once at the sight of him. "Tye?" Derek asked and the teenager, he was smiling a bit at the words.

"Hey Der." Tye Hale murmured very quietly and Derek walked over to his little brother and he pulled him quickly into a hug.

Tye returned the hug and Casey nodded a little with a smile. "Do you get why I didn't leave now?" Casey asked and Derek nodded.

"How did you know where to find her?" Derek asked and Casey silently looked at Tye, as she got herself another cup of coffee.

"I remembered that you and Laura always hung out at Casey's after you all were done school. I followed your guys' older scents and Casey was still in the hospital, but I knew how to hide." Tye murmured and Derek was looking emotional, as he looked over his shoulder at Casey.

"You're welcome." Casey murmured with a small smile and she looked at the clock. "I'm headed to sleep, I have work in the morning and Tye, just because Derek is back in town now, it doesn't mean that you can skip school, so get some sleep." Casey said as she opened the front door. "Either one of you, just pull it closed after you leave then." She murmured.