The Archer ➳ Derek Hale {1}

forty eight; the act of persuasion

It feel like the world is one big ironic joke. I stare at my blood covered hand as it sits wrapped around Lydia's unmoving one. Peter stands behind me, wiping her drying blood from his mouth. I could hear the buzzing of the lights from around us and the cold air has started to numb my body. I sniffle lightly as Stiles sits back on his heals, "No-I'm not just letting you leave her here."

Peter shrugs carelessly and continues to wipe the blood from his mouth, "You don't have a choice, Stiles. You're coming with me."

Stiles's voice raises and his words leave a crack in my heart, "Just kill me. Look, I don't care anymore."

I reach out and grab his hand in mine, "No. I'll stay. I'll call for help. I'll help her."

His watery eyes meet mine with a shred of hope, but the tutting coming from the man behind me causes it to disappear. Before I can think I'm torn from the ground and Peter's hands roughly hold me, "Oh no, no, no. You think you're getting out of this just like that? You can drop the caring act, sweetheart. You're coming with me," I struggle in his grip, but grind my teeth as his claws deep into my skin. Blood lightly trails down my arms and falls from my finger tips, to the ground below me, "I wouldn't do that if I were you. You and your family need to pay."

His voice is haunting as he leans his mouth against my right ear. Stiles stumbles up from the ground once he notices my blood. He opens his mouth to argue, but Peter beats him. "Call your friend. Tell Jackson where she is. That's all you get."

Stiles's eyes meet mine and I nod my head slowly, urging him to do what Peter says. Getting Lydia the hell out of here to safety and making sure that Stiles makes it out of this situation alive are my main priorities at the moment.

After he makes the call, Peter drags us both off the field and I keep silent the entire way.

➳ ➳ ➳ ➳

Peter sighs heavily from the passenger seat of Stiles's jeep and looks between the two of us. I sit solemnly in the backseat and stare at the dry blood on my hands.

"Don't feel bad. If she lives, she'll become a werewolf. She'll be incredibly powerful."

"Yeah," Stiles's voice is thick with sarcasm. "And once a month, she'll go out of her freaking mind and try to tear me apart."

I close my eyes at the sound of pure sadness and emotion in Stiles's words. I feel anger fill my body at Peter's, "Well, actually, considering that she's a woman-twice a month." I send him a heated glare and if I didn't know that he could easily kill me, I would reach over and slap him upside his stupid head. Stiles looks over at him completely dumbfounded by his assholeness.

The rest of the drive is silent, besides Peter directing Stiles on where to turn. I sit numbly in the backseat and ignore all of Peter's attempts to get a reaction out of me. I watch as we slowly pull into a parking garage and I notice a dark grey one parked to the side. Stiles slowly pulls up near it and Peter steps out of the Jeep. I share a look with Stiles before we both follow him.

Stiles looks at the car with confusion and curiosity, "Whose car is this?"

I walk around and inspect the car as Peter answers nonchalantly, "It belonged to my nurse." I move back around and stand next to Stiles again, not wanting to be anywhere near Peter.

I feel my eyebrows come together as I think, "Well, where the hell's your nurse-"

Stiles jumps back and grabs my arm in shock as Peter opens the trunk, revealing the nurse bitch we'd met before, "Oh, my god!" Her body is bloody and definitely dead. I grimace at the sight.

He moves her decaying arm and lifts a bag from underneath it, before shoving said bag into Stiles's chest. Peter shrugs at the two of us indifferently, "I got better." I jump slightly as he slams the trunk back down and Stiles lays the bag on top of it. Peter takes out a laptop and heavily lays it next to the bag, before shoving Stiles's in front of it.

"Good luck getting a signal down here," I raise an eyebrow as he hands Stiles a small black device. I have no idea what it is, but the look on Stiles's face tells me he does, "Oh, MiFi. And you're a Mac guy. Does that go for all werewolves, or just a personal preference?"

If it were any other time, I would be laughing at Stiles's unpeckable sarcasm, but by the look on Peter's face I know that would be a big mistake. He turns to Stiles with a heavy sigh, "Turn it on. Get connected."

Stiles flips over the MiFi and reads the back before he starts to type slowly, "You know, you're really killing the whole werewolf mystique thing here. Look, you still need Scott's username and password, and I'm sorry, but I don't know them."

Peter's gaze doesn't budge as he continues to stare at Stiles, "You know both of them."

I inhale slowly as my annoyance starts to increase, "He said he doesn't know them, so he doesn't know them."

Peter lets out a breath from his nose before turning to face me, "I don't remember inviting you into this conversation," I match his glare as he continues to talk, "And even if I couldn't hear his heartbeat, I'd still know he's lying."

I shrug and scoff lightly, "Ever think his hearts beating fast because he's being held hostage by a crazy homicidal werewolf? Or maybe, because, I don't know, his friend could be currently dying or turning into a freaking werewolf."

Peter looks to Stiles with a look before returning back to me, "Are you always this annoying?"

Stiles steps towards Peter with slight anger, "Dude, I swear to God-" My heart starts racing as Peter reaches forward and slams Stiles's head into the trunk of the car.

I cringe as I can hear the small sounds of pain leave Stiles's mouth, "I can be very persuasive, Stiles. Don't make me persuade you."