VESTIGE ↬ D. HALE [3]

04 ; reunion

04↬ REUNION

Elise sat in the waiting room chair, her knees pulled to her chest and her elbow resting on the surgical table. "You know," Elise said. "I was kind of hoping for this romantic reunion like the kind in movies." Her eyes flicked toward Derek's face. They'd brought him back to Beacon Hills and headed stright for Deaton's office, hoping that he would have some clue as to how Derek had suddenly become eight years younger. Deaton had proved to know nothing of what Kate had done nor how to fix it.

Elise had encouraged the rest of the group to go home and get some sleep before school the next day, leaving her alone with Derek and Deaton.

The latter of the two had gone into his office in order to look through his files in hope of finding anything that could help their situation.

"But, in order for that to happen, you need to go back to normal," Elise sighed. "Becaue there is no way I'm doing that with a sixteen year old." Elise tugged her bottom lip between her teeth as she rested her chin in the hand propped against the table. "You probably can't even hear me," he frowned.

Elise stayed like that for a while, surveying Derek for any sign of improvement or change, until her eyelids grew heavy and the sun began to peek over the horizon.

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"His pulse is unusually high," Deaton remarked as he pressed two fingers against the inside of Derek's wrist.

"What does that mean?" Elise asked.

"I'm not sure," he said. After a short pause, Deaton stepped away from the table. "Hold his arm down, Elise," he instructed as he returned with a small scalpel in hand.

Elise nodded and placed her hand over Derek's. "What are you going to do?" she asked, though her question was answered when Deaton dragged the scalpel across the side of Derek's arm. Before he had even pulled the blade back, Derek's arm was healed. Not even a trace of a wound was left.

"That was... really fast," Elise remarked with wide eyes.

"Incredibly so," Deaton agreed. "I want to try something else. Elise, could you get me a five mililiter syringe out of that left cabinet?"

The brunette nodded and gently placed Derek's hand back on the table before moving toward the cabinets. She spotted Deaton from the corner of her eye as he moved to rummage through a tray full of small bottles.

Elise's lips parted in shock as a low groan sounded from behind them. She turned slowly to find Derek sitting up on the surgical table. She and Deaton shared a concerned look as the boy climbed to his feet.

"Derek?" Elise said softly. "Derek, are you alright?" His head snapped toward her, his eyes an electric blue hue. His breaths came in short, frantic breaths as his eyes flicked between Elise and Deaton.

"Elise, I dont think-" Deaton began, but was silenced as Derek took a frightened step back.

His back collided with a surgical tray balanced on the edge of the counter and he stumbled. Instinctively, Elise reached out a hand to help him.

Her fingers had barely grazed the skin of his arm when a wave of nauseating panic washed over her. She yelped and pulled her hand back and a painful fear attacked her heart, sending it into a rapid rhythm. Elise stumbled backward from him, the shock and pain from the contact forcing her knees to buckle.

Her vision blurred and was tinged with red as Derek turned and sprinted out of the door.

"Elise!" Deaton exclaimed as he ducked to the foor next to the brunette. "Are you okay?"

She nodded weakly, blinking rapidly to clear her vision as she braced a hand against her chest. Her heart was already returing to a normal pace as she spoke. "He's scared," she breathed. She paused a moment before adding. "Deaton, he didn't remember us."

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So like I'm gonna admit I kinda played off of the whole soulmate trope/cliche or whatever in that young Derek automatically feels safer with Elise. It's more that he just kind of feels that she's familiar to him in some way, so he's more inclined to trust her. He still doesn't remember her or their relationship, though.
Also, this chapter was incredibly short, but I decided that it would be best to have it be only these two scenes for some reason?
Words: 750

Feedback is most appreciated <3