Without Incident [Wattys2016]

05.

"So let me get this straight, you want us to go out into the woods with a human fireball in search of a faceless, nameless maniac all because of a hunch."

"Well, when you put it like that..." I rested my head in my hands, waiting for Hayden to stop pacing the floor of my room. "And it's not just a hunch, it was a vision Parrish had and those are hardly ever wrong."

After returning from the Sheriff's station I called Corey and Liam, outlining the plan Stilinski, Parrish and I had cooked up. It was half baked but it was something. Parrish had given me a timeline, admitting that it was going to be a struggle getting my friends on board. He wasn't stupid, he knew that they didn't trust him, most certainly not Corey who would probably never get over Parrish lighting him on fire a couple months ago-to be fair Corey was a part of a rival pack at the time. Either way, with or without us, he was going out to the preserve in two days time but he said it would be nice to have some back up.

Not one to be convinced easily, Hayden glared at me from across the room.

"Get Scott on the phone-"

"No," I blurted out, nearly jumping up. "I promised while they were away I would be able to hold down the fort. And, for the most part, I'd say we've been doing a pretty decent job."

"Yeah, well, for the most part we haven't had to deal with some asshole kidnapping and turning people."

She sacked me with a pillow and I wrestled it out of her hands, sitting her down on my bed beside me.

"Wow. Less sass more support would be nice." I grabbed her hand, lacing our fingers together. "Hayden, listen to me. We've been doing just fine. Why drag the others back into this when we don't need their help."

She cocked her head as if the answer was obvious but was confused as to why my brain wasn't receiving it. I'm pretty sure from the look on her face she was mentally strangling me. "Because we're down half a pack going into a potentially dangerous confrontation."

"But we've got Parrish and he's pretty powerful on his own. We can do this. You trust me, don't you?"

"How can you even ask that? It's just-sometimes you can be..."

"What?" I pushed. Hayden rose to her feet.

"You can be cocky and arrogant and reckless," She pinched the fatty part of my shoulder, emphasizing each slight with some point of pain. "I want to make sure you're going into this with a level head."

"Believe me, I'm level. I'm more than that. I'm confident-confident that we don't need them to catch this guy. You think they always had help? We've gotta learn to do for ourselves. Aren't you sick of standing behind other people, waiting for them to protect you? Fight for yourself, stop being afraid."

She gave me a curious look, a faint smile playing at her lips. I tugged her into my arms, pressing my lips to her hairline. I kiss her eyelids, her nose, her cheeks. Just barely masked by her shampoo, I could smell the anxiety bleeding off of her in waves. If I could kiss away her fears I would. Swallowing hard, I pressed her closer to my chest.

"You better be right about this," she sighed against my throat.

"When have I ever been wrong?" I scoffed.

That gave her a good laugh and I was glad for it.