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Peter knew the pack was attempting to save someone's life, but someone else's life had been in jeopardy who he cared about a lot more than some random teacher. He'd been hanging out in the corner of Cora's room, watching her and Derek, waiting for her to wake up. When he noted Derek's eyes drooping, he said he was going to get them coffee and would be right back.

Moving through the halls, he avoided the nurses's station, not wanting a run in with Melissa McCall. He did the same on the way back and was almost back to the room when he heard a scream that ricocheted through him, plucking hard at his eardrums, though not close enough to drop him to the ground.

He did drop the coffee, though, because he knew that scream. He'd heard it in his dreams, elicited it from her more than once last year.

Lydia.

Ignoring the splash of the hot coffee on the floor and not bothering to return to Derek and Cora, Peter took off at a run. He heard his name distantly shouted, but he didn't stop for it. He didn't stop for anything.

When he hit the school, he closed his eyes and felt for her, feeling the edges of her mind, seeing what she saw. He'd gone to school here; he knew it well, and the images he got from her helped him pinpoint her location. Students, parents and teachers were spilling out of the auditorium doors, though, screaming in a way that made him grateful he even could feel her--that she was still alive.

The crowd made going in problematic, so he went around, twisting toward the hall of classrooms where she was. Scanning rooms as he went by, he caught sight of something that about made his heart stop: Lydia, tied to a chair, a garrotte around her neck, and some woman moving toward the fallen sheriff. He couldn't see Lydia moving, didn't know if she was all right, but there was blood in the air--hers, Scott's, Sheriff Stilinski's.

Peter's eyes glowed blue and his claws and fangs extended as he growled. With a running leap he threw himself through the windows, knocking into the woman and sending her farther away from Lydia. He snarled, almost fully wolfed out, noting the others at the door. He wanted the woman, wanted her blood, but how much and how hard depending on how hurt Lydia was, so he spun to her, moving to kneel in front of her chair, senses trained on the woman for any sudden moves.

By the time he reached Lydia, his features were normal again, though his eyes were still glowing bright blue and the claws of his right hand were still extended. He slashed through the bindings holding her, careful not to nick her skin, then reached to pluck the garrotte away, eyeing the marks on her throat with a fury that had him growling again.

Another crash from behind him startled him enough to look and see the girl and the sheriff disappear. Whatever. He had her scent. He could hunt her down. His attention focused back on Lydia.

"Are you badly hurt?" She obviously wasn't all right, but he needed the physical damage report first.

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Lydia still wanted to go home but she knew he was hesitant to let her do so as well as hesitant about leaving Cora. So, for him, she decided to consent to staying as long as she could be placed in Cora's room.

It really wasn't all that hard to convince Melissa of it either when she came back with some painkillers for Lydia. It would take a few minutes to get everything in order but it wasn't long before she was back with another wheelchair to take Lydia to her room.

Peter actually breathed a little easier that that--he was worried about her, about her head and her other wounds and having something besides just his senses monitoring her, making sure she didn't slide into a coma or something, made him breathe a little easier.

Knowing no one could kick him out of the room, even if her mother or father showed up, was another relief. Being able to watch over Cora, too, was helpful to his self control, as well. Even just being with Derek helped the wolf--like it or not, upset as they both were or not, Derek was his Alpha, and the wolf needed that.

He let Lydia get settled, then reached out to brush fingers slowly through her hair, soft and easy and then...caught his breath as finally, now that he was quieter, his skin tingled, then crawled, blackness sliding up along his veins as he instinctively started drawing out her pain.

It was something he hadn't done since before the fire...something he, honestly, had forgotten they could do, and even if he'd remembered, he would have thought it something he could no longer do, for all the empathy it required. Really...all he could do was stare at his hand, not even flinching at the pain that slid into him for his body to deal with.

The painkillers had helped to dull some of the pain but not completely as Melissa still wasn't comfortable in giving her anything too strong. Still, it made resting easier as they got her settled into the bed across the room from where Derek was sitting with Cora, looking a bit surprised to see Lydia and Peter though he understood the reasoning behind it.

Closing her eyes, Lydia quietly tilted her head towards Peter's touch, seeking the comfort and the soothing connection as his fingers brushed slowly through her hair and over her skin.

Then, suddenly, it was a bit easier to breathe. The ache in her head and her throat grew easier to deal with, almost like she had healed a little even if the physical marks were the same. Opening her eyes in surprise, she saw it then. Saw the blackness slithering up his arm, along his veins, and then she saw the look on his face.

"What...." She gasped.

Derek glanced up at the noise and stopped at the sight of what Peter was doing. It was something he knew they could do but it wasn't possible for all of them. It was usually for the more compassionate of their kind like Scott and Isaac. And now Peter, it seemed.

Peter was torn between wanting to yank his hand back, just from the shock, and between wanting to keep it there and try to pull out even more. The latter impulse won, at least, as he focused and shifted it toward a more intentional pull. He couldn't fix the damage, couldn't heal her, but he could take as much of her pain as he could, to let her body work on healing, not fighting the pain.

"Shh...it's all right," he murmured soothingly, mostly just nonsense.

He doubted he'd be able to do this for most people. He didn't give enough of a damn, not like Scott and Isaac. But her? Her he cared about.

There was a burning in his hand that told him he'd probably taken all he could and he eased his hand back from her, massaging it with his other as the blackness crawled up and finally started to dissipate.

It looked scarier than it felt because she felt better the longer he did it. At least she felt better physically as she as still worried about what it was doing to him.

Still, the headache was nearly gone by the time he was done. There was still a dull throb right at the center of the gash where Jennifer had hit her but that was to be expected for awhile. She even found it easier to swallow as she watched him.

"What was that?" She asked softly.

Peter was more emotionally shaken than physically--the burning in his hand eased pretty quickly, though he was strangely tempted to cry, which was utterly ridiculous.

He cleared his throat of the lump that was in it and gave her a little smile.

"Just something we can sometimes do. Taking away someone else's pain. I...didn't think I could anymore."

Lydia understood now why he had been surprised. Her features softened as she reached out to take his hand, linking their fingers as she nodded her head. "Thank you." She murmured because clearly it had worked.

Derek watched the entire exchange, still surprised though it was a good thing to see. For a moment, when Peter was distracted and focused on her, Derek saw a hint of the uncle he used to know. The one that had been his closest confidant and friend before opposing ideas and bitterness had pulled them apart.

Turning his head before Peter caught him watching, he looked at Cora. He had been trying to take pain from her but something was blocking him from doing so. Whatever it was that was wrong with her.

Needing to distract himself, he had to ask. "So, a banshee."

Lydia's gaze flickered to Derek. "Did you know?" She watched him as he shook his head ever so slightly and then her gaze drew back to Peter. "What does it mean? Besides being creepy and finding dead bodies?"

Peter felt Derek's eyes, though he didn't look over. Right now, he didn't need the reminders of what had been. It all hurt too much. Reminded him too much of what he'd lost--and not just the family members who'd died.

Still a bit lost in trying to figure out how and why he'd been able to help her, he almost missed Lydia's question. Glancing up at her, he frowned a little in confusion before connecting what she was asking and shaking himself.

"Banshees are able to foretell death," he said quietly. "And are sometimes said to walk the line between life and death, able to bridge them." Which is why he'd needed her. "There are a lot of different stories. Which are true and which not...we should sort through when there's time."

It would explain why she had been able to overhear suicides at the motel, things that had happened in the past that had warned her about things that were happening in the present.

Closing her eyes, she gave a slight nod as he reassured her they would sort through things later. Keeping a hold on his hand, she let herself drift then, relaxing further since things didn't seem to be hurting so much now thanks to him.

Peter watched her drift, his own anxiety lessening under the wonder of what he'd done and watching her be calmer--as well as Derek's presence, though he was never going to admit that.

He hated to rouse her when the doctor finally came in, but he knew she needed to be examined. The man gave them all a wary look, like he could sense he was in the room with...something else, but then looked at Peter as the obvious adult in the room.

"Mr. Martin?" he said, coming forward with his hand, extended, clearly assuming he was Lydia's father.

Peter arched an eyebrow. "It's Hale, actually." He nodded at Cora. "Her uncle." The doctor gave Lydia and Peter's hand on her arm a confused look, and Peter shrugged easily. "Friend of the family. We thought it would comfort the girls to be together, since Lydia's family isn't here." He touched her arm again, lightly. "The doctor's here, sweetheart..."

Stirring at the sound of Peter's voice calling her back, she struggled to open her eyes, annoyed at the way her head felt like it was filled with cotton but she managed to look at the doctor a moment later. Then she frowned a bit. "Is there something wrong?"

She had forgotten, for a moment, that she acutally hadn't seen a doctor yet.

"I'm sorry you had to wait," the doctor said, still half to Peter. "We had a lot of traumas come in tonight and we're understaffed." And Lydia's symptoms hadn't presented as life-threatening, once her CT Scan was clear.

He consulted the chart. "You were..." He looked startled at the mention of a garotte.

"Surely you've heard about the serial killer loose in town?" Peter said, almost a bit sarcastically. "Lydia was attacked tonight, though the sheriff arrived in time to save her, thankfully. I don't think she wants to talk about it, so if you'd just check out her wounds and see what they need so she can rest..."

The doctor looked like he was going to protest the tone, but he looked at Lydia and nodded slightly. "Can you sit up?"

Really, Lydia didn't have much patience for answering questions most of the time and her patience was severely lacking at the moment. She felt rubbed raw and exposed, leaving her wanting to be alone with only Peter for company. So she was rather content to let him handle the doctor even if she felt a tiny bit bad for the man. Kind of. Not really.

Nodding, she sat up, figuring he would guess she was silent because of the angry red marks around her neck.

Still watching Peter a little warily, the doctor leaned in and examined the marks, frowning at their redness.

"Was it metal?"

Since Peter had been the one to toss it away, he answered. "Yes. Metal wire of some sort."

The doctor nodded. "It's unlikely to be an issue, with wire, but I'd like to get some antibiotic cream on that, and to keep it bandaged for a few days, at least. I assume your tetanus shot is up to date?" Since she was in school--it was usually a requirement.

Lifting her chin so the doctor could examine her neck, she glanced at Peter as he answered again and a shiver rushed through her at the memory of the wire wrapping around her throat. Not once but twice.

Realizing then she had been asked a question, she nodded. "Yes."

"All right. I'm going to send Melissa back in to clean and dress that..." He went back to her chart, pulling out the CT results to examine them. "It doesn't look like you have any swelling or bleeding in the brain, which is positive, but I want to check for any problems not showing up on the scan..."

He checked her pupils first, light shining into her eyes, looking for dilation and unevenness. Then he ran her through a series of tests for her memory and cognition. He was careful with his questions not to poke too much at the trauma, though he did ask if she knew what she was hit with, if she'd lost consciousness, about dizziness, fogginess and headache now. Frowning softly, he had her get up--which had Peter shooting to his feet since he hadn't let her stand on her own since he'd gotten to her, honestly--and checked her reflexes, strength, balance and coordination, not letting Peter help her.

Peter didn't like it, but he knew the doctor needed a full picture of what was going on.

When the doctor had what he needed, he frowned a little. "I'm going to prescribe something for the pain over the next few days. There are a few options..." He looked back up, glanced at the two men in the room uncomfortably, but any suggestion they leave--when Lydia wasn't acting like they should--seemed...unwise. Looking back at the girl, he asked, "Is there any chance you're pregnant?"

Lydia nodded her head ever so slightly as she listened, hoping that anything they used for the gash on her head or on her neck was something she could work with. She still had to be somewhat fashionable, after all.

When he started running her through the tests, it really couldn't be any surprise to anyone that she answered everything correctly though there was a time or two when she hesitated just a second or two longer before replying. The physical tests were a little harder for her as she was feeling a little dizzy and weak in the knees. Still, it was a lot better than they could hope for and a lot better than being dead.

Settling back on the bed, she nibbled over her lip...only to stop dead at the question of whether she could be pregnant or not. Her eyes darted to Peter and then back as she thought about it then. Yes, she was on the pill but even she knew that the pill wouldn't prevent her from getting pregnant in the end. It wasn't a hundred percent effective though, especially when added in with how often they had sex and how often they did so without a condom. Which was all the time.

Derek sat up a bit straighter then too, looking at Peter and Lydia as she sat there without answering. Then he clenched his jaw and shot his uncle a look behind the Doctor's back.

The doctor caught Lydia's look to Peter, but didn't think much of it besides that the girl might be embarrassed to answer in front of a friend of her parents'. Peter caught it, too, and looked away when she did, just to catch Derek looking at him which made him roll his eyes.

Thankfully, focused on Lydia, the doctor missed that.

"Miss Martin?" He prodded, voice gentle. "If you want to go talk somewhere private, we can. Technically, we should't be having this discussion in here with others anyway, unless you're certain you want them here."

Derek arched a brow at Peter when the other werewolf looked at him, silently asking if it was possible that Lydia could be pregnant. Of course, having sex with anyone at any time always meant there was a chance but still clearly he was going to have to ask.

At the question, Lydia made a bit of a face. "I'm not but you can do a test if you need to."

Peter arched an eyebrow right back with a bit of a shrug, because, hello, he hadn't made any secret of the fact that he was sleeping with Lydia and abstinence was the only sure-fire way to prevent pregnancy.

The doctor still missed the byplay of the two wolves, just nodding. "No need for that, if you don't think it's likely. I'm going to give you some Percocet just for the next couple of days to help with the pain. Only use it if it gets bad, as it could rebound. Use Advil if you can, all right?"

"Fine, I can do that." Lydia nodded her head, tucking some hair back from her face. She answered a couple more questions when he asked them before finally looking relieved when he left the room.

And not a second later after the doctor left, a croaky voice sounded from the other bed. "Peter knocked up the redhead?" Cora blinked, having only caught bits and pieces of the conversation.

"I don't know but clearly he missed the sex talk about protection." Derek replied dryly.

Peter gave them both a withering look. "Peter didn't miss anything and the redhead is on the pill." He gave Lydia a flicker of concerned look that somehow their sex life was now his niece and nephew's conversation point, before turning the glare back on the two of them. "But everything has a chance of failure."

"Please tell me you're taking my precaution than her being on the pill." Derek grumbled a little bit.

Cora frowned a bit, looking to Lydia who looked a bit annoyed as well as Peter glared at the two younger Hales for focusing on the fact that Peter and her were having sex. "Will everyone relax? I'm not pregnant."

"Werewolves are notorious for being fertile." Cora stated weakly.

"I really don't see how this is anyone's business," Peter all but snapped. "We have far bigger concerns right now than precautions during sex."

Condoms killed sensation and required lube and that just...wasn't natural in Peter's mind. He had them, used them for sex before Lydia because most women insisted these days with the spread of disease, and he wasn't going to try and explain why he wasn't going to catch or transmit anything. But he didn't like them. Who did, really?

"You say that now but what if she ends up pregnant? That will become a concern." Derek told him with a bit of a frown. He knew firsthand exactly what that was like even if Hayley wasn't pregnant with his baby. She was pregnant and he cared about her, that was enough.

"What would you even do with a baby?" Cora asked, her voice slurring just a bit.

Lydia listened, finding it to be a surreal situation at the moment. Discussing their sex life as though they were the kids and the other two were the parents or elders. Never mind that she was actually the youngest in the room but she'd been given the sex talk already.