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om_mainX-Factor and Lydia set up some surveillance, and meet one of the Hale Clan unexpectedly...
Lydia rubbed at her arms as if cold. She wasn't; she was wearing a puffy jacket that'd keep her warm at Everest Base Camp, she was pretty sure, not to mention the space-ship grade insulation on her boots, but it was just... this place. She hated these fucking woods. Hated that it was just past that hollow down there, off the road, where she'd come to--in the headlights from a cop car. Naked.
She handled it pretty well, in retrospect. Mostly on instinct.
"We shouldn't split up too far," she said, waiting for Simon to hand her something from the van.
Damon gave Simon a poignant look over her shoulder, smirking slightly. Then he cinched the straps of the hiking backpack and swung it up over his shoulders. "That's why you're sticking with me, Martin. Chromy's got this covered."
Simon quickly met Damon's gaze, even as he handed a box of equipment to Lydia. "I'll go and set up surveillance closer to the house," he told her with a nod. It made sense, since he would be faster at it, knowing the equipment better, and he wasn't exactly likely to get spotted, in case anybody else lived with the suspicious doctor.
Lydia nodded and hiked the box up. It made sense, and though she hadn't necessarily seen it for herself, Damon was well aware of Simon's capabilities. "Do we think there are traps around? It sounds idiotic, but there were always stories..." Kids ending up hanging by one leg from a tree, no one knew because of whom or why.
"Well I wasn't until now," Damon complained, making a face at her. Resigned, he turned his head in the direction of the doctor's house, scanning the woods. "I grew up with hunters. I should be able to spot something off if I need to. What about you, UK?"
"I did not grow up with hunters," Simon replied, now just as worried. But he lugged the last box out of the van and turned on his earpiece. "I'll let you know if I encounter anything. Or if I'm swinging upside down from a tree."
Lydia actually managed a surprised snort of a laugh. She really should've gotten to know Simon better; funny guy. When he opened his mouth. "If we keep our eyes open we should be fine. We're not thinking of straying too far anyhow." Whether she was trying to soothe them or herself--
Okay, no, she was trying to soothe herself.
Damon switched his own communicator on, reaching out to cup Lydia's hand and drop one into her palm. Then he turned to grab one of the crates. "Then let's move. I want to get this done before dark."
* * *
Derek Hale stepped out the back door and sniffed at the air, as if he'd forgotten he wasn't in his wolf-form. His senses still made the woods sharp, though... and he could swear there was something... different out there. Deliveries came and went all week, thanks to whatever the hell that idiot Peter was doing in the basement. (Derek didn't like to go down there, not since the fire, and the smells and sounds he caught from that general direction didn't make him much more excited about it either.)
But he had said he'd act as security, for the sake of their privacy as a family. Or the shell of one that was left, anyhow. He wouldn't have admitted it, definitely not to Peter, but Derek clung to what there was of it. Not so long ago, he'd thought they were all gone.
And sometimes he wished they still were... because Peter was a raging asshole. But not like that was new.
He started off in the general direction of the strange-human-smell, eyes sharp even as dusk began to creep up on the woods.
Simon had just finished setting up the last camera, and he breathed a quiet sigh of relief. He hadn't encountered any traps, or anyone for that matter. Time to get back to the others. He was about to tell them just that over the comms when he heard a branch crack underfoot a little way off, and he froze. For a second.
Then he moved.
If it was someone, drawing them away from the surveillance equipment seemed like a priority. He made a point not to be too silent as he hurried away from the house, although obviously, he was staying invisible. Let them wonder whether they had heard something or not, or if it had just been an animal.
Derek's eyes flashed in the dark as he prowled--still in his human form--in the direction of the sharp crack. His ears perked, the rest of him perfectly still, not even breathing as he focused every one of his wolf-sharp hunters instincts. It was something two-footed, something that smelled human, but his eyes caught nothing.
Something was wrong. He narrowed his eyes and prowled forward, far more silent than his quarry, away from the house. "I know you're there..." he tried, voice coming out like a surly growl.
That was definitely Simon's cue to grow silent and walk away from the oddly perceptive man, fast. Of course he had to wonder if he was a mutant - enhanced senses, psi? that would be just his luck - but he could also simply be someone with a very good instinct for those things. Given their reason for being here, however, Simon wasn't going to risk it. He picked up the pace, looking down at the ground where he was going to set foot and regularly glancing back to check where the man was.
But Derek's tracking wasn't just instinctive, it was programmed for life and death, even if he hadn't always needed to use like that. He followed the tracks through the underbrush easily, watching the way between trees and shrubs, moving fast and as quietly as possible. Knowing, somehow, that whatever he was tracking could see him, even if he couldn't see it. "Stop and tell me who you are!"
Okay, that was more than good instincts, and more than enough to make Simon want to get away from the man a lot faster than he had been. He checked that nothing was likely to fall out of his pockets, then dropped all attempt at his slow but silent progress and simply took off running.
That was all Derek needed. Single minded, watching the ground in front of him and sniffing his way to his prey, he took off after--whoever it was. Fast. "I don't know why I can't see you, but whoever you are, you're just making this harder."
Definitely, definitely some sort of mutant, Simon thought to himself as he sped up into a proper run, since the man was showing no sign of giving up. He grabbed onto a low hanging branch and easily swung himself up into a tree, hitting the ground on the other side of it and still running. Abrupt changes of directions ought to help shake him.
The branch's dip and groan told Derek almost everything he needed to know about the trajectory of whoever the hell this was. It was someone--this near the full moon his senses were honed too well to miss a trick, and this... this was human. He leapt after the smell and the sudden footfall indicating someone had landed. "Tell me why you're here. What you want!" The second leap was something like a tackle--as if he could tackle something he couldn't even see. But knew just about where it should be, anyhow.
That had been close, Simon rolling out of the way and getting back to his feet still running, before looking back to check on his tail. How was he supposed to shake him?
Well. He'd practiced, for all that he hadn't thought he would ever actually have to. It would put him mostly out of reach and, hopefully, be more confusing to the man on the ground, enhanced senses or not. Simon swung himself up into another tree and did not stop going, using them and the rocks and terrain of the woods much as he would have an urban landscape. Forest parkour it was, complete with regular and abrupt changes of direction. He was in perfect shape; he could do this a while.
Derek's late night forest runs meant he could go a while too, and he meant to. With all the focus of a wolf on his prey, packed into his long, tall human form, he pursued the sound and smell of the intruder. "Why are you here? What are you doing in these woods? This is private property."
Who was he? Simon stopped running, up in the branches of a tree, and committed his features to memory. Then, as soon as he was close enough, he leapt over him and hit the ground running, hoping to earn a few seconds by forcing him to turn around.
Derek skidded to the forest floor, looking up as something sailed over him, eyes glowing yellow of a sudden. He growled--growled like a wolf, not a man--and shot himself after the tricky bastard. His hand reached out and grabbed--something. Fabric. He pulled hard.
It was a good thing that you didn't learn parkour without learning how to fall right. Simon twisted around in mid-air, as much as he could, and went just the right amount of limp so he wouldn't break anything. That would teach him to try something like this, and now it was time to use Puck's teachings. His foot shot out, aiming hard for the man's knee.
Derek felt the person twist, but he couldn't see anything coming, so his knee bent the wrong way and he howled in pain, swiping blindly with his free hand. "Who the fuck are you?!"
Simon didn't pause to check how much he had hurt the man; anyone that chased a possible intruder the way this man had just chased him didn't mean to have a nice little chat over tea and crumpets. He took off running again immediately, trusting that the sound the knee had made when his foot connected meant that he was safe from being followed for a little while. Hopefully, anyway.
Derek howled again, tried to run, but his knee gave and he hit the forest floor. Son of a bitch!
Simon ran off without looking back, and wove his way through the forest, waiting to turn his comm on until he was confident that he was out of earshot, even of someone with enhanced hearing. "I've just been chased by someone while I was invisible," he told Damon and Lydia, keeping his voice low in case he had underestimated the man. "I've only just shaken him. I'm on my way back to the van now."
Lydia stopped what she was doing and shot Damon a look. "What? How did you chase you while you were invisible?" But even as she said it she had to wonder... mutant?
Damon tugged the camera cap from between his teeth and narrowed his eyes in Lydia's direction. "Maybe Princess PR was right after all. Where is he now?"
"Back in the woods, I started leading him away from the van," Simon stated, and paused for a second before adding, "I hurt his knee, but I didn't stick around to check whether he could heal."
"Okay, finish up and clear out. I don't think it's worth--" Lydia paused, licking her lips. And looked up at Damon with a wry expression in place. "Sorry. Go ahead."
"Oh no, please. Go right ahead," he drawled, rolling his eyes. "Why am I here anyway?"
"I was done, I'm on my way back," Simon cut in helpfully, before they could bicker any more about who was giving the orders.
Lydia just gave Damon a look.
Damon turned back to his work, fastening the last camera in place high on the trunk of a tree. "We'll meet you back at the truck. What can you tell us about this mysterious rendezvous? Tall, dark, handsome? You strike me as the kind of guy who likes a bad boy."
Ignoring the teasing, Simon thought back to what he had seen of his pursuer. He hadn't paused to check him out, of course, but he remembered clear eyes, pale skin, dark hair, and, well. Very sharp cheekbones. "Actually, he kind of looks like you."
"So, yes, tall, dark, and handsome," Lydia said thoughtfully, eying everything to make sure it was in place... for all it'd probably disappear soon. If they knew there were people in the woods, they'd probably check for that kind of thing... or would they?
Either way, this site in the woods was definitely more than it appeared.
Damon smirked at her, then hiked his pack back over his shoulder and headed back the way they'd come. "Come on. Let's see if we can get anything from the video. You can drill Fish Eyes for more information about his attacker."
Lydia rubbed at her arms as if cold. She wasn't; she was wearing a puffy jacket that'd keep her warm at Everest Base Camp, she was pretty sure, not to mention the space-ship grade insulation on her boots, but it was just... this place. She hated these fucking woods. Hated that it was just past that hollow down there, off the road, where she'd come to--in the headlights from a cop car. Naked.
She handled it pretty well, in retrospect. Mostly on instinct.
"We shouldn't split up too far," she said, waiting for Simon to hand her something from the van.
Damon gave Simon a poignant look over her shoulder, smirking slightly. Then he cinched the straps of the hiking backpack and swung it up over his shoulders. "That's why you're sticking with me, Martin. Chromy's got this covered."
Simon quickly met Damon's gaze, even as he handed a box of equipment to Lydia. "I'll go and set up surveillance closer to the house," he told her with a nod. It made sense, since he would be faster at it, knowing the equipment better, and he wasn't exactly likely to get spotted, in case anybody else lived with the suspicious doctor.
Lydia nodded and hiked the box up. It made sense, and though she hadn't necessarily seen it for herself, Damon was well aware of Simon's capabilities. "Do we think there are traps around? It sounds idiotic, but there were always stories..." Kids ending up hanging by one leg from a tree, no one knew because of whom or why.
"Well I wasn't until now," Damon complained, making a face at her. Resigned, he turned his head in the direction of the doctor's house, scanning the woods. "I grew up with hunters. I should be able to spot something off if I need to. What about you, UK?"
"I did not grow up with hunters," Simon replied, now just as worried. But he lugged the last box out of the van and turned on his earpiece. "I'll let you know if I encounter anything. Or if I'm swinging upside down from a tree."
Lydia actually managed a surprised snort of a laugh. She really should've gotten to know Simon better; funny guy. When he opened his mouth. "If we keep our eyes open we should be fine. We're not thinking of straying too far anyhow." Whether she was trying to soothe them or herself--
Okay, no, she was trying to soothe herself.
Damon switched his own communicator on, reaching out to cup Lydia's hand and drop one into her palm. Then he turned to grab one of the crates. "Then let's move. I want to get this done before dark."
* * *
Derek Hale stepped out the back door and sniffed at the air, as if he'd forgotten he wasn't in his wolf-form. His senses still made the woods sharp, though... and he could swear there was something... different out there. Deliveries came and went all week, thanks to whatever the hell that idiot Peter was doing in the basement. (Derek didn't like to go down there, not since the fire, and the smells and sounds he caught from that general direction didn't make him much more excited about it either.)
But he had said he'd act as security, for the sake of their privacy as a family. Or the shell of one that was left, anyhow. He wouldn't have admitted it, definitely not to Peter, but Derek clung to what there was of it. Not so long ago, he'd thought they were all gone.
And sometimes he wished they still were... because Peter was a raging asshole. But not like that was new.
He started off in the general direction of the strange-human-smell, eyes sharp even as dusk began to creep up on the woods.
Simon had just finished setting up the last camera, and he breathed a quiet sigh of relief. He hadn't encountered any traps, or anyone for that matter. Time to get back to the others. He was about to tell them just that over the comms when he heard a branch crack underfoot a little way off, and he froze. For a second.
Then he moved.
If it was someone, drawing them away from the surveillance equipment seemed like a priority. He made a point not to be too silent as he hurried away from the house, although obviously, he was staying invisible. Let them wonder whether they had heard something or not, or if it had just been an animal.
Derek's eyes flashed in the dark as he prowled--still in his human form--in the direction of the sharp crack. His ears perked, the rest of him perfectly still, not even breathing as he focused every one of his wolf-sharp hunters instincts. It was something two-footed, something that smelled human, but his eyes caught nothing.
Something was wrong. He narrowed his eyes and prowled forward, far more silent than his quarry, away from the house. "I know you're there..." he tried, voice coming out like a surly growl.
That was definitely Simon's cue to grow silent and walk away from the oddly perceptive man, fast. Of course he had to wonder if he was a mutant - enhanced senses, psi? that would be just his luck - but he could also simply be someone with a very good instinct for those things. Given their reason for being here, however, Simon wasn't going to risk it. He picked up the pace, looking down at the ground where he was going to set foot and regularly glancing back to check where the man was.
But Derek's tracking wasn't just instinctive, it was programmed for life and death, even if he hadn't always needed to use like that. He followed the tracks through the underbrush easily, watching the way between trees and shrubs, moving fast and as quietly as possible. Knowing, somehow, that whatever he was tracking could see him, even if he couldn't see it. "Stop and tell me who you are!"
Okay, that was more than good instincts, and more than enough to make Simon want to get away from the man a lot faster than he had been. He checked that nothing was likely to fall out of his pockets, then dropped all attempt at his slow but silent progress and simply took off running.
That was all Derek needed. Single minded, watching the ground in front of him and sniffing his way to his prey, he took off after--whoever it was. Fast. "I don't know why I can't see you, but whoever you are, you're just making this harder."
Definitely, definitely some sort of mutant, Simon thought to himself as he sped up into a proper run, since the man was showing no sign of giving up. He grabbed onto a low hanging branch and easily swung himself up into a tree, hitting the ground on the other side of it and still running. Abrupt changes of directions ought to help shake him.
The branch's dip and groan told Derek almost everything he needed to know about the trajectory of whoever the hell this was. It was someone--this near the full moon his senses were honed too well to miss a trick, and this... this was human. He leapt after the smell and the sudden footfall indicating someone had landed. "Tell me why you're here. What you want!" The second leap was something like a tackle--as if he could tackle something he couldn't even see. But knew just about where it should be, anyhow.
That had been close, Simon rolling out of the way and getting back to his feet still running, before looking back to check on his tail. How was he supposed to shake him?
Well. He'd practiced, for all that he hadn't thought he would ever actually have to. It would put him mostly out of reach and, hopefully, be more confusing to the man on the ground, enhanced senses or not. Simon swung himself up into another tree and did not stop going, using them and the rocks and terrain of the woods much as he would have an urban landscape. Forest parkour it was, complete with regular and abrupt changes of direction. He was in perfect shape; he could do this a while.
Derek's late night forest runs meant he could go a while too, and he meant to. With all the focus of a wolf on his prey, packed into his long, tall human form, he pursued the sound and smell of the intruder. "Why are you here? What are you doing in these woods? This is private property."
Who was he? Simon stopped running, up in the branches of a tree, and committed his features to memory. Then, as soon as he was close enough, he leapt over him and hit the ground running, hoping to earn a few seconds by forcing him to turn around.
Derek skidded to the forest floor, looking up as something sailed over him, eyes glowing yellow of a sudden. He growled--growled like a wolf, not a man--and shot himself after the tricky bastard. His hand reached out and grabbed--something. Fabric. He pulled hard.
It was a good thing that you didn't learn parkour without learning how to fall right. Simon twisted around in mid-air, as much as he could, and went just the right amount of limp so he wouldn't break anything. That would teach him to try something like this, and now it was time to use Puck's teachings. His foot shot out, aiming hard for the man's knee.
Derek felt the person twist, but he couldn't see anything coming, so his knee bent the wrong way and he howled in pain, swiping blindly with his free hand. "Who the fuck are you?!"
Simon didn't pause to check how much he had hurt the man; anyone that chased a possible intruder the way this man had just chased him didn't mean to have a nice little chat over tea and crumpets. He took off running again immediately, trusting that the sound the knee had made when his foot connected meant that he was safe from being followed for a little while. Hopefully, anyway.
Derek howled again, tried to run, but his knee gave and he hit the forest floor. Son of a bitch!
Simon ran off without looking back, and wove his way through the forest, waiting to turn his comm on until he was confident that he was out of earshot, even of someone with enhanced hearing. "I've just been chased by someone while I was invisible," he told Damon and Lydia, keeping his voice low in case he had underestimated the man. "I've only just shaken him. I'm on my way back to the van now."
Lydia stopped what she was doing and shot Damon a look. "What? How did you chase you while you were invisible?" But even as she said it she had to wonder... mutant?
Damon tugged the camera cap from between his teeth and narrowed his eyes in Lydia's direction. "Maybe Princess PR was right after all. Where is he now?"
"Back in the woods, I started leading him away from the van," Simon stated, and paused for a second before adding, "I hurt his knee, but I didn't stick around to check whether he could heal."
"Okay, finish up and clear out. I don't think it's worth--" Lydia paused, licking her lips. And looked up at Damon with a wry expression in place. "Sorry. Go ahead."
"Oh no, please. Go right ahead," he drawled, rolling his eyes. "Why am I here anyway?"
"I was done, I'm on my way back," Simon cut in helpfully, before they could bicker any more about who was giving the orders.
Lydia just gave Damon a look.
Damon turned back to his work, fastening the last camera in place high on the trunk of a tree. "We'll meet you back at the truck. What can you tell us about this mysterious rendezvous? Tall, dark, handsome? You strike me as the kind of guy who likes a bad boy."
Ignoring the teasing, Simon thought back to what he had seen of his pursuer. He hadn't paused to check him out, of course, but he remembered clear eyes, pale skin, dark hair, and, well. Very sharp cheekbones. "Actually, he kind of looks like you."
"So, yes, tall, dark, and handsome," Lydia said thoughtfully, eying everything to make sure it was in place... for all it'd probably disappear soon. If they knew there were people in the woods, they'd probably check for that kind of thing... or would they?
Either way, this site in the woods was definitely more than it appeared.
Damon smirked at her, then hiked his pack back over his shoulder and headed back the way they'd come. "Come on. Let's see if we can get anything from the video. You can drill Fish Eyes for more information about his attacker."
