Blue & Gold - PG-13 - Chloe/Derek - Chapter 13 [a]
Title: Blue & Gold
Series: Unbalanced (1 of 3)
Category: Teen Wolf/Smallville
Genre: Romance/Drama
Ship: Chloe Sullivan/Derek Hale
Chapter Rating: PG-13/Teen
Overall Rating: NC-17/Explicit
Polyvore: Chloe and Sam
Word Count: 6,195
Summary: The day Chloe was born, a prophecy was made and her destiny was laid out for her. "The White Wolf. Bound to the Broken Boy. Destined to meet a Demon Wolf. The hells will rain pain like no other, but she will survive. She will fight. And when the day comes, she will bring order again."
Previous: Prologue, Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven, Chapter Eight, Chapter Nine, Chapter Ten, Chapter Eleven, Chapter Twelve,
dhfreak
Chapter Thirteen
-O Brother, Where Art Thou?-
XIII.
"Brody!" Chloe called, moving through the woods, swiping branches out of her way as she went. She climbed atop a mossy log and held her arms out for balance as she walked across the length of it. "Brody Sullivan, if you don't answer me I'm going to tell mom that you let the rabbits out of their cages and that's why her favorite white rug has that weird stain on it!"
"He didn't mean to poop. He was just nervous!" her brother yelled back.
Rolling her eyes, she hopped off the log and walked in the direction she'd heard his voice. "Why'd you run off like that? You know you're not supposed to be out here alone."
As soon as she stepped clear of the bushes, however, she knew. Like usual, Brody had found himself an injured animal. It might've worried her just how often they found hurt or battered animals, but the woods weren't the safest place for anyone or anything. There were natural predators everywhere. "Brody, no…" she sighed.
"Come on, Chloe. He's hurt."
"They're always hurt," she muttered to herself before she circled around him and knelt at his side. She reached for the small fox he'd found and scratched it behind an ear, giving a cursory sniff, her lips folding when she smelled the sour tang of death. "Brody, I don't think this one's like the others, okay…?" She rubbed her thumb over the fox's head, not surprised when it barely moved. "He's not doing so well."
"We just gotta take him home. Dad'll give him some herbs and fix him up, and then I'll take care of him." He tucked his small hands under the broken body of the fox and lifted it out from its cover. "It'll be okay," he said, but she wasn't sure if he was talking to her, the fox, or himself.
With a hand on his shoulder, she walked him out of the woods, keeping him close as they tread off the beaten path. It was easy for her to navigate, but Brody was human and sometimes got lost without an advanced sense of smell to point him in the right direction. His feet hurried as they exited the tree line and stepped into the sprawling lawn leading to the tall, butter yellow house they lived in. She was surprised to see Bo was there, sparring with her mother, who was briefly distracted when Brody ran by.
"What's that?"
"Nothing!" her son shouted back to her, scurrying up the steps to get to his dad.
Bo used her distraction to his advantage, attacking her, but Moira was paying more attention than he assumed, and used his advance to drop him. Much larger than her, he didn't move as quickly, and so she often used that against him. By the time Chloe reached him, he was laying on his back, panting. She held a hand out for him to take, but he frowned and rolled over, pushing himself up. Just as he was about to leave, however, Moira stopped him.
"No. You and Chloe should get in some sparring. You two haven't fought in a while. And Chloe hasn't trained with me at all today." She grabbed up a towel and dabbed her flushed face. "I'm going to go see what Brody's drug home. You two need to figure things out."
"Should we really be fighting while we talk?" Chloe wondered, already unzipping her sweater so it wouldn't hinder her.
"You can learn multi-tasking at the same time," her mother said with a smile.
Chloe kicked off her shoes, preferring to be barefoot, and turned to square off against her brother. "So? Are we going to talk?"
He didn't say a word, instead circling around her, his chin down and his eyes slitted.
"If you're blaming me for the alpha training, then you can stop." She watched his feet before darting her eyes up to his face once more. "It was all their idea; I had nothing to do with it."
He let out an abrupt scoff and shook his head, turning to meet her squarely.
"Bo, you can't really think that I'd try and take that from you." Her expression clouded with anger. "I know how much you want to be alpha."
"But you don't think I'm good enough for it," he spat, glaring at her. "You don't think I have what it takes to lead us."
She pressed her lips together and sighed. "I think you're young, and sometimes you just don't take this seriously."
"So, because I like to have fun instead of acting like some pathetic omega, I'm not the right fit?"
Her chin turned down, her teeth clenched tight. "You want the truth? You want to know why they want to bring me in on alpha training?"
He stared at her a long moment before giving a sharp nod.
"It's because you're not controlled enough. You never think, you just react. You don't think of consequences, not for anybody else. You're selfish, Bo. And an alpha needs to put the pack first."
"So, what happened to you wanting to be a journalist, huh? What happened to leaving us all behind for Metropolis? Where's selfless Chloe then?"
Her jaw ticked as she shook her head. "This wasn't my choice. I never wanted this," she denied. "I wanted Metropolis and The Daily Planet. The only reason they're looking at me is because you stopped working for it."
"Don't," he ordered, lunging forward a step, his chest heaving. "Don't act like you haven't been showing me up from day one."
"What?" she scoffed. "I have not! I've-"
"From the day you were born, all it's ever been is about Chloe. How perfect and talented and fast you are. You were so smart, you picked up on everything before anybody else. You were almost taking mom out by the time you were ten." He shook his head. "And we both know the only reason you don't now is because you respect her too much. You let her win."
Chloe swallowed, taking a step back from him. "She's an alpha. She's faster and stronger than I could ever be. I'm not throwing fights. I-"
"Save it. I've fought you. I've watched you fight with her." He stared at searchingly. "You know, sometimes I just don't get it. You have so much power inside you, you could do anything, but you don't. You never take advantage of everything we have. You could have a full ride to Metropolis if you'd just joined one of the sports teams at school, but instead you pretended like you weren't as good as I know you are." He threw his hands out. "But I watched you, every day since you could walk, perfect fucking Chloe, making me look bad in comparison."
"I never did anything to you. It's not my fault you didn't listen in lessons. It's not my fault that you couldn't sit still when dad was teaching us, or that you rushed mom before she could finish telling you proper technique." She stepped toward him, glaring up into his angry face, a vein throbbing viciously at his temple. "It's not my fault that you were so eager to show off that you wasted your potential."
He snapped, reaching for her throat and lifting her off the ground until they were face to face. "If she turns this pack over into your hands, it'll be the last time you call me brother."
She choked, his hand squeezing her throat too tightly, but it didn't stop her from glaring at him, even as her eyes built up with tears. "Poor Bo…" she struggled to say. And then she lifted her foot back and brought forward so hard, she nearly felt his rib crack under the hit. His hand loosened and she dropped into a crouch. Instead of waiting for him to recover, she turned and landed a solid punch to his solar plexus. He was thrown back, his body folded forward, but he managed to roll himself and stood back up to fight.
She wasn't surprised when he shifted, attacking with all of his anger instead of any kind of strategy. He swiped through the air between them with clawed hands, eager to make her bleed, to tear her throat out. He advanced, one large step after the other, and lunged at her, growling when she moved out of the way, leaning out of reach and dodging every hit. When he stumbled past her, she took the advantage and leapt onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. She choked him out, keeping his air supply cut off. But Bo refused to let her knock him out; instead, he fell backwards, landing on her as her back hit the hard ground. The air was knocked from her lungs and he scrambled up, turning around to face her. He brought his leg up and his foot down, intending to stomp on her stomach, but she rolled out of the way, even as she was gasping, trying to get air. She felt dizzy, her vision turning sideways, but she still saw an enemy coming and her Instinct told her to fight. She blocked his punch with her arm and threw one of her own, feeling it connect with his throat.
And then she wasn't the only one struggling to breathe. Only Bo didn't take it like she did. He fell to his knees, clawing at his neck and shaking his head. By then, she had her breath back, and walked forward to kick him in the chest. He laid out flat beneath her, struggling to drag in air, and stared up at her from his position in the grass.
She peered down at him, her head cocked. "You can blame me all you want, but in the end, if they don't pick me, it's because you wasted your chance."
He shook his head, turning his eyes away.
"I talked to them and yes, they're training me to become as alpha, but only as a back-up. You still have a chance to show them you're right for it, Bo. But you can't keep doing the same old things. You need to stop thinking about how this isn't fair, or how much you deserve it, and start thinking about what's best for this pack. Because if you think they have to just take it because you're an alpha, you're wrong. This is your family. So they need you to step up and do what's right for them. No more putting your needs first." She knelt down beside him and caught his chin, forcing him to look at her. "Because you might be my brother and I love you, but you're not my alpha. You need to prove to me you can be."
With that, she stood and walked away, grabbing up her sweater as she went. But just as she reached the stairs, she heard him, even as he whispered it under his breath, she caught it on the wind.
"I'd be better off without you."
She closed her eyes for a moment. She knew he was lashing out, that he loved her, that she would always be his baby sister who used to trail behind him, eager for any of his attention. But right now, she was the enemy about to take the only thing he loved away from him. Still, as she climbed the stairs, the words stung her heart, and she blinked back tears. She hurried up the stairs to her bedroom, missing the days when she was just a little sister and he was an impressive big brother that could do no wrong.
But those days were lost, and they would never return.
…
Chloe hadn't talked to Bo since their show-down. In fact, she was doing a pretty good job of avoiding him. She'd like to say it was payback for the week and a half he spent doing everything in his power to avoid her, but really it was that every time she saw him, it hurt. So instead of focusing on the negative, she decided to take Sam into town for some TLC.
Leaving the house, she raced across the front lawn, the jacket their mother had forced on her dragging behind her on the ground, the sleeve clutched in her hand. When she reached the car, she hopped inside, slamming the door behind her. She ignored Chloe's pointed look at the seat belt and instead thrust herself up between the two front seats. "Where are we going?" she wondered, her brows hiked high. "Brody and Noah said you didn't invite them."
"No, because they won't like where we're going." She nodded her head back, silently telling Sam to put on her belt before she reached for the key in the ignition. "Besides, I thought just you and I could do something today. Call it a girl's day."
Grinning happily, Sam put her seatbelt on and sat back, kicking her feet in anticipation. "So, where are we going?"
They'd hardly left the driveway, but Chloe wasn't surprised. The most impatient person in their family, even putting Bo to shame, was Samantha. She didn't know the meaning of enjoying the anticipation; she wanted immediate results. "Shopping, all right? We're going to pick out a few new outfits for spring break."
Her lips puckered in a frown. "Why? What's so special about spring break?" She pulled her legs up and crossed them. "Noah's gonna be away at soccer camp or whatever, right? So, we'll probably spend it down at the river. I already have a bathing suit."
"Indulge me, all right? We'll get lunch and pick out a few outfits, maybe some new running shoes since yours look like you put them through a wood chipper…" She raised a curious eyebrow.
Sam shrugged. "I was climbing trees… I get a better look from up there, so I can tell Brody if I see animals for him to help."
She rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "You don't think he has enough already?"
"It's like an animal hospital; it's cool."
"Yeah, well, you didn't run into that anxious skunk last month." Her nose wrinkled. "Not my finest moment."
With a giggle, she grinned up at her sister. "I can still kind of smell it on you."
"Seriously?" She took a deep sniff of herself, but couldn't find the sour scent the skunk, fondly called Stripe by Brody, had doused her in.
"Nah, you got rid of it a while ago, I just like bugging you," Sam admitted, bouncing her back against the seat.
"Thanks for the kick to my self-esteem," she muttered, briefly taking her eyes from the road to give her a playful glare.
Not the least bit repentant, she merely grinned in return.
The rest of the ride was spent discussing Sam's favorite of the many patients to Brody's own animal hospital. Given how much of a chatter box she was, Chloe wasn't surprised when time flew by as they entered town and found a spot. She was still talking about a particularly mischievous racoon when they climbed out of the SUV and started walking down the sidewalk toward the shopping mall. As per usual, Sam was a ball of energy. She skipped down the sidewalk, her hands swinging widely at her sides, and looked ready to break out into cartwheels at any moment. Chloe put her hands on Sam's shoulders to keep from doing just that and ushered her through the glass doors of the mall.
"Food first, or shopping?"
"Food!"
Familiar with the layout of the mall, they made their way over to the escalator that led them to a lower floor, where the food court was located. Sam eagerly looked at all the signs, searching out what she wanted to eat with eager excitement.
Chloe snorted. "You'd think we never feed you." She reached over and tugged on the blond ponytail sticking out of the baseball cap her sister was wearing. Cora had sent it to her in the mail and Chloe didn't think Sam had taken it off since. Not that she could really judge considering she only took Derek's necklace off to shower. She briefly wondered if he ever took off the bracelet she made him. He said he wore it every day, which never failed to make her smile.
"Fries," Sam exclaimed, taking her hand and hauling her toward the many fast food outlets waiting to serve.
Chloe let herself be dragged around and dug her wallet out as her sister went over each and every restaurant, doing a mental tally of what she wanted and what they offered. It took her a good fifteen minutes to narrow it down and Chloe realized the girl did have patience, but only when the pay off was in favor of her stomach. After they gathered their tray of greasy goods, they took a seat at one of the metal tables. She watched in amusement as Sam heartily dug in while she leisurely picked at her food. Maybe it was a kid thing. They couldn't control how often they got fast food, so they were quick to take it all in, while Chloe could take a trip into town and indulge whenever she pleased. Whatever it was, it had Sam eating like a pig, ignoring all table manners. With a sigh, she grabbed up a napkin and wiped Sam's chin of ketchup, rolling her eyes when her sister snapped her teeth at her and leaned away from her reaching hands.
"Cut it out. You're just like mom," she complained.
"Yeah? And you're eating like Bo. Even trade." She balled up the dirty napkin and tossed it onto the tray while she focused back on her food. "So, about this spring break…"
"What about it?" Sam dug the tomato out off of her burger and tossed it away, her nose wrinkled with distaste. She licked her fingers of the mustard and ketchup that clung to them and then took a bite of her burger. "Are you going somewhere, too?" she asked, though most of her words were lost in her chewing.
"We both are," Chloe said, having long ago mastered garble; between Bo and Sam, it was practically a language all its own. "Derek invited me to come visit for spring break. He said you could come down, too. I talked to our parents, who talked to Talia, and it's a go. We're going back to Beacon Hills for a week."
"Really?" Sam perked up, bouncing in her seat, smiling widely, despite the bun and meat and condiments that were still being chewed. "A whole week!?"
Smiling, she nodded.
"This is awesome! Does Cora know?"
With a shrug, she admitted, "I'm not sure. Mom just told me this morning that Talia agreed, so she probably told her you were coming down."
"This is so great! We'll get a whole week together! I can stay in her room and we can stay up the whole night and nobody can tell us to go to bed, 'cause we don't have school or anything."
She snorted. "Well, you should probably still try to get some sleep. You want to have energy to run around and do stuff during the day."
"I've got lots of energy," she dismissed, shaking her head. "Oh my God, maybe we'll have a contest to see who can stay up the longest. I bet I can beat her. I bet I can stay up for days…"
Chloe sighed, shaking her head to herself as she picked at her fries. Suddenly, she realized having Sam with her meant that she was probably going to have to keep an eye on her sister more than she expected. Sure, Talia would be around to make sure she didn't get into too much trouble, but Sam had a way of skirting around rules and making up her own instead. Chloe only hoped nobody got hurt and she didn't get embarrassed.
The rest of lunch went by with Sam telling her all of the cool things she expected to do with Cora, in between eating her lunch and ignoring all of Chloe's reminders to chew with her mouth closed.
When they finally got to the shopping part, Sam was a lot more excited for picking out clothes than she had been when they first started out. She wanted to have a wardrobe to both impress Cora and share with her. Chloe couldn't help but be reminded of how she and Lois had been at their age, sharing anything and everything, relying on and confiding in each other. A pang hit her heart as she suddenly missed her cousin, wishing she had a better way of contacting her than snail mail. It seemed like every time she tried calling her, Lois was in the middle of some new mystery she was cracking and didn't have time to talk. They'd had a few heart-to-heart's about Derek, but it wasn't the same over the phone or written on paper. She wanted some real girl time and wondered what it would take to get Lois to come visit for a weekend.
"What about this one?" Sam wondered, holding up a bright pink t-shirt. "Do you think Cora would like that?"
She half-grinned. "I think Cora will like anything you wear. She's not really inviting you down for your fashion sense, Sam. She'll just be happy you're there."
"You think?" she wondered hopefully.
"You guys write each other every day," she reminded. "Trust me, best friends don't care what you're wearing. You two will probably spend most of your time roughhousing anyway. It's your default setting."
With a smirk, Sam nodded, but took the hot pink shirt with her, along with a few others, and headed over to try them on in the fitting room.
Chloe searched around a bit more for her, picking out a few pairs of jeans, shorts, and a cute denim skirt for her sister to try on before making her way over and knocking on the door. "These too."
Sam opened the door and took the hangers. With a sigh, she reminded, "We're only going for a week, Chlo."
"Yeah, well, you can wear these clothes before and after spring break, too. So try them on, all right?"
"Fine…" she muttered on a sigh.
Wandering away from her, she searched through the underwear and socks, grabbing a few pairs and dropping them in the cart before she walked back over and waited for Sam to make her choices.
"Are you going to show me any of them?"
The door opened then and Sam hopped out, wearing the skirt and her hot pink shirt. She threw her hands out, looking confident and happy with her outfit.
"I like it," Chloe agreed with a nod.
With a thumbs up, Sam disappeared back into the fitting room.
Six outfits later and a cart full of clothes, they left the girls section and made their way over to the teens. Chloe wasn't as quick to choose her clothes, picky about color choices and what shapes flattered her. Deciding she had plenty of jeans at home, she focused instead on cute dresses and tops, adding them to the top of the cart as she meandered around, looking for anything else that might catch her fancy. Sam had started complaining five minutes in that she was taking too long, but Chloe had long ago become adept at ignoring her sister's whining.
Eventually, she made her way over to the dressing room, coming back out with most of what she'd tried on. She found Sam laying on the floor, splayed like a starfish, trying to make a dramatic statement about how bored she was.
"Keep it up and I'll tell mom I'm leaving you at home," she chided with little to no heat.
Rolling her eyes, Sam hopped up, brushing herself off. "Are we done?" she hoped.
"Here, yeah. But we still need to pick up shoes, and I want new luggage."
"Ugh…"
"C'mon, we'll pick you up a smoothie, all right?"
Sam perked up then, nodding.
Shopping went a little better after that. They managed to find shoes and the luggage she wanted in under an hour. Sam still acted like it was torture, but Chloe knew she was happy with the clothes she got and the free food. They made their way back out to the truck and loaded the back before taking a walk around to see what else they might like. Sam lingered outside of an art supplies store and they made their way in, where Chloe was pretty sure she was swindled into buying a scrapbook kit for Sam and Cora to use over spring break. She bought one for herself just in case and they left the store with a bag swinging off their wrists. Deciding to pick up Bo, Brody, and Noah something while they were in town, they made a few more stops, before eventually making their way back to the truck. Chloe was happy to see Sam was tired by that point and quickly fell asleep on the ride home.
All in all, she thought it was a good day.
[continue.]