2 Chapter Two

Derek didn't sleep well that first night. He had nightmare after nightmare, and when it was finally morning, the one thing he hoped was a nightmare turned out to be his reality. He crept out of his room and looked around the halls. It was silent, so silent Derek could hear a pin drop. He slowly made his way to the kitchen and surveyed their food options. Most of it was just ingredients to make fresh meals. Derek did, however, find a box of cereal and a carton of milk. He made himself a bowl and sat at the large table. Slowly others started to trickle into the kitchen and gave Derek a side glance every now and then as if he might explode or something. Derek tried to eat his cereal quietly as not to set anyone off. 

Atlas came in looking very smug and started a pot of coffee. "What's with the face?" Jax eyed Atlas suspiciously, "Come on, what did you do to him?" Derek for a minute thought they were talking about him until he heard a door get kicked open.

There was angry laughter coming from one of the halls, "okay who's the wise-ass?!?" Zeek came walking into the kitchen with his arms in a "dab" position. Atlas burst out with laughter and practically rolled on the floor. Everyone else was dead silent as they watched Zeek stomp toward him. "You really think this is funny? How about I tie your arms over your head so tight you can't fucking feel them!" Zeek looked pissed, Atlas looked amused.

Atlas sat up from the floor and gave a wide toothy grin, "yes please sir," it took everything in Zeek to not kill the incubus right then and there. He'd even take a body part and make good use of it, but his agreement with the government prohibited him from killing anyone directly. Sometimes he wished he hadn't agreed to that. "What? Is big bad Zeek just a big bad bluff?" Now that was the last straw. Derek watched as Jax held Zeek and it actually looked like the vampire was being out strengthened. Zeek seemed to really want to hurt Atlas, or even worse kill him. Atlas glanced at Derek and his smile grew wicked, "or is he more your type boss?" Everything seemed to happen all at once. Jax's grip on Zeek was released after a blow to the gut. Zeek was then pounding Atlas's chest into the ground. Derek even noticed a few loud snaps of bones breaking, but wasn't sure if they came from Zeek physically popping his joints and breaking a few bones of his in the process or just breaking Atlas's ribs, or maybe it was both.

Ares, the god of war, broke up the fight by yanking Zeek up off of Atlas by a belt loop. "Just let me kill him. I'll only kill him a little." Zeek struggled in Ares's hold but soon wore himself out. Ares set Zeek on the couch and then whispered something to Jax and then left through the elevator Derek had come through yesterday. "Atlas I swear when you least expected it I will fucking murder you." Zeek's voice was weak and breathy, but still full of malice. Atlas just laid on the floor giggling and gurgling up blood. Derek frantically signed if Atlas was okay, and Jax assured him Atlas and Zeek would both live through whatever injuries they had sustained. "It will take a lot to kill me, trust me I've tried plenty of times to know." Derek felt a pit in his stomach as those words tumbled out of Zeek's mouth. Derek got up putting his bowl in the sink and went back to his room. He felt like he was gonna throw up. "What's bugging him?" He could hear Zeek's limp voice ask as he rounded the corner to his room.

Ares came back with a nurse shortly after Derek had left. The nurse tended to Atlas then to Zeek. Both of them had some broken bones. Atlas had some broken ribs and a broken sternum. Zeek's hands were broken and the sockets for his shoulder joints were also broken. Atlas would heal perfectly fine and quickly since he was an incubus. Zeek, on the other hand, would need his bones pieced back together and set in a cast for about a month. Zeek was not happy to hear this since that means he'd need someone to take care of him for that month. Of course, no one ever wanted to deal with him for that long, so Derek would most likely be pawned off onto him. Zeek was taken to a special infirmary made for them and had his bones set. Since becoming a zombie Zeek had lost all pain receptors and really only feels slight pressures. He found it both a blessing and a curse. He couldn't feel pain which meant he wasn't limited to his pain, but he could get hurt pretty bad and not even notice it, which was never fun. Getting severely hurt during battles was the worst.

Andi, the succubus, helped Atlas up and took him to his room. Jax shook his head as he watched them go. Atlas should have known better. "Jax, are you hurt?" Mattie was looking at Jax who was still on the floor after getting hit in the gut. Jax got up and told her he was fine. Zeek wasn't strong enough to kill him, but that it was pretty powerful. Jax started to wonder if Zeek had more physical abilities than he lets on. "Well okay then." Mattie gave Jax a once overlook and then went to tend to Atlas. She knew he was lying, but what could she do? Jax was an old stubborn vampire and nothing she could say would change that. Jax sat down in one of the chairs at the table and pulled up his shirt. Sure enough, there was a giant angry bruise right in the middle of his stomach. Damn Zeek, he thought, why'd you have to hit me that hard? Jax pulled his shirt back down and tucked it into his jeans. If Mattie saw that she'd freak. Jax didn't need her fussing over him when Atlas was busted up pretty bad. The bruise should go away in a few days, and it wasn't like it was gonna kill him.

Derek sat on his bathroom floor for a good while. He didn't know why he felt like he was gonna throw up, but he didn't want to do it in front of everyone. After he finally threw up he felt a bit better and sat on his bed. He pulled out his computer and told Jake everything that had just happened. Derek really wanted to leave and change his name so they couldn't find him, but Jake kept insisting that he stay there. Jake didn't have a really good reason why, but Derek trusted him so he decided to stay for a while longer. After talking with Jake more about what had happened Derek drifted off to sleep. He was woken up by a cold hand on his forehead. He jumped and scrambled out of bed. Jax was standing over him with a placid look on his face. "Zeek's gonna need some help doing things until his bones heal, so that's your job." Jax turned and began to leave, but Derek threw his shoe at him. Through gritted teeth, Jax snarled, "what?" Derek quickly signed why he had to do it and not someone who had been there longer. Jax laughed and winced a little. "Because none of us want to deal with him for a month. Consider this your first official job at Section 666." Jax was then gone before Derek could throw another shoe. Derek climbed back onto his bed and felt like screaming if he could. It was clear Zeek didn't like him and didn't want him here. Derek thought of the way Zeek attacked Atlas after he had asked if Derek was Zeek's type. Derek shuddered. If Zeek hated him that much, what was a month with him gonna be like.

Zeek walked back into the base after his casts were set. He had casts on arms to the elbow and then a torso cast that would let his shoulder sockets heal. He was a bit sore and he itched like crazy, but it was his own fault really. He shouldn't have reacted that way, even if Atlas had deserved it. Zeek went over to Jax and asked who the unlucky soul was. Of course, to no surprise it was Derek. Jax told him he volunteered, but Zeek new that Derek was the sacrificial lamb. Zeek wanted to protest, but all the fight had left him after laying on a metal slab for a few hours. Zeek made his was toward Derek's room and pushed the door open with his foot. Derek stared at him for a while, Zeek sighed and leaned on the door frame. Derek's hands seemed to move without him thinking about it as he signed, "you shouldn't do that" Zeek moved away from the door frame and told Derek a few of the things he'd be doing to help him. Derek would have to help Zeek get dressed, help him into bed, make dinner for everyone, and do the paperwork Zeek would usually do. Derek nodded and before he could say anything Zeek left and told him he'd fetch him when he needed him.

Zeek hated to admit it but having someone to help him with stuff would be fantastic, even if it was just for one month. He wasn't too thrilled to have the human being the one to help him. Maybe Helen was right and Derek will be different. Why did he even agree to let another human work with them? Maybe because again Helen was right and he was all bark and no bite. Zeek didn't expect Derek to last the whole month. He'd go crazy and leave before then. Zeek got up from his bed and went back to Derek's room. It was time to put him to work.

Derek, we expect the worst to happen during this month. He wished that he could just leave and forget this ever happened, or wake up and this all be a nightmare. Zeek came in again and told Derek to follow him. Derek followed silently all the ways Zeek could kill him flooded his mind, and it took every ounce of his will to keep himself from hyperventilating. Zeek opened a door into a closet-sized room. This was where Zeek did all the paperwork for every mission and I also kept everyone's personal records. Zeek practically pushed Derek into one of the seats. "Since my hands are busted I'm gonna need you to fill out the paperwork." Derek nodded, "first we're gonna fill out your personal papers and give you your code name and whatnot." Derek looked at all the papers in front of him. Most of them were his school records. "You didn't lead a very exciting life did you?" Derek shook his head and signed that his dad rarely let him leave the house. The only times he was out of the house was for school. "Alrighty then. Well, I just need you to copy the important stuff onto that paper there that has your name on it." Derek began to copy the stuff down and added a few things he deemed important to include, like why he was even there in the first place. "How did you hack into the government's databases anyway?" Zeek was staring at him with an ice-cold look in his eyes.

Derek decided he had nothing to lose by telling Zeek what had happened, so he did and his hands didn't even shake once. "I was bored one day I was being homeschooled by my dad so I didn't really have anything to do. I taught myself everything I could about computers, then I learned how to hack into stuff." Zeek's expression stayed cold. Derek hesitated a bit, but continued, "so I hacked into my dad's stuff, his work, stuff like that. I eventually just kind of stumbled upon the government databases and hacked into it. It was actually a lot easier than they make it sound, and that's how I got myself here." Zeek's expression never changed. He didn't even say anything. Derek went back to the paper while Zeek continued to stare at him. Zeek didn't want to say anything, but he knew there was more to the story than what Derek was telling him. He out of anyone could understand that some things are just too painful to talk about to someone who was practically a stranger. Zeek leaned back in his chair and let Derek finish his work without his cold stare.

Once he was finished copying everything down Zeek had him right down his code name, which Zeek personally picked out. Gone soon Derek wasn't quite sure what to think of that. Should he be offended? If he should he wasn't. He wanted to be gone, sooner rather than later. Maybe he should be scared, yeah that felt right. He was scared of Zeek, heck he was scared of what could happen to him while he was there. Derek noticed his member number was 23, "that isn't right," he signed Zeek took a look then told him it was fine. He told Derek he was done for now and to leave. Derek didn't want to argue so he went back to his room.

Zeek left the little office and had Jax call Helen for him. She wasn't too surprised to hear from Zeek since he usually called her a few times a week. "So the human who hacked us, why give him to my crew?" Helen was silent and Zeek could hear her walking around in the background. She told him that Derek could be useful to them. Zeek didn't want to believe it, but Derek did have exceptional hacking skills, and they could use that. "Still Helen, you know how I feel about humans." She hung up on him before he could say anything more. "How rude for a president," Zeek muttered to himself as he gave the phone back to Jax. Zeek didn't like modern technology it's why he still wrote everything down instead of using a computer. Jax, on the other hand, had embraced the changing times and had the newest phone whenever it came out. Zeek was pretty sure he stole them from the store at night, but no one can prove that. Jax tried to buy Zeek a phone and within the hour of reviving it, Zeek had chucked it against a wall and shattered it. Jax stopped trying after the tenth time when Zeek threatened to shove the phone down someone's throat.

Once Derek was back in his room he pulled out his computer and talked to Jake while he hacked into some street cams by his house. It was kinda fun to watch them. See what other people did in the outside world, while he was stuck right where he was. Maybe if he had grown up differently things would be different, he'd be different. Derek was staring at his computer screen for what felt like minutes but was in fact hours. Zeek came in and snapped him out of his trance. It was time for Derek to help Zeek prepare dinner for everyone. Zeek wasn't crummy at giving instructions, he just yelled a lot. Derek had only ever cooked Mac n cheese. Now he was being asked to cook steaks and make burgers from raw meat. Once he made everyone their meal Zeek let Derek make whatever for himself. Derek guessed that since Zeek was a zombie he didn't need to eat. Derek made himself some cereal and went back to his room. He didn't want to know how horribly he'd made their dinner.

Zeek watched Derek go and as everyone sat down and ate he took responsibility for how nasty the food tasted. "Isn't Derek supposed to be helping you?" Texas asked as he enchanted his food. Zeek just shrugged. He didn't want Derek here, but he also didn't want anyone killing Derek over some lousy food. "I guess we can't expect much from him, huh?" Texas had joined right after everything went down last time so he didn't completely understand why Zeek didn't like Derek. 

"Enough Texas eat your damn food," Vivian elbowed him in the ribs. "Be grateful someone made it for you instead of asking questions Zeek clearly doesn't want to answer." If Mattie was the mother of everyone Vivian was the grandma even though she's only 29 and one of the shortest members. Everyone listened to her if she talked because no one wanted to have the wrath of Vivian upon them. Zeek and Jax were the only ones that she hadn't used her 'grandma voice'. Texas she used it the most on. Her and Texas were the only witches in Section 666 thus far, but everyone liked it that way. Less magical explosions. Of course, Texas still denies that it was him who caused the explosion, but some of the members still cough up flowers at random. Texas claims it was Vivian, but everyone knows it was him still trying to get a hold of his powers after he'd first joined. No one's mad, but they do enjoy reading him about it.

Once everyone was done eating Derek came out and cleaned the table and did the dishes. He couldn't cook very well, but he was a neat freak which meant he cleaned everything. He was almost done when Zeek appeared next to him. "I think I'm gonna have to give you cooking lessons." There was a playfulness in his voice. "Tomorrow we go shopping and then I'll teach you how to make some superb food." Derek nodded knowing saying no wouldn't do any good. "Good. Also when you're done here I'll need you to plug in my blanket and make sure I'm under it. I can get up in the morning, but I just need help getting it on." Zeek was a bit embarrassed having to ask for help, but what else could he do. Derek nodded and finished the dishes then helped Zeek.

Once Derek had done his job, he went back to his room where Jax was sitting at his computer. Derek felt a little panicked. What would he think about the street cams Derek had hacked into earlier? "Hey there Derek." Jax's cold gaze didn't leave the computer. Derek tried to shut it, but Jax movies it before he could touch it. "Not so fast. I'm just here learning a bit more about you since I don't have access to your file." Jax finally looked up and Derek's blood ran cold. "Unless you'd like to answer any and all of my questions," Derek felt like he really didn't have a choice and agreed to answer any questions Jax may have. 

Most of them were simple ones like his birthday, where he went to school, stuff like that. Then Jax suddenly asked about his health which threw Derek for a loop. "My dad was a doctor if that's what you mean," it was not. Jax was referring to Derek's hemophilia and anemia. Derek's dad never really told him about his blood issues, so Derek really didn't know how to answer. "Well, it hasn't been an issue yet…" Derek signed very unsure if that was the right answer. Jax laughed and set Derek's computer aside. Derek gave a weak smile. Jax got up but stopped before he left the room and asked Derek what his dad had done to him. Derek, we taken aback and his hands shook as he replied, "I don't know what you're talking about. My dad didn't do anything to me." Jax stared at Derek for a while then left without another word. Derek started to wonder if Jax could read his mind, which caused him to have a mini panic attack. He calmed himself down and tried to sleep it off.

Jax woke Zeek up the next morning relaying some of the things he'd found on Derek's computer. There wasn't anything damnable, but there was a lot of choral music which wouldn't make sense for Derek to have since he was mute. "So he's clean then?" Zeek asked as Jax carefully popped his joints. Jax reassured Zeek that Derek wasn't a bad guy as far as he could tell. "You thought that last time too ya know." Zeek was still unsure about Derek, but he'd give him a shot to prove himself. Jax gave Zeek's shoulder a light pat and left knowing he'd spoken enough for now.