Reading Time: 163 Minutes

Title: Let The River Rush In
Series: Betray The Moon
Series Order: 4
Author: halestrom
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Genre: Drama, Family, Paranormal/Supernatural, Pre-Relationship, Time Travel
Relationship(s): Gen, Pre-Stiles Stilinski/Derek Hale
Content Rating: R
Warnings: Violence – Graphic , Minor Character Death
Author Note: The title is from The End of Love – Florence and the Machine.
Word Count: 40,555
Summary: The foretold storm has almost arrived, and Stiles and Derek need to work together to get ahead of it before their new world turns out like the old one.
Artist: Lalaith Quetzalli

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Part 1

July 2nd, 2014

Derek turned as Stiles crashed through the underbrush. “Subtle.”

“A, I wasn’t trying to be subtle, and b, I have two fractured ribs, and you wanted to meet me in the middle of the fucking forest,” Stiles said, bracing a hand on the tree and glaring at Derek.

Derek smiled at Stiles’ snappish tone. It was so different than the awe from the other Stiles, and he liked it. He had missed this Stiles and his grudging determination to do what was right regardless of what people thought about him.

He realized he had been staring when Stiles spread a hand to the side, still braced against the tree. “Well?”

Derek turned and nodded towards the forest floor, where Deaton’s body was half-buried in vines, plants growing out of his skin like a macabre statue. A thorny rose wrapped around his neck and what little of the man’s face they could see was in pain. Derek remembered the scream right before the last of the mountain ash wards had dropped, and Talia lunged for Stiles.

“What happened to him?” Stiles whispered, joining Derek.

“The Goddess doesn’t like it when people try to fuck with the decisions she made,” Derek explained softly. He wondered if Deaton had seen her face, the anger and how it felt like a thunderstorm deep inside, or if the forest had just pulled him down.

“You sound like you believe in God,” Stiles said, stepping closer and carefully kneeling.

Derek watched as he reached out, pulling leaves gently away until they saw more of Deaton. There was no blood, that had long since returned to the ground, and the body was undisturbed. No animal would touch what the Goddess had claimed.

“Not God, the Goddess,” Derek explained, resting a hand on Stiles’ shoulder, stopping him from doing anything else. “And it’s hard to deny it when you’ve seen Her yourself.”

Stiles’ hand froze midair, and he turned, grimacing as he twisted. “You wanna explain that a little better big guy?” he asked, standing up.

Derek shoved his hands in his pockets and stepped back as the leaves Stiles had moved rustled and moved back. Stiles turned at the noise and jumped back, his eyes wide as he stumbled back a few steps before he righted himself.

“Fuck,” Stiles wheezed, pressing a hand over his chest where Derek could see the outline of the bandages under his gray shirt. “Oh, what the fuck was that.”

Derek looked back as the leaves settled back into place. “Goddess don’t like it when you fuck with her choices,” he repeated. “Deaton tried to steal her power. Now she’s stealing him back.”

“So, running the assumption you’re not crazy, and she’s doing this, why did you want to show me?” Stiles asked, standing next to Derek, his eyes still on Deaton.

“She’s the one who made me an Alpha,” Derek explained, wishing he had a jacket to shove his hands into. “She’s the one who dragged me back to fix things. You talked about a dying world, but you need to understand that She was the world that was dying. She’s every part of life on this planet. She can build it up with trees, only to send a storm to rip it down. She chose to bring me back, and she allowed you to come back.”

Derek finally turned away from Deaton’s body and looked at Stiles, who had paled, looking between Deaton and Derek.

“You saw her?” Stiles asked hoarsely, turning to look at Derek.

Derek nodded. “Kate had kidnapped me and was trying to torture information out of me, and I wouldn’t let my family suffer. So, I gave up. I didn’t care if I lived or died as long as they were safe. Then She was there. She was everything, heat, air, earth, water. I could feel Her all around me, and She told me that She had chosen me and asked why I chose to live my life by ending it.”

Derek shuddered at the memory of too-sharp teeth and her thundering steps. “She told me I needed to make a choice and stop trying to straddle the line. I had just gotten my family back, and I was trying to be an Alpha and be a Beta at the same time.”

He licked over his bottom lip and turned to look at Stiles, seeing the wide eyes and pale skin from injured ribs. Derek had always been glad he had never known the pain of injuries taking a long time to heal. He had always healed quickly, even before he had become an Alpha. It had been the one thing he had been good at. He had always been able to take more than the average wolf.

“I had a choice to make, and I chose to be to live, and she saved me for a second time,” Derek explained, looking back at Deaton’s body.

“What’s the point of telling me this?” Stiles asked, looking back at the body and shuddering.

Derek jerked his chin towards Deaton. “Nature moves fast normally, and it moves even faster when the Goddess puts all of Her power behind it. I told you this so you know I understand what sort of power she holds and what she’s capable of. I wanted to show you because the Goddess of everything around us doesn’t take this long to bury a body when she wants to. Something’s wrong.”

Stiles crossed his arms and shivered. “Alright, so how do we figure it out?”

Derek felt something unclench in his chest, and he smiled at Stiles. “Research, ask around. Most likely, it’ll find us before we find it.”

Stiles sighed. “Can it let my ribs heal first?”

“If life worked like that, then I’d have a lot more sleep,” Derek said, reaching out to rest a hand on Stiles’ shoulder, squeezing slightly before drawing out a little bit of the pain. He watched as the tension lines on Stiles’ face disappeared. “Come on, let the forest take him.”

Stiles nodded, glancing over his shoulder before following Derek back out of the forest. He bit his bottom lip, walking carefully over the vines, stepping into Derek’s footsteps and doing his best not to jar his ribs. Stiles ached, from head to toe, even a week later. He wondered if this was what it was like to be hit by lightning, every muscle burned, and even the relief he had felt from Derek draining the pain away felt short-lived.

They made it to the road, and Stiles smiled when he spotted Noah leaning against the car, playing some game on his phone. “Hey, Daddio. How goes Tetris?”

“It goes well,” Noah said before glaring at Derek. “Stiles shouldn’t be running through the woods.”

“Had to show him something, Sherriff,” Derek explained, stopping in front of Noah. “Found Deaton’s body. He’s dead.”

Noah’s eyes narrowed. “You?”

Derek shook his head. “Goddess doesn’t like it when you mess with the natural order of things,” Derek explained, shoving his hands into his pockets. “Forest’ll take him, regain that power.”

Stiles nodded, pressing a hand against a stitch appearing in his side. “Yeah, just. He skipped town, let it be. No ones gonna miss him.”

Noah sighed. “Suppose so,” he said, looking back into the woods. “Just doesn’t seem right, seems a little easy.”

Stiles’ eyebrows flew up. “A little bloodthirsty there pops.”

Noah shook his head. “Kid, you had claws in your chest. You could’ve died. Trust me. This isn’t as bloody thirsty as I was ten seconds ago.”

Derek cleared his throat. “He would’ve been alive when the forest started taking him. It isn’t like it makes a difference, alive or dead. So why bother killing him when he ends up dead anyway.”

Stiles stared at Derek for a long moment before he glanced at the forest and took a big step away, glaring slightly when one of the tree’s rustled despite the lack of wind. He had seen enough in the world to know that anything was possible, and he had seen Deaton’s body. He knew Derek was telling the truth.

“Well, that’s not terrifying, at all,” Stiles said when the silence had stretched. He glanced at his Dad. “How’s Scott?”

Noah sighed. “He’s fine. Cora’s with him now, and his control is getting better. Mel is his anchor. No surprise there.”

Stiles nodded. “Good, I uh…I should go see him,” he said, trying not to look worried as he thought about Scott. And wondering if the changes had started.

Noah nodded. “He asked for bro time, so I think you should. Just make sure Cora is there before you two play video games. He’s not really good with controlling his strength right now.”

“Yeah,” Stiles said, forcing himself to smile as he pressed a hand over the worst of the bruising on his chest. He glanced over at Derek, who had headed to his car. “Where are you headed?”

“Going to check in with Kapono and Alice, see how they’re doing,” Derek said, nodding to the forest. “And telling them about that.”

Stiles was surprised that no one else from his pack was around. It seemed like they had gotten even closer in the wake of Talia’s insane plan, unwilling to leave Derek alone for even a second. He glanced at his Dad. “I might go with Derek. I wanna ask Alice something,” he said. “And he can drop me off at Scott’s after?”

Noah eyed him for a second before he nodded. “Yeah, just be careful,” Noah said, stepping away from the car and drawing Stiles into a careful hug. “I’ll be at the station if you need me.”

Stiles hugged him back, sure he would never get over the hugs now that his Dad was back in his life. He held on until Noah pulled back first. He grinned when Noah ruffled his hair.

“Be good,” Noah said.

“Never,” Stiles said, waving as his Dad took off. He watched him go until the car disappeared before getting in Derek’s car, relaxing against the seat with a groan. “Where are you staying anyway?”

“Funnily enough, the Hale house,” Derek replied, starting the car and driving away. “No one else is. Peter is basically on full lockdown with Vanessa right now. Jenna and Grace are crashing at Lou’s. No one wants to be near Mo—Talia right now.”

Stiles turned his head as Derek drove, watching the other man. “Did I ever say I’m sorry?”

“For what?”

“For your Mom being an absolute fuck?”

Derek shook his head. “I lost my Mom a long time ago, I mourned her, and the one that died is the one I’m remembering. This is just…a pale shadow of the person my Mom was.”

Stiles let the silence do the talking for the moment. Derek sighed.

“Fine, yes. I’m sad about it. But she had an issue with me from the moment I came back, and now I know why. The problem is she’s not exactly wrong. I’m not her son, not the one that went to sleep. But I find it easy to separate her actions from her actions in the other timeline, and I choose to remember the first timeline as my Mom. The one who loved me, all parts of me unconditionally regardless of anything that happened,” Derek explained. “It might not be healthy, but I’ve lost enough that I want to keep the good memories.”

Stiles nodded his head, rolling down the window so he could drop an arm outside, enjoying the warm breeze. “I get it, in reverse, though. I still don’t know what to do with Scott. I’ve been using my ribs as an excuse not to see him. I just can’t shake the feeling that he will turn into a dick with this, and I’ve been down that road.”

Derek sighed. “He will if you keep treating him like this. Don’t push him away just because of something that was true. It might not be true here.”

“Don’t be rational,” Stiles said, scowling as the house came into view. “It’s unnatural.”

“I’m a werewolf. I’m not unnatural; I’m supernatural.”

Stiles gaped at Derek as the man parked and got out of the car, heading up to the house where Kapono was waiting, arms crossed and a stern look on his face. Stiles watched him before unbuckling himself and following.

“You’re not funny,” he called out, carefully making his way up the stairs to follow Derek inside, amazed at the sudden noise. He stepped into the kitchen, watching Lacie and Celia argue over something, Alice standing between them with her arms folded and looking irritated.

“Where’ve you been?” Julia demanded, appearing next to Stiles without a sound. He flinched, groaning loud enough to silence the argument as he pressed a hand against his ribs.

“Don’t do that,” he mumbled.

“Sorry,” Julia said, looking contrite. She rested a hand on his arm, and Stiles relaxed as she drew the pain away.

“Found Deaton’s body,” Derek replied, stepping into the kitchen.

Stiles nodded his thanks to Julia and watched as Derek made his way through the kitchen, greeting everyone before sitting at the head of the table, where Talia sat at the pack meeting. Somehow, at the head of an old wood table, Derek looked regal, like he was supposed to be sitting there. Stiles had the mental image of Derek at the head of a long table filled with laughing people and the smell of food cooking in the background. He could easily picture kids running around, with the moon casting enough light for everyone to see.

“Forest got him?” Alice asked, snapping Stiles out of his daydream.

Stiles suddenly felt exhausted. He sat at the table, leaning back against the chair in relief. He wanted to fold forward, rest his head in his arms and go to sleep, but he couldn’t bend forward. It hurt too much.

“Yeah, taking a long time, though,” Derek replied, rubbing his forehead with two fingers before dropping his hand to the table and tapping his fingers in a rhythm that Stiles sunk into. It was soothing, a steady thump thump that reminded him of a heartbeat.

“That’s not good,” Celia said, sliding into another seat.

“No,” Derek agreed.

“How long does it…” Stiles trailed off and yawned, covering his mouth at the last second, “…sorry. How long does it usually take?”

“Day, two at the most,” Lacie replied, watching him intently. “Tired?”

Stiles nodded. “Yeah.”

Alice pushed off the wall and came around the table, standing next to him and leaning down. “Can I help you?” he asked after a second.

Hands cupped his face, and he met Alice’s eyes. Any protest died on his lips as she stared at him, and he could see the power rolling behind her eyes, as wild as the ocean but as steady as a wave. He froze, suddenly aware of how defenseless he was.

“You’re magic sick,” Alice declared, tilting her head but not letting go.

“Magic sick?” Stiles murmured, a little afraid to pull away.

Alice nodded. “Don’t tell me you thought you could do what you did without training and not have any backlash?”

Stiles had thought exactly that and kept quiet. Alice smiled softly and shook her head, letting go of his face and leaning against the table. “What does it mean?” he asked.

“Like anything, too much of something is bad for you. It’ll come right, and you’ll be stronger for it in the long run, but like anything else, too much heavy lifting too often means you’re gonna burn yourself out,” Alice explained. “Only happens to sparks.”

“He’s strong,” Celia said, tapping her fingers on the table. “Who’s your Mama?”

“Claudia Stilinski,” Stiles replied. “Why?”

“Maiden name?” she asked, leaning in.

“Once again, why?” Stiles asked, glancing at Derek, wondering what was going on. Derek shrugged one shoulder, glancing between the three sisters.

“You’re strong,” Alice explained. “Ain’t a lot of people who’re strong. Especially sparks. Wonderin’ if you’ve got the blood in you.”

“I’ve got a shirt that says Vampire bait, so I guess I do have a lot of blood in me,” Stiles replied, carefully crossing his arms over his chest.

“Our blood,” Lacie interrupted her voice calmer. “We come from a long line of sparks, and there’s a lot of offshoots. Sai is a distant cousin of ours.”

Stiles glanced between the four of them. “Aren’t we just a regular UN convention,” he muttered. “Claudia Baird.”

Celia tilted her head to the side, letting out a soft ‘huh’. “Yep, he’s blood.”

“Mom was an only child, of only children,” Stiles said, glancing between them. “I’ve got no cousins on that side or distance cousins either.”

Derek snorted. “They won’t be your cousins; they’ll be great aunts or something.”

Stiles frowned, looking a the three of them. “Explain, please.”

“Celia?” Alice asked.

Celia tapped in the air for a few seconds, eyebrows furrowed. “He’s the grandson of our fourth cousin.”

“Please, explain?” Stiles repeated, feeling like he was getting a headache.

“I’m 149 years old,” Alice explained. “Lacie’s 133, and Celia is 124. My youngest daughter is 41.”

Stiles stared and kept staring at her as he tried to understand. “A hundred and forty-nine?” he repeated slowly, sure he had heard the number wrong.

Alice nodded. “We give service to the Goddess, and in return, she lets us live a long time.”

Stiles swallowed. “And I’m…related to you?”

“Think so. Gets a little dicey from time to time, but there’s a Claudia Baird on the family tree. Grandma’s name was Maureen, yeah?”

Stiles nodded his head. “Yeah,” he said softly. “Am I going to live that long?”

Alice shook her head. “Nah, you’re gonna live a normal life. Only the threefold line lives as long as we do.”

“Threefold line?”

“I’m the one of three, and the daughter of one of the three, the great-granddaughter of one of the three, and so on,” Alice explained. “And I have three babies who will take up in our name when the time comes. And one day, three of their babies will take over for her. It’s the way it’s always been, and the way it always will be.”

“Huh,” Stiles said, trying to parse that information. “Well, you look great for your age. Can barely smell the coffin at all.”

“Stiles,” Derek groaned, rolling his eyes.

“What?” Stiles demanded. “How am I supposed to take that.”

Alice laughed. “It’s fine. At least you didn’t run screaming.”

Stiles nodded, relaxing back and trying to make sense of everything. “How long am I gonna be magic sick?” he asked. “And what does that mean for me.”

“It means that you’re gonna be tired for a while, and you should avoid big magic, all magic if you can until you feel rested. Especially with those ribs. I bet you’ve always healed quick?”

Stiles nodded. “Yeah, usually.”

Alice nodded again. “That’s the magic. None of us are good at healing magic, that’s druids more than sparks, but we can heal ourselves a lil’ faster than most.”

“What are sparks good for?” Stiles asked. “I know Druids use runes. Witches work in groups and help each other, but what about sparks?”

“We’re…we’ll we’re nature,” Alice said, spreading her arms. “Earth, water, wind, and air. Everyone’s got their specialty. I’m good with Water, Celia’s a beast with fire, and Lacie is the Earth.”

“Why are there three of you if there’re four elements?” Stiles interrupted, tapping his fingers on the table. “Who’s air.”

“Air’s transitory,” Alice explained. “Sometimes, I need a boost. Sometimes Celia needs a boost. Everyone is air, and no one is air.”

“You feel an affinity for something?” Celia asked.

“Fire,” Stiles replied, glancing over at her. “I’ve always been good with fire.”

“Good,” Celia said, leaning forward and grinning. “Means you got spunk; it’ll be good for you. Gonna be rough go as you try to find out what’s happening.”

“As I try to find it out?” Stiles repeated, glancing over at Derek, who had sat up, eyes wide.

“Where are you going?” Derek demanded.

The three sisters turned, their faces dropping as they looked at Derek.

“We can’t be away for long, you know that sweet pea,” Alice said softly. “It’s already getting unstable, Mama, DJ, Sarah, Holly, Daisy, and Rosie are doing their best, but they ain’t the anchors. You know it shouldn’t take the six of them to do what one of us can. We gotta get back before everything collapses.”

Derek’s eyes closed, his mouth pulled down in a grimace. “Yeah,” he said, rubbing a hand over his face. “And you move as one.”

Alice cupped Derek’s face with her hands and smiled. “Don’t worry. We’ll only be a phone call away, and I think you’ll figure it out in no time. Especially if this Stiles researches anything like the old one did. And once he’s rested, he has the power to help you.”

Stiles preened for a second before the reality hit him. “Um…no. You’re his emissary, not me. I’m just a stopgap because I needed an anchor.”

Lacie laughed, reaching across the table to squeeze his arm. “Kid, you burned out our bond with Derek, and it wasn’t even hard for you. We might be powerful, but much of our power is tied up in something else. He’s gonna need someone who ain’t tied down. He’s always needed someone who wasn’t tied down, but he was too stubborn to look. We were never supposed to be permanent; we just took it because we had enough non-wolves Derek needed help forming the bonds with them.”

“I…what,” Stiles said, shaking his head. “I’m injured!”

“You’ll be fine,” Celia said, walking over to Derek and hugging him tightly, kissing the side of his head before doing the same to the other pack members. Everyone looked resigned, but no one looked sad.

Kapono stood, lifting Celia into a hug when she got to him. “We’ll take care of him,” Kapono said, kissing Celia softly. “And I’ll be back before you know it.”

Celia smiled up at him, patting his chest. “Better be, mister, my birthdays in two months. It’s another quarter-century. It deserves your pork.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Kapono said with a grin, kissing her again. “Get the pig ready, and I’ll sort it out when we get home.”

Stiles gaped around the table as more people said goodbye, but no one seemed worried.

“Umm, excuse me! Why is everyone okay with this?” Stiles said, feeling the familiar sensation of pressure weighing down on him. “This is…I just…no!”

Stiles stilled when seven sets of eyes landed on him at his shout. He opened his mouth and closed it again, not sure he could find the words to describe the panic he felt.

Derek walked around the table, holding his palms out in a calming gesture, the same one he had used to settle the Alphas. Stiles wanted to laugh hysterically, but he was too paralyzed by fear to do anything.

Fear.

It hit him like a blow that he was afraid to use his magic. He could feel the demon batting against his shields, the sensation of claws in his chest, and the feeling of walking close enough to the edge that it was a miracle he hadn’t fallen over into the darkness.

“I can’t do this,” he whispered, shaking his head as he met Derek’s eyes. “I’m so tired.”

Out of everyone, he knew Derek would understand more than anyone else.

“It isn’t the same,” Derek said softly. “This world isn’t dying.”

“Yes, it fucking is. That’s the whole point,” Stiles snapped, throwing an arm out to the side and then groaning, hunching over at the pain. He felt hands wrap around his biceps and steady him, the pain disappearing fast enough that Stiles felt breathless. “This magic is dying, just like before. Scott’s bitten, just like before,” he said bitterly.

“And we know about it, and you’re not alone with a dying pack. This world is alive, still full of life, and it’s not burning,” Derek said, squeezing his arms again. “I have a pack, and it’s strong. I have allies and friends from all over the country. This world isn’t yours; this Scott isn’t yours. He’s different. He’s had a different experience. This isn’t going to be easy, but it’s not the task you think it is. Not in this world.”

Stiles stared at Derek, at the raw, open honesty in his face, and he groaned, dropping his head forward. “Can you stop with the noble bullshit and threaten me or something? This calm, charismatic leader thing is freaking me out.”

Derek chuckled. “Help, or I’ll rip your throat out…with my teeth.”

“Less panache this time, but I’ll take it,” Stiles said, pressing a hand over his face. “So what, I magically come here and become Emissary to a functional pack? Seems a little suspect.”

He tensed when he felt arms wrap around him as Derek pulled him into a hug, cupping the back of his head. “This is not helping with the lack of freaking out,” he muttered, wondering if he was having a weird fever dream.

Derek ignored him. “I told you. I know what it’s like to come into this world with the trauma and accept the good. I had to have it drilled into my head. And I still get it drilled into my head. But this world is different; sometimes, the good things are just good. And there’s nothing bad waiting around the corner. Scott will be fine, the pack is fine, and we will figure this out, and if we have to fight, you won’t be standing alone. I promise.”

Stiles was aware of how silent it was, and he wondered if everyone could hear the beating of his heart; and he wanted to apologize for whatever he smelled like right then. He wanted to turn and run, go back to his Dad and keep running, but he knew his Dad would dig his heels in to stay and help. His Dad always wanted to help people, from little old ladies to making sure Beacon Hills was as safe as it could be. It was the same in both timelines, and Stiles didn’t realize how much he needed that stability until right then.

Stiles had lived through disappointing his Dad once, and he wasn’t about to a second time.

“Seriously freaking me out with the hugging,” Stiles mumbled, letting himself collapse against Derek. “If you keep doing this stupid attractive knight in shining armor shtick, I cannot be held accountable for my feelings.”

“I’ll manage,” Derek said dryly, stepping back but keeping his hands on Stiles’ shoulders.

Stiles grimaced and waved a hand to the others staring at him. “Sorry, excuse the breakdown.”

“Everyone’s entitled to one,” Lacie said, stepping forward and holding out a card. “Give me a call when you can to talk.”

Stiles took it. “Subtle coloring, tasteful thickness,” he said, looking at the card.

“It even has a watermark,” Lacie replied, grinning.

Stiles snorted, stepping away from Derek to sit down and watch as the last of the goodbyes were said, Kapono and Celia whispering in a corner, the two of them staring soulfully into each other’s eyes. Everyone was hugging, hands lingering as they said goodbye, and at the center, Derek and Alice were talking, heads bent close.

They both had a serious look on their faces, and he wished he could hear what they were saying. Finally, they stopped talking, Alice pulling Derek into a tight hug that lingered. Stiles thought of the hugs that Scott had given him since he had gone back in time, the easy touches that still made him feel weird because it was so different. There had been no arguments, and even amid everything, Scott hadn’t questioned. He had just braced Cora and kept quiet, but when Stiles had been in danger, Scott had put himself between Stiles and an angry Alpha.

Alice finally stepped back, cupping Derek’s face and smiling at him proudly. “See you soon, Alpha,” she said, bowing her head slightly as Celia and Lacie joined her.

Stiles watched as the three of them took hands, forming a circle, and with a crack, they were gone.

“That was impressive,” he said, staring at the spot they had been, wondering if he could do that. It would save gas money, and if Stiles didn’t drive her as much, then Roscoe would last longer.

“Don’t even think about it,” Derek said, collapsing back into the seat.

“What?” Stiles demanded.

“That’s big magic.”

At once, the remaining pack members turned to look at him.

“You ain’t that stupid,” Sai said slowly, staring intently at Stiles.

Stiles leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest, ignoring the statement and looking back at Derek. “Can you take me to Scotts yet?”

“He is that stupid,” Julia said, sounding both awed and horrified.

Stiles ignored her. He might be stupid, but he wasn’t stupid enough to try when his ribs were still aching as much as they did. “Well, can you?” he demanded, staring at Derek.

Derek inclined his head. “Yeah, come on. Let’s go.”

Part 2

July 2nd, 2014

Stiles knocked on the front door, hesitating just long enough that he didn’t accidentally punch Isaac in the face when it swung open.

“Why are you knocking?” Isaac asked, frowning.

“It’s polite,” Stiles replied automatically.

“Weirdo,” Isaac replied, reaching up to clap Stiles on the shoulder but stopped at the last moment, patting him softly. “How’re you feeling?”

“Sore,” Stiles said, following Isaac inside.

“No surprise there,” Isaac said, taking a step forward before he stopped and turned, pulling Stiles into a gentle hug. “Thank you.”

Stiles stood there for a second before he hugged Isaac back. The hugs were beginning to feel less awkward, but he was sure it would take a while for them to feel normal. “For what?”

“Saving the day,” Isaac said, pulling back and smiling. “I know you didn’t feel it, but what happened hurt and what Talia was trying to do…” Isaac trailed off and shook his head, looking haunted like they were seventeen and fighting the Alpha pack.

Stiles hated it.

“I’m glad you’re all okay,” he said, squeezing Isaac’s shoulder.

“Stiles! How are you feeling? Are your ribs hurting?”

Stiles looked up as Mrs. McCall came into the room, her hand wrapped in a bandage. “Not as much as your hand, I bet,” he said, trying not to tense up as she hugged him.

“Oh, it’s fine, now. Worth it, honestly,” Melissa said, looking down at her hand. “Scott’s upstairs. Go see him. I know he’s been worried about you.”

“I know, I’m sorry it—”

“—don’t worry about it. You were dealing with a lot. It’s fine,” Mrs. McCall said, waving a hand. “You around for dinner?”

“Uh, sure, I just need to let Dad know,” Stiles said, a little thrown by how easily everyone was accepting his distance.

“Invite him as well. It’ll be good for him to get out of the office,” she said. “And be careful. Scott’s still working on his strength problems. Cora says it’ll take time, but he’ll get there soon.”

Stiles nodded, following Isaac up the stairs. Isaac stopped and let Stiles pass by, and he forced himself not to hesitate, opening the door and forcing a smile onto his face when he noticed Scott relaxing on the bed, looking at the claws on his hand.

Scott’s head shot up, and he was across the room faster than Stiles expected, and he flinched away. He hissed in pain, wishing his ribs were healed already. He was sick and tired of them, and it had only been a week.

“Dude! Sorry!” Scott said, stopping fast enough that he stumbled, almost falling over before he righted himself. “Right, faster now, sorry! I keep forgetting what I can do. Are you okay? I didn’t hurt your ribs, did I?”

Stiles shook his head. “No, you’re fine. They’re pretty well padded,” he said, waving a hand the bandages were. “It was the speed.”

Scott rested a hand on his shoulder and nodded. “I understand,” he said, his eyes wide and face serious.

Part of Stiles knew it was real, but he still had a hard time believing Scott. “Not anymore, you don’t,” he said, shoving at Scott’s shoulder. “You’re all wolves now, ‘cept for me,” he said, leaning around Scott carefully and waving at Cora and Boyd.

“Nah, bro, you’ll always be one of us,” Scott said, resting his other hand on Stiles’ shoulder.

Stiles saw the serious look on Scott’s face and the worry. “I know,” he said, clapping Scott on the shoulder. “You’re stuck with me.”

“Damn right,” Scott said brightly, carefully pulling Stiles into a light hug. “Tell me if this is too tight.”

Stiles was suddenly aware that Scott had been bitten protecting him, and if he hadn’t stepped in the way, it would be Stiles who would be a werewolf. Stiles pulled Scott into a tighter hug, holding his friend close.

“Thank you,” he said softly, patting Scott’s back. “I’m sorry you got bitten.”

Scott shook his head. “It’s all good. It wasn’t when I had planned, but I talked to Mom, and it seemed like the best idea. My asthma was getting worse, and no amount of bro time was fixing it.”

“How much worse?” Stiles asked, taking the only empty chair in the room, not wanting to risk his ribs.

“We were looking at getting bronchial thermoplasty,” Scott explained, sitting on the bed. “I was waking up most nights needing the inhaler.”

Stiles stared at Scott before shaking his head. “You should’ve told me.”

Scott shrugged. “I know. I was waiting for you to decide to get bitten, but then you didn’t, and I wondered why but Cora said you can’t do magic if you’re a wolf, so it makes sense.”

“I should’ve told you,” Stiles repeated. “I just didn’t realize what I could do until well…”

“Until you decided to make me try and rip your heart out,” Cora snapped, glaring at Stiles.

“Yeah, that,” Stiles said, rubbing a hand over the back of his head. “I wasn’t…I just…it was all I could think of to do.”

“Well, it worked,” Boyd interrupted. “And we’re all alive.”

“Deaton isn’t,” Stiles said before he could stop himself. He glanced at Scott, seeing the sadness and, surprisingly, an undercurrent of anger. “You okay?”

Scott shrugged. “I didn’t want him to die. I wanted him held accountable for his actions, but the other Alpha’s were pissed, so I’m not surprised.”

“They didn’t kill him,” Stiles said, wrapping an arm around his chest to brace his ribs. “Forest did.”

“The forest killed him?” Isaac asked after a moment of silence, dropping down onto the floor. “Ents?”

Stiles snorted and shook his head. “No, the Goddess.”

Stiles nodded at the ensuing silence. He rubbed his forehead. “Yeah, I thought the same thing. But…look, he’s being consumed. I could take you to the body if you wanted. But the forest is taking him over, and when I moved something to get a better look, it moved back. Now, Goddess is a bit of a stretch for me, but I’m magical, and I’m sitting in a room of werewolves, so I’m willing to believe that there’s something in the forest that’s taking him back.”

“Well, that’s terrifying,” Boyd said, sitting next to Isaac and curling their fingers together.

“Yep,” Stiles said, popping the P. “Derek well…,” Stiles hesitated, not sure if he should explain Derek’s worries, but decided against it for the moment. “…well, he didn’t seem too worried about it.”

“Well, I’m worried about it,” Cora said, glaring at Stiles. “The house is in the middle of the forest.”

“And we’re in the middle of town,” Stiles replied. “So, I don’t think it’s an issue right now.”

He turned the chair slightly, lifting his legs to rest on the end of Scott’s bed, and slumped as best as he could, dropping his head back and letting his eyes droop. “I don’t know about you four, but I am tired, and I don’t want to worry about it.”

“Did Derek’s emissaries say anything?” Isaac asked.

“They left today,” Stiles said, opening one eye to glance around the room. “And for the moment, I’m still Derek’s emissary. So, go me,” he said, shaking his hands in the air. “Exactly what I always wanted. Emissary for fucking Derek Hale.”

The silence that followed was charged. Stiles opened his eyes to see four identical grins. “What?”

“Derek’s emissary, huh,” Cora said, folding her legs and resting her elbow on her knee, propping her chin in her hand. “Gonna work close with him?”

Stiles wrinkled his nose. “That’s your brother.”

“And he’s why I have DH plus SS carved into my back porch,” Scott said, shaking his head. “With a little heart around it.”

Stiles hated the other version of him sometimes. “I don’t want him that way,” he said, exasperated. “He’s just my…the Alpha. He’s just the Alpha for the moment before he goes back to Lost Cove and takes back the bond with the sisters.”

“I’m going with him,” Cora said suddenly.

All eyes turned to her.

“What?” Scott asked, sounding lost.

Cora glanced down. “I love Mom, but I don’t trust her, and she always said that if you can’t trust your Alpha, you need to find a new pack. And I can go with Derek until I figure out what I want to do. But I can’t stay here.”

“But we’re all wolves now, and Stiles is magical,” Scott said, staring at Cora wide-eyed. “We’re pack now.”

Cora dropped her chin to her chest and wrapped her arms around her waist. “I know, but I’m so mad at Mom for hurting me and hurting Derek, and then she bit you because she was trying to get to Stiles because he stopped her. And I don’t know how I can look at her and not want to scream in anger.”

Cora was crying by the time she stopped speaking. Scott wrapped an arm around her, pulling her into a hug which Isaac and Boyd joined a second later. Stiles watched them for a second before he dropped his legs and carefully rolled the chair over, resting a hand on her knee.

“He’ll take you in a heartbeat,” Stiles said, squeezing her knee.

Cora sniffed and looked up. “Yeah?”

Stiles nodded. “I’m sure he misses all of you, so he’d love for you to be around more.”

“I’ll go too!” Scott said suddenly, looking at Isaac and Boyd. “All four of us can, and Stiles can still be his Emissary. I don’t mind him being my Alpha, he’s always been nice to me, and his pack seems to like him a lot.”

Stiles had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing at Scott calling Derek his alpha. He felt the last of his worries drain away as Scott defended Derek. Derek had been right. This Scott was different.

“I’m sure he would,” Stiles said, sitting back in the chair. “But he lives in the middle of bumfuck nowhere in the Appalachian Mountains. You guys sure you wanna be there? It’s all rustic and shit.”

Four pairs of eyes turned towards Stiles, wide and surprised as if they hadn’t considered that. He laughed. “I’m not such a big fan of the idea of ‘mountain town’. I like mountains. I like towns. The two of them together don’t sound like a good fit.”

“We live in a mountain town, technically,” Isaac said.

“No, this is a town with a mountain next to it. Derek lives in a backwater town,” Stiles said, drawing up what he remembered from the couple of books he had made his way through so far. He had stuck with the most heavily read one that Stiles hadn’t turned into a secret stash. He’d been glad that the other him for marking Derek’s place of residence with a little sticky note and with an address.

“We can adapt, right?” Cora asked, glancing around.

“What’s happening to Talia?” Isaac asked softly, looking over at Stiles.

“Why should I know?” he asked, glancing between them. “As far as I know, she’s still um…” he trailed off when he saw the tight look on Cora’s face. “Derek said he’d take care of it, and I’m sure he will. I don’t know how, but he doesn’t go back on his words.”

“Because you’re his emissary,” Scott said intently. “And despite being an utter creep-o with him for years, now that you’re not creeping him out, he doesn’t seem to mind you.”

“Thanks,” Stiles said dryly.

“You were a little…obsessive,” Boyd said diplomatically. “I mean not Misery levels of obsessed, but borderline stalking.”

Stiles grimaced, dropping his head back and sighed. “Well, I’ll ask, but I can’t promise he’ll tell me. I’m his emissary for the moment, but I don’t know how much longer. Because I sure as shit am not going to be moving to that town,” he said, shaking his head. “I can’t leave my Dad.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Scott said, sounding sure as he reached over and patted Stiles’ knee. “The five of us. We’ll figure something out, so everyone’s happy.”

“Hopefully, while staying in Beacon Hills,” Stiles muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. “Because I am not going to the mountains.”

Part 3

July 2nd, 2014

“What are you going to do about Talia?”

Derek looked up to see Richard leaning against the doorframe. Richard was unkempt, and Derek knew the only reason he ate was Laura and Jenna prodding him. He felt guilty because he was still splitting his family apart despite doing his best.

He felt Kapono stretch next to him before an arm dropped over the back of his chair, reminding him that he wasn’t alone.

“I don’t know,” Derek admitted, leaning back and crossing his arms, trying to relax. “I…it’s different when it’s my own family.”

Richard pushed off the doorframe and sat in the chair across from Derek. “What exactly have you been doing the past few years? We’ve heard rumors, but nothing concrete.”

Derek stared for a moment, wondering if he wanted to tell the man and open himself up to that judgment. It could end up being another barb Talia would throw at him, and he was sick of being cut open by Talia’s words.

“Derek,” Richard said, reaching out a hand and resting it on his forearm. “There are no words to try and justify what Talia tried to do to you. She might be my wife, but you’re my son, my only son, and I want to know what you’ve been doing.”

Derek glanced away, clenching his teeth together. He never blamed his sisters. They had been young, like him. It was the adults in his life that had hurt the most. They might text occasionally, but Derek had gotten used to long stretches of silence before someone remembered he existed. He wanted to bite back and demand his Dad answer for his actions, but he was afraid of being disappointed.

“Derek.”

He felt Kapono’s leg press against his own, and he forced himself to look at Richard and the guilt and sadness on his face. But all he felt was anger. He wished he wasn’t, but it was hard when Talia had tried to strip his soul from his body.

“I’ve been doing what the Hunters should’ve been doing,” Derek said, meeting Richard’s eyes. “Except instead of decimating an entire pack because of a shitty Alpha, I help them put down the rogue Alpha and let whoever the pack decides to take over, take over.”

Derek watched as a myriad of emotions crossed his Dad’s face, starting with shock, fear, and regret. Richard slumped back in the chair and closed his eyes. “Which is why it would be hard for you to do to us,” he whispered.

Derek nodded. “Right. So, I don’t know what will happen with Talia, but if something doesn’t, you’re going to have some pissed Alphas gunning for you, and the last thing you want is a pack war. And I think that might include Eliza.”

“It will.”

Derek turned, watching as Peter, James and Sarah joined them. He glanced to the side, surprised he hadn’t heard them arrive, and saw Kapono slightly incline his head. Julia and Sai were nearby. Derek focused on Peter.

“It will?” he repeated.

Peter nodded, sitting down. “Eliza is ten kinds of pissed off, especially since it was the first time she had brought Sofie in to act as her second.”

“I heard she’s trying to pass off the Alpha mantel, so she and Nate can travel,” Derek said carefully, glancing between the rest of his mother’s siblings before settling on his Dad, wondering if he knew more because Eliza was his sister. “Right?”

Richard nodded. “She wants to see the world. Nathan does as well. Sofie’s old enough to take over, and Nolie and Jodie are fine with it. They were planning the transfer after the summer, and the rest of the kids are back at school.”

“And now?”

“Now, Eliza is probably going to wait until this whole situation is done with,” Peter said, hooking an arm around the back of his chair. “How are you going to deal with it, kiddo?”

Derek glared at Peter. “Your pack, your problems,” he snapped, his anger flaring. He wanted to rage at them, yell at them for making him pick up the broken pieces when they had been the ones to ignore the cracks.

“I’m sorry.”

Derek looked at James, who slumped down, looking older than he had in a long time. Out of all of his aunts and uncles, James had always been the one full of life, but now he looked exhausted, the signs of his age finally visible.

“For what?” Derek asked in the silence.

“For letting Talia get away with kicking you out when you needed us,” James said, meeting Derek’s gaze head-on. “You were a kid, thrown into an impossible situation, and she just let you leave. We all let you leave instead of standing up for you. And I am so glad you found a place where you belong, but I am sorry for not being there when you needed me.”

Derek wanted to hunch in on himself, look away from the eyes of an Uncle he barely knew. He hadn’t been close before James had died in the fire, and they weren’t close now.

“Thanks,” he said, shifting uncomfortably, unsure what to do with the added scrutiny. Or the fact that it was his Uncle, not his Dad, who had apologized to him first. “I appreciate it.”

James nodded, his mouth quirking into a smile. “Should thank Stiles for it of all things. I thanked him for standing up for you, and he told me I needed to tell you.”

Derek couldn’t help the smile as he thought of Stiles doing that. “He’s a shit head most of the time, but he’s a good person.”

Part of Derek would miss this worlds Stiles, and his hopeful belief in everything and everyone around him. But Derek had never been able to see Stiles as anything but a kid who hadn’t lived in a dark world as Derek had. This version of Stiles had. He had walked the path to the very end and carried scars even Derek couldn’t imagine. This Stiles understood the underbelly of the world, and Derek was glad to have Stiles at his back.

“He’s something alright. He grew a backbone at some point,” Peter mused, tapping his fingers on the table. “And that magic, wow.”

Derek nodded. “He’s been working on it for a while,” he said, thinking back to the first mountain ash line Stiles had laid down, only to break when Derek had asked him to.

“Is he going to be your emissary now?” Peter asked intently. “Because if he isn’t, whoever the next Alpha is should do their best to keep him.”

“So, it’s decided,” Sarah snapped, glaring at her brother. “Next Alpha? Tally’s done?”

Peter grimaced and shook his head. “Poor choice of words. I merely meant that Stiles would make for a powerful ally.”

“He’s my emissary right now,” Derek interrupted before the argument started. Peter and Sarah had been able to argue for hours back in the day. “The sisters had to go back home, and Stiles agreed to keep on right now, especially since he’s still healing.”

“Who are they?” Peter asked, staring intently at Derek again. “The sisters, they’re powerful as well.”

“Old friends,” Derek said, smiling at his uncle without humor. “Don’t need to worry about them. They’re homebodies most of the time. They were my emissaries as a favor, nothing more, and they didn’t want it to be permanent.”

“But you needed their magic?” James asked, also staring intently at Derek.

Sometimes Derek forgot that Peter had grown up with three siblings who were the same as him, intelligent and always wanting to know more about the world. All four of them had been raised to be the best, and their biggest competition had always been each other. None of them were stupid.

“I have a lot of non-wolf pack,” he explained, shrugging.

“How big?” Richard asked softly.

“I’ve got 36 wolves right now, mostly ex-omegas. I’ve got 21 permanent members of the pack. The rest are hopefully transitory. If I include the non-wolves, I’ve got 50 permanent members, with another 23 just rolling through as needed,” Derek explained.

“22,” Kapono interrupted. “Marcus is heading back to Ireland. He heard from his ex, finally.”

Derek grimaced. “Seriously?”

Kapono hummed. “Celia said Lacie’s on it.”

“Right, so 22 rolling through,” Derek corrected, looking between his family members. “People need help, people without packs or family, and that’s what I do. I help those people.”

“You help people like you,” Peter said, his voice toneless.

Derek nodded. “They helped me first. I was an alpha, and they needed a pack. And we decided to build something for people like us who needed packs. Not all wolf packs are open-minded.”

“A rogue Alpha bit me,” Julia said from behind them, making his family flinch. She had always been able to move quietly, and Derek used it to his advantage. “I was part of the Cortez Pack.”

“Ah,” Peter said, nodding his head even though everyone else looked confused. Peter glanced around and sighed. “Alpha Cortez believes the only good wolf is a born wolf. Everyone else is lesser.”

“He’s a dick,” Derek supplied, wishing the man would do something bad enough that his pack would throw him out. Derek wouldn’t mind that assignment.

“Don’t you worry about the hunters?” Richard asked.

“Same way you do,” Derek replied, crossing his arms and leaning against the table. “They can’t find where we live. It’s too isolated for them to sneak up there. And I know what to look out for, and we’re not breaking any of the rules. The few times we’ve come across them, they haven’t been able to do anything because all I’m doing is helping keep the werewolf community a secret, and they want that as well.”

“Never could figure out why they would want that,” Peter mused, pushing the chair back on two legs.

“Because most of them enjoy hunting us down, and if it were public, then suddenly, they would have a lot more oversight,” Derek replied, shrugging when everyone looked at him. “Most of them come from family, which is often institutionalized prejudice, and the ones that fall into it are usually the result of something dramatic. They lost a loved one, so they have the hate. Most humans who find out about wolves a good way end up as part of the pack, like Noah Stilinski or the McCall’s.”

“How is Scott?” James asked.

“Last I heard, he’s doing fine, Cora, Isaac, and Boyd are there with him, and I gave him my number if he’s got any questions,” Derek replied. “I dropped Stiles off there a little while ago.”

Derek could see Peter watching him intently, and he turned, meeting his uncle’s eyes, and raised an eyebrow, silently asking a question. Peter grimaced for a second before he sighed. “Honestly, I keep thinking to myself. When did my favorite nephew grow up, and then I realize you grew up away from us because of what we did.”

“I’m your only nephew,” Derek replied, ignoring the rest of the statement because there wasn’t anything he could do about it. It was ancient history, and while he might be willing to rehash it at some point, there were more pressing things to do. “What do you—”

“—someone’s coming.”

Before Kapono had finished speaking, Derek was at the front door and listening. “Is anyone expecting anyone?” he asked, straining for a second before he heard the rumble of an engine.

“Not that I know of,” Richard said, appearing next to him. “Why?”

“Because someone’s coming, and I don’t know who it is,” Derek said, calming himself down. Unexpected visitors weren’t a bad thing, but he wasn’t used to them when he lived in a town where he knew everyone, and everyone knew him. “Julia?”

“On it,” Julia said, darting up the stairs.

He could hear her setting up as the first car came around the bend. Two large blacked-out SUVs pulled to the front of the house and parked. Derek squinted, trying to see through the tinted windows, but he couldn’t.”

“Sai?” he asked, turning his head to the man who appeared out of a doorway, making his Dad flinch.

“I’ll be ready,” Sai said, giving Derek a warm smile.

Derek nodded and glanced at his family, seeing the confused looks on all their faces except for Peter, who looked worried.

“Those are hunter vehicles,” Peter said when he noticed Derek looking at him.

“Yeah,” Derek replied, looking up as Julia appeared on the top landing and tossed him the shotgun Derek had affectionately begun to call his own. “Stay behind me, and for fucks sake, please don’t talk. I’ll deal with them.”

“Technically, I am Talia’s right hand,” James said, slightly amused, but his wide eyes spoke another story.

“Technically, Talia is locked up in a cage because she’s gone crazy, and suddenly hunters appear. Sounds like bad juju to me,” Kapono said, appearing at Derek’s shoulder with his holsters on his belt. “So maybe listen to the one Alpha here?”

Derek bit back the smile at the hardness in Kapono’s voice, thankful for his pack right then. And grateful for the past few years that had helped them get used to situations like this. He looked behind him, waiting for Kapono’s nod before pushing open the door, the shotgun hanging by his side.

He stepped out onto the porch and stopped at the top of the steps, listening to the click of Julia’s rifle in the upper room, ready to do what she needed to do. He kept quiet, staring at the cars until the driver’s side opened and Victoria Argent stepped out. Derek was thrown back in time for a second before Kapono’s hand on his back kept him in the right time and place.

“You’re trespassing,” Derek called before she could speak. She looked older, her face even more severe. He wondered when they had gotten to town. The last he had heard, the Argents were in Europe, Poland, or something. He needed to get better contacts in Europe.

Victoria Argent spread her hands to the side. “We’re merely here to inform the Hale Pack that we’re in town.”

“And what do the Argents want with our town?” Derek asked, a little amused at the flash of shock on her face. He wondered if she thought they were flying under the radar.

“Are you the Hale Alpha?” she asked instead of answering.

Derek shrugged one shoulder. “I’m a Hale, I’m an Alpha, but I’m not Talia Hale.”

“Ah, Sherriff Hale then,” Victoria said, dropping her hands to the side. “You’ve been making our job easier.”

“All in a day’s work,” Derek replied, amused at the moniker. “Why are you here?”

Victoria crossed her arms over her chest. “We heard a rumor that Talia Hale did a bad thing.”

“To me,” Derek instantly said, ready and willing to lie to protect the rest of the family. “She and I had a disagreement; I will deal with it. It’s a family matter. I’m sure you can understand.”

“Family is complex,” Victoria said with a smile. “Are you sure you’re capable of doing what needs to be done?”

“Enough of his bellyaching,” another voice snapped out.

Derek watched as Gerard Argent stepped out of the car, looking old and worn and rail-thin. He looked like someone had taxidermied a skeleton and had forgotten to add the stuffing.

Gerard glared at Derek. “We know she tried to kill you. She’s gone crazy. Hand her over so we can kill her,” Gerard said, one hand dropping to the gun on his hip.

Derek waited for Victoria to comment, and when she didn’t, he tapped the shotgun against his leg, drawing attention to it. “Didn’t realize the Argent family was no longer a matriarchy,” Derek said, looking directly at Victoria.

Victoria rested a hand on Gerard’s arm. “I am in control of the family, but my father is not one for patience.”

Derek could hear the rustling behind him, and he spread a hand to the side, hoping that his family kept their cool. The last thing he needed was a war. The rustling stopped. He felt a hand slide into his back pocket, and the weight of his phone was suddenly gone, but he kept his eyes on Victoria.

“Talia Hale did not kill anyone; she did not injure anyone. I fail to see why you’re calling for her death,” Derek said, keeping the gun down despite how much he wanted to point it at them.

“But she did bite someone against his will,” Victoria said.

Derek mentally cursed. He needed to find who spoke out of turn. “Scott McCall got between my mother and me during our argument because he was trying to calm us down,” he lied easily. “He was injured, and he asked for the bite, and I gave it to him. I don’t know where you got your information, but it isn’t true.”

“And if we went and asked this Scott McCall, he would give the same story?” Victoria asked, her eyes narrowed in anger.

Derek smiled. “Want his address?”

Victoria’s smile was ice cold by now. “It would be nice.”

“Oh, for fucks sake,” Gerard said, his gun up and pointing at Derek.

Derek raised his shotgun, pressing the butt against his shoulder and pointing it back at Gerard, ready to chamber a round and pull the trigger. Everyone paused. Even Gerard seemed to hesitate at the sight of the gun.

“You know we have cameras, right?” Peter said, stepping up behind Derek. “And I’d remind the Argents that Sherriff Stilinski is part of this pack. I wonder what he’d say when we show the video of you trespassing and then threatening our nephew.”

Gerard spat on the ground. “If he were a smart man, he’d thank us for putting down the wild animals infecting his town.”

Derek could see the strained smile on Victoria’s face, but he ignored it and focused on Gerard. “Don’t know about you, but this wild animal’s a pretty good shot,” he said, chambering a round, the sound echoing in the silence.

The silence kept stretching until Victoria reached out and pushed her Father’s gun down. She shot him a glare when he tried to speak, and he settled down, glaring daggers at Derek.

“Things may have gotten out of hand,” Victoria said smoothly. “We are merely here to do our jobs.”

“And I assume you have a sanctioned order from the Hunter Council?” Derek asked, meeting Victoria’s eyes. “Or have you become, well, I don’t know what your term is, but we’d call you omegas.”

Victoria snarled before she got herself under control, but he could see the hatred as plain as day.

“Derek, can we not antagonize the hunters, please,” Julia said softly from the second story.

He knew he was being a dick, but it was hard not to when he was staring at the faces of the family who had destroyed his life. He sighed and dropped the shotgun, spreading his hands to the side, palms out. It was her move.

“We will send over the order as soon as we talk to Mr. McCall, figure out the situation, and then talk to the Council,” Victoria said, smiling at him.

Derek bared his teeth, making sure it looked as much like a smile as possible. “Of course.”

Victoria nodded and turned to go, prodding Gerard back into the car. Once he was in, Victoria turned. “Say, would you have seen another hunter around? About a decade ago?”

Derek shrugged. “Dunno. What was her name?”

“Kate Argent,” Victoria said, meeting his eyes squarely. “She would’ve been 26 around then.”

Derek shrugged again, ignoring the memory of the wolfsbane smoke interspersed with her mouth against his. “I was fifteen then, so I don’t know what a twenty-six-year-old would want to do with a fifteen-year-old. Is she missing?”

She hid it well, but Derek saw her flinch. Victoria nodded. “She died up in Beacon City. They never did find the killer.”

“Well, I know the City wasn’t the best place to be back then,” Derek said, doing his best to look sad. “Sometimes bad things happen to people, and they never find out. I am sorry for your loss, though.”

“Thank you,” Victoria said, nodding once before opening her door. “I’ll be seeing you.”

Derek nodded his head, hearing the threat and not responding to it. He watched as the cars left and wondered where Chris and Allison were.

“Kap?” he asked, turning his head.

Kapono tilted his head to the side, eyes half-closed. “We’re clear unless they’ve got sci-fi tech that hides their heartbeat.”

“Stiles is on the phone,” Sai said, holding out the phone he had stolen.

Derek gave the gun to Sai as he took the phone, pressing it up against his ear. “Did you hear that?”

“Enough to get the gist. I’ll make sure Scott knows what to say,” Stiles replied immediately.

Derek could hear the rustling behind Stiles, and he could see the worried looks on his own family’s faces, and he wished he could talk to Stiles privately, get his thoughts on the matter. Derek sighed, biting the inside of his cheek. “No one leaves. Call your Dad as soon as you’re done with Scott and get him there. Then when the Argents leave, I want you all back at the Hale house. Everyone’s staying here until they go.”

“You sure that’s safe?” Stiles asked softly.

Derek pressed a hand over his face, ignoring the sudden smell of ash in the air. “It will be if my emissary is here to help.”

Stiles was silent before he sighed. “Yeah, fair point. Okay, want us to grab anything?”

“A few days of clothing, I’ll call Jenna and Lou and let them know what’s up,” Derek said, dropping his hand. “Everyone can just deal for the moment. And remember—”

“—yeah yeah, buddy system,” Stiles replied, clucking his tongue. “Who called them?”

“Don’t know, but I’m gonna find out,” Derek said before hanging up.

“Kate Argent?” James asked softly. “Wasn’t she…?”

“The one who tried to kill me? Yeah,” Derek said, pressing his phone against his forehead. “She was big on burning families alive. My second lost her family to them. She’s the only survivor.”

“Well, this is a shit show.”

Derek looked up to see Peter leaning against the doorframe and raised an eyebrow. “Are there really cameras?”

Peter nodded. “Only for the outside of the house. We got them after you got kidnapped and saved us all by killing her.”

Derek shrugged a shoulder, trying not to dwell on the satisfaction he still felt about Kate dying a long time ago. “I want to know who the fuck called the hunters in. No one who was there would call them, all Alpha’s know that Hunters are nothing but trouble.”

Derek tapped the phone against his forehead again before looking up. “Does anyone have the contact information for the Calhoun and Ito packs?”

“I do,” Peter said, pushing away from the door frame. “You think one of them said something?”

Derek nodded. “Someone said something, and I need to know why. Because taking out Talia will do nothing but destabilize the area, especially since when a fucking human kills a wolf, the spark doesn’t go anywhere. And boom, end of the Hale Alpha line.”

Derek looked around his family, seeing how tired and worn they looked. They looked defeated. He wanted to scream at them. What was happening was horrible, yes, but they still had each other. They had never had to hike their way across the fucking country trying to find a place he had heard about in whispers and built a life for him when his two previous ones had been fucked.

But Lacie had always told him that trying to compare pain never worked because his wasn’t more valid because he had gone through it twice. No matter how often he felt that way. “Come on, maybe we shouldn’t be out in the open,” he said, shooing everyone into the house.

“You know, technically, I’m your uncle, not the other way around,” James said, smiling gently.

“And technically, I’m an Alpha, so you have to listen to me,” Derek shot back. “Can you get anyone to cover the diner for a few days?”

James nodded. “Yeah. I’ll get Raul to get someone to cover us for a few days. He was one of Ennis’s. He knows what happens when there’s Alpha trouble.”

Derek winced. “Is he uh…gonna be okay with me?”

“Oh yeah, it turns out they all hated him. Didn’t Tally ever tell you?” James asked.

Derek shook his head. “No, she told me not to worry about it, so I didn’t.”

James looked awkward. “Oh well, all of them got adopted into other packs, and from what Raul tells me, everyone’s happier for it. So, he might thank you.”

“I’m going to call Hazel and tell her and Cathy to stay where they are,” Sarah interrupted, her arms wrapped tight around her. “They’re in New York with their Dad right now.”

Derek nodded. “I’ll give them a number to call if they can’t reach us, it’ll be my second, Nat, and she’ll make sure they’re safe.”

Sarah’s face fell. “You think somethings gonna happen?”

Derek winced as he watched his aunt’s eyes get shiny. “No. But I know the value of a good backup plan, and New York is far enough away them having a safe place to go is safer.”

“Hazel’s human, though,” Richard said, speaking for the first time. “She’s not a wolf.”

“Doesn’t matter. Nat’s pack was like ours, humans and wolves. She was one of the Woodrow’s.”

“They all died,” Richard said. “Whole pack, wiped out from the electrical failure of all things.

Derek wanted to roll his eyes at how naive his Dad was, but he had been like that once before. It was hard to realize all the bad things that could happen when bad things had never happened.

“You’re right. Natalie Woodrow did die as far as anyone is concerned,” Derek explained. “But you don’t think a whole pack died because of an electrical failure? Really?”

Richard opened his mouth and then closed it, his eyes sliding shut. “No, I suppose you’re right.”

Derek shrugged, nudging his Dad inside and following before shutting the door behind him. “Anyone have any questions so far?”

He waited a moment, and when no one spoke, he nodded and cracked his neck. “Right, well. We need to contact everyone, make sure they know what’s happening and that they’re expected…” Derek trailed off, realizing he had been giving orders as if this was his pack.

He wanted to say it was habit, but he was standing in his childhood home, and it felt right, even though he wasn’t the Alpha. He had barely been Alpha of Beacon Hills for a year, and the world had been dying when he had been. But it still felt like home.

He swallowed and looked between James and Peter. “You know this pack better than me. You should know what to do,” he said softly.

Peter’s eyes narrowed, but he nodded. “I’ll get it going. Then I’m going to get Vanessa here. I want her safe.”

“Take Julia,” Derek said, looking towards his beta, who was standing on the stairs, sliding a gun into the shoulder holster under her jacket. “She’ll make sure she’s safe, and she’s been around hunters before.”

“I’ll deal with food,” James said, pulling himself up and looking at Richard and Sarah. “You guys can deal with bedding? I know we’ve got enough sleeping spaces, but some people will need to double up.”

Derek shoved his hands into his jean pockets and nodded. “My pack and I are fine in my old room, so don’t worry about us.”

Kapono dropped an arm around Derek’s shoulders, and he felt Sai’s arm a second later, and he knew without looking both of them were grinning. Derek rolled his eyes when he felt Sai kiss the side of his head.

“Been a while since we had a sleepover,” Kapono said.

---

Stiles wanted nothing more than to lay down and sleep, but he knew he needed to talk to Derek. Stiles pulled open the door to the library, relieved to find Derek braced against the desk, reading a book. He leaned against the doorframe and knocked, waiting for Derek to notice.

“What?” Derek snapped before looking up and relaxing, the angry look changing to a smile. “Stiles, you’re here. What’s up?”

“Cranky cranky,” Stiles said, stepping inside and closing the door. “Gotta talk to you.”

He made his way across the library, watching as Derek sat in the wingback chair. Stiles looked for another chair and didn’t find one close enough and settled for perching on the edge of the desk, keeping a hand pressed against his sternum. He didn’t know if it helped, but it made him feel better.

“What about?” Derek asked, folding his hands across his stomach and looking up at Stiles.

Stiles opened his mouth and paused, glancing around and grimacing. He closed his eyes for a second, reaching for the flickering remnants of his magic, and thought about the silencing spell. He felt a hand on his leg, and he opened his eyes to see Derek frowning.

“You shouldn’t be using magic,” Derek said.

“Can anyone hear us?” Stiles replied, not wanting to get into it. He knew Derek was right, but they needed privacy.

“Kapono?” Derek called, waiting for a minute. “No, I don’t think so.”

Stiles nodded. “Argents,” he said bluntly, watching Derek. “Scott said what we needed him to say, and we need to make sure everyone else knows.”

“And he had no issue with it?” Derek asked.

Stiles shook his head. “What you said before was right, I think. Scott, this Scott, had a very different introduction, and he knows the danger of Hunters. He was agreeing before I even finished explaining.”

Derek sighed. “Well, that’s one small miracle. I know Victoria and Gerard are here. What about Chris and Allison?”

Stiles shrugged. “We only saw Gerard and Mama Crazy. If Chris and Allison are here, they’re hiding them. Do you think they’re going to get the sanctions you asked about?”

“Council will give it to them. They’re a bunch of old lazy assholes who take money and don’t give a shit,” Derek explained, looking exhausted. “They’re paid figureheads, and it’s not going to change anytime soon. I’ve had a few run-ins with them.”

“Well, no shock there, but I am disappointed,” Stiles said, leaning back on his hands to try and get some relief. “So, what now?”

“What do you mean what now?” Derek asked, resting a hand on his arm.

Stiles looked down and saw the black lines. “Thanks. What are we gonna do about the murder family?”

“Don’t know what we can do,” Derek replied. “They haven’t done anything yet.”

“Exist?”

Derek shot Stiles an exasperated look. “Not a good enough reason.”

“You sure?” Stiles asked, pushing himself more fully onto the desk.

“Yes, Stiles. I’m sure,” Derek replied, pulling his arm away.

Stiles watched as the black lines faded on Derek’s arm. “What does it feel like?” he asked, reaching out to trace over one of the lines before it disappeared.

“Nothing. There’s not enough hurt for me to notice.”

“Have you ever noticed?” Stiles asked, pulling his hand back.

Derek nodded. “When I stopped Paige’s bite rejection. She was in so much pain, and I kept pulling and pulling. Both of my arms were completely black, and it felt like something dead was trying to crawl up my throat.”

Stiles grimaced. “What happened?”

“I ended puking up black goo.”

“Well, better than puking up bandages,” Stiles said, shuddering as he remembered pulling bandages out of his mouth.

“Glad I missed that,” Derek murmured.

“You really should be. I never want to do that again.” Stiles tilted his head to the side. “What happened with the nogitsune?”

“It’s still there,” Derek admitted, rubbing the side of his neck. “It’s one of those things I’ve been keeping an eye on, but nothing seems to be happening, so I’m just going to let it be.”

“Really?” Stiles asked, raising an eyebrow at Derek.

“I saved my family, dealt with most of the Alpha pack, and have been acting as a hunter for the supernatural community to try and save more packs. Forgive me if I don’t have time to deal with everything,” Derek snapped.

Stiles held up his hands in defense. “Dude, I was just asking.”

Derek rubbed a hand over his face. “I know, I’m sorry. I’m just tired.”

“Yeah,” Stiles said, already thinking of the long night of sleep he was ready for. “I know the feeling.”

Derek sighed. “I know you do. Did you have any other questions? I don’t want you straining your magic longer than needed.”

Stiles smiled. “Once it’s set, there’s no drain on me. It’s like a mountain ash line. It only takes power to start it; it’s self-fulfilling once it’s going.”

“And when you turned it off?”

Stiles grimaced. “That’ll take a little bit more power.”

He tilted his head back, thinking over everything before he sighed. “So, fading magic and the Argents. Sounds like we’re back in our world. Maybe I am bad luck.”

Stiles felt Derek pat his thigh. “We’re not. And you’re not,” he said, patting Stiles’ thigh again before using the grip to stand up with a groan. “And dinner’s ready.”

“You’re very handsy,” Stiles said, looking down at where Derek’s hand was still on his leg. Derek snatched his hand away as soon as he spoke, blushing slightly.

“Sorry, I’m used to the pack, Lacie’s orders to get us used to good touches again. It started with handshakes, moved to hugs, and now we all just touch each other.”

“Well, I’m glad it’s better?” Stiles said, not sure what else to say.

“It is,” Derek said, smiling in that soft way that Stiles couldn’t wrap his mind around. “But, the point is I just touch people without thinking about it, and you’re pack, but you’re a new member, so if we ever make you uncomfortable, just tell us.”

Stiles thought back to the easy way Cora and Scott had crawled into his bed, how he got hugged anytime his friends were around and shook his head. “No, it’s nice. Different, but in a good way.”

He pushed himself off the desk and spread his arms wide in blatant invitation. Derek rolled his eyes fondly and pulled Stiles into a gentle hug. They might be the same height, but Derek was wider, and his shirt was soft. Stiles felt like he was being wrapped up in a really buff cloud. It was nice. Stiles could get used to the hugging.

“Gotta ask,” Stiles said when the hug ended. “Why are you so ripped now? Things are good, so I’m assuming you’re not doing the terminator workouts.”

“Terminator workouts?”

“Yeah, you know all, I’ll be back to the hunters,” Stiles said, deepening his voice.

Derek laughed. Stiles didn’t think he had heard him laugh before, but it was nice. “No, like we said, we grow most of our food. So, you tend to get stronger when you till a couple of fields and then help build a new house.”

“Ah, that makes sense,” Stiles said. “You know, Cora was talking about moving to the mountains, and while the whole lifestyle works for you, clearly, I don’t think I’m built for that life. Look at me. You’d mistake me for the hoe and try and throw me facedown to the dirt.”

Derek raised an eyebrow, clearly amused. Stiles thought about his comment and nodded, tapping the side of his head. “Nope, I heard that. No comment needed.”

“Did I say anything?” Derek asked, leaning against the table and looking at his book.

“You said dinner was ready?” Stiles asked.

“I’ll be down in a bit, there’s always going to be enough food, and I want to finish reading this,” he said softly.

Stiles looked down at the book. “What is this?” he asked, wondering what was so important.

“Old family heirloom,” Derek said, carefully turning the book so Stiles could see the cover. “I’m trying to see if there’s some way of transferring Alpha power from someone who doesn’t want to let go of it without killing them. I know Talia can choose to lose the Alpha title, but I don’t think she will.”

Stiles sighed, nudging his shoulder against Derek’s. “Technically, they’re not your pack.”

“Technically yes, emotionally they are,” Derek said, lifting his head to meet Stiles’ eyes. “Ever since I stepped back into Beacon Hill’s, it’s felt like everyone should be part of my pack. And I don’t know if that’s because they’re my family or because I have an ego, and I think I could do better.”

Stiles scoffed. “Of all the things you have, ego isn’t one of them. We’ve both seen Alpha’s with egos, and you do not. It’s not weird to want your family to be part of your pack. I think it’d be weird if you didn’t want that.”

“My pack is on the other side of the continent,” Derek said, pressing a hand against his chest. “I can feel all of them here.”

Stiles nodded, still aware of the bloom of warmth in his chest that he knew was Derek’s pack. “I know. I feel them as well,” he said. He couldn’t be sure since he didn’t know if emotions were so easily quantified, but still, Stiles knew that Derek’s pack loved him very much.

“Oi, love birds, stop having secret meetings and come eat dinner.”

Stiles flinched, groaning at the sharp motion, and turned to see Laura holding a plate of food, a rib held in her other hand. “Ohh, I feel like serving ribs to the man who has fractured ribs is unfair.”

Laura raised an eyebrow. “Lips are moving but can’t hear a thing.”

Stiles grimaced, closing his eyes and concentrating for a second to drop the silencing ward. “I said, serving ribs to the man with broken ribs is a little rude,” he said, suddenly more exhausted.

In response, Laura lifted the rib to her mouth and bit down before chewing obnoxiously. “They’re good,” she said before turning and leaving.

Stiles watched her go before turning back to Derek. “And she’s an adult?” he asked, hoping Laura heard him.

Derek laughed and closed his book. “What’s funny is she’s a firefighter. I don’t know who would trust her with saving a life.”

Stiles raised an eyebrow and grinned, darkly amused at the idea of one of the Hale’s being a firefighter. From the grin on Derek’s face, he knew the man understood.

“Fuck you, Derek!” Laura yelled from downstairs, no doubt for Stiles’ benefit. “I’m an awesome firefighter.”

Part 4

July 5th, 2014

Derek listened to the bustle of people as he made his way downstairs. He had slept well, tucked between Kapono and Sai with Julia draped across them like a tiny blanket, but he wasn’t ready for the day ahead. He had decided to wait to talk to Talia until after the fourth. None of them liked the fireworks and wished for the quiet of Appalachia. The last thing he needed was to have a conversation with his mother as fireworks exploded.

Derek made a beeline for the coffee, grunting hello to the people in the room. A few minutes later, he leaned against the counter, ignoring the burn as he drank the first cup, only to pour a second and wished caffeine worked on werewolves.

“How can you drink that?”

Derrek opened his eyes to see Jenna grimacing at him. “Placebo effect,” Derek replied, taking a sip. “It makes me feel more awake.”

“Bad night’s sleep?” Jenna asked, pulling her cereal closer to herself.

“No, actually slept well,” Derek said, sitting next to Jenna. “Just been a long few days, and it will be a long day today.”

Jenna sighed, resting her head on his shoulder. “Yeah. What’s happening today?”

“Talia,” Derek explained, tilting his cup toward the cellar door.

Jenna sat up and stared at him. “What’s going to happen?”

Derek shrugged. “Not a fucking clue. I need to know where her heads at. I’m sure she’s angry, so she can yell at me for a bit to get it out of her system before I send Peter and James down to deal with her. They need to talk to her, and then you all need to decide what’s gonna happen.”

He thought back to the book and wished he had found an answer there, but there was no little kernel of wisdom that would help him figure out what to do. He was sick and tired of being in the dark whenever he was in Beacon Hills. Things always were so much clearer in other places.

Jenna squeezed Derek’s arm. “Mom shouldn’t be yelling at you.”

Derek shrugged, not bothering to state the obvious. Jenna sighed and shook her head. “It isn’t right what you have to deal with. It isn’t right.”

“I know,” Derek agreed. “But it’s what’s happening, and I can’t change her mind, and honestly, after what she tried to do, I don’t know if I’d trust her.”

Jenna lurched forward, wrapping her arms around Derek’s neck and squeezing him. “It’s not right,” she hissed, squeezing him tighter.

Derek grimaced. “I know, but uh, you’re still strong, so, chill?”

Jenna let go and leaned back, glaring at him. “You’re an Alpha, and you’re taller than me,” she said before her face crumpled. “You got taller than me, and I wasn’t there to see it.”

Derek remembered being in New York the first time and Laura crying when he finally grew taller than her. “Well, I am a guy,” he said, rolling his eyes and making the joke to make her stop crying. “It was inevitable.”

“I know, squirt,” Jenna said, cupping his face and staring at him, her eyes still bright. “But I’m still sorry that I missed it.”

Derek leaned back. “I miss all of you, I do, but Jen…” he trailed off, unsure of what he wanted to say without coming across as a dick.

“But you’re happy where you are,” she finished for him.

Derek nodded. “Yeah. I love my life there. I really do. It’s a life I built for myself, filled with good people and a good pack, and it might be a little simpler than you’re used to here. But I don’t mind that. I don’t like big cities.”

The wards made Lost Cove safe, and Derek had always felt the most relaxed there on a warm summer’s day with people laughing. It felt like he had stepped out of time, away from the hustle and bustle of big cities, and he loved it. Even Beacon Hills sometimes felt a little too big, and he was thankful that the Hale house was isolated.

“When have you ever been to a big city?”

Derek turned his head, watching as Peter stepped into the room and sat down, looking exhausted. “I’ve been to New York once or twice,” he said easily. “Not a fan.”

Peter grunted, dropping his head down into his folded arms. “Fair.”

“You okay?” Jenna asked, leaning over and resting a hand on Peter’s arm. “Vanessa keeping you up?”

Peter shrugged. “Baby’s kicking, which means she’s awake, which means I’m awake,” he mumbled into his arms.

Derek still had trouble reconciling this Peter with the one who had killed Laura. This Peter loved his wife; he doted on her hand and foot and had before she got pregnant. This Peter would do anything to protect the pack one moment and then would race to the store at 4am to get Vanessa whatever she wanted. Despite how long he had been back, he kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“Is she sleeping now?” he asked.

Peter nodded. “Finally, and I came down here for coffee.”

Derek pushed over his mug. “Jenna says it doesn’t do anything.”

“Don’t care. It makes me feel like it does, and I like the taste,” Peter said, taking the cup with a nod of thanks and throwing it back. He grimaced and looked down at the cup. “This is like tar.”

“Sai made it,” Derek explained. “He likes it strong enough to stand a spoon up in and bitter enough to wash away any other taste you’ve had for the past week.”

Peter grimaced and glared at the cup before setting it back down and looking at Derek. “Today?”

Derek wished he could play dumb but nodded. “Yeah, as soon as I’m dressed.”

Peter pressed both hands against his face. “And then what?”

“Then, I tell you and James, and you figure it out,” Derek said softly, tapping his fingers against the table. “I cannot be part of this decision, you’re my family, but you’re not my pack. And there’s already enough bad blood between Talia and me. I am trying to keep as many family members as I can.”

Jenna made a scoffing noise, but Peter just shook his head, looking sad. “We did a number on you, kiddo.”

Derek sometimes wished he could explain the myriad of other fucked up things that had happened to him to make him this way, but he knew it would be a stupid decision. Derek’s pack didn’t even tell the new pack members; all the people who knew had made a pact about that as soon as Derek became the alpha. No one wanted to deal with trying to explain time travel to newcomers, especially if they weren’t going to stay long.

“It is what it is,” Derek said eventually. “Can’t change the past, can only change the future,” he said, standing up and sighing. “And I need to get dressed and go and talk to Talia so I can wash my hands of this.”

Derek left before either of them had a chance to argue, not wanting to get into it.

An hour later, he stood in front of the door to the cellar, his arms crossed and wondering who would blame him if he left. He could hear the hushed conversation behind him and the clanking of plates as James and Raul tried their best to keep up with a house of hungry wolves.

“Gonna go in or gonna stand there and brood?” Stiles asked, appearing next to Derek, holding a half-eaten bagel.

Derek glanced to the side. “Yeah.”

“Yes, you’re going in, or yes, you’re brooding?”

“I’m a complex person. I can do both,” Derek said, aware of the sudden silence behind him. Sometimes he hated living in a house full of werewolves and their hearing.

“Uh-huh,” Stiles said.

Derek knew this was going to be bad. Talia hadn’t been rational about him for a long time, and he doubted she had gotten better. But he needed to do it; he couldn’t direct Talia’s anger toward his family.

He sighed and opened the door, feeling a hand squeeze his shoulder. He smiled at Stiles and went down, pulling the door closed behind him, wishing the entire cellar was soundproof, so no one else would hear the conversation.

Talia sat against the bed on the far wall, an empty tray next to her. She looked old like someone had sucked the life out of her. Derek wondered if her willingness to let Deaton perform the spell had pulled more out of her because she hadn’t fought it.

He sat down in front of the cage, doing his best to look as nonthreatening as possible. Derek flashed back to his first moon as an Alpha and how Peter had been the only one to come and talk to him when everyone else had been out running around.

“Here to gloat?” Talia asked, glaring at him with enough hate Derek almost flinched.

“What’s there to gloat about?”

Talia scoffed. “You win. They all hate me. I can feel it through the bond.”

Derek rubbed a hand over his face. “In what world is that winning?”

Talia snarled and looked away, not bothering to reply.

“Remember what you told me as a kid?” Derek asked, bracing his elbows on his knees. “We can’t control the actions of others, nor can we change how they see us, all we do is try our best to be the best people we can be, and when we fucked up, we take responsibility, and we never blame others. Remember that?”

Derek waited a moment, but Talia didn’t reply. She kept staring at the far wall, not giving Derek any indication she heard him. He sighed. “You chose to believe a man who wanted power for himself. You chose to use your pack and your allies to try and take my soul from my body in some bid to make me someone I’m not. You made those choices, not me.”

“I did it to protect my pack!” Talia snapped, jerking forward with a snarl, her face morphing and fangs growing.

“You chose to put your pack in a lot of pain for something that didn’t bother me,” Derek said, keeping his voice even by the skin of his teeth. “That’s what you need to understand. They were screaming, and I felt nothing. There wasn’t some dark entity on my soul. There wasn’t anything trying to claw its way out. This is who I am. I don’t know why you’re having a hard time getting that. I’m sorry I’m not who you wanted me to be.”

“You are a monster,” Talia hissed. “I should’ve let that hunter kill you.”

Derek had been expecting her to say hurtful things, but expecting it and living it was different. He closed his eyes, not caring about the weakness it might show. Despite what he had told everyone, it still hurt.

“I am not the one who was willing to sacrifice my children to an insane man,” Derek said, opening his eyes and meeting Talia’s face. “You hate me, fine. But my sisters? Do you think they deserved that? What if Vanessa had been there? You think potentially killing Peter’s unborn child would’ve made you a good Alpha somehow? Grace is sixteen years old, and you tried to murder her.”

Talia reared back as if slapped before she crossed the room, slamming against the bars and hissing at him. “I was trying to protect them. If Stiles hadn’t butted in, you would be who you are supposed to be.”

“Who am I supposed to be?”

Talia stared at him as if he was stupid. “My son.”

Derek spread his arms to the side. “How is that different?”

“My son is no murderer!” Talia roared, the sound echoing around the room. “My son would not murder an Alpha; he would not murder a hunter! He was kind! And you are not kind!”

Derek dropped his arms. “Ennis bit Paige without permission, in a school. That’s not an accident. That’s intent. Kate Argent was going to burn our family alive as she had done to so many others. You want to know how she gets in? She finds the weakest member, the one who is borderline omega, and then she weasels her way in. And guess who she wanted to talk to.”

Talia was glaring at him, but Derek couldn’t stop, not now, not when he had years of pent-up frustration to get out.

“She wanted to talk to me. I was fifteen years old, and she was praying on me because she was sick and sadistic. And I am so lucky that I had the Crones to watch out for me because they knew something was wrong and protected me. So yeah, I killed her. And I killed Ennis,” he said, standing with a shake of his head. “And if I went back in time, I’d do it again and again. And it’s not about me being kind or not being kind. It’s about seeing the world for what it is. The hunters think we’re the monsters in the dark, but at least they don’t shove their heads in the sand and pretend the bad things don’t exist.”

Talia’s face was made of stone now.

Derek sighed. “You can lie to yourself all you want, but you tried to kill your family because you couldn’t handle the idea that your world isn’t perfect. You bit someone without their permission because he got in the way, and now, we have to deal with the rest of the Argents in town, ready and waiting for one of us to fuck up.”

“I didn’t mean to bite Scott. He got in the way,” Talia snapped, showing the first bit of regret that Derek had seen all evening. “He should know better.”

Derek scoffed. “Scott was doing what you always told us growing up. He was protecting his family. Just like Stiles, just like me and everyone else. The only person here who wasn’t is you.”

Talia roared, charging forward, a hand stretched out only to be rebuffed by the mountain ash around the cell. She roared again, her face changing into something ugly that reminded Derek of Peter when he had been burned and crazy. He turned and left, unable to handle the memories it brought up.

He opened the cellar door and stopped, staring at his family. He turned his head towards where James was standing next to Peter, shoulders pressed together with Sarah behind them, the three of them looking like they could’ve been statues.

“You need to make a choice,” Derek said before he pushed through them and made his way outside.

“Let’s go,” Kapono said, grabbing his shirt and dragging him to the car.

Derek stumbled but didn’t fight, even as Kapono shoved him into the backseat to be sandwiched by Sai and Kapono with Julia driving. The passenger door opened, and Stiles slid in, collapsing against the seat with a huff. Derek could hear people arguing, but he ignored it as he bent over, gripping the back of his head and trying to ignore the dark pit that welled up inside of him.

All he could hear was his Mom wishing him dead, stuck in his head on repeat. He could feel the darkness creeping up his throat, the slick feeling he still felt when he felt low. Sometimes he wondered if he had let the darkness that infected Paige take him over and pull him down into the dark, the world would be better.

“No one can hear you,” Stiles murmured, sounding exhausted. “Promise.”

He felt arms wrap around him, and he collapsed to the side as he inhaled before he began to sob, letting out all the pain and fear he had felt since he had gotten back to Beacon Hills. He didn’t care who heard him; he trusted everyone in the car.

---

“He’s sleeping.”

Stiles looked up as Sai walked down the stairs of Stiles’ Dad’s house, rubbing a hand over his face.

“Kap and Julia are gonna stay with him for the moment,” Sai said, dropping onto the couch and looking at Stiles. “Here’s a question for you.”

Stiles nodded. “Sure, what?”

“Was he always like that?” Sai asked, pointing up at the ceiling.

“Like what?”

“Like he would always throw himself in the path of danger to help someone he loved even if it meant he would get destroyed in the process?” Sai asked softly, his face lined with worry.

Stiles thought about all the times Derek had shown up to save them, without thanks, with Scott yelling at him as if Derek was the sole reason for all of his problems. He thought about how many times people had taken Derek Hale and stomped him to the ground, only for him to get back up and keep trying.

“Yeah,” Stiles said, shaking his head. “As long as I’ve known him, he’s been like that. It’s one of those things where you admire him for it, but it’s also a deep, deep, character flaw.”

Sai nodded. “I love the man, I really do. I was in love with him for a few years before we fell apart, but sometimes I just want to shake some sense into him. I get that his family means a lot to him, but it’s their problem. They let the issues with Talia fester until they came to a head, and now every one of them is looking at Derek to solve the problem because they don’t want to.”

“I think your problem is you’re looking at it as a single lifetime,” Stiles said softly, praying no one was around to overhear. Keeping the silencing ward up on a moving car had been more exhausting than he realized, but it had been worth it to give Derek a little moment of peace.

“What do you mean?”

“You all, you’ve had one life and one set of problems. But Derek and I come from a world that was broken in ways you’ll never understand. And Derek got out early, so he was lucky he didn’t see cities devoid of life and fields burning. He lost everything, and now he’s back in a world where everyone is here? And they’re alive, and they’re so much better,” Stiles said, thinking of Scott’s easy acceptance that hunters were bad and how Peter was excited for his first kid. “I lost my Mom when I was a kid, and it was just my Dad and me, and then he died, and now that I’m back here and I see how happy everyone is? How good everything is?”

Stiles trailed off and shook his head, trying to compare the two and finding himself unable to. It wasn’t apples and oranges; it was apples and rocket fuel.

“I’d do whatever I could to keep as much of it peaceful as I could as well, and if I had to let myself get broken and hurt to make sure it happened? I’d do it in a heartbeat,” he said, pressing a hand over his chest and the pain that still lingered.

“That’s not healthy,” Sai said softly. “You need to look after yourselves first.”

Stiles laughed. “I understand what you’re saying, but it’s the epitome of easier said than done. I would love to put myself first. Throw my legs up with a pizza and play video games, but my family is in danger, and I need to look out for them.”

Sai sighed. “I’m not saying you don’t look out for them. I get that. The sisters are my family, and I’d do whatever I could to keep Lost Cove safe, but the best way for me to help them is for me to be the best I can be, which means I need to make sure at the end of the day I can still stand on my own two feet and don’t let the world weigh me down.”

“You don’t think we can?”

Sai shrugged. “I don’t know about you, but sometimes I think Derek’s taken the whole world on his shoulders, and he’s struggling under the weight.”

“Perhaps,” Stiles said, tapping his fingers against his knees. “But he learned in my world that he only had himself. The Derek I knew wouldn’t keep his calm after what his mom said to him. He wouldn’t have leaned against you three to support him when he needed it. He would’ve slunk away to nurse his wounds by himself because the world has not been kind to him. So, you might see it as him crumbling under the weight, but I see a man who has been buried by the world more than once, and he’s dug himself back to the surface, but in this world, he’s not digging alone.”

Sai was silent for a long time, staring at Stiles before rubbing a hand over his face. “Oh hell,” he muttered, leaning forward and bracing his elbows on his knees and cupping the back of his head. “I think you’re right.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Stiles replied, smirking when Sai glared at him. “But seriously, I know what place Derek came from. You might all know him now, but I knew him then, and trust me, he is a lot better. And it also means I understand where it’s coming from. Have you ever lost someone?”

Sai shook his head. “My Nonna, but she was ninety-six when she passed, so I miss her, but you know. Ninety-six.”

Stiles nodded. “Yeah, and this isn’t a ‘your pain is less than mine’ sort of bullshit, but I don’t think you can understand where Derek and I are coming from. So if we get a little broken and bruised keeping the people we love safe and happy, then I don’t mind. Derek’s not going to change. Those scars won’t heal. That’s part of who he is, and maybe he was always that person, but we’ll never know. But you guys need to stop worrying about stopping him from doing what he is gonna do and focus on making sure he knows you’ve got his back, no matter what.”

“You keep saying you guys as if you’re not a member of this pack,” Sai observed after a moment of silence. “But you are. We can all feel you.”

“Creepy phrasing, but I’ll allow it,” Stiles muttered before shaking his head. “Beacon Hill’s is my home. I don’t know about this Stiles, but I’m not leaving. I’ve seen the world, and I don’t want to see it anymore. I like this town, and I’m not leaving my Dad. I know I’m pack now, but I’m not going to Lost Cove with you.”

Sai looked shocked. “Really?”

“Yeah, my home is here. And I’m sorry if I gave the impression that I would go with you, but I can’t. Not when I’ve got my Dad back finally,” he said softly.

Sai sighed. “Does Derek know that?”

“Yes.”

Stiles turned as Derek leaned against the doorway, looking like he had the first time they had met when Derek had been worn thin from the loss of Laura and trying to deal with everything going on. “You look like shit,” he observed.

Derek chuckled, walking over to lean on the back of the sofa. “I feel like it.”

Sai frowned at Derek. “You’re supposed to be sleeping. You were asleep.”

“I was, and then I woke up,” Derek said, glancing between them. “But Stiles is right. I know he’s not coming back to Lost Cove. Sai…” Derek trailed off and sighed, resting a hand on Sai’s shoulder. “If my Mom hadn’t kicked me out, I would never have left Beacon Hills. Paige would still be my beta, and maybe one or two others. But I would’ve stayed here.”

Sai sighed. “I…I understand that. But I imagine that you would’ve found us eventually, the Goddess brought you back for a reason, and I believe part of that reason was to turn the Lost Cove werewolves into a pack.”

Derek shrugged. “Maybe, but we’ll never know. What happened is a moot point now, but Stiles is staying here like he should.”

Stiles reached out and patted Derek’s shoulder. “I’ll find you a good emissary, don’t worry. One a little more organized.”

Derek nodded, looking sadder than Stiles had expected. “Speaking of organization, I noticed a map on your wall with a bunch of thumbtacks?”

Stiles nodded and pushed himself up. “I remember what you said about Kate Argent and the packs she’s destroyed, so I started looking into it. I think there might be a pattern, but I’m not sure. Come on.”

Stiles made his way to his room, seeing that Kapono and Julia were awake and staring at the map on the wall. “Right, so I put a tack into every pack that…disappeared under odd circumstances that I could find. There might be more, but these were the big family annihilations. Not just, the family dies off because no one had kids sort of thing.”

“Wolf packs don’t die off,” Derek and Julia said immediately.

“Well, that’s handy,” Stiles said slowly. “I’ll keep that in mind. But, my point is. All of these are those events.”

“That’s…more than I realized,” Derek said, stopping next to Stiles and reaching out and pressing his thumb against one of the tacks in Oregon. “How do you know these are all wolf packs.”

“Eh, you know what to look for after a while, couple ancestry dot com deep dives, and you start making the connections,” Stiles explained, waving a hand. “But all of these are so-called accidents, but I don’t know if they are packs because I don’t know all the packs. But I have a list of names if you want to look them over?”

Stiles glanced at Derek, who nodded. “Yeah, and I can call Nat and ask. She’s another born wolf, and her pack is one of the ones wiped out.”

Stiles grimaced. “I’m hoping this is all of them. Some of the packs were smaller. Is there a size requirement?”

Derek shook his head. “I only had Paige for two years, and I was fine. It just depends on the Alpha and their control.”

“And you’ve always had good control,” Stiles murmured, remembering all the times Derek could’ve lost it, and he didn’t.

“I learned the control before my older sisters did,” Derek said with a grin. “They were annoyed with me, but control is the one thing I’ve always been good at.”

“You’re good at a lot more than that,” Stiles said absently, staring at the map and wishing he could find a connection between them. “You’re loyal, honest, and one of the best people I know. Even when the lines are drawn in the sand, I know you’ll stand on the right side because you’re a bleeding heart.”

Silence followed, and Stiles turned, seeing that Derek was blushing, and he found himself oddly charmed by it. “I’m just speaking the truth,” he said, ignoring the urge to reach out and see how warm Derek’s cheeks were right then.

“It’s nice…that’s all,” Derek said, shaking his head.

“Lines in the sand.” Sai stepped closer to the map. “Do you have any string by chance?”

“Yeah, what color do you want?” Stiles asked, grabbing the little craft box and opening it up to reveal an array of colored string. “This wasn’t mine…well, it was technically, but I didn’t buy it.”

“You would still buy it,” Derek muttered, grabbing one of the balls of white string and handing it to Sai, who began to hook it over thumbtacks.

Stiles stepped forward, watching as Sai worked, seeing a pattern quickly enough, but he didn’t know why Sai was doing it that way. “What are you doing?”

“Years ago, Celia was working on mapping the Ley lines in the US, and I kept running into her when she was working on it, so I started helping her,” Sai explained as he finished with the white and grabbed another color, and began to hook more string around a different line of packs. “I remember them because it was fascinating. Do you have black?”

Stiles grabbed the ball and handed it to Sai, who began to overlay it, connecting each pack easily. “See, the black is the US ley lines. As society moves and changes, they shift, but a few key ones won’t ever move.”

Sai finished and stepped back, and Stiles looked at the array of colors and noticed a pattern. “Each of the packs that Argent killed near a ley line,” he said, reaching out to trace the black line. “Why the yellow and the white?”

Sai reached out and ran fingers across the white crossing the Eastern United States. “What do you know about nemetons?”

“I know the one in Beacon Hills was sick for a long time,” Stiles said. “And that they’re places of great power.”

“I remember Alice telling me about them,” Derek interrupted before Sai could speak. “The US has multiple, but there are the two major sites that anchor each coast. Beacon Hills and Lost Cove.”

Sai nodded. “Correct, now not all ley lines intersect with those two places, but Lost Cove is also the site of an intersection of two ley lines, so it’s the anchor for the entire North American continent.”

“And the dual Nemeton is why we have Lost Cover,” Derek nodded. “So, how does that fit.”

Sai tapped the map. “Beacon hills has the oldest nemeton on the continent, so while Lost Cove may anchor the magic, Beacon Hills helps keep the balance between the coasts. And it can do that because your family lives here. Without the Hales, the Beacon Hill Nemeton wouldn’t be able to anchor. Magic ain’t controlled, but we can channel it. That’s what the ley lines do. They channel the magic, so it doesn’t build up and overflow.”

Derek stepped forward, his eyes wide. “The packs.”

Stiles frowned. “What about them?”

“Wolves are the only supernatural creature that forms packs naturally. You can build one with magic, but that takes time and energy when it’s as natural as breathing to us. And magic moves along those bonds,” Derek explained, staring at Stiles. “The werewolf packs are the ones that help anchor the ley lines in place, and in return, there’s a little bit of magic in those areas that, in theory, should help keep the packs safe. You have to have noticed that supernatural creatures flock to Beacon Hills.”

“I noticed,” Stiles said as everything clicked into place, and he stared at the map with the dead packs littered along the lines. “And so, if the packs don’t anchor them, their magic keeps flowing and building up?”

Derek nodded, reaching out and tapping Beacon Hills and a spot on the East Coast. “All the magic is funneling to these two places, building and growing.”

“What happens when it overflows?”

Sai shook his head. “Destruction, magic build-up can be dangerous. I’ve never seen it happen, but the sisters know of some stories. The backlash can come in many forms, war, famine, pestilence, death.”

“The four horsemen of the apocalypse?” Stiles asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sai shrugged. “Just because the church rebranded it doesn’t make it less true.”

“Point,” Stiles said, rubbing a hand over his face. “So, the hunters are killing all the packs on the ley lines, which begs the question. Why?”

“Because when magic destabilizes, the world goes to shit, and they’re in their element,” Derek whispered, his eyes wide. “Back…in the other time. They killed my whole family, and I had the spark, but when I gave it up to save Cora, the world went to shit. There were no Hales to help anchor Beacon Hills, so the nemeton died, and the magic had nowhere to go. And I’m willing to bet that many of these packs were dead as well, even if we didn’t know it.”

Stiles sighed. “Shit. So that explains why the fucking Argents are here now. Wipe out the Hales, then storm Lost Cove?”

“Can’t. It’s under wards,” Derek said.

“That the sisters won’t be able to maintain if they gotta focus on keeping the magic from ripping the world apart,” Sai breathed, his eyes going wide. “That’s what the threefold line is for. To keep the balance. And if they’re dead, the hunters have free-range.”

“The Hales are just a step to getting the sisters,” Kapono said, his eyes flashing yellow. “Over my dead body.”

“We have to warn them,” Julia said, her teeth bared in a snarl.

“And we have to deal with the Argents, for good. We can’t lose any more packs,” Derek said, looking back at the map. “I’ll start calling packs and having them keep an eye out. I don’t know when the point of no return is, but it’s already affecting the Goddess, so we have to move fast.”

Part 5

July 12th, 2014

“No dice.”

Derek closed his eyes and sighed, dropping his head against the couch as Kapono hung up. It had been a week since they had figured out what the Argents were doing, and there had been no sign of them. Everything was hanging in the balance, and Derek didn’t know which way the scale would tip.

The only upside to everything was that Talia seemed to come around to the idea that her pack didn’t trust her, and now there was talk of Laura taking over. Last he had heard, Peter and Laura had been holed up in the library trying to figure out what to do.

Or so Cora had told him. Derek had been camping out at the Stilinski household with his pack and whoever else swung by. Most days, at least one sister was there, and Stiles and his Dad were there every night. Scott was usually around when Stiles and Cora were around, and even Boyd and Isaac had swung by once to play video games with Stiles.

“I take it he couldn’t find anything?”

Derek lifted his head to see Stiles rubbing a hand over his face. “No, they’re at none of the hotels. As far as we know, no one’s harboring them, and their scent has disappeared.”

Stiles sighed, collapsing on the couch next to Derek. “So, they’ve got to have some witch or druid with them?”

“I’d assume so,” Derek said, looking at Stiles. “We know it’s not Deaton. His body is completely buried now. No one’s getting him out.”

“They’re such fucking hypocrites,” Stiles muttered, frowning. “If you’re going to be a bigoted asshole, at least respect your own beliefs enough not to work with supernatural creatures.”

“And it’s not like we can track down who they’re working with. Any supernatural creature who’s working with the hunters is doing it for money, nothing else,” Derek said. “I’ve come across a few witches and druids like that.”

Stiles turned his head, honey-brown eyes staring at Derek intently. “How many have you come across?”

“A lot more since I started policing the Supernatural world,” Derek explained.

“How did you get into that?”

Stiles turned, drawing a knee up onto the couch and staring intently at Derek. “I mean, I sort of know what you told me. But how did that happen?”

Derek sighed, thinking back to the early years. “Sai’s the town Sherriff, and I was shadowing him to start to help. Everyone works in Lost Cove, and I was trying to find my place and settle as an Alpha. We were also newly dating, so we saw each other a lot.”

Derek sighed. “Honestly, the conversation started a few days after I did the ghost walk and the conversation just kept blossoming. The problem with hunters is the bigotry. They’re in it because they hate us, and they’ll destroy whole packs in the name of keeping the peace when taking care of one problem would solve all the issues. So, we started listening, and as we heard of issues, we’d show up and deal with them.”

Derek paused, chewing the inside of his cheek as he thought back to the first time he had arrived at a pack’s house and explained what he was there for. How nervous he was and the grateful looks on the beta’s face. “The problem with shit Alphas is that they’re still Alphas, and they’re strong. But I’m just as strong, and I have a little more…experience than most do with fighting other Alphas. So, I can subdue them long enough that the chosen beta…deals with the problem. And by the time the hunters figure it out, the problems gone, and they can’t find any proof. And over time, people began to figure out what I was doing, so they’d reach out for me by name, for a whole host of different issues.”

“Like what?” Stiles asked, eyes bright with interest.

“Anything, I’ve witnessed pack alliances, helped settle old feuds. All sorts of things that needed an arbitrator that can understand werewolf packs,” Derek explained. “I even did a bonding one time. It was very romantic, even if it was a pair of college students who had been together since they were kids.”

“Gross,” Stiles muttered, shaking his head. “It makes sense what you’re doing, but I don’t understand why you’re the first.”

“Because of how I became an Alpha,” Derek explained. “Most Alphas come into power because they already have a territory. I didn’t. I got lucky finding Lost Cove. And even though they needed me for a lot of the stuff, the magic in Lost Cove helps keep the werewolves stable. They weren’t feral omegas; they just didn’t have a pack. And because of that, I know I can leave and not worry about them. I’m not the anchor for that territory.”

Stiles frowned but nodded. “That makes sense. You’re not tied to the land, so you can move freely.”

Derek nodded. “Betas can move, but Alphas need to stay. They can travel, but never for a long time. It’s why my Aunt wants to pass it to my cousin, so she can travel with my Uncle.”

“Well, I’m glad that you’re doing that,” Stiles said after a moment. “It sounds like the world needed something.”

Derek sighed. “I know.”

“You don’t sound super thrilled.”

“I am,” Derek replied quickly. “I’m worried about what’s going to happen here. I don’t mind my sisters coming and being in my pack, but it’s not the world they come from. We have people coming and going all the time, not just within the pack. But more of my pack goes out when I’m not needed. A witness doesn’t need to be an Alpha, so Nat or Kapono can do that easily. And Julia and another one of my betas, Sean, are also going out more. No one in my pack is related. They’re all omegas that managed to find Lost Cove before the Hunters got them. It’s a very different environment.”

“And you don’t think they’ll fit.”

Derek shook his head. “No, I really don’t. I…come on. You know what happened. I’m in a very different position.”

“Yeah,” Stiles said, shaking his head. “What happens when you go? Will the sisters take over for Emissary?”

Derek nodded, trying to ignore the pang of sadness he felt at the thought of Stiles being across the country. “Yeah, I know I need to find one other than them because I can’t be their priority, but what we’re doing is unique, and any Emissary I have will need to know about my circumstances. So, trusting them with that is hard.”

Stiles grimaced. “Man, I don’t even know how you do it. It’s bad enough with everyone around, but how do you keep it straight?”

Derek snorted. “Be thankful you didn’t go through puberty a second time. I was a fucking wreck when I first arrived. Because I was dealing with hormones and everything that had happened.”

Stiles made a gagging noise. “Oh no, fuck that. I’m good now, thank you.”

Derek laughed. “Yeah, it wasn’t fun. I forgot how small I was.”

Stiles stretched his arms around in front of him and shrugged. “I think I’m the same size.”

“I was pretty short until I got a growth spurt at around eighteen,” Derek explained. “Jenna used to pick me up and call me her fun size Derek.”

Stiles stared at him for a long moment before shaking his head. “So, I know you’re all werewolves and strong and stuff, but she is so tiny, and just the thought of her picking anything up is a bit confusing.”

“Jenna’s the strongest of us,” Derek explained. “She always was. She can give me a run for my money even now. Cora’s got the best sight; Grace can hear further than anyone, and Laura is the fastest.”

“And you?”

Derek shrugged. “I’m just me.”

Stiles shook his head. “Nah, you’re the heart, dude,” he said, clapping Derek on the shoulder and standing up. “It’s easy to see.”

Derek shook his head. “No.”

Stiles sighed and planted his hands on his hips. “You sisters look at you like you’ve got all the answers, and the fact that you don’t think that’s weird tells me that you’ve always been that person. And I get it, I do. We can always count on you to do the right thing no matter what. You’re a good Alpha, a good friend, and a good brother because of it.”

“I’ve made mistakes!”

“Welcome to being alive!” Stiles snapped, throwing his arms out to the side. “Everyone makes mistakes, but owning up to them is hard because it forces us to see the ugly we all carry inside. And then doing better? That’s even harder because that means changing parts of ourselves. But you do it, and you make it look easy. It’s like you decided you were a bad alpha, so you do everything you can to be the best.”

Derek felt his cheeks growing hot, and he had to look away from Stiles, unable to handle the earnest expression. He had been told he was a good Alpha before, but it was better coming from Stiles, who had seen him at his worst. “It’s not easy. It’s…” he trailed off, tilting his head to the side at the sound of someone coming up the steps. “Someone’s here.”

Stiles glared at the door, stomping over as the person knocked. “Someone with bad timing.”

“Why?” Derek asked, standing up to go and lean in the doorway.

“Because we were having a moment,” Stiles said, yanking open the door, his mouth dropping open in shock.

Derek was instantly on edge, and he was across the room before he realized, freezing when he spotted Chris Argent there. He looked older, with a scar across his face that looked too clean to be a hunting accident. Derek stepped forward, deftly moving a stunned Stiles behind him.

“What?” Derek demanded, flashing his eyes at Chris.

The man glanced behind him before looking back at Derek. “Can we speak inside? Out of view?”

Derek wanted to say no, but a hand on his lower back had him nod. He turned slightly, letting Argent slip past him, and did his best to keep Stiles behind him.

“What do you want, Argent?” Derek demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.

Chris ran a hand over his face. “My family is destroying packs to take down the ley lines.”

Derek blinked in surprise at the blunt statement. Of all the things he had expected Chris to tell him, that was the last one.

“We know,” Stiles said, speaking while Derek was still trying to make sense of it. “We figured it out. We just don’t know where they’re staying or why they think it’s a good idea.”

Chris sighed and shoved his hands into his pockets. “I don’t know why they’re doing it. I really don’t. All it’s doing is creating instability. Even I can see that. And I don’t know where they’re staying. I’m not exactly on speaking terms with the rest of them right now,” he explained, running fingers along the scar on his face.

“What happened?” Derek asked.

“And why are you telling us all this?”

Chris looked around the room before focusing on Derek. “Three months ago, my daughter was bitten by the Alpha of the pack my ex-wife killed. She didn’t realize that the Alpha wasn’t there, and when he lost his pack, he went feral.”

Derek sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “What happened to her?”

“I got her out before Victoria could convince her to kill herself as is the family way,” Chris said, shaking his head. “Which is why I’m telling you this. She’s losing control, going feral, and I don’t want to put my daughter down, but I can’t take her to most packs because of our history.”

“You want her to be in my pack,” Derek said, finally understanding what the man wanted.

Chris nodded. “I’ve heard about you, what you’re doing, and I don’t disagree. I’ve also heard about your pack, but I don’t know where you’re based.”

“Where is she now?” Stiles asked, his eyes glancing towards the door.

“Somewhere safe, a vault that we can use to keep…people…out of harm’s way,” Chris said grimly, eyes darting to Derek.

“First National Bank?” Derek asked, smirking when Chris looked at him in shock. “I’m more well informed than people realize.”

“Apparently,” Chris murmured. “I’m running out of options here, and I’ll do anything to keep her safe.”

Derek looked at Chris and saw how badly the man wanted to keep his daughter safe. He nodded his head. “With some caveats,” he said. “My second was part of the Woods Pack.”

Chris sighed. “Right. My daughter was just a kid then. It was mostly my sister who did all of those.”

Derek nodded. “I know. We met once or twice.”

Chris’s eyes narrowed. “I know. She got killed, neck snapped.”

“Humans are very violent,” Derek said, keeping his voice blank. “As for Allison, what does she think about all of this? If she was hunting with your wife, then she’s got a bias, And I’m not going to put my pack in harm’s way.”

Chris’s eyes narrowed. “Very well informed if you know her name.”

Derek shrugged one shoulder. “You get kidnapped by a family once, and shockingly, you investigate them. But the point stands, how does your daughter feel about it?”

Chris was silent for a long time, and Derek was content to wait it out. He knew Chris was no match for everyone in the house,

Finally, Chris sighed. “She’s adjusting. She was a sweet kid, but I had to travel for work, and she spent a lot of time with Victoria and Gerard. I like to think that she’s still got some of that sweetness. She didn’t argue about not killing herself, about leaving, and she’s not fighting me now. She wants to live.”

“Can she live surrounded by the people she once hunted?” Derek demanded. “Can she look at us and not want to kill us in our sleep? There’re kids in my pack, old wolves who deserve a peaceful end to a hard life. I’m not going to risk them for a hunter if she can’t adapt.”

Chris’s shrugged one shoulder, his mouth turned down. “I don’t know.”

Derek nodded. “You need to ask her, and you need to lay out the facts. She is a werewolf now, and she either accepts that, or she will get put down the way your family has put down wolves for a long time.”

“We’re just trying to keep—”

“—Do not throw that keep the peace bullshit at me. I keep the peace. What I do keeps the peace. You and yours are destroying the world because you’re so bigoted you’d rather watch the world burn than make peace with people who have done nothing to harm you.”

“There are bad—

“—humans as well!” Derek snapped. “Do you want me to give you a list of humans that have caused more damage than one feral wolf has? Because I can think of hundreds off the top of my head.”

Chris’s face was bright red with anger, his eyes blazing, but he nodded his head. “Fair,” he ground out, teeth clenched. “I’ll talk to Allison.”

Derek nodded. “I’m not bitten, I’ll never understand what she’s going through, but I can ask a few of my pack if they’re willing to talk to her to see if it helps. I’m willing to take her in as a trial, but I cannot allow her into my pack if she causes trouble.”

Chris’s eyes slid shut again, and all of the fight went out of him. The man looked old, worn out, and at the end of his rope. “I know. I’ll talk to her. The numbers will be helpful,” he muttered, rubbing a hand over his face. “We’re always told it’s a possibility that we could get bitten, but it’s doesn’t happen often, and usually they take their own lives.”

Derek nodded, not sure what else he could say at this point. It was up to Chris and Allison, and Derek didn’t put much faith in either of them, not when he didn’t know who they were. “This isn’t a guarantee, by the way, if she does all of this. I won’t bring her in if the others don’t agree,” he said carefully.

Chris nodded, his face looking drawn. “You’re not saying no right now. That’s a good enough start for me. I’ll talk to her, hopefully, she’ll listen.”

Chris turned to leave before he stopped and turned back to look at Derek. “I don’t know their names, but Gerard has a druid and someone else helping him. I don’t know anything more than that. They never fully let me in on the plans, and we’ve been hiding ever since Allison was bitten, so I know even less now.”

“Thank you,” Derek said sincerely.

Chris nodded once more, and then he was gone, the door closing behind him, leaving the house dead quiet.

“Well, fuck,” Stiles said finally.

Derek scrubbed both hands over his face and nodded his head. “That about sums it up,” he said, facing Stiles. “Thoughts?”

Stiles shrugged. “Up to you, dude. I know what they can be like, but it doesn’t mean they are like that. Allison especially. That would be hard, regardless of what universe they’re in.”

Derek nodded and locked the front door before walking over to the couch and collapsing. “He loves his daughter,” he said softly, pressing a hand over his face, feeling Stiles sit next to him. “An Argent hunter’s daughter was bitten, and he’s doing everything he can to keep her safe, and I became an Alpha, and my mother tried to rip my soul out.”

He let out a bark of bitter laughter, hating Talia just a little more right then for not being who he wanted her to be. “Where’s the fucking logic in that?”

Derek felt a hand on his arm a second before Stiles wrapped him up in a tight hug. Derek turned, resting his forehead against Stiles, doing his best not to shift and run into the woods to try and burn out the sadness he could feel welling. He didn’t get bad days often, but he could feel one looming on the horizon, as a dark cloud slowly began to sink over him.

“It’s not fair,” he whispered.

“No, it’s not,” Stiles replied, hugging Derek tighter. “And I wish I could make it better.”

“I know it’s not going to change, but it’s just…shit. It’s just shit.”

Stiles kept quiet, thankfully. He didn’t know if he could take the platitudes or words of comfort right then. Because everything felt like it would fall flat in the face of a hunter caring more for his werewolf daughter than Talia cared about him, he closed his eyes and breathed, accepting the comfort for what it was.

His phone ringing broke the moment, and Derek dug his phone out, smiling when he saw Grace’s name. “What’s up, squirt?” he asked, trying to hide the sadness in his voice.

“Derek?”

Grace’s voice was small, and Derek could make out yelling in the background, but he didn’t know who. “Grace, what’s wrong?” he asked, already making his way to the door.

“Mom and Laura are yelling, and it’s not good. Please come home,” she said before she started to cry.

“I’ll be right there,” Derek said, trying to find his keys.

“Hurry,” she whispered as the yelling got louder as it got closer, and then the phone went silent.

“Fuck, fuck fuck,” Derek snapped, feeling frantic.

“What’s wrong?” Stiles asked, stepping in front of Derek and reaching out with both hands in a calming gesture. “Slow down and tell me, big guy.”

“Grace called, Laura and Talia are fighting, and it doesn’t sound good,” Derek said, brushing past Stiles to grab his shoes and pull them on. “I need to get there. Make sure everyone is safe.”

A jingling got his attention, and he turned, seeing Stiles already at the door with the keys on his finger. “Come on. I’ll drive.”

---

Derek was thankful for Stiles driving as they turned around the last bend, and he could finally hear the distant sound of people yelling. “Faster,” he said, trying to keep himself under control. Grace needed him; he didn’t know why but he didn’t want to freak her out by storming in there half-feral. “Fuck, I don’t know what’s happening.”

“You said Laura and Peter are trying to deal with a handover?” Stiles asked his voice calm despite how fast he was driving. “Shockingly, it probably went bad. And they probably wanted to keep you out of it because fuck knows Talia is a dumbass when it comes to you.”

Derek snorted at that. “She’s just trying to…”

Derek trailed off, words failing him. He didn’t know what she was trying to do.

“You’re a good person and a good Alpha. If she can’t see that, then she’s an idiot,” Stiles said, voice steady as he screeched to a halt. “Deep breath, and let’s go, Beacon Hills Cyclones.”

Derek rolled his eyes, but Stiles’ badly timed joke somehow settled him. “Call Kapono and the others. Let them know to meet me here.”

He waited for Stiles to nod before he was out of the car, and a second later, he had an armful of Grace, Cora right behind her. Derek hugged them both tightly. “What’s wrong?” he asked, keeping one arm around Grace, who was sobbing against his shoulder and instead looked at Cora, who shook her head.

“I don’t know. Mom and Laura have been fighting for hours,” Cora whispered.

Derek looked up as the door opened again to see Jenna race out of the house, her face a mask of terror. “Derek!” she said, grabbing his arm and dragging him. “They’re fighting, I don’t…we don’t know what happened. But Mom…she…she keeps trying to hurt Laura!”

There was a loud crash inside, and Derek shoved Grace at Laura and took off running, skidding into the family room in time to see Laura go flying. He could see people huddled around the edges of the room, James and Sarah standing in front of the younger kids, Peter was in front of Vanessa, half shifted and eyes darting around. He could see his Dad yelling, but the sound was lost as Talia’s roared and jumped at Laura, who had managed to get back onto her feet despite bleeding from cuts on her arms and a gash across her face.

Derek darted forward, getting between them just as Talia crashed into him, sending both of them rolling, but Derek was up fast. This wasn’t the first time he had fought an Alpha.

Talia rolled to her feet, her face shifted and twisted into a snarl full of hatred as she glared at him. “You,” she hissed. “You did this!”

She charged for Derek, a hand outstretched to swipe, but Derek ducked to the side, shoving her out of the way and sending her sprawling. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” he demanded, glancing over at Laura, who had slumped against the wall, eyes wide with fear.

Talia lunged at him, aiming for his throat and he grabbed her wrists, dropping to the ground and using her momentum against her to send her flying towards a wall.

“Everyone, out!” he roared, listening as people scrambled, the kids crying as James and Sarah towed them out. He could hear his Dad, but he couldn’t focus as Talia leapt for him again, managing to get a claw into his side, and he grunted at the pain of claws tearing flesh.

“Talia! What the fuck is wrong?” Derek demanded, grabbing her arm and twisting away from her, knowing he couldn’t get caught in her grip. Hale Alpha’s were always the strongest. “Fucking answer me, damn it!”

Talia roared, her eyes flashing a deep red that reminded Derek of Peter. The ugly red color of days-old blood and burnt flesh. “You destroyed this family!” she roared, her whole face and body twisting into something ugly, a shadow of the beautiful wolf she had once been. She was half shifted, her teeth long but her face human, her limbs distorted.

She looked like Peter had been burned and insane a lifetime ago.

Distantly, Derek was aware of the gasps of shock behind him, and he wished none of them could see this. “You’re hurting them,” Derek said, keeping his voice calm even as he stayed where he was, between his family and his Mom. “Can’t you see that? Can you smell that blood? It’s Laura’s. You don’t want to hurt your daughters, do you?”

“She was trying to steal what was mine!” Talia said, hissing as she crouched down, joints and limbs. “I am the Alpha!”

Derek spread his hands to the side, crouching as he tried to make himself seem less imposing and prepare himself for the battle he knew would come. Talia was insane, but he hadn’t been willing to admit it. Not when there was a chance that she could come back as Peter had.

“There is something wrong with her,” Richard said, appearing next to Derek, his face a mask of hurt and his hands spread wide. “Talia, honey. This isn’t you.”

Talia roared, taking a step towards Richard. “I am not crazy!”

Derek stepped to the side slightly, putting himself in front of Richard in case Talia went for him. “You’re not well,” Derek continued. “You’re sick. Something is wrong, something…someone did,” he said, stopping himself from saying Deaton’s name.

Instead of answering, Talia lunged for Richard, but Derek grabbed her arms and twisted them, so her momentum sent them flying past his Dad. Derek ended up on his back, hands wrapped around his throat like his first day back all over again. His breathing was cut off, and his vision was going spotty. But he wasn’t the scared kid anymore, he was an Alpha, and Derek knew how to fight. He knew his body better.

Distantly he could hear Kapono’s voice yelling at him, and he could feel the hope and warmth in his chest where the bond with his pack sat, and he grunted, grabbing Talia’s arms and pulling them away from his neck. He wasn’t alone anymore.

“I’m going to kill you, and then things will go back to normal. You’ll see, you’ll all see,” she hissed, straining against his grip.

Derek grunted, managing to keep her arms away from his neck with effort. He took a breath, glancing to the side when he heard footsteps, and shook his head when Jenna appeared, a hand outstretched. Talia turned her head, growling at Jenna, who stumbled back, eyes wide. He took the distraction to roll, twisting away from her and getting to his feet a second before she tackled him, claws digging into his sides.

Derek knew he was holding back. She was still his Mom, and the idea of hurting her was unfathomable. “Please stop this,” he grunted as she slammed him into the wall, the claws digging deeper.

“Stop, please,” he repeated, even as he got a grip on her hair and yanked her back, grunting as her claws ripped free and he could back away from her, hands outstretched. “Tal…Mom, please. Please don’t make me do this.”

He knew he was begging, but he could feel the cuts closing slow enough to feel blood trickle down his back. Talia roared, her bones cracking as she tried to shift again, but she became more deformed, her teeth jagged, like something out of a child’s nightmare.

“I am not your mother!” she roared, voice deeper and eyes wide with insanity. “You’re trying to destroy my family, and I won’t let you!”

Her voice got louder and louder, and she leaped, only for someone small to get in her way, tackling Talia away from him, the two bodies flying across the room with a crash and a thump. It took Derek a second to realize it had been Grace who had thrown herself between them, and then he was across the room, anger taking hold, and he grabbed Talia, picked her up, and threw her across the room with ease, ignoring the crash of a broken window as he turned to check on Grace.

She was bleeding from a cut on her face, but Derek was more worried about the expanding pool of blood on her stomach. “Fuck,” he whispered, pressing down on her stomach, making Grace whimper. Laura was next to him a second later, her hands pressing with his as Cora cradled Grace’s head.

“Hey, baby girl, it’ll be okay,” Laura said, shouldering Derek out of the way. He moved, letting her in, knowing she had more experience than he did.

“Look what you made me do!” Talia roared behind him.

Derek turned in time to see her leap, but he wasn’t holding back anymore as he darted in, grabbing her by the throat and slamming her to the ground, roaring when she tried to struggle against him. She managed to push up, and he let her for a second, grabbing her shoulder in a tight grip before slamming her back to the ground and roaring again, this time loud enough it silenced everything else around him.

“Stop!” he roared, letting his face shift and transform. Talia kept struggling, and Derek pressed down harder, pinning her in place with an ease he hadn’t expected. He saw the first flash of fear in her eyes. The only other emotion he had seen since that night at the clearing when she had tried to rip him in two.

“Don’t make me do this,” he tried one more time, but Talia just growled at him, the fear turning to hatred so strong he felt scalded by it.

He couldn’t do what she could. He couldn’t kill his family. But memories of working with Alice, talking about Alpha sparks and how he came to be an Alpha and what it might mean.

Talia might be the Hale Alpha, but the Goddess had chosen Derek. He had the power of winds rolling across the plains, of the ocean crashing against rocks, the ash from the fires that cleansed the world and the earth as it trembled with the power of the life it could birth. He roared again, and clarity hit even as Talia stopped struggling.

Derek waited for a second, wondering if she would back down this time but she surged suddenly, her shoulders coming off the ground at the same time as Grace whimpered. He slammed Talia back to the ground, turning and seeing Laura watching him with wide, tear-filled eyes; and she might be his older sister, but Derek had been alive a lot longer than she had. He knew what the look on her face meant.

Wolves couldn’t heal from the wounds their Alpha’s inflicted on them.

Derek turned back to Talia, feeling nothing but hatred for her as he closed his eyes for a second and tried to center himself. He could feel his pack and their worry, but it was small compared to the love and trust they were sending his way. He took a deep breath and opened his eyes, meeting Talia’s gaze with his own.

He slammed his hand into her chest, digging his claws around her heart, making her howl with rage and pain. Derek could feel Talia’s blood around his fingers and the beat of her heart against his palm as he closed his eyes. He ignored her as she struggled and reached for the warmth inside him, the tiny flickering flame that lived there. The place that Stiles had used to bind himself to this pack to give Derek enough time to save them, and he wouldn’t let Talia destroy his family.

“By the bones of the hills that birthed us, by the Alpha’s blood and oldest moon, by the water that runs and the fire that burns, by that which loves above the earth, not below – I bind you,” he spoke, feeling his voice deepen.

Derek’s skin felt like it was bursting, blistering open as the small flame surged deep in him as if the black veins he remembered crawling up his arms the night he pulled the darkness out of Paige burst alight like an oil slick in the night. Bright and sudden, an explosion of color that left his vision hazy as if the milky way had made a home right in his eyes.

“By the air that fills our lungs and by the mother and maw that births and devours us: I bind you.”

Derek felt the bond burn its way between them, dragging Talia Hale and the rest of her pack kicking and screaming under widespread wings of protection. Another pack to call his own, another pack to protect. He opened his eyes and stared straight at Talia, who had stopped struggling and watched him with fear in her eyes, her mouth open and body shaking.

Talia arched suddenly, black smoke beginning to pour out from under his hand, crawling up his arm and trying to worm its way in but Derek snarled, digging his fingers in deeper, feeling the bond flicker as the smoke crawled over his body and wrapped him in shadows, dragging him down into the darkness with her.

He growled, feeling the smoke clawing its way under his skin, burrow and dig until he could feel the hatred that had infected her deep in his bones, trying to drag him down. Derek could feel the exhaustion of too many years spent fighting, the pain of loss and the anger at his situation, the darkness fanning that pain even as he felt it crawl down his throat, choking off his air, feeling his connections dim until he was alone in the dark again.

Derek shook his head, focusing on his mother’s wide eyes, staring at him with fear and a pleading expression he hadn’t seen in a long time, as the bond forming between them lanced the darkness from his mother. A leech purifying the blood so it could no longer poison.

He was drowning. The smoke filled his lungs, and even as he fought, he could feel the cold, dark fog surrounding him, sinking into his bones, making him brittle. Surging for the small flame he had inside of him, the one he earned from death, the darkness drawn to it.

“No,” he growled out, feeling fifteen, twenty-two, and fifteen again. His world burned and broken and made anew all over again. He struggled, fighting against the cold that made him want to curl up and sleep until he could feel the warmth again, but he knew if he gave into it, he would never see the sun again.

A hand touched his shoulder, fingers digging in and warmth spreading from the touch, dragging him away from the cold grip of darkness. He could feel the flames racing along his skin, burning away the smoke.

“Stay with me.” A second hand on his shoulder before an arm wrapped around his chest, a cheek pressed against his own. “Stay with me, Derek.”

A familiar voice, one that had held him even as the water threatened to drown them, a voice that kept him sane as he fought to regain control of limbs that had been paralyzed by the consequence of his mistakes.

“You’ve got this,” Stiles said.

Derek could feel fire burning across his skin, chasing away the darkness as the bond took root, and he could feel his family. He could feel their confusion, pain, anger, and fear, but not at him. He could feel their trust in him, their love for him despite everything.

“I’ve got you.”

Derek threw his head back and howled; the sound dragged from deep within him as the flame raced through his bones and chased away the dark until all he could feel was family and his pack burning brightly inside of him, the flame growing until it consumed him.

Part 6

July 18th, 2014

Stiles stretched a leg out, staring at Derek’s sleeping form, wondering if the other man would ever wake up.

Not that Stiles would be surprised if he didn’t. The memory of Derek glowing brightly right before the smoke began to crawl out of Talia and consuming him would haunt Stiles for a long time. It reminded him of the nogitsune, but a quick check told Stiles it wasn’t. Derek had been right. It wasn’t bothering them, so they weren’t going to disturb it.

Stiles sighed, leaning forward and reaching out, feeling for Derek’s wrist and the pulse, careful of the IV Melissa had inserted, needing to remind himself that Derek was alive, despite the fact he hadn’t moved in a week.

He didn’t know how Derek had done what he had done. Werewolves weren’t supposed to be able to use magic, but Stiles had felt him form a bond the same way Stiles had, only Derek’s stayed when he had collapsed to the side, passed out and faintly glowing from the magic Stiles had pushed into him to keep him steady as he fought the black smoke.

Derek had formed a bond between himself and the Hale Pack. It had healed Grace, and whatever had been making Talia Hale crazy was gone, burned away by a fire that Derek had started, and Stiles had fanned.

“How is he?”

Stiles flinched, glad that his ribs were mostly healed as he turned to spot Richard Hale, looking decades older.

“Alive,” Stiles replied, looking back at Derek and wishing that the other man would wake up. Stiles wasn’t the only one who wanted him awake, all of them did, and he could feel the stress through the bonds as the Emissary. Kapono had told him most of Derek’s pack was debating flying out, just to make sure he was okay.

Stiles privately thought that with the Argents in town, that wouldn’t be a bad idea.

Richard appeared next to the bed, one hand reaching down to rest a hand on Derek’s forehead, his mouth pulled down in a deep frown that Stiles had seen on Derek often enough. “This shouldn’t have happened.”

Stiles agreed. But he wasn’t about to tell a grieving husband and father that. “Bad people do bad things to good people,” he said instead, watching Richard carefully. “How’s Talia?”

“Still locked up,” Richard replied. “Anytime one of us tries to open it, she just growls at us to keep it closed. She remembers everything she did, but she doesn’t have the hatred anymore, so all she has is regret.” Richard paused and looked at Stiles. “What happened to her?”

Stiles sighed. “Honestly? Deaton. I don’t know why he did it. I can only make a couple of assumptions, but I think he wanted Derek’s power from being a true Alpha, and this was the only way to get it.”

Richard nodded his head, looking back at Derek. “We trusted him, and he used that trust against us. He tore us apart, and we don’t know why.”

“Bad people do bad things to good people,” Stiles repeated. “And you know why. For power. It doesn’t need to be more complicated than that.”

Derek groaned, his head turning before his eyes shot open, and he sat up faster than Stiles had expected, dislodging Richard’s hand. He stared around the room, chest heaving. Stiles lurched forward, grabbing Derek’s shoulder.

“Grace is fine,” he said quickly, shaking Derek slightly, guessing why Derek was panicking. “Everyone is fine, and everyone is alive.”

Derek stared at Stiles for a long moment, eyes wide, before he collapsed back. “Fine?” he asked, voice hoarse from a week of disuse.

“Everyone’s fine,” Stiles repeated, moving to perch on the edge of Derek’s bed. “As soon as you formed the bond with Talia, Grace healed up. Good as new.”

“She shouldn’t have gotten between us,” Derek said, throwing an arm across his eyes. “It was dangerous.”

“Well, she’s related to you, so I’m guessing it’s genetic,” Stiles said, squeezing Derek’s shoulder.

Derek tensed suddenly, dropping his arm and turning to look at Richard. “Dad,” Derek said, his voice a lot more guarded.

Richard lurched forward, hauling Derek into a tight hug, hands clenching at Derek’s back. Stiles couldn’t imagine what Richard had been dealing with, his family splitting apart due to his wife.

Stiles went to pull back but stopped when Derek’s hand shot out and grabbed his own, holding tightly and staring at him with wide, confused eyes. Stiles settled back onto the bed, squeezing Derek’s hand back. “I think Deaton had been trying to pull that demon into the world for a long time,” he said softly. “And he had anchored it in Talia.”

Derek’s eyes widened. “What?”

“He used Talia as an anchor for the power because he wanted your spark,” Stiles explained. “And it corrupted her, and since Deaton’s focus was on you, the corruption used you as a focal point.”

Derek’s breathing sped up, his mouth dropping open. “What?”

Stiles sighed, squeezing Derek’s hand, not sure how Derek would take this. “Talia’s in the cages downstairs. She refuses to come out. She…as soon as you collapsed and the last of the black smoke disappeared, it was like a switch had flipped.”

Stiles paused, thinking of the wide-eyed panic and shame as Talia looked between Derek and Grace before she had crawled over to Derek, hands hovering and looking around at everyone as if they could explain anything. She had stared at them before she had lurched up and ran down to the basement, the clang of the cage closing and her sobs loud enough that even Stiles could hear them.

“She…fuck Derek. I don’t think she hated you. I think it was whatever Deaton had done to her,” Stiles got out in a rush. “He wanted your power, and she was in the way. And whatever you did, however, you did it, broke that. Deaton might be dead, but he wouldn’t be stupid enough to tie it into his lifeforce.”

Derek’s hand tightened around his, squeezing harder than Stiles would’ve liked, but he kept his face blank. He couldn’t imagine what Derek was going through right then.

“A spell,” Derek asked, staring intently at Stiles. “Something dark inside of her?”

Stiles shook his head once, hoping Derek understood it wasn’t the nogitsune. “I think it’s gone? But I didn’t even know it was there. This is so far out of my wheelhouse that it’s not even funny. Kapono called the sisters, but they’re busy dealing with something, and he wouldn’t tell me what it was so…”

Stiles trailed off and shrugged, looking over at Richard, who was watching the exchange quietly, one arm still wrapped around Derek’s shoulders.

“She doesn’t hate me?” Derek asked, voice breaking a little more as he turned to look at Richard, who shook his head.

“No, I…,” Richard stopped and inhaled deeply, his eyes closing. “We should be wary, but whatever had been happening seems to be gone.”

Derek stared wide-eyed at his Dad for another long moment before he was scrambling to stand, trying to get out of the mass of blanket and IV lines, ripping them out. Stiles stood up, hands reaching out to try and brace the other man.

“Derek, what?” Stiles asked, reaching for Derek, but the other man finally managed to get to his feet and twisted away from Stiles before he was off, running out of the room. Stiles followed, making it to the balcony in time to see Derek opening the door, and he was down the stairs to the cellar as the rest of the pack looked on in confusion.

“What’s happening?” Laura demanded, waiting for Stiles to get to the bottom of the stairs.

“Beats me,” Stiles said, even though he had some idea of what it might be. He didn’t stop as he walked to the cellar door and went down.

“—wasn’t you,” Derek said as Stiles made it to the bottom, staring at Derek in the door to the cage, hands held out in front of him as Talia backed up.

“I tried to rip your soul from your body,” Talia hissed, back pressed against the wall.

“It wasn’t you,” Derek repeated.

Stiles stayed where he was, hearing footsteps pause behind him as he watched Derek. He knew he shouldn’t be surprised. Derek had lost them all once before. Of course, he’d have the capacity to forgive Talia this time around. He’d do anything for his family, and Derek had always had a large heart, despite how many people stamped on it.

“Derek,” Talia sobbed, tears streaming down her face. “How can…baby, how can you look at me.”

“It wasn’t you,” Derek said softly, carefully stepping forward. “You don’t hate me.”

Talia shook her head and slid down the wall, drawing her knees up and pressing her face against them. Stiles turned, knowing he was watching something private, and he saw the pack on the stairs, watching the scene with a lot less forgiveness. Laura snarled.

“Go,” he said, making a shooing motion. “Not your choice,” he snapped before Laura could comment. “It’s his. Now go.”

She snarled again but turned to go, pushing the others ahead of her. Stiles followed, leaving the door open even as he kept making the shooing motion until everyone was back in the library, the dented walls a reminder of what had happened.

“How can he forgive her?” Laura demanded, turning and stomping. “I get that she was possessed or whatever but come on. That easy?”

“Until you’ve lost a parent, you don’t know that pain,” Stiles replied. “It’s a pain you can’t even imagine, and in some ways, it’s worse when they’re alive. Because you can grieve from death, you can accept and move on. But when they’re alive, they’re just there, and the pain is always fresh. So, I understand your issues with it, but you weren’t the one left behind. So, it’s Derek’s choice to forgive his mother, not you. And you can make your own choice.”

Laura crossed her arms over her chest. “I don’t forgive her.”

“Then don’t,” Stiles replied. “That’s your choice too. Your choice, your decision, you’re the one that has to live with it.”

Laura glared at him. “I liked you better when you didn’t have a backbone.”

“I always had a backbone. I just didn’t see the need to show it because I preferred to fly under the radar,” Stiles replied, feeling the need to defend the other version of himself. He might have been nicer and more inclined to optimism than Stiles, but he doubted there was a single version of him that was a pushover.

“Laura,” Jenna said softly, stepping up and resting a hand on her shoulder. “Stiles is right. It’s Derek’s choice.”

“It’s fucking stupid,” Laura spat, wrenching her shoulder away from Jenna.

Stiles waited a moment before he leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees and sighing. “Derek made a choice, and I’d make the same one because I miss my Mom so much, even now. So maybe don’t give him shit for it right now? At least for him?”

He was looking directly at Laura as he spoke, and he waited for her to nod before looking around at the rest of the Hales, waiting for their nods before he leaned back, ready to wait for Derek.

Part 7

July 21st, 2014

”The storm is here,” Alice said, smiling sadly as she reached out a hand and pressed it against his chest. “Help will come, kid. I promise. Be strong.”

Stiles woke with a gasp, flailing before he hit the floor with a grunt, blinking away the after images of Alice smiling at him with so much sadness he was sure the ache in his heart was physical pain, not emotional.

“You okay, kid?”

Stiles blinked up and spotted Noah standing above him, eating a piece of toast and dressed in his Sherriff’s uniform. “Sure,” he muttered, pressing a hand over his face. “Aside from the fact that I think I just had a vision, I’m peachy.”

Noah stopped eating the toast and stared at Stiles. “A vision?”

Stiles nodded and rolled to his stomach, pushing himself up with a grunt. He ached from sleeping in the chair, and the fact that he had been sitting in another chair watching Derek hadn’t helped. He pressed a hand over his heart, sure he could still feel Alice’s hand there.

“Yeah, where’s Derek?” Stiles asked, looking up at his Dad.

“Kitchen, last I saw,” Noah said, frowning at Stiles. “A vision?”

Stiles nodded and headed to the kitchen, finding Derek already standing up and staring at him, eyes wide. “What?” Derek demanded.

“Alice said the storm is here and that help is coming,” Stiles said, not beating around the bush.

“Looks sunny to me,” Peter said, but he had a serious expression, eyes turned towards the ceiling where Stiles knew he and Vanessa slept.

“Metaphorical storm,” Stiles snapped, staring at Derek. “It’s here.”

“Cars.”

Stiles turned to look at Kapono, who had turned, staring in the direction of the road. “They’re coming.”

“Shit,” Derek said, standing and beginning to move. “Everyone needs to be prepared to run if this goes south. No fucking arguments. You run, and you don’t stop running until Julia tells you to stop. She’ll take you to safety.”

Derek looked around the room. “Get Talia out of the cellar. We don’t need her locked up if this goes south. We might need her for all of this anyway.”

Laura scoffed. “Derek—”

“—Hunters like to burn houses. You want to keep Mom locked in the basement while she burns alive?” Derek snapped, staring at Laura. “You know what that’s like.”

Laura flinched but nodded. “Okay.”

Derek waited a moment before he looked at Stiles. “How are you feeling?”

“Capable,” Stiles said after a moment, his face twisted in concentration. “I can do this.”

Derek nodded and caught the gun Julia tossed at him. “They’re not gonna back off this time.”

“Three cars,” Kapono said. “Can’t tell how many people.”

Derek’s phone chose that moment to ring, and he grabbed it, growling at the screen when he saw Chris’s name flash across it. “What?” he demanded when he picked it up.

“They’re a diversion. You need to find Gerard.”

Chris hung up before Derek could comment, and he growled and looked back at Stiles. “Apparently, they’re a diversion,” he said, wondering how the fuck he was going to pull two Argents into his pack and not have it explode in his face. He owed them, and he wanted to know how Chris was getting his information.

“Not a surprise,” Stiles said.

Derek nodded and headed to the porch, chambering a round in the gun and praying to the Goddess that this time his family wouldn’t die. Derek felt a warm hand on his back, settling him as he watched the cars pull up as the others joined him.

He watched as Victoria and a few others got out, standing behind her in a half-circle. Some of them had guns, and the others had crossbows. Derek could smell the wolfsbane. Victoria folded her arms on her chest and glared at him. “We want Alpha Talia Hale.”

“She’s no longer the Alpha of this pack,” Derek said, keeping still as he met her gaze. “I am.”

“That’s not what we heard,” Victoria said, her face twisting into a scarecrow grin.

“I am the Alpha of this pack,” Derek replied, wishing he knew who had been helping the Argents. “Whoever’s been talking out of turn has been lying.”

The car door opened, and Derek watched in shock as Paige stepped out, her arms crossed in front of her. Kalina got out after Paige, wrapping an arm around her daughter and glaring at Derek.

“I can still feel Talia,” Paige said, tilting her chin up. “She’s still the Alpha.”

Derek snarled. “What are you doing?”

“What I should’ve done a long time ago,” Paige snapped. “Put you and the others down. You ruined my life!”

“We didn’t bite you,” Laura snapped. “My brother saved you!”

“I wasn’t supposed to be bitten!” Paige screamed, her eyes wide as she stepped away from Kalina, her eyes flashing blue. “You were supposed to be the one who died and start the war! I was chosen for that! Not for this…this hell I’m in!”

Derek stared at Paige as he tried to understand before looking at Kalina.

“You killed the Pricolici,” he said, remembering the story from so long ago. “Those men didn’t kill him; you killed him.”

“I was chosen to cleanse the world, like my mother before me and her Mother before that,” Kalina said, face twisted into a scowl. “And so Paige was supposed to do until that beast betrayed us!”

“And now what? What do you think is gonna happen?” Derek demanded, looking at Paige. “You think killing me will make you human? You think killing Talia will make things better for you?”

Paige shook her head. “No, but when the Hale spark dies, then werewolves will die out.”

“And so will the rest of the world,” Derek snapped, stepping forward slightly. “Werewolves anchor the magic of the land. You know this. I told you!”

“A lie,” Paige hissed. “Nothing but a lie to keep people from putting werewolves down like the animals they are.”

“We don’t have time for this,” Stiles hissed in his ear, a hand resting on his lower back, and it was that more than anything that helped shore Derek up for the moment. He thought he had known Paige, but she wasn’t the girl he had fallen in love with almost twenty years ago. She was something twisted and warped, a hunter, and they hadn’t even known.

“You’re wrong,” Derek said, hearing the exhaustion in his voice. “But nothing will change your mind. But I am the Alpha, not Talia.”

“Lies!” Paige yelled.

Derek stepped forward, letting his face shift and his eyes glow red as he roared at Paige, putting all of his pain and anger into the bond he could feel. The same bonds he felt with his family since he had bound Talia to him and took her pack under his wings. A lifetime ago, Deucalion had said that he was the Alpha of Alphas, and now Derek understood the man had been dreaming of having what Derek had gotten by accident.

Derek was The Alpha. He understood what the Goddess meant now.

He roared again before Paige could talk, making her stumble back. She was staring at him with wide eyes, one hand pressed over her chest.

“What…” she asked, looking up at Derek with wide eyes.

“Paige Krasikeva, you are no longer welcome on Hale land,” Derek said, staring directly at her. “May the sun sit in the sky, and may the moon turn her back on you. May you always run alone. Omega.”

Derek felt a burning sensation in his chest before their bond snapped, and Paige stumbled back, dropping to her knees. Derek watched her, feeling pain and pity in equal measures before he turned his face to Kalia, who was watching him with a shocked expression.

“You once killed an omega you claimed to love. What is one more to a hunter?” Derek demanded, feeling the spark in his chest grow. “You are not welcome on Hale lands. You never will be. You will always be lost. You will never be sated, and your thirst will never be quenched. Every flower that you touch will wither and die. You are not welcome here.”

He could feel the echo in his voice as Kalia stumbled back even as Paige began to sob and cry, clawing at her chest, searching for a bond Derek knew had burned away. He could feel the power of Earth at his feet as he stepped from the porch. He turned his head and looked at Victoria, who was watching him with a terrified expression she was trying to hide.

“You are not welcome on Hale lands,” Derek repeated, staring straight at Victoria as words came from deep in him. “Breaker of oaths, beware the mountains. The Old Gods that live below them will swallow you whole and send you straight into fire. Beware the winds that steal your breath. Beware the streams that suck you down, and beware the fire that consumes you as you once used it to consume others.”

Victoria took a step back when Derek took another step forward, looking around her for support, but the other Hunters were frozen in place, staring at Derek. He didn’t know what his voice sounded like, but he could feel the power running through his veins, and he knew the Goddess was with him, and he knew that his words would ring true.

Derek kept his eyes on Victoria. “Run, run like the wolves you once chased and learn what it is to have death nipping at your heels because your time is here. I can hear the hounds howling for you, and they’re frenzied by the innocent blood you’ve spilled.”

Victoria stumbled back, her gun coming up and pointing at Derek with shaking hands. “You are a monster,” she snarled, her voice shaky, thumbing back the hammer. “All of you are fucking monsters.”

“I prefer to think of myself as a monster fucker, but that’s semantics,” Stiles called from behind Derek, getting a nervous chuckle from one of Derek’s pack.

Derek brought the gun up and aimed it right at Victoria Argent and let her see every ounce of hatred he had for her and her family. She was the ruin of his family. Time and time again, they had destroyed them, and Derek wouldn’t miss them once he wiped them from the face of the Earth.

Victoria’s sneer faltered for a second before it came back. “You won’t survive killing me,” she hissed.

“I have more friends than you have cockroaches scurrying around you,” Derek replied, cocking the gun. “And I don’t need claws to kill you. You’re human. You all die so easily; all you need is a broken neck.”

Victoria’s eyes widened, and she stepped forward, the gun shaking in anger. “You!” she hissed. “You killed Kate!”

“Surprised Paige didn’t tell you that,” Derek said. He could see that most of the weapons pointed behind him, and he knew this would get bloody fast.

A twig snapped, and one of the hunters jumped, his arrow flying straight over Derek’s shoulder. He turned, twisting his body out of the way, and dropped even as Victoria and the other hunters began to fire. Bullets rained over him even as he rolled out of the way and turned, bringing up the gun and shooting before he had aimed, getting one of the hunters even as he finished moving, pausing as one of the hunters went up in flames, his screams of agony filling the air.

Derek watched wide-eyed before turning, seeing Stiles standing with a hand outstretched, his face twisted in rage, and Noah laying on the ground, an arrow in his chest even as Laura and Kapono frantically worked.

“Stiles,” Derek said, ignoring the screams as he stood in front of the man, trying to get his attention. “Stiles, look at me.”

Stiles shook his head. “No.”

“Stiles! Stop!” Derek demanded, grabbing Stiles’ arm to break his concentration. He glanced to the side, seeing Kapono nod without looking away. “Noah’s alive. He’s going to be fine,” he said, wrapping his arms around Stiles and ignoring the scent of sulfur.

“They were aiming for me,” Stiles said, struggling against Derek for a second before he stopped, even as the screaming continued. “And he stepped in front of me! He needed to burn!”

There was a history of pain that only Derek understood as he wrapped his arms tighter around Stiles and looked around at his shocked family. He cupped the back of Stiles’ head and turned, seeing the hunters aiming for him as the other continued to burn.

“One of your men just shot the Sherriff,” Derek said, meeting Victoria’s eyes. “You really want that heat down on you? Because you might kill some of us, but some will get away, and they’ll tell everyone you came to a peaceful family and then proceeded to open fire without cause.”

Victoria scowled, but she dropped her gun. “You won’t be able to hide from what’s coming much longer.”

Derek shook his head. “A storm is coming for you and yours, Victoria Argent, and there ain’t a shelter big enough to protect you.”

Derek watched as Victoria took a step back and then another, the hunters taking that as reason enough to run for the cars. He swung his eyes to stare at Kalina, who was watching him with a horrified expression.

“You were family, and you betrayed us,” Derek said, wrapping his arms tighter around Stiles. “Leave these lands and pray that someone may find mercy on your daughter because you will find none here. May the Goddess turn her back on you.”

Kalina stumbled back before grabbing Paige, who stood and stumbled, staring with blank eyes at Derek. Derek couldn’t meet her gaze, and he turned his head, unable to see the skeletal face of a woman he had once loved.

“Leave,” Derek roared suddenly, feeling the anger surge as he watched them stumble to the cars and climb in, engines revving before they peeled away. Derek watched as they disappeared down the road, the dust they kicked up drifting after them lazily, and the trees swayed towards them.

“How far do you think they’ll make it?” Sai asked.

“They won’t make it out of the forest,” Derek said, feeling a slight rumbling under his feet.

“You can let go of me.”

Derek looked at Stiles, seeing the pain in his face but let go, letting Stiles stumble past him and collapse next to Noah even as Laura worked, her face a mask of concentration as Noah did his best to stay still, still awake despite the arrow still sticking up from his chest.

“He needs the hospital,” Derek said, stepping closer and listening to the beating of the Sherriff’s heart. “Or a bite. Either way, a decision needs to be made.”

“He won’t make it to the hospital,” Laura snapped. “The arrows too close to his heart, one bump, and that’s all she wrote.”

“Bite him,” Stiles snapped, looking up and staring at Derek. “Do it.”

Derek crouched and looked down at the Sherriff, seeing the pain on his face and the rapidly beating heart. He reached out, resting a hand on Noah’s shoulder, and drew the man’s pain away, listening as his heart slowed before his eyes opened.

“Dad,” Stiles said, his voice breaking into a sob. “Dad, Derek’s gonna bite you, okay?”

“Hospital?” Noah managed to get out before he coughed, blood flecking his lips.

“You won’t make it to the hospital,” Derek said. “But you will turn, that I promise you. And you will always have a place in my pack, regardless of what happens with Stiles. I’ll make sure of it.”

Noah nodded, his eyes fluttering shut. “’Kay.”

Derek leaned down, nudging Laura out of the way so he could pull Noah’s shirt to the side and bite down quickly before sitting back. “He’s not out of the woods yet,” Derek said, keeping an eye on Noah, smiling when he felt the beginning of the bond. “He’ll begin to heal as he changes, but the change takes a few hours, so he’ll need to be monitored.”

Derek looked up at Stiles, waiting until he lifted his head. “But I need you now,” he said softly. “We need to go get Gerard.”

Stiles shook his head. “I can’t leave my Dad.”

Derek grabbed Stiles’ hand and squeezed. “I can feel the bond-forming. He will make it. But I need you now, please.”

Stiles closed his eyes. “I…”

“We’ll watch out for him,” Laura said, resting a hand on Stiles’ shoulder. “All of us. I…I don’t know what you guys need to do, but I know Derek needs to be there.”

Derek looked around, seeing the pack arrayed around him. “All of you need to head into town, in public in case the Argents make it out of the forest. Go to the Stilinski house and call Melissa, see if she can get off work to come and help you,” he said, looking at Laura before turning his head to look at Sarah. “If we don’t come back, call the number I gave you for Hazel and Cathy and do what they tell you to. Promise?”

Sarah nodded her head, a hand pressed over her mouth and tears in her eyes.

“I…I should go with you,” Peter said, even as he turned towards where Derek knew Vanessa was.

“You’ll be useless with Vanessa so close,” Derek said, standing up again and stepping away from Noah. “Stay, focus on getting everyone out and safe.”

“I’m coming with you.”

Derek looked up to see Talia standing there, looking worn out, her skin sallow and her hair pulled back into the same messy bun it had been in for a few days. He shook his head. He might be willing to move on from the fact that she was possessed, but the last thing he needed to do was worry about if she was going to turn on him again.

“You can’t stop me,” Talia snapped. “You might have bound this pack under yours, but this is goddamn Hale land, and I’ve been a fucking pawn for too long. No one takes another single fucking inch from me!”

She pushed past Derek before he could comment and stalked into the woods. Derek turned to watch her for a second before he felt a hand wrap around his wrist, and he turned to see Stiles standing with a determined look.

“I’ve got your back,” Stiles said, looking at where Talia was walking.

Derek nodded and looked at Peter and Laura. “Take care of everyone, get to town.”

Peter nodded. “We will. Go.”

---

Stiles followed Derek through the forest, trying to ignore the urge to turn back, find his Dad and make sure he was okay. But he kept his eyes on Derek’s back, doing his best to keep up with the two Alpha werewolves.

“How much longer?” he asked softly, stepping over a fallen log.

“Close,” Derek replied. “It’ll never be far.”

“How did they find it?”

“I have no idea,” Derek replied. “We know he’s got help.”

“Something’s wrong,” Talia said, speeding up. “I can smell it.”

Derek glanced at Stiles before he sped up as well. Stiles groaned and started jogging, doing his best not to trip over the roots and branches that lined the path. He ran into Derek’s back suddenly, so focused on running he hadn’t been looking up. He stumbled back, managing not to fall over as he righted himself.

He could smell the gasoline, and he stepped around Derek to see Gerard standing in the middle of the Nemeton base, red canisters littering around.

“Oh shit,” Derek said before crashing through the trees, running after Talia, who had charged ahead.

Stiles followed, stopping at the tree line and wishing he had an affinity for water, not fire, even as he watched Talia run straight into an invisible wall and bounce back. Derek skidded to a stop right before hitting the barrier and pressed a hand against it, snarling loudly.

“I am going to burn you from existence,” Gerard yelled, his voice high-pitched and joyous. At odds with the destruction he was poised to bring. “I will rid the world of every single last vermin and dance on your graves.”

Derek stepped back, grabbing Talia’s sleeve and pulling her with him. “Victoria is dead,” he replied. “Kate is dead, and soon you will be as well. Your whole line will be gone, and we’ll still be here. You think destroying this Nemeton is gonna end werewolves? It won’t.”

Gerard shook his head, jumped down from the massive trunk, and walked closer, glancing down before stopping, staying behind the barrier line. “Oh, I might be burning it, but the magic will be ripped from this land, and any bond you have with it will be gone. You think I’m going to hedge my beds on one outcome? I have been planning this since I first laid eyes on one of you filthy animals!”

Gerard paused and looked straight at Stiles. “And every one of you humans that dare cavort with animals. You’ll die in the filth, same as them.

Stiles moved out of the tree line and joined Derek and Talia. He had been to the Nemeton before, he knew what power lay in the roots, and he could feel it waning like a sickness. Something was drawing the power away.

“You’ll get nothing,” Derek said, his voice soft, and yet Stiles shivered with the power it held. The same power he used to banish Victoria and Paige from the Hale lands, and Stiles believed him. He believed that the forest would consume them and leave nothing but twisted hunks of metal as a testament to their lives.

“I’ll win,” Gerard said, grinning at them, madness in his eyes. “You’re an abomination, a plague upon this Earth, and I will rain hell fire down around you and yours and watch your life crumble into ash!”

Gerard was screaming at the end, his eyes wide and spit flying from his mouth.

Stiles crossed his arms over his chest, remembering a dying old man who had been so afraid of Death that he was willing to become what he hated the most. “You really should go see a doctor. The shit you’re spewing is coming out the wrong end.”

Gerard sneered at him. “You’ll burn.”

“So, you’ve said a few times,” Stiles said, dropping his hands down, ready to move the barrier as soon as Derek gave the go-ahead.

“I have the power of the Nemeton. Do you think you have power here, little boy?” a new voice came from somewhere below them.

Derek and Talia turned, looking at something in the roots Stiles couldn’t make out. He watched as someone appeared, climbing from a door hidden in the roots. He could see the magic moving around her like wisps of smoke, lingering and yet hard to pin down as little by little the wisps disappeared into the woman.

“Julia Baccari,” Derek said, his voice carrying. “Kali kick you out?”

Stiles blinked, finally looking at the woman’s face and seeing the familiar face through the mass of scars that bisected the woman’s face.

“The woman whose face was made of mountains,” Stiles murmured, feeling Derek tense next to him.

“Well informed indeed,” she said, folding her hands in front of her and smiling. Or Stiles assumed it was a smile. It was hard to tell. She turned to look at Stiles, raising her chin slightly. “Well? Do you feel powerful here? Because you’re not.”

“Assuming does make an ass of you and me,” Stiles said, reaching for the little flame inside of him and wishing he had had more time to get over the magic sickness because he still felt weak.

Julia raised her hands, the smoke around her beginning to move, drawn from the ground, swirling around her, and he could feel the quiet beginning to grow around him. She was ripping noise and life from the Earth. He could feel the flame beginning to dim in his heart, and he pressed a hand over his heart before he could help himself, gasping. He hadn’t realized how warm that part of him was until he could feel her stealing the magic.

Julia grinned. “It’s so hard to be a spark,” she cooed, shaking her head. “So tied into life that you don’t know what to do as soon as that life is gone.”

“Why?” Derek asked, stepping up to the barrier and drawing Julia’s attention. “You know what will happen if you keep doing this?”

Julia threw her head back and laughed. “What will happen? The world will die like it should’ve a hundred million years ago when life first crawled out of the ether.”

“You’ll die,” Derek said, spreading his hands to the side. “We all will.”

“Good, then I can visit Kali in Hell, and I can burn her for what she did to me!” Julia screeched, balling her hands into fists as the power drain stopped. “I will follow her wherever she runs, and I will end her the way she didn’t have the fucking courage to end what she tried to start.”

Derek spread his hands a little wider, and Talia seemed to finally get the message, scooting in closer and creating a wall that Stiles could duck behind, blocking what he was doing from view. He drew his knife, quickly cutting the runes he needed deep into his palms. He wished he had visited the crones and gotten another one of those power sticks; he could use it even if he still tasted ash on the back of his tongue.

“What did she do?” Talia asked, her voice softer than Stiles had ever heard it.

“She wanted to be an Alpha of Alphas, and she needed to cut out her pack to do so, but she couldn’t, so she left me to die! She tried to take my magic to make her more powerful, and when she couldn’t, she ran like a coward!” Julia was screaming by now, the insanity and rage evident in her voice. “She left me to die, so I’m going to rip apart her whole world!”

Stiles looked down at the runes dripping blood from his palms and rolled his eyes. Julia had no idea what losing magic really felt like. Stiles had learned to use magic in a burned-out husk of the world, and while he could feel the void where Julia had been drawing from the Nemeton, there was still so much life in the world.

Stiles clenched his hands together, hiding the blood dripping from his hands, and shoved them into his pockets. He shifted, moving back into view, and saw Julia glaring at the three of them, her eyes wide, and Stiles half expected her to start frothing at the mouth.

Her eyes flicked to Stiles and narrowed, the corner of her lip twitching as she tried to sneer at him, hampered by the scars pulling at her face. “You’re too late,” she said, staring directly at Stiles. “The Nemeton was dying, thanks to that idiot who thought he could do what I’ve done, but he was a child, and he lost. And now it’s mine, all that power, it’s mine. Can’t you feel it?”

Stiles stepped closer, right up to the barrier. He felt Derek grab his arm and squeeze reassuringly. Derek trusted him. He always had.

“I can feel you’ve killed the power around you,” Stiles said, glancing at Gerard, who was watching the byplay but not moving. He stepped over the line, making sure Gerard didn’t move towards him. He could hear the other man humming, and he wondered if the cancer had rotted his brain.

He turned back to Julia, who was watching him warily. Stiles smiled at her, nice and calm and not worried. He could feel the power sitting in his chest. He could feel it building as the runes did their job and used his own life force to build the power in him, the same way he had built it up right before he had let Jordan burn him alive to send him back in time.

Stiles had died to go back in time, and he would die to preserve this world.

“But you know nothing,” Stiles said, shaking his head. “You’re just a child. You don’t know a single fucking thing about magic.”

Julia hissed at him, spreading her hands to the side, but Stiles lifted his own, pulling them out of his pockets and reaching for the inferno he could feel deep inside of him and focused on her, throwing his hands out in front of him.

“Burn,” he hissed, putting all his faith, belief, joy, sadness, and anger into that single word and focused on her, picturing her as she began to burn, a column of flame that didn’t spread because Stiles was aware of the gas that soaked the Earth. Smoke filled the air as she started to scream, flames reaching for the sky, searching for something else to consume even as Stiles felt the power draining from him as he kept an element contained, making it feed on Julia and her madness and nothing else.

There was a sharp pain at the back of his head, and the world went dark.

---

Derek stumbled back as Julia was engulfed in flames, her screams echoing even as Stiles kept his hands out. He watched as the fire reached higher and higher, the black smoke and smell of cooking flesh making him feel fifteen years old and watching his house burn to the ground with the echoes of his family’s dying screams stuck in his head.

He blinked in shock as Julia managed to take one step and then another, an arm reaching out for Stiles before she collapsed onto the ground, still trying to drag herself forward. Derek lurched forward when Gerard appeared, striking Stiles across the head, and Stiles collapsed, out cold. The fire spread, racing along the gasoline even as Gerard started to cackle.

Derek tried to get to Stiles, to drag him away from the fire licking at his hands, but he slammed into the barrier. He hit it with a grunt. “Fuck!” he snapped, pounding on it again.

“You think I’m gonna trust my safety to a witch you fucking animal?” Gerard asked, grinning with wide eyes. “There’s nothing you can do now, the world’s gonna burn.”

Derek stumbled back and spread his hands to the side, knowing he was risking everything by trying magic so soon. Usually, it took him months to be able to do magic again. Wolves weren’t made for magic, and it was a miracle that Derek could even do it. Alice called him just the right sort of stubborn, but he could see the fire beginning to crawl up Stiles’ hands, and he knew he had to get in before one more person he loved burned alive.

“Derek, what are you doing?”

He ignored Talia, focusing on the spark in him the way Alice had explained to him and thought about a split in the barrier, about an opening big enough for a single grain of sand to pass, but that was all it would take. He felt like he was tearing a piece of him away but could see a slight split in the black line around Gerard, and it was enough.

He charged forward, ignoring the ache in his bones and the way he wanted to curl back up into bed and sleep for days. He watched in satisfaction as Gerard stumbled back in shock as Derek stepped over the line, thankful for the bonfires and roasting pig he had gotten used to over the years so he could grab Stiles and drag the other man away from the fire that had consumed the Nemeton.

A boom of gunfire had him flinching away, turning from a bullet he never felt. He kept turning, dragging Stiles into his arms and stumbling away from the heat, and saw Talia dropping to her knees. He heard the gun go off again, barely feeling its heat passing as the inferno raged behind him.

“You will not defeat me!” Gerard roared, firing again.

Derek dropped Stiles next to his Mom, smelling the wolfsbane as Talia pressed a hand against her chest. Derek turned, seeing Gerard silhouetted by the raging fire as black smoke poured into the sky. He watched as the fire spread to the forest, spurred on by the dry underbrush from an early summer.

Derek charged, ducking to the side at the sound of a gunshot, ignoring the fire and the sound of his Mom trying to say his name around a mouthful of blood.

He crossed the distance and grabbed Gerard, breaking his neck before the man had a chance. He felt Gerard go limp, the gun dropping. He looked down at the body before he lifted it with a grunt and tossed it into the fire, needing to make sure.

Derek bent down and grabbed the gun before stumbling back to where he had left Talia and Stiles, ignoring how his eyes watered and his limbs felt heavy. Stiles was still out cold, and Talia had a hand pressed against her chest where Derek could see black blood spilling out.

“Just hold on,” he said, ignoring how his voice trembled as he struggled with the gun, finally getting the magazine out and letting out a cry of frustration at the empty magazine. All the bullets were gone. He dropped the gun and magazine, reaching out and pressing down over the bullet wound. “Just hold on.”

Talia gritted her teeth, blood and black goo staining them. “The fire,” she ground out, her head turning to look behind Derek. He could feel the heat at his back, hell ready to drag him down for his sins from a lifetime ago.

“I can’t do anything about it,” Derek said, pressing down harder, ignoring the cry of pain. “We just have to hope it burns itself out before anyone gets injured.”

The lingering smell of flesh burning began to disappear, overtaken by the sickly-sweet smell of campfire, reminding Derek of s’mores and terrifying ghost stories his sisters would tell him on summer nights when they had been young.

“Get out of there,” Talia said, pressing at his hand, trying to get him to move. “Take Stiles and go.”

Derek shook his head and pressed down harder, beginning to leech her pain away. It had worked for Paige; it would work for his Mom. It had to.

“Derek, go,” Talia said, trying to struggle away, but she could barely move.

“I’m too tired,” Derek whispered, admitting it out loud. “I…we’re not made for magic and between you and the barrier. I’m so tired. I won’t be able to outrun the fire.”

It was an admission he had never expected to make to his Mom in this lifetime. Tiredness would mean weakness, and he could never show weakness around her. Not when the dark thing living inside her would have taken that admission and used it to cut him at the knees.

Talia grabbed his hand and managed to pull it away, the sick-wrong feeling that had been crawling inside of him disappearing. “Don’t waste your energy on me. Go, drag Stiles or something. You need to get out of here.”

“I can’t!” Derek snapped, staring at his Mom and seeing her for the first time in a decade, and he didn’t want to let her go.

Talia shook her head. “Honey, you need to go. I can’t make it, but you’ve got two packs riding on you now, and your sisters will need you,” she said, hissing in pain as she struggled to sit up.

Derek helped her, bracing a hand on her back as she slumped against him. “Don’t ask me this,” he begged, feeling fifteen years old again and trying to get her to accept him as an Alpha in a pack that already had a leader. “Please don’t make me leave you here.”

Talia took a deep breath and leaned back, cupping his face with her hands and pulling him down to kiss his forehead. “Go.”

It had been a long time since Derek had heard Talia try to use her Alpha voice and longer since it had worked on Derek, but the meaning was clear.

“Mom,” Derek said, trying to choke back a sob even as he pulled her into a tight hug, unwilling to go.

“Derek, baby, go. Please go, get Stiles to Noah. They need each other, and your sisters need you,” Talia begged.

Derek could feel the flames at his back and the sound of animals scurrying away, and he knew if he stayed here, he would be burned to a crisp. Part of him wanted to let it happen, knowing that the Argents were done and the world wouldn’t fall into chaos.

Stiles groaned. “What…”

Derek looked over, watching as Stiles tried to sit up, a hand coming and pressing against the back of his head before his hand came away, glistening red in the firelight.

“Derek, take him and go,” Talia said, her voice booking no argument even though Derek wanted to. “Baby, you’ve got to go.”

Derek screamed and let go, forcing his heavy limbs to move and dragged Stiles up by the arm, and began to stumble towards the opening they had come through. He turned and looked as he made it to the treeline, seeing his Mom had slumped back onto the ground, her chest barely moving, and her face turned towards him. She smiled at him, ash beginning to streak her face as the fire began to lick at her heels.

“I love you, now go.”

Derek closed his eyes, turned, and ran into the forest, dragging Stiles behind him. He could hear the fire roaring. Smoke was beginning to fill the air, but Derek knew these woods, he didn’t need to see. This was Hale land; he would find his way.

“Derek…what happened?” Stiles asked, gasping behind him, stumbling over roots, and he would’ve fallen if Derek didn’t have a tight grip and kept dragging him forward.

“Gerard hit you over the head. You lost control over the fire,” Derek said, stumbling over a root and bracing a hand against the tree. He could feel the rumble of the fire as it came closer, spreading faster, the devil nipping at his heels.

“Where’s Talia?” Stiles gasped, wrapping an arm around his waist and propelling Derek forward, bracing each other.

“Gerard shot her,” he said, a fresh wave of pain making him want to stumble to the ground and curl up.

He had just gotten her back, Talia had looked at him, and there hadn’t been hate in her eyes for the first time in a decade.

“Fuck, and Gerard?” Stiles gasped out, the two of them skidding down a hill. Stiles stumbled, and Derek grabbed him, hauling him over a trunk. Derek could see the house through the trees, and he prayed that everyone had left like they had promised. Stiles slumped against him as they made it to the treeline.

“Burning in hell,” Derek ground out, expecting to be blinded by the sunlight as they left the trees, but the smoke hung thick in the air, already blocking out the sun as rust-colored tongues licked the sky, consuming everything and purifying the world around him.

“Derek!”

Derek looked up to see Laura running towards him, wrapping an arm around his waist as Cora appeared, taking Stiles.

“Why are you here?” he demanded, letting her take his weight as they stumbled towards the house. “You should’ve left!”

“Peter took Vanessa and the kids. I…we wouldn’t leave you,” Laura said, looking over Derek’s shoulder. “Mom?”

Derek shook his head, stumbling up the porch steps. “We need to go. The fire’s not stopping.”

“Derek! Where’s Mom?” Laura demanded, pulling them both to a stop, her eyes wide and terrified.

“Shot,” Derek said, his voice breaking on the single word. “Gerard shot her, and he’s dead, and he’s burning in the fire just like he’ll be doing in hell where he’s going.”

Laura’s body went limp as she stared at him, her eyes wide and already swimming with tears. “Mom’s…” she trailed off, a hand pressing over her mouth before she collapsed.

Derek managed to catch her, but he was so tired, and the two of them went down in a tangle of limbs as Laura began to cry. Derek was thrown back in time to the smell of smoke and Laura crying as they clung to each other, listening to the echoes of their family’s dying screams.

“Laura, we need to go,” Derek said, panting slightly, turning his head to see Cora staring at him with wide eyes, ignoring Stiles trying to drag her towards the car. Derek could see his sisters and Dad standing, staring at him in shock. “We need to go,” he repeated, wishing he had more energy right then, but all he wanted to do was curl into a ball and go to sleep.

“Derek.”

Derek turned at a new voice and watched as Alice crouched down in front of him. “You ain’t gotta run. You can just rest here,” she said. “You ain’t ever gotta run in fear again.”

“Alice, what,” Derek said, sure he was in a nightmare. “Why?”

“You remember what I told you about fire when you first came to us?”

“It purifies,” Derek whispered, looking over her shoulder and the raging inferno. He could see birds scattering in the sky and animals running out of the woods, deer and coyotes crashing through the branches shoulder to shoulder, nature pausing the face of destruction.

“Lots of bad blood been spilled here,” Alice said, reaching down and pressing a hand on the ground. “Gonna cleanse the land and make way for something new.”

“Alice,” he repeated, managing to get himself untangled from Laura just as Jenna and Grace arrived, the three of them curled around each other and sobbing. “What do you mean, something new?”

Alice smiled at him. “Remember what else I told you?”

Derek tried to remember that day, all the information she had given him. “Which bit?” he asked, pushing himself to his knees even as his body screamed at him to just curl up. “There was so much you told me.”

Alice nodded, smiling sadly. “We don’t live forever, Derek. We’re born, and we choose to serve the Goddess, and we get stronger as we get older, and we watch over the lost souls and ferry them into happiness through the next life. And then, when the Earth calls for us, we are an altar of willing bones and become something new, born from blasted pines and crushed rock.

“No,” Derek whispered, the memory coming back to him. “No. It’s…it’s too soon. It’s just a fire. Lost Cove needs you!”

Alice shook her head. “I lived a long life, Derek, and I’m ready.” She reached out and cupped his face. “All my babies are ready to take up the mantle, to do this world some good. My sisters are in love, but I buried my heart six feet down fifty years ago. It’s time.”

Derek shook his head, reaching out and grabbing her sleeve. “Please don’t,” he said, not sure he could take the loss of Alice as well.

Alice rubbed her thumbs over his cheeks and smiled, kissing his forehead, the same spot his Mom had kissed him only moments ago. “You’ll be fine,” she said, smiling at him. “The Goddess chose well, and I know you’ll keep doing me proud, won’t you, sweetpea?”

Derek nodded his head, feeling hot tears begin to fall down his cheeks. Alice glanced over his shoulder and smiled at something before she leaned in closer, pressing their foreheads together. “You are allowed to live,” she said softly. “Remember that. You get to live this time. So please, live.”

Alice let go and stood, turning and making way towards the fire that was beginning to crawl out of the woods, fingers of flame grasping the wrong buried in the Earth and scouring it away. Derek stumbled up to his feet, reaching out and taking her hand before she got too far away.

“I’m going with you, as far as I can,” he said, unwilling to let her face her death alone. He had been alone when he had died, and he’d left his Mom alone to die. He wouldn’t let Alice face her death alone, not if he could help it.

Alice gripped his hand tightly, and for the first time, he could see a hint of fear on her face. “Thank you, sweetpea.”

Derek could feel the flames, the heat felt like it was stripping his skin from his body, and each step was harder, but he gritted his teeth, ignoring the pain from the heat. Alice stopped right in front of the wall of flame, and Derek tried his best to breathe through the smoke.

He felt like he was in another world. The house and his family had been consumed by the smoke swirling around them. Now and again, Derek was sure he could see faces, none familiar, but there was a sense of peace around them.

“What do you do?” Derek asked before he bent over and coughed, the smoke burning his lungs.

Alice squeezed his hand and let go before she knelt on the ground, her white dress black with the ash floating in the air. Derek dropped to his knees next to her, feeling the heat seep through his pants and scald his skin.

“Now I stop this fire before it takes the good,” Alice said.

She leaned forward and buried her fingers down past the ash littering the ground and into the dirt, the sleeves of her dress fanning out around her hands like wings. Ash streaked her face and turned her blonde hair dark, and Derek could see the pain from the heat, the way her skin started to blister. Derek could feel it as well, his skin fighting a battle with the werewolf healing that was fading as he dug deep into whatever energy he had left so Alice wouldn’t be alone in her final moments. He reached out, pressing a hand against her bare shoulder, and started to draw her pain away.

“No, baby,” Alice said, turning to smile at him. “It’s good pain. It reminds me I’m alive, and so is the world.”

Derek dropped his hand, pressing it into the Earth next to hers, and stared at the wall of fire as it crawled out to meet them, darkness and light in the center swirling to create a face Derek hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Goddess,” Alice breathed out reverently, her head bowing slightly.

Derek bowed his head as well, his mouth too parched to form the words, but he wasn’t fifteen. He believed now.

“Burned child,” the Goddess said, sounding like a crackling hearth on a cold winter’s day. “You needn’t walk this path.”

Derek licked his lips and swallowed. “No one should be alone,” he croaked, shaking his head. “Not even for this.”

The fire danced around them, flames licking until they were in a circle, and Derek could feel the heat from all sides, pressing in around him and stealing oxygen until spots danced in front of his eyes. He watched as a figure made of flame stepped out and knelt in front of him, a hand reaching out and tracing along his cheek. He flinched, expecting pain, but the flame didn’t burn. It felt like a mother’s kiss, warm and comforting.

“The Hale sparks yours now, can you feel it?” the Goddess asked, tilting her head to the side, the sparks that made her hair showering down each time she moved.

Derek shook his head. “No,” he said softly, sure he was crying. “Is she…”

“She is at peace. I made sure of it,” the Goddess said, reaching down to cup Derek’s face. “She walked a hard road, same as you, but hers was shrouded in darkness, but in the end, she reached for the light and saved you.”

Derek swallowed. “I miss her,” he whispered, unable to help himself in the face of everything.

“Life and death are hard,” the Goddess said, her hands dropping away and turning towards Alice. “The ones who help me keep the world living know that more than most.”

Derek turned his head, seeing the blistered, cracked skin on Alice’s face, hair singed at the ends, and her face a mask of pain. “Alice,” he whispered, wanting to reach out, but he was frozen, his body stuck where it was by pain.

The Goddess reached out, resting a hand on Alice’s face, and she inhaled suddenly, skin fading back to normal and looking like she had just come in from checking on the creek deep in the shadows of the forest.

“Thank you, my child,” the Goddess said, leaning forward and pressing her forehead against Alice’s. “This world will carry your heart until the end of time, same as those who walked before you and same as those who follow in your footsteps.”

“Thank you,” Alice said, smiling at the Goddess with a look of peace that Derek felt something settle in his chest.

The Goddess pulled back and smiled. “I accept you.”

Derek felt power rage through his body, and he screamed, his body shifting into a wolf to try and protect itself from the sheer power. He could feel the bones cracking and breaking, claws and teeth ripping through his skin fast enough there was a moment of bright, never-ending pain before his healing took over, and relief followed.

He forced his eyes open, staring as the Goddess shifted from fire to a tree and then into a wall of water, her eyes made up of brightly colored fish and teeth made from sharp coral that grew from the depths. He watched Alice lean forward, her hands lifting from the Earth and pressing into the water. Derek remembered finding Alice standing in the rain regardless of how cold it could get. She would laugh and dance and draw others closer until they were all wet and covered in mud, smiles bright against the dark earth covering their skin.

Derek watched as Alice pitched forward, consumed by the watery visage of the Goddess, pulled in and away, and he wanted to throw his head back and howl, but he was stuck in place, frozen as he watched the water churn, the Goddess’s face disappearing into a maelstrom of colors and flashing lights, more faces he had never seen in the depths before the water settled, dropping to the ground and curving through the earth as it trembled beneath his paws, splitting open for the water to settle into a flowing river that stretched as far as Derek could see, winding back into the burned-out ruins of the one lush forest.

He turned, watching as a figure appeared from the water, a swirling tornado that shifted and settled until the dust hung there, resolving into a face that appeared younger than it had been.

“You walked the path with her, and so you’re bound with her,” the Goddess said, her voice ruffling Derek’s fur. “You may not feel the Hale spark yet, but you are bound to this land, and you’re bound to the new nematon that sits here, balancing the scales, so the world doesn’t tip into darkness.”

Derek gritted his teeth and forced his body back into human form, panting as he knelt on the ground, naked and aching. “What about the pack of Lost Cove?”

“They’re yours. You spread your wings wide when you bound the Hales to you. They’re not pack with each other, but they’re both yours,” the Goddess said.

“Both?” Derek asked softly, feeling the weight drop across his shoulders.

“You bound the Hales to you, and when the Hale Alpha died, the spark went to you,” the Goddess replied.

Derek inhaled deeply, knowing that trying to argue with magic’s physical embodiment was useless. It hadn’t ever worked for him before, and he doubted it would now. “What happens to the Alpha sparks when the Hunters kill them?”

“They come back to me.”

“Can you give them back?”

The Goddess’s head tilted to the side, dust streaming to the side and swirling on a wind Derek couldn’t feel. “Why?”

Derek swallowed. “I can’t focus on two packs across the country,” he said softly. “It’s not fair to either of them. Natalie Wood, my second, she is the last of the Woods. Hunters stole her family’s spark from her. Could you give it back, please?”

There was a moment of silence before Derek felt something yawn open inside him, a dark hole. He dropped forward with a scream, fingers digging into the wet Earth as the hole stretched and grew, leaving him empty and alone before fire raced along his veins, filling him with so many emotions he didn’t know where they started and his ended.

Abruptly it was gone, and he panted, bowing down, so his face pressed against the wet Earth, trying to ignore the trembling in his limbs and the way he wanted to roll to the side and pass out for days. He could feel a new connection, something stronger that he hadn’t felt before.

“What?” he asked, sitting back on his heels to look at the Goddess.

“She has her spark, and you have another Alpha under your wings, My Alpha,” the Goddess said, her face beginning to swirl, catching the last of the dust and soot in the air, clearing it out until a breeze drifted along, clearing out the last of the smoke, leaving Derek kneeling in front of the burned forest and new river.

Derek dropped back onto his ass as her words registered, staring in shock at the river as it wound itself lazily through the Hale property. He pulled his knees up at the sound of voices behind him before he felt arms wrap around him.

“Derek?”

Derek slumped back against his Dad’s broad chest, staring with wide eyes at the river as the light reflected off the surface, and for a second, Derek swore he could see Alice’s face, but rivers weren’t stagnant, they kept moving, and she was washed away.

“Derek?”

Derek turned his head to see his Dad’s face, two tear tracks stark against the dark soot that stained the rest of his face. “She’s gone,” Derek whispered, not sure if he was talking about Alice or Talia.

Richard nodded his head, pulling Derek in even tighter, a hand cupping the back of his head. “I know.”

“I’m sorry,” Derek whispered, pressing his face against his Dad’s chest. “She…he tried to shoot me, and Mom got in the way, and she took the bullet for me, and I’m sorry I had to leave her behind.”

Richard started to rock him. “She saved you. That’s the important thing. She saved you and Stiles so you could save all of us.”

“I left her there,” Derek whispered, knowing it had been quick but still hating that he had left her there for those moments before the Goddess took her.

Richard pulled back, cupping Derek’s face. “She made a lot of mistakes with you, but in the end, she saved you, and that’s the important thing. She chose you, and you have to remember that, okay?”

Derek sniffed, nodding his head even though he wasn’t sure he would ever get over leaving his Mom to the fire a second time, but he knew he couldn’t explain it to his Dad. He glanced up as he heard footsteps and saw Kapono approaching, a blanket in his hands and a somber look.

“Celia, Lacie?” Derek asked, taking the blanket and pulling it tight around him.

Kapono knelt next to him. “Alive,” Kapono said, looking over his shoulder at the river. “Mortal like the rest of us now. Holly, Daisy, and Rosie are all young now. It looks like Rosie’s gonna take charge.”

“She’s so young,” Derek whispered. “She…”

“She’s always been a homebody,” Kapono replied, reaching out and squeezing Derek’s shoulder. “No one’s surprised by her taking up the mantle.”

Derek swallowed and looked out to the river. “What…?”

“Volcanoes, she studied them for years,” Kapono replied, wrapping an arm around Derek. “Holly’s Earth, Daisy is water.”

Derek nodded, feeling numb to everything right now. He turned his head and stared across the water, swallowing down the hysterical laughter that threatened to bubble up. “I always end up naked next to a river because of Alice,” he whispered, staring at the water and wondering how they would explain that.

Kapono turned, looking out across the river. “Suits her,” he said. “Always steadily moving forward, dragging the rest of us along no matter what.”

Derek nodded. “She made sure we lived,” Derek said, closing his eyes and slumping against Kapono, feeling his Dad’s hands grab him as he felt the last of his energy drain away and he passed out.

Part 8

July 28th, 2014

“How the fuck are we going to explain a new river?” Stiles asked, pressing the ice pack against the back of his head and leaned against the porch swing, looking at the view of the river. “Or how the fire went out so quickly.”

“People won’t ask,” Celia replied, wrapping her arms around herself even tighter and looked at the river. “Goddess makes sure they don’t. You all remembered because you were here, and we remember because we always do. I can trace my family back through the Nemeton’s.”

Stiles sighed. He felt burnt up, a hollow husk that had once held magic. “How…aware is it?”

Celia sighed. “Depends. Water’s always tricky because it’s movin’. Trees are the most aware because they’re stationary, fire can be pretty aware, but those are few and far between. They’re the old nemetons. The volcanos that once created all this land are the old gods our Ancestors prayed to. Wind? We ain’t ever had a wind Nemeton as a focal point of power. It’s too flighty, constantly moving, and never staying in one place. But water? See, the water’s got a source, and it goes out to the ocean, so it connects the rest of the world. The Earth nemetons connect the leylines on land, but the water nemetons connect us to everyone else.”

“That didn’t answer my question,” Stiles said dryly.

Celia hummed. “Don’t suppose it did. I suppose the answer depends on where she is. She ain’t dead. She won’t ever die, not like you and me. But she ain’t gonna talk to us, not like she did. But, you’ll find no one ever drowns in that river. She ain’t ever gonna flood the land, and whatever grows along her shore will be stronger than normal.”

Stiles figured that was the best answer he would get and turned his head to look across the burned forest and swallowed. “I did that,” he said softly.

Celia sighed and came to sit next to him. “It was gonna go. Nemeton was old and old, corrupt magic is just as bad as dry brush during a wildfire. It don’t take much. It’s why Deaton and that Darach were drawn here; corrupt draws to corrupt. You started a fire and burned out the bad, just like you sweat a fever. It looks bad now, but fire’s a part of life and has been since before we had trees and life as we know it. Nature’s gonna grow back, and it’s gonna be stronger now. Especially since those idiots ain’t chipping away at the Goddess.”

Stiles nodded his head. “What happens to you now?”

Celia sighed. “Dunno. Depends on what happens with Kapono. I ain’t tied down like I used to be, and he and Derek are close. And with Nat takin’ over in Lost Cove,” she trailed off and turned to look at Stiles. “Maybe I’ll stick around and teach you how to do magic without burning yourself out.”

“That’d be nice.”

He turned his head as the door opened, watching as Scott came out, holding a bowl of something as he sat down on the swing next to Stiles.

“Want some?” Scott asked, showing Stiles the apple slices.

“I’m good, thanks.”

Scott hummed. “How’s your head?”

“Aching, still,” Stiles said, pulling the ice pack away. “No fracture, just a lovely concussion to go with the ribs I managed to re-fracture.”

Scott grunted. “Well, could be worse.”

Stiles opened his eyes and saw Scott looking into the woods, and he bit his bottom lip. “Yeah,” he said, thinking of the solemn trek two days ago to where Talia had died to pay their respects. All they had found was a puddle of gold from her melted ring, and Richard had carefully picked it up before he had collapsed and started sobbing.

Stiles had still been seeing doubles and had leaned against his Dad, thankfully healed, glad that the inferno had burned away any remains of Gerard and Julia. “How’s Cora?”

Scott shrugged. “How do you think?”

Stiles thought about the pain of losing a mother and sighed. “Yeah. Sounds about right. Where’s Isaac and Boyd?”

“Isaac had an interview to work up in Beacon City at social services he couldn’t miss today, so he and Boyd made a day of it,” Scott said around a mouthful of apple.

Stiles hadn’t even known what Isaac was studying in college, but it fit. “Good for him.”

“Does it go away?”

Stiles turned to look at Grace, holding a stuffed wolf that had seen better days with red-rimmed eyes. “I will always miss my Mom,” he said softly. “It always hurts, but it doesn’t hurt as bad because I know my Mom wouldn’t want me to be sad for her.”

Grace nodded. “I miss her,” she said before she broke down sobbing like all the girls had been doing for the past few days.

And the same as the past few days, Derek appeared, picking up Grace and pulling her into a tight hug, carrying her back inside where the rest of the family was. Stiles turned his head, watching Derek disappear. He was worried for the other man, he had lost weight, and there was a gauntness to his cheeks that sent Stiles back to a previous lifetime.

“Go.”

Stiles turned, seeing Kapono leaning against the railing next to Celia. “What?” he asked, wondering when the man had appeared.

Kapono sighed and raised both eyebrows. “Go talk to him.”

“Me?”

“No, the fucking tooth fairy next to you,” Kapono said, shaking his head. “Yes, you. You were there for most of it. You understand where the rest of us don’t.”

“I’m gonna make sure you need the tooth fairy,” Stiles muttered, standing up and throwing the ice pack at Kapono, who caught it easily.

“Promises, promises,” Kapono said, wrapping his arm around Celia and turning his head, looking towards the river like all the Lost Cove residents had been doing.

Stiles found most of the Hale pack in the living room, curled around each other and making sure no one was alone. He stopped next to Cora, leaning down to draw her into a hug, kissing the side of her head, which made her start to cry again.

He understood and let her go to lean against James, who was staring shell-shocked at the floor with his husband rubbing a hand over his back. Stiles glanced around the room, seeing Peter sitting with his ear pressed against Vanessa’s stomach, one hand gripping his thigh tightly, the other clutching at Sarah’s hand while the woman rocked her two daughters gently, letting them cry. Jenna and Laura were sitting on either side of Richard, who had aged by decades and had seemed to collapse in on himself. Grace was curled up at his feet, one arm wrapped around his leg and her face pressed against his knees.

“Hey, Gracie? Which way did Derek go?” he asked softly.

“Out back,” Grace said, tilting her head to listen. “He’s walking towards the woods.”

“Thanks.”

Stiles felt the eyes on his back as he went out the back, seeing the flash of Derek’s blue shirt in the tree line. “Don’t make me run,” Stiles muttered when he spotted Derek heading deeper into the woods.

Derek paused, letting Stiles catch up to him without straining too much. “It’s not far,” Derek said softly.

“What isn’t?” Stiles asked, falling into step next to Derek as they walked through the burned-out forest.

“You’ll see,” Derek said, his hands shoved deep in his pockets, hunched over as if walking pained him.

Stiles nodded and kept quiet, figuring that Derek didn’t feel like talking right then. Stiles didn’t feel like talking either. The past few nights since the fire he had woken up in a cold sweat, the hollow place in his chest even bigger from the panic. He had ended up stumbling to his Dad’s room to make sure he was still breathing. Even then, the hollow feeling wasn’t going away, and he knew it would take a little while longer. He had made himself magic sick again, and the sadness he could feel through the bond with Derek wasn’t helping.

Derek paused, and Stiles stopped next to him, peering around his shoulder and seeing the remains of black SUVs with branches and bushes beginning to crawl up the sides, flowers sprawling around the tires like they had been there for years.

“Is that…?” he whispered.

Derek nodded and stepped closer. “Yeah,” he said, stopping and peering in the window and closing his eyes.

Stiles didn’t want to see, but he stepped closer, peering over Derek’s shoulder, and shuddered at the sight. Whatever facial features the hunters once had were obscured by a riot of flowers crawling out of their skin. Stiles could name one for every dozen he couldn’t. It was a kaleidoscope of colors, and as he watched, another flower bloomed.

“They’ll be gone soon,” Derek said, stepping away from that car and moving to the next one. “Car’s will take a little bit longer.”

“Why are they so far from the road?” Stiles asked, knowing they were miles from any route, paved or otherwise.

“Who said they were driving on a road that exists anymore?” Derek asked, glancing over his shoulder before peering into the next window.

Stiles lurched forward as Derek slumped against the car, wrapping an arm around his waist and doing his best to keep the other man standing. He looked into the window. Paige was staring at him, eyes sightless, mouth open from the seat next to where her body lay draped across her mother’s lap. Or Stiles assumed it was her mother. Her body was like the others, an array of flowers crawling out of her skin.

“I’m sorry,” Stiles whispered, unsure if he was talking to Derek or Paige right then.

Stiles tore his eyes away, ignoring the pain in his ribs as he dragged Derek over to a fallen tree trunk and sat them down, ignoring the creak of wood.

“I didn’t save her, and things went to shit. I saved her, and her life went to shit,” Derek whispered.

“I think her life went to shit by her own choices,” Stiles muttered. “They chose to look at the gift of life and spat on it. They chose their hatred over learning something. They saw the reality of packs with their own two eyes and still chose hate. That’s not on you.”

Stiles looked back at the two cars. “Allison got bitten, she’s now a wolf, and Chris is doing everything he can to make sure she’s okay. He helped us. Even knowing that she still might not end up in your pack, he still chose to warn us. He chose his family; they chose hatred.”

Derek leaned forward, bracing his head in his hands. “I don’t know how I didn’t see the signs.”

Stiles nudged his shoulder against Derek’s. “Because you were working from memories from another lifetime and probably so excited that she was alive, you ignored them. And no one else saw them either, even the people who were still in her pack when you left. Not everything bad is your fault.”

Derek chuckled. “Feels like it.”

“The world has a future,” Stiles said softly. “And you might not want to call it this, but we were at war. And we won, and we lost a lot to get here but fuck, Derek. Look at what we have?”

Stiles spread his arms out in front of him. “We have a world full of magic and life. Most of the people we love are alive. Yes, we lost people, but you came back, and you fixed so much to make this possible.”

“And you came back and fixed stuff,” Derek said softly, staring off into the distance.

“So, we both did,” Stiles said, mirroring Derek’s pose carefully. He glanced to the side and saw the far-off look on Derek’s face. “Wanna tell me what’s on your mind?”

“Do you know how impossible it is to medicate werewolves?” Derek asked softly. “We burn through anything in our system, so anything humans use we can’t because we’d need to mix it with wolfsbane, and that’s a whole host of problems no one wants to deal with.”

Stiles nodded. “Makes sense.”

Derek nodded. “Lacie says I have depression and PTSD, and if I was human, I could take something to help my brain cope with everything. But I can’t, and so all I have is things I can do to help manage the situations. If I feel like this, I’m not supposed to isolate myself. I need to talk to someone I trust. I need to remind myself that the world isn’t on my shoulders, and I need to go and talk to one of my family members to remind myself that they’re alive.”

“And right now?” Stiles asked softly.

“Right now, I hear what you’re saying, but I don’t believe it,” Derek admitted. “All I can think about is my Mom and Alice and how they’re dead. And how Paige never really had a chance, and maybe letting her die all those years ago would be a kindness. And how sometimes I wonder if it’d be easier if I just went to sleep out here and didn’t go back. And it’s hard.”

Stiles reached out, taking Derek’s hand and sliding their fingers together, not sure what he could say. He had a feeling that his time with these issues would come when he had a chance to breathe and let his mind and body relax from the constant state of go.

“Anything I can do to help, I’m here,” Stiles said softly, not sure what else there was to say.

Derek squeezed his hand back, a thumb rubbing over his knuckles. “This is good,” he said softly, still staring at the car. “You can talk if you want. I don’t need you to sit in manly silence with me.”

“Oh, good. Because I gotta tell you, I’m not good with silence,” Stiles said, looking at his hand in Derek’s before looking back at the car. “Scott told me Isaac wants to be a Social Worker, which good for him because, man, he’s gonna be good at it. I think? I assume his Dad was a piece of shit here as well?”

“Yeah, you, well, the other Stiles, got him out. Isaac grew up in your house,” Derek explained. “Noah fostered him.”

“Well, that was needed information,” Stiles muttered, shaking his head. “But good. What’s Boyd doing?”

“He is an electrician,” Derek said. “He got a journeyman’s apprenticeship when he was eighteen and had been doing it ever since.”

“And Scott wants to be a vet, of course. Wonder what’s gonna happy now that uh…” Stiles trailed off, thinking about Deaton.

“I’ll make sure he gets in somewhere,” Derek explained. “I’m sure Celia or Lacie know someone who could write him a good letter of recommendation.”

“Oh good,” Stiles murmured. “He might fight you on it.”

“He won’t fight Melissa. Or Cora if I set her on it.”

Stiles wrinkled his nose. “Those two as friends freaks me out. I can’t get over it. It’s like cats and dogs, but I think Cora is the cat because she can be an asshole and this Scott is like a giant weird golden retriever mix.”

Derek snorted, and then he began to chuckle, his free hand pressed against his mouth as he leaned forward and hid his face in his knees, his shoulders shaking.

Stiles frowned down at Derek. “What?” he asked. He didn’t know why Derek was laughing, but it made Stiles want to smile also.

Derek continued to laugh for a while before he sat up and turned slightly to face Stiles, squeezing his hand. “They’re not friends,” Derek said gently, making Stiles feel like he was about to get some bad news.

“What? But? Why? Oh god, don’t tell me they’re like weird enemies who get along because I’m friends with both of them?” Stiles demanded, his eyes wide. “I’m not made for that kind of drama. The other Stiles might be, but I’m not.”

“Stiles.”

Stiles closed his mouth before taking a deep breath through his nose. “Okay, give it to me straight.”

“They’re dating.”

Stiles stared at Derek and then stared some more. He opened his mouth to try and say something, but nothing came out. He frowned and opened his mouth again. “What?” he finally got out.

“About two weeks before you came here, the other Stiles set them up on a blind date,” Derek said gently. “They’d been dancing around each other for a few years, and he was sick and tired of it. It’s new, so it’s not like you have to catch up. But they’re dating.”

Stiles slumped, trying to make sense of what Derek was saying. “Scott and Cora?” he demanded, his voice an octave higher than it had been. “Seriously?”

Derek nodded.

Stiles pressed his hand over his face and tried to rearrange his worldview. He knew part of the problem was he would always be reminded of the first versions he had known, made cruel by a dark world. This Scott still had a stubborn streak a mile wide, and Stiles knew he’d come up against it soon enough, and Cora could be biting when she wanted to be. But they weren’t broken.

“Good,” he said finally, lifting his head to meet Derek’s eyes. “That’s…well. At least I won’t have to deal with the Allison Argent Romance Parade again. If she joins the pack.”

“I’m going to take her,” Derek said softly. “It’s…we have a history with the Argents, but enough people have died, and I don’t want to sacrifice her to another family or for Chris to make that decision. Both will be under guard for a long time, but everyone deserves a second chance. Like we got.”

Stiles nodded. “Good. Good. I liked Allison. I was sad when she died. She had her problems, but she was a kid. The same as us. I always liked to imagine she grew up well somewhere.”

“Well, we’ll see,” Derek said, squeezing his hand.

“Are we gonna talk about this?” he asked, lifting their hands.

The smile slipped from Derek’s face, and he shrugged. “Should we?”

“You are asking the wrong person about not discussing something,” Stiles said. “I’m the person with a powerpoint and annotated notes. Starting with the fact that I’m not that Stiles. I’m nothing like him.”

Derek sighed, rubbing his thumb over his knuckles. “You’re not him,” he agreed slowly. “And that’s good. Because anytime I talked to him, all I could see was the innocence, and I couldn’t get past it. And I never would’ve told him about the time travel. That’s not a secret I wanted to keep. I dated Sai, and I dated another pack member, George, for a few months, but they both knew about the time travel. And Stiles didn’t, and I wouldn’t put that burden on him. But you’re not him. You came from the same world I did, and you understand that being right sometimes still means being dark gray.”

Stiles nodded. “So, I’m the best of a bad situation?” he asked carefully.

Derek shook his head. “You know you used to make me so fucking angry.”

“Yes, I was annoying. I know that.”

“Not that, it’s because I liked you a hell of a lot more than I should’ve. I knew you were a kid, but you felt older to me because of the shit we went through, and it made me so angry because I never wanted to be like Kate,” Derek admitted, his voice soft. “So, I pushed, and I was a dick, and you didn’t like me that much, but you still had my back. And it made it harder. So, no. If this happens, it’s not because you’re the best of a bad situation. It’s because through two lifetimes, you’ve had my back and out of everyone I think you’ll understand the most when there are days I won’t be able to get out of bed or the smell of smoke would make me throw up and how I hate missionary because it reminds me of Kate and Julia.”

Stiles gritted his teeth at the mention of the two women. He hoped Julia had suffered when she had died, and he hoped they were burning in the depths of hell and would know pain for as long as their souls existed.

“You’re not like her,” Stiles said, knowing he needed to address that first. “You’re nothing like her.”

“You were a kid.”

“But you didn’t do anything, and you wouldn’t,” Stiles said gently.

Derek shook his head angrily. “Never.”

“I know that,” Stiles said, squeezing his hand. “Look, this. Whatever this is, it’s not gonna happen fast. I think I’m due for a serious PTSD breakdown in the next few months, and I need to figure out how to exist in a world where I don’t have to fight every second of the day. So, while I’m open to the idea, I’m not ready for anything right now.”

Derek nodded, looking like a weight had lifted from his shoulders. “That uh…that’s good. Because I’m not either. I was for a while, but the past couple of weeks…”

“Yeah, they’ve been a fucking shit show,” Stiles said dryly. “But, this?” he said, lifting their joined hands and squeezing Derek’s hand. “This’ll keep until we’re back on even ground.”

Derek nodded, squeezing his hand back. Stiles let the conversation lapse. He had said everything he needed to say, and he was content to let the silence linger. Stiles looked back over the cars, seeing a vine crawl up the side of the tire, moving faster than it had any right to. He thought of Deaton’s body and how the flowers moved, and he knew the Goddess would consume the cars, just like Derek had promised them.

“I…I’m going to be traveling for a bit between here and Lost Cove to try and figure out the pack situation,” Derek said. “I was hoping you’d still be my Emissary?”

Stiles nodded. “Of course.”

“Good, I think…I think Lacie is going to go back to Lost Cove. Her girlfriend is there,” Derek explained. “And it’s new, but Lacie likes her. And Nat’s gonna need an Emissary.”

“You don’t want Celia to be yours?” Stiles asked.

Derek shook his head. “I know Kapono will stay in my pack, but Celia wants to travel. She always did. So, I think the two of them are going to do that. She…she lost a lot to save the world. I’m not going to tie her down.”

Stiles nodded his head. “That’s fair.”

Derek nodded, looking back out at the forest for a second before he looked back and met Stiles’ eyes. “You know there’s a new Star Wars movie coming out?”

Stiles frowned at the non sequitur but then perked up at Derek’s words. “Seriously?”

“Yeah,” Derek said, rubbing the side of his jaw. “Sometime next year. We should go. See it. As a date.”

“You’re asking me on a date to a movie that won’t be out for six months minimum?” Stiles asked, tilting his head slightly.

Derek nodded. “I…I’m serious about trying this. But I know we both need time. So, it’s a goal of sorts. And if we don’t, we don’t. We can reassess then.”

“And what if we want it earlier?”

“Then we go on a date and see the movie later. It’s not a finite thing,” Derek said, smiling slightly and rolling his eyes. “

“But it’s…” Stiles trailed off, staring at Derek helplessly.

“It’s in the future,” Derek said, smiling wider. “I know. It’s far in the future. But we have that now. We can make plans for the future.”

Stiles stared at Derek, trying to make sense of a world where he could think about time in months instead of days. He could make plans for the next year and not worry about something crawling out of the darkness to drag him down.

Stiles felt a smile split his face. “We have a future.”

Derek nodded, squeezing his hand. “We do.”

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