Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“This sucks!” Stiles yells as they run through the forest of the Preserve. He is so fed up with all the supernatural craziness that seemed to be never-ending in the wonder that is Beacon Hills. He had hoped that after everything that had happened this year that the summer might be quiet, that they might catch a break but fate didn’t seem to be on board with the plan.

“Aww, you worried Batman?” Erica says with a smirk as she races past Stiles along the trail.

“Show off!” he yells after her rapidly retreating back. Stiles is glad to see that she is doing better. After the nightmare that was Gerard Argent and his creepy torture basement, Erica and Boyd had raced back to Derek to warn him both about the Argents and what the old man was doing. Derek had kept them out of the final fight in the warehouse with Jackson, the pack, and the Argents, much to the two wolves’ displeasure.

While the possible appearance of the Alpha Pack marking up the Hale House, leaving their stupid mark on the door which was seriously disrespectful, was a pain in the neck, it had been fairly quiet on that front. There had been the occasional act of minor vandalism, but nothing that they could pin down to the Alphas so they decided to put them on the back burner and focus on other things. Jackson had successfully turned and was now a member of the pack - sort of, he was wavering worse than Scott about whether he really wanted to be a part of them. The one good thing was that along with Jackson came Lydia as she was still struggling to figure out her own issues. Erica, Boyd, and Isaac were all bonding well with Derek and even Peter was being less than his usual annoying self.

The bigger problem was that for some reason the woods were bursting with a new monster just about every other day. First it was the pixies, annoying little buggers that caused the pack nearly a week of welts, stings, scrapes, and minor injuries and who was the one who didn’t heal immediately? Stiles, that’s who! But they had figured it out eventually and gotten rid of them. Then it was a trio of Trolls setting up by some caves near the lake. After they were handled there was a nest of stirges which still caused Stiles nightmares. The flying creatures were nearly two feet long and had a wickedly sharp beak nearly a foot long that they used to suck blood from their victims. Two hikers had died before they managed to exterminate that infestation.

Then came the battle with a Manticore during which Stiles actually managed to avoid injury, but the rest of the pack was messed up pretty badly. Derek was out cold for nearly a full day and a half recovering from the snake venom and Boyd and Isaac were both badly burned. Luckily Lydia and Stiles had enough time to research things and with their information Scott and Erica managed to cut off the monster’s tail and it took off like a rocket. Jackson tried to track it but the trail went cold in the mountains to the west and since it was so far from their territory, he let it go.

Now they were apparently dealing with a flock of Will of the Wisps that seem to be screwing with people all over town. Leading them into the woods where they disappear for a few days before wandering home covered in injuries and no memory of what happened. One girl’s feet were so badly cut up she almost lost them and two brothers had such severe PTSD that they ended up in Eichen House while the staff there tried to determine the cause of their trauma.

“You okay?” Scott asked slowing down to run besides Stiles. Things were still pretty prickly between Scott “I don’t want an Alpha” McCall and the Hale Pack but thanks to Stiles there was a tentative peace treaty that had them working together to deal with all of these issues. Stiles was pretty sure that Allison’s absence while visiting relatives in France for the last two weeks was a big part of Scott’s willingness to work with Derek. The other part was the serious smackdown that mama McCall laid down once she had calmed down about the whole werewolf thing.

Once she had recovered from the shock she began demanding answers from Scott but he consistently didn’t have them and so she pushed until he finally admitted everything. That's when she found out that Derek had been trying to help him out all along. So despite Scott’s protests, he was now training with Derek and the pack three times a week and Derek was sending progress reports to Melissa despite Scott’s pouting. He was wise enough not to tease his bro about it because Stiles knew that Melissa was ‘this close’ to telling the Sheriff everything and Stiles was running out of reasons that she would accept for keeping silent.

“Do we know what the hell we are dealing with yet?” Stiles panted, winded despite all the running around they have been doing lately.

“Peter says it smells like old magic” Scott manages just as they run into a clearing and skid to a stop behind the rest of the pack.

“Not old…Ancient” Peter corrects from nearby in a strangely nervous voice. Stiles glances over at the oldest werewolf and sees that the normally unflappable man is looking seriously unhappy.

“What do you think it is?” Stiles asks just as he glances over and sees Lydia freeze up beside Jackson and he watches as a look of terror races across her face. Watching the redhead as it happens Stiles shouts out “Lydia!”

Stiles’ yell causes the pack to turn to the trembling redhead. “Lyds?” Jackson’s voice is worried as he reaches out to touch her just as Peter yells to stop a moment too late.

When Jackson’s hand touches Lydia Martin her eyes go black and she opens her mouth and screams. It’s like nothing Stiles has ever heard in his life and he can only thank whatever dumb luck that’s shining on him that he is off to the side. Jackson is flung away, smashing through several smaller trees, bones breaking audibly. Peter, who was running towards them, is flung backwards into the bushes behind them while Derek and Boyd, who were directly in front of Lydia, are lifted up and thrown backwards from her, rolling on the ground before slamming into trees on the far side of the clearing.

Scott, Isaac, and Erica let out whines and drop to the ground, blood pouring from their ears as the unearthly wail drives all thought from their heads. Stiles is literally the only one left standing. He moves around to the redhead who is still screaming, hands over his ears and for the first time in almost a year he is really glad that he doesn’t have super hearing or he would be out with the rest of them. Praying she will forgive him, Stiles gets close enough and launches into the wailing girl, tackling her to the ground and finally cutting off her scream.

“LYDIA!” Stiles yells at the manic face of his friend who appears terrified of something only she can see. “LYDIA! PLEASE!” Stiles yells just as he hears the sound of metal and leather and he nearly gags at the sudden smell of rotten meat. Looking up Stiles freezes as he sees a nightmare made real. He really had hoped that demons were not real but he is pretty sure this is one and if not it is close enough. The thing looked like someone had taken a bird, made it man sized, given it super sharp talons and a barbed tail. Combined with greasy black feathers and red eyes that were not the clean red of an Alpha, but sickly and twisted and they were staring hungrily at Stiles and Lydia.

Knowing he has to do something, Stiles tightened his grip on his faithful bat and moved slowly away from the immobile redhead step by step as the beast watched him, hissing menacingly, until it turns back towards Lydia. Stiles yells and the nightmare suddenly shrieks and lunges for Stiles. Stiles however was ready and he had enough of a rest from their run that he takes off as fast as he can, hoping to draw the monster away from Lydia as he runs towards the center of the clearing. He only hopes that Derek and Boyd might recover fast enough to help. He had gotten nearly to the center when he screams in pain as he feels razor sharp tears down his back and he goes down to his knees as the beast's claws tear across his shoulders.

Stiles had managed to keep his hands on his bat despite everything and swings it around as hard as he can and he feels a rush of satisfaction as the rowan wood slams into the monster’s head, crushing the thing’s beak and splashing Stiles with hot, black ichor as the beast crashes into the ground. Stiles only pauses for a second before he takes off running again as the monster is already recovering as it lets out a mangled scream and chases after him. He had gotten just a few yards away when the clouds part long enough to allow the nearly full moon to light up the whole clearing. Stiles suddenly sees a large ring of mushrooms ahead of him, nearly a dozen feet across, in his direct path and he barely manages to slam to a stop just outside the edge of the ring.

Unfortunately the monster was closer than he realized and before he can start moving again he is slammed into by the thing and lets out a yelp as the impact of the demon drives both of them into the circle.

Scott staggers to his feet holding his bloodied hands from his ears and glancing down at Erica and Isaac who are both still struggling to recover from Lydia’s screams. The problem wasn’t just the volume, which was painful enough, it was that he could hear that it wasn’t a single scream. No, while it may have sounded like a single scream to human ears, he could tell that it was actually so many layered on top of each other so thickly that he couldn’t count them. They came so fast and so close together that it might have sounded like one big scream, but it was probably hundreds, maybe even thousands, of voices all screaming at once.

Shaking his head to clear his vision he hears Stiles’ shriek and looks up and sees the teen swing his bat into some hideous bird thing, knocking it to the side before he takes off running. Scott tries to move forward to race to his side but he slips and falls, dizzy and confused, the whole clearing felt like it was rocking like he was on a boat. He stares helplessly as he watches Stiles run across the clearing, the creature chasing after him before the teen suddenly stops. Scott screams out “STILES!”

The next seconds seemed to slow to a crawl for Scott as he watches Stiles, fear clear on his face, as the bird monster slams into him and they fall forward and then they are gone. They never land on the ground, rather they just disappear between one fraction of second and another.

“”STILES!” Scott screams out again as he struggles to his feet and tries to run towards where he last saw them but he falls again.

Derek rolls over and shakes his head. Lydia’s scream had caught him and Boyd right in the face but somehow the large beta was slightly between him and Lydia and that had given Derek the smallest amount of coverage from the sonic blast. Looking at his beta, Derek can tell that Boyd is alive but unconscious. He glances around the clearing and notes that only Stiles is still standing and why is he running towards Derek? All of a sudden the Alpha hears the boy scream and as he falls he swings his stupid bad wildly. As Stiles rolls Derek finally sees the disgusting bird thing that had ripped into Stiles back, the coppery smell of the boy’s blood slamming into Derek’s nose like a hammer. The wild swing of the bat smashes into the things face and knocks it over and Derek could swear he could feel the pulse of magic from the Rowan wood bat that Stiles had gotten last week as the bird demon is knocked into the ground.

Stiles, smart for once, turns and runs away from the thing, heading to the other side of the clearing. Derek scrambles to his feet and starts running to intercept them as he sees the thing chasing after Stiles with a blood curdling scream. Derek is running, his claws and fangs out, and sees that Stiles should be able to reach the safety of the trees before the thing closes in and Derek will be able to kill it before it reaches him but Stiles suddenly stops running. Roaring in fury he watches as the human starts to spin around but the monster is too close and slams into the teen and they both fall forwards and Derek knows he will only have seconds to act but then, right before his eyes, Stiles and the thing, falling towards the ground, suddenly vanishe without a sound or trace.

Derek is still moving when he spots the ring of mushrooms where they disappeared and he skids to a stop recognizing the danger. However he only pauses for a second before he is moving again and he jumps into the ring, ignoring the screams from his pack, to chase after Stiles but instead he crashes into the ground in the center of the ring. Looking around him in shock he is still here in the clearing with the rest of his pack. His head falls back and he lets out a roar that shakes the trees as he howls in fury.

Erica had just managed to shake off the effects of Lydia’s wail when she hears Stiles’ scream. She watches, helpless to move from the disorientation, as the boy she once crushed on is running from some monstrous bird creature only to suddenly slam to a halt for no reason and then the monster slams into him, hurling them forward only to disappear in the blink of an eye. She freezes at the sight, not sure what was happening when she hears her Alpha’s roar as Derek slides to a stop a few feet from the scene just for a moment before his muscles shift and she knows what was going to happen next.

She screams. She watches as Derek launches himself into the air where Stiles vanished and she feels her heart slamming in her chest, fearing that he was going to disappear too but he doesn’t. She watches the Alpha slam into the grass unlike Stiles and the monster and he spins around looking furious. At that point she realizes that he is standing inside a ring of mushrooms and then suddenly Derek lets out a roar that drives all thought out of her head. It was a scream for their pack member and the rage and fury made her quake with fear.

A timid touch breaks through the haze and she saw Isaac staring at Derek with terror written on his face. He glanced at her in confusion and his eyes widened in shock at the tears in the she-wolf’s eyes. “Stiles…he’s gone” she stammered and Isaac paled.

Chapter Text

Scott finally manages to stand up without either falling over or throwing up and stumbles over to Derek only to find the Alpha standing there all alone looking furious. There is no sign of Stiles…just the fading traces of the boy’s scent overlaid with the smell of rotten meat and sulfur. “Derek?” Scott’s voice cracks “where’s Stiles? Where did he go?” the beta demands frantically looking at the still shifted Alpha.

Derek turns towards him, eyes flashing red and Scott feels his stomach drop at the look of guilt and confusion suddenly on the older man’s face. “I don’t know” he growls out looking sick. “He’s gone” he finally says.

“Gone? Gone where? I swear to god Derek if you did something” Scott roars as he reaches for the Alpha but Derek knocks him backwards.

“Stay back, don’t cross the line!” Derek roars and Scott looks completely confused.

“Line? What line?” Scott asks confused and angry. Derek points down at the ground but all Scott can see are some mushrooms. “What? What are you pointing at?” he demands.

“It’s a faery circle” Peter says with a wrecked voice walking up behind them. Scott spins around and sees the oldest wolf looking battered and bruised, blood on his face from now closed wounds. He is staring down at the mushrooms.

“What’s a faery circle?” Scott asks as he sees Isaac and Erica moving over to check on Boyd who was still out cold while Jackson is on the ground, holding Lydia in his arms and she isn’t moving either.

“Very old and very powerful magic” Peter answers. “No one really knows exactly what they are, but they were often associated with people disappearing. Some believed that the Fair Folk used them to lure the unwary into them to steal them away. Some said they were doors into...other.”

Scott stares at the wolf in confusion. “Other? What other? Is that where that bird thing came from?” he asks looking back at the innocent looking ring.

“I don’t know” Peter admits. “That thing was like nothing I have ever seen or even heard of and of much greater concern, I didn’t catch even a hint of it's rather potent scent until after Ms. Martin screamed.”

"What does that mean?" Scott asks confused but his concern ratchets up when he sees the look of worry on the Alpha's face.

Derek shakes himself as he stares back at the Beta. “We don't know yet. Peter” he orders “see if you can track where that thing came from. We will take Boyd and Lydia to Deaton.” Derek's voice doesn't sound hopeful.

“What about Stiles?” Scott demands looking ready to take on both of them.

“Scott…I don’t know where he is, do you?” Derek asks in a broken voice and waits as Scott flounders for an answer that isn’t coming. “Deaton may be able to help us and not only with Boyd and Lydia. He also might be able to help us figure out what that thing was and where it could have taken Stiles.” Derek sounds under control but Peter sees the fear and uncertainty in his nephew even if it appears hidden from the others.

“I could ask Mr. Argent” Scott offers and sees both other wolves tense up at his suggestion. Scott is ready to argue with them when Derek surprisingly suddenly nods in agreement.

“Go ahead and call him. We need all the help we can get” Derek admits sullenly and moves to help gather the wounded while Peter moves out following the monster’s trail. “Meet us at Deaton’s once you find something” he orders his uncle and then they are carrying the two wounded members towards the cars.

Scott stares after the others as they all move off and he feels sick and not from Lydia's scream. Glancing back at the innocent looking ring of mushrooms he feels lost. Stiles has always been there and now he's gone. He's got to get him back. Turning towards town he runs until he can get somewhere with solid reception.

“What happened?” Deaton asks, his voice calm as usual, as the pack bursts through the doors of the clinic, Derek carrying the still unconscious Boyd while Jackson has Lydia in his arms. The redhead is still unresponsive but her eyes are now open even though she isn’t responding. They lay both of the injured pack members on the tables as the vet moves to check on the beta first.

“We were chasing the wisps when all of sudden Lydia screamed and it took down the whole pack. It was unearthly. She hurled Boyd and I across a clearing and wounded the others. It was like getting hit by a train” Derek summarizes quickly. Erica and Isaac add a few bits and Deaton only nods.

“Mr. Boyd appears to only be unconscious. I believe he should recover in a bit” Deaton says as he turns to look at the redhead on the table. “You said she screamed?” he asks shining a light into her unresponsive eyes.

“Yeah, it was really weird” Erica replies. “Jackson touched her and her scream threw him and Peter away and blasted Boyd and Derek. Before we could react it was like being stabbed in the ears. But the strangest thing was I could swear that I heard more than one voice screaming…like a lot more, but it was all coming out of her” she tells him tentatively and Deaton nods calmly. He frowns in thought for a moment before moving over to his shelves and opens a drawer and takes out a small metal charm on a leather strap. Holding it over the Lydia he mutters something as he moves it across her body when all of sudden the charm lets out a mournful sound like someone wailing.

“What is that?” Jackson demands nervously.

Deaton sighs. "It is a charm that reacts to the presence of death magic" he tells Jackson. He then looks over at Derek “It would appear that the reason that Ms. Martin didn’t turn when Peter bit her and the reason he was able to use her in his resurrection is that she is a Banshee. Banshees wail in the presence of death, and while I have heard of them using their wail as a weapon, I have never heard it like how you described” he tells them gently.

“A Banshee?” Jackson stammers looking down at the girl laying there.

“How could she be a Banshee?” Derek demanded of the druid. He looked at the wounded pack members taken out accidently by the girl.

“Banshees are descended from the fae. I would imagine that her magical heritage was passed down through the women in her family and Peter’s bite activated her it.

“So this is Peter’s fault?” Jackson snarls at the vet.

Deaton looks at the teen with sympathy. “Not entirely. While it is true that his bite awakened Ms. Martin, however with the increase in supernatural activity over the last year, it is more than likely that her powers would have awakened on their own. Though it would probably have taken a lot longer rather than happening all at once.”

“Jackson, if Lydia was always this, Peter’s bite just sped things up” Derek tells the teen. “Right now we need to know if she is going to be okay and figure out what happened to Stiles.”

“I imagine that Ms. Martin was somehow overwhelmed by her senses. Away from whatever it was that triggered it, she should recover given time” he assures the pack. Then he frowns and looks around in concern. “Where is Mr. Stilinski? You said something about him” he asks the Alpha.

Derek explains the rest of the night’s activities with the monster, Stiles’ disappearance, and the faery ring. Just as he is finishing up, Peter walks into the clinic and everyone looks up hopefully. Their hope quickly fades with the frustrated look on the eldest wolf’s face. “I only got a few yards from the clearing before the trail disappeared” he tells Derek who growls. “I circled the clearing several times going further and further out but there was nothing, not even a trace. It was like it just appeared and attacked out of nowhere. I even climbed the trees around the place to see if it maybe flew in but the only traces of scent were on the ground” he told them.

Deaton frowned. “It is possible that the faery ring drew the creature there and it appeared close by. It may not have been in Beacon Hills before that moment.” Deaton moves over to a cabinet and pulls down a large book. “Many legends exist about the rings, some of the more popular ones believe that the rings are the result of the fae dancing within them and when the unsuspecting entered the ring, they were able to see the fae folk and subject to their illusions.”

“That bird thing was no fae I ever heard about” Peter snorts and Deaton sighs again.

“No, it wasn’t. However there is an older belief that the rings were actually portals to other realms. Some of them could only open windows to those worlds allowing those within the ring to see that world but other rings were more powerful and could be doors to those distant realms. The problem is that the rings may not be associated only with the fae. There are more realms than just theirs” Deaton says carefully. "Where exactly was it?" he asks pulling out a map of the preserve. Derek finds the clearing on the map and Deaton frowns. "That is on the ley lines which means the ring can draw mystical power from...." he pauses and glances at Peter nervously "the area" he finally says.

“So how do we figure out what we are dealing with?” Derek demands of the druid who just looks uncertain.

“I am not sure. There are many factors that can affect these things. The positions of the stars, the moon, and the planets, the time of year, the time of day...there are many things that can change the nature of the ring. We first need to know the exact time that it happened because even a few second’s difference can change everything. Not to mention the type of mushrooms that were used. Unfortunately I don’t have all the books that I will I need here, but I can call some people and get them in a few days” he offers tentatively.

“DAYS!” Derek yells out. “Stiles is missing and you want to wait days?” Derek snarls and Deaton looks at him with his usual serene expression.

“Derek, I don’t have the resources here. Even with all the information necessary, I would need to consult charts and manuscripts that I don’t have” he says resignedly. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know what else to tell you.”

“I know the time” Isaac says timidly and everyone is suddenly staring at him in surprise. He pulls out his phone. “When Erica said Stiles was gone, I tried to call his phone thinking maybe he was just moved nearby or something. But he didn’t answer and then we were checking on Boyd. I tried maybe a minute or so after it happened and that was at” he pauses “12:01 am” he finishes.

“So Stiles went into the circle at exactly midnight?” Peter says with a sick voice before looking at the vet who shares his concern. “That is not good is it?”

Deaton shakes his head. “That’s the hour of the dead.”

“Scott?” Allison’s voice sounded surprised and Scott realized that they hadn’t talked since she left for France. She had wanted some time to think about everything and deal with what Gerard had put her family through. “Why are you calling? I thought that we agreed…” she started but Scott cut her off.

“Stiles is gone” Scott interrupted her. “We were chasing these things when Lydia screamed and knocked down the whole pack. Then this bird thing attacked and Stiles was the only one who was standing and he ran.”

“Scott, Scott!” Allison yelled in the phone. “Where did he go? Why didn’t you follow him?”

“He just vanished!” Scott whines. “He was running and then they vanished. Peter said it was some kind of magic circle. Derek said I should call your dad, he said we needed help” Scott added.

Allison paled and felt her stomach drop. She still hadn’t managed to entirely deal with her feelings about Hale family. Peter had killed her aunt and even after learning everything that Kate had done, it still hurt watching her die. But then Stiles had confronted her about it and when he had asked why it was okay for her to hunt Derek and the pack like she had when her mom died but Peter wasn't allowed that for Kate she struggled. But then he told her the truth about her mother’s attempt to kill Scott. She hadn't believed it but Scott had finally confessed the truth, and her father had confirmed it, which made her even more confused. When her father had suggested coming to France for a few weeks, Allison had quickly agreed to figure out what she was supposed to do now.

“Allison? What’s going on?” Chris Argent asked walking into the little kitchen of the apartment they were staying in.

“It’s Scott” Allison says and quickly tells him what Scott had told her. Chris takes the phone and asks several questions before telling him that they will call him back and he hangs up. “Dad?” she asks looking concerned at his worried face.

“If it was a faery circle…he could be anywhere. We are taught to avoid those things like the plague. They are ancient magic and that's rarely a good thing. If he went through one…” Chris goes quiet and Allison gulps.

“What was the bird thing?” she asks in a broken voice and when she sees the fear on her father’s face.

“Allison…I have no idea” and her heart plummets at the look of despair on his face. “I’ve never even heard of something like that. I can reach out to some people…” he offers and pauses at the determined look on her face.

“Do it” she orders and he sees her shift from scared teenager into focused Huntress. “We’re going back to Beacon Hills. Now. Can the family help?” she asks as she moves to gather their belongings.

“Mattias keeps the records” Chris informs her. “I will put him on it. Go pack the bags and I will get our travel sorted out” he instructs and pulls out his phone. Allison had been struggling with things and Chris despaired that she would be able to shake it off but this crisis seemed to be what she needed to remember who she was and for that, if nothing else, he was willing to help out the Hales.

It takes them less than an hour before they are headed to airport and Allison has barely had time to think let alone wonder at her father’s sudden agreement with her decision. She thinks back to when she overheard him talking to Mattias and she knew he was extremely worried about what happened. Thought he tried to be quiet she was certain that he said something that made her blood freeze. “Demon.”

Scott walked into the clinic and paused as he felt the tension in the room. “I talked with Mr. Argent” he started to say but froze when he realized that both Lydia and Boyd were now conscious and everyone was just staring. “What happened?” he asks worriedly.

“What did Argent say?” Derek asks instead of answering, his voice low and tightly controlled. Scott looks at the Alpha in confusion but shakes it off.

“They haven’t heard of anything like that bird thing but he is asking for help. Allison texted me that they were on their way back” he added with a crooked smile.

Derek frowned for a moment before Peter’s voice shocked everyone. “We might need them nephew” he said gingerly.

Everyone stared at the older wolf in surprise except for Deaton who was as unaffected as ever. “You want to work with the Argents?” Lydia’s voice dripped with disbelief.

Peter snorted, clearly annoyed. “Want to? Absolutely not my dear but what I want is irrelevant. We are spinning our wheels and nothing in the Hale records even hints at this and it seems that our dear former Emissary is equally as helpless. If we are going to get Mr. Stilinski back, we will need to act quickly and with every resource we can gather” he answers Lydia but his eyes are looking at Derek.

“Lydia” Scott says moving to the redhead “what happened back there?” he asks and is surprised by the look of confusion on her face.

“I…I don’t really know. We were following the pack, Jackson was carrying me on his back when we entered the clearing and then…nothing. I was waking up here and I am not sure what happened…except…” she trails off.

“Except?” Deaton is suddenly beside her, his voice gentle but insistent. “Except what Ms. Martin?” he prompts.

Lydia looked sick as she glanced around the pack. “Death. It was death. I don't know how I know it but I do and it was like nothing I have ever felt before. I could smell it…taste it even” she struggled with the words that were making the rest of the pack uncomfortable. “I think…” her voice drifts for a moment, taking on a strange timbre before continuing “…it was the end of everything” she finally manages.

“Oh crap” Erica’s voice seems to break the spell on the group from Lydia’s dire pronouncement. “What are we supposed to do?” she asks looking at Derek desperately.

Derek frowns but then takes a deep breath. “Deaton is reaching out to his contacts. Apparently so is Argent. We can’t do anything else tonight so Peter and I will return to the clearing to see if we can pick anything up and to keep an eye on the circle. Erica, you and Isaac take Boyd to the loft to recover. Jackson, take Lydia home. We will meet in the morning and hopefully know more.”

“What about me? You are not leaving me out of this! Stiles is my best friend!” Scott yells at Derek, even going so far as to flash his eyes at the Alpha.

Derek growls and his red eyes flash back. “Go home Scott. You can relieve Peter and me in the morning at the clearing. I want someone watching the circle from now until we get Stiles back. So, go home and get some sleep” he says and sees the beta deflate and he just nods in agreement.

“Derek…I can’t lose him” Scott whines and Derek manages to not flinch at the several other whines that he ignores coming from his other pack members.

“Scott, we will find him. He’s okay, I know it” Derek says firmly but all of them hear the skip in his heartbeat that gives him away.

“Ahem...not to be the bearer of bad news but we haven’t addressed a slightly more serious concern” Peter says in his condescending voice looking at Derek and Scott. Both wolves look at him with confusion and Peter rolls his eyes and sighs. “The Sheriff” he reminds them dryly.

Scott and Derek both pale. “Shit.”

Chapter Text

Sheriff Noah Stilinski rubbed the bridge of his nose trying to relieve his headache while looking at the files on his desk that were still open and were making his gut roll with certainty that he was missing something. Ever since they found Laura Hale’s body last year, things in Beacon Hills had begun spinning out of control. He had looked into the records before all of this and the last ‘wild animal’ attack that happened near the town had been four years ago. The one before that? Seven years ago.

But since they found Hale’s body? ‘Animal attacks’ had grown from one every few years to multiple attacks for a few weeks before disappearing only to start up later with an entirely different pattern. First Ms. Hale, then the bus driver at the school who was somehow killed by a ‘mountain lion’ inside a bus. Then a video clerk attacked inside his store followed by two arsonists who ended up stuffed in trash cans. They died from the fire but the coroner found signs of a similar attack as the others on their bodies. So either someone found their attacked bodies and dumped them or some animal apparently doesn't like to litter! Despite the evidence of claws and hair on the victims, it didn’t make sense that everyone who apparently was involved with the Hale fire was somehow being targeted by wild animals.

Then you have Kate Argent getting her throat torn out while she was at the Hale House. Why was she there alone? And based on the weapons they found in her car, she wouldn’t have gone down easily. And despite there not being anything solid, Noah would swear that there were signs of others there even if he couldn’t be certain at the time. The problem was the number of people who trespassed there messed up the scene.

Then there was Coach Lahey and several of his former swim team members and friends who were all killed by…something. Paralyzing Stiles while a car lift crushed the mechanic. Then there was the incident at the Jungle where he found his son, again for some reason, when a crowd of people were somehow attacked and paralyzed inside a crowded bar. Then, he glances at the most painful picture, there was the attack on the station. He lost some good people that day, people who didn't deserve that. According to the coroner, his people had not only been clawed, but showed signs of some kind of toxin similar to the one that got Stiles at the auto shop. That was definitely not a mountain lion. Then he had the mystery of who had fired a significant amount of gunfire into the station while he was unconscious even though there was no evidence anyone had actually been shot.

Glancing over at the photo on his desk he sighed heavily remembering that night again. Sure Stiles had always been a troublemaker, but he is essentially a good kid. He seemed to be dragging Scott off on adventures that drove both him and Melissa to their limits but they were never malicious or cruel…just typical boys looking for something exciting. But he had been lying to Noah for some time now and it seemed to have begun around the same time as all of this. And he was there that night in the station and he definitely seemed to have some understanding of what was really going on with the Daehler kid before Noah was knocked out. Then the kid was found drowned in shallow water the next morning.

Next item on his list? Scott McCall. Noah had known that boy since Stiles had acquired him at four years old and prior to this year he wouldn’t have bet a cup of coffee on the kid making it through an entire lacrosse game, let alone being first line and co-captain but he was. Somehow the asthmatic teen had turned into an athletic powerhouse, bulking up, and developing a serious boost of confidence. How the hell does that happen?

Looking at the one odd file he thought back to the call from the Argent house. Victoria Argent had committed suicide and there was no doubt on anyone’s part about that…they even had the knife she used with only her fingerprints. But somehow Noah was certain that it was connected with the others even if he couldn't exactly say why. The Argents were part of this somehow he was certain.

Jackson Whittemore. That boy was the bane of Scott and Stiles’ childhood with his stuck up attitude and bullying ways and had managed to get a restraining order on both of them after the fiasco with the police van, which nearly cost him his job, but then the teen had come in and admitted it was all part of a prank war that had gotten out of hand. He had even gone to Judge Adams and admitted that they were egging each other on and when his dad got involved, he panicked. Noah didn’t buy it. The kid had been too raw and honest when it happened but when he watched him recant, he was equally convincing about wanting it removed. Judge Adams had given Jackson a severe dressing down for wasting everyone’s time and the teen just took it. Even bigger surprise? According to Dave Martin at the school, Jackson was now hanging out with both Stiles and Scott at school, along with Isaac Lahey, Allison Argent, Lydia Martin, Vernon Boyd, and Erica Reyes.

Martin. That was another piece that didn’t fit. She was attacked at the school at the winter dance but there was no sign of her date, Stiles, when the ambulance arrived but instead Jackson was there helping with the girl. The doctors were sure it was an animal attack with all of the bites, but her reaction to them confused the doctors. She wasn't responding to treatment despite the lack of significant injuries and then she somehow wandered away from the hospital, naked, only to show up in the woods, where, once again his son just happened to be there.

Noah glanced at his empty board and seriously considered putting everything up there but something kept him in his seat. He didn’t want the other deputies to see what ultimately probably involves his son. He wants to believe that Stiles is not involved but then there is the last piece.

Derek Hale. The man was an enigma. Noah remembered the teen he had tried to console so long ago on the night of the fire and that broken boy didn’t resemble the angry man anymore. But considering everything…that wasn't such a surprise. He also regretted pulling the kid in not once, but twice, accusing him of murder based on Stiles and Scott’s reports, which they recanted shortly afterwards. Scott had been insistent that night but Noah hadn’t missed that Stiles did not agree with his claims though he didn’t actually challenge Scott’s version. When McCall had finally confessed that he didn't actually see Derek but that he had just assumed based on some mistakes, Noah hadn’t missed the rather disapproving and judgmental look on his son’s face when the boy fessed up.

Then there was the lacrosse game. Jackson apparently dies on the field and then he suddenly is not dead and is totally fine. Melissa had reported that the EMTs had missed the signs but her excuse just didn’t ring true. In fact…ever since that night in the station, Melissa had been off as well. And he had nearly lost it when he had seen Stiles injuries from whoever had attacked him, and while he still didn’t believe it was the kids from the other team, he knew that Stiles was hiding the truth for a reason. He wouldn't normally let anyone get away with that so there had to be something else going on. He would have pushed, but his son’s desperation to avoid answering had convinced him to let it go…as far as Stiles knew. He was still looking into it and had already confirmed it wasn't the other team, they were all accounted for when it happened.

But Noah had been willing to bide his time, to watch and see. And then the principal, Gerard Argent, who got appointed to the job under rather suspicious circumstances, suddenly disappears without telling anyone on the school board that he’s leaving. Chris just announces a family emergency that required his attention out of state for an undetermined period of time. But as far as Noah could tell, all of the man’s family was in Beacon Hills.

No. Things were not adding up and they hadn’t for some time. Leaning back he remembered Sheriff Reynolds looking extremely upset the night of the Hale fire. He had known Talia and Robert Hale for years and Noah had assumed it was losing friends in such a horrific way but it had been a few weeks later, right before Reynolds had retired and moved to Arizona to be near his daughter that Noah had found the sheriff drinking in his office and telling then deputy Stilinski that the town was screwed with the loss of the Hales and that things were going to get bad very soon.

Noah had written it off as grief and alcohol at the time but now he wonders…did Reynolds know something? Something that would make all of this make sense?

Scott paced in his room desperate to figure out what to do. He had finally gone home after Derek and the others left, but he couldn’t calm down. Stiles was gone and no one was doing anything. He groaned knowing that wasn’t really true. Scott had pressed Deaton after the pack left but the vet had sadly confirmed everything that he had already told them. He didn’t know where Stiles was, but right now he was outside of their reach and they had to wait. It wasn't easy, Scott wanted to do something, tear something, fight something but the vet had just sent him home to sleep while he worked. Not even Lydia had the resources to figure this out even if she was in any condition to do so. The answers they needed weren't online.

He hears his mom’s car coming down the street and he freezes knowing that he has to tell her. His mom might be frustrated by Stiles sometimes, and for a while she sort of blamed him for Scott getting bit, but he knows that she cares. She also knew how much Stiles had done to help him through all of this and he had been rather embarrassed when he admitted everything he had done to Stiles since he got the bite. Stiles had even come over to help her when she finally found out about Scott and helped her realize that her son hadn’t really changed and that she didn’t need to be afraid of him. Stiles never gave up on someone he cared about and Scott had to do the same!

But she was also not happy with the two of them not telling the Sheriff and risking their lives without him knowing. She had agreed to respect Stiles’ decision, but Scott knew it wasn’t going to last for too long, they were too united in dealing with their sons. Scott heard the door open and close and caught a whiff of exhaustion as his mother climbed the stairs. “Scott?” Melissa McCall said standing in his doorway looking surprised that her son was still awake. The look grew more concerned when she realized how worried he looked. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” she demanded stepping into the room.

Scott shook his head as she looked him over. “I’m fine. But Stiles…he…” Scott’s voice broke and he choked, unable to continue, and Melissa froze, the blood rushing from her face as her eyes widened.

“Scott, what happened to Stiles?” Melissa voice had an edge and he caught the sudden scent of fear, but she was keeping control. She was shifting to her 'nurse' mask where she put aside everything to focus on her patient. Her first thought was that Noah would not survive this.

Scott finally broke down and it all came out. The chase in the woods, the bird demon, Stiles vanishing in the fairy ring, and Deaton’s belief that Stiles was transported to another world or plane of existence. Melissa was stunned listening to her son’s story and she pulled him in as he broke down, tears flowing, as he sobbed his fears that his brother was gone forever. “Scott, I need you to listen to me. You said that Deaton was trying to figure out how to get him back right?” she asks him and he nods, sniffling loudly. “Then we can’t give up hope. We don't know what happened and until we do you can't let fear paralyze you.”

“But it could take days before he even knows where to look and then he said that we might only have a limited window to get him back if it even possible. He might be unreachable” Scott wails and Melissa realizes that this is way worse than what she first thought. “Derek…he wants me to go with him to tell the Sheriff” he adds in a quiet, desperate voice.

Melissa stiffens. She wanted the boys to tell Noah the truth, but this wasn’t how she wanted him to learn about all this craziness. Melissa had hoped that Stiles being human would help keep him safer but now Noah was going to learn all this and that his son was missing…and maybe gone forever. Clutching Scott closer she let the tears that had been threatening to finally fall. She would be going with them when they told him. She owed Claudia that much, she couldn’t leave Noah to face this on his own.

Noah steps into the kitchen and starts the coffee maker with a yawn. He got in late last night and saw the note Stiles had left saying he was at Scott’s playing video games and would probably crash there. Noah had checked Stiles’ bedroom both when he got home and this morning with no sign of his son but he wasn’t completely convinced that his son was actually where he said he was. Stiles often had told him that he was at Scott’s or with the other teen but his jeep wasn’t there and was reported in various locations around town.

Stiles had forgotten that one, his jeep was very noticeable and recognizable and two, people loved telling him what his son was up to or doing. Noah had tried to give Stiles some freedom to be a normal kid, he remembered what it was like and didn’t want to make his son miserable, but things were getting more and more out of hand. Finding his son at crime scene after crime scene was getting suspicious even if the majority of them were animal attacks or something that didn’t point to the kid but he knew it wouldn’t be too long until his deputies started talking about it.

He was still watching the pot when his phone sounded and he groaned. Getting called this early was never a good thing. Noah answered it without looking at it “Stilinski” he managed to sound alert and professional.

“Noah?” Melissa McCall’s voice was timid and uncertain and he was suddenly much more awake.

“Mel? Is everything alright?” he asks standing up straight to be ready for anything.

“Noah…what time do you work today? I mean do you have any time this morning?” she asks nervously.

“I can always make time for you Mel. Is it…Stiles?” he finally manages to ask. His throat clenches when she doesn’t immediately answer.

“Noah…can you come over in say an hour? Maybe tell the station you will be late?” she asks sounding very scared.

“Mel…is Stiles okay?” he presses again and when she doesn’t answer he feels his heart start pounding.

“Stiles isn’t here…and he hasn’t been all night” she finally says and Noah closes his eyes. “I think you need to know some things” she adds sounding miserable.

“I will be there in twenty” he says firmly and hangs up before she can reply and he is moving towards the shower. He is going to ground that kid until doomsday! He has been out doing something and apparently has been making Mel an accessory to his lying. But a very quiet voice says that she wouldn't agree with that and that she was scared of something and he felt the knot in his stomach tighten as he remembered when he had heard her sound like that before...at the hospital with Claudia.

Nineteen minutes later Scott watched the Sheriff’s cruiser pull into his driveway and he tried to ignore the pain in his stomach as he moved to open the door. He glanced over at his mother and Derek standing in the living room, both of them looking unhappy but his mother is also determined. “Sheriff” Scott mumbles as he opens the door as the man steps onto the porch. “Come in.”

Noah restrains himself from demanding answers from the teen and walks in the house but he stops in surprise when he sees who’s waiting for him in the living room. Melissa looks extremely guilty and there’s Scott, the boy who gives himself away with the slightest pressure looking sick. But what he wasn’t expecting was the man standing next to her: Derek Hale.

Noah had sat across the interrogation table when he was investigating Laura’s death and during that entire exchange, Derek Hale might as well have been made of stone with how little he reacted to anything. He was shut down, Noah could tell the difference between unfeeling and being so shut down that nothing gets out, and Derek was shut down. He was furious to be there, but he was also absolute in his certainty that he was not involved and checking his flight info, he was still in New York when his sister actually died. The few times after that he had encountered the young man, he had been distant, isolated, and highly defensive. But not now. Now he looked as sick as Mel and Scott and he also looked significantly more guilty than when he was sitting in the police station wearing handcuffs.

“Melissa” Noah has switched into Sheriff mode, recognizing that something is seriously wrong in this situation. “Where’s Stiles?” he adds with a glance to her but his focus is on Hale.

“Sheriff, we aren’t sure” Scott’s voice cracks and he glances back at the teen who looks seriously messed up and guilty.

“What do you mean ‘you aren’t sure’? He said he was spending the night with you?” the Sheriff asks staring down the teen.

“Noah…it’s complicated” Melissa starts but then looks lost as she glances over at Derek imploringly.

“Sheriff” Hale starts “you might want to sit down.”

Noah looks at the man and the other two but doesn’t move. “Someone needs to start explaining things…now” his voice growls a bit and he doesn’t miss how both Scott and Derek seem to step back and they shift their eyes to look away from him.

“It started the night you found Laura Hale’s body when Stiles and I went out to the woods” Scott began and Noah just groaned.

“You were there that night?” Noah interrupts and the teen flushes.

“Yeah. Stiles overheard you on the phone and came and got me and we went looking but then you caught him. I got away but I got a bit lost and then this herd of deer came out of nowhere and ran past me. I got knocked down and dropped my inhaler. I was looking for it when I spotted Laura’s body” Scott explained and the Sheriff stopped him.

“You found the body?” he demanded and Scott looked even guiltier.

“Sort of. I mean, yes I found it, but I freaked out and was trying to get away when something attacked me. Some kind of animal came out of nowhere and bit me. I ran off and by the time I made it home I didn't remember where she was” Scott replies.

“What kind of animal? A mountain lion?” the Sheriff asks.

“No. Definitely not. It took a few days but Stiles was the one to figure it out based on my symptoms." Scott paused but saw the confusion on the Sheriff's face. "I had healed the bite overnight, my hearing was suddenly super sensitive, as was my nose, my asthma was gone, and I was stronger and faster than ever” Scott explained.

Noah looked confused. “Scott, those aren’t symptoms. No animal bite would do that and what do you mean it cured your asthma?”

Scott looked embarrassed but he took a deep breath. “It wasn’t an animal. It was a werewolf and it bit me. Now I’m a werewolf too.”

Noah stared at the teen and watched him but for once he couldn’t spot the kid’s lie. He seemed to really believe this. He glanced over at Melissa who was looking concerned, but it didn’t appear that she was worried that her son was spouting complete nonsense. “Scott…son, there is no such thing as werewolves” he replied gently and wondered if this was why Mel was so worked up.

Scott looked at Derek but then he looked back at the sheriff and stared him in the eyes. Noah was about to reassure him that they would get him help with the boy’s eyes glowed with a golden light that wasn’t natural. Noah froze in astonishment as he watched the face of boy he had known since he was barely out of diapers suddenly shifted into a bestial form with fur, fangs, and a pronounced ridge on his face. A face that wasn’t human. “Surprise?” Scott said with a sheepish shrug.

Noah paled and took an involuntary step back but then he turned to look at Melissa who was watching him, not her son. She wasn’t surprised!?! “Mel?” his voice didn’t come out as strong as he would have hoped.

“It’s a lot to take, I know. I found out that night at the station. Took me a while to get over it, but Stiles helped me understand he was still my Scott” she assured him.

“Stiles helped you?” he asks confused.

That led to Scott explaining how Stiles had figured out what had happened and then helped him get control of himself so he wouldn’t hurt anyone. Scott even admitted that he had attacked Stiles a few times before he got full control but that he had stood by Scott through everything.

Out of everything, that part didn’t surprise Noah. Stiles was loyal to those he loved and not even Scott turning into a creature of the night would cause him to abandon the kid. Noah finally sat down, well he basically collapsed on the couch but who’s going to judge him for that, before he finally looked over at Hale. “And how do you fit in to this?” he asks and the man flashes crimson red eyes and he startles. “You are one too?” he asks as the others sit down.

“My family were mostly werewolves, with some human members, but Kate Argent killed them because her family are werewolf hunters. Some hunters follow a code that says they only kill wolves who have killed or gone feral, but she and her father are among those who believe that all werewolves deserve to die even if they have never harmed anyone” Derek says carefully.

Noah frowns. “I only knew your mother professionally, but Sheriff Reynolds knew them well and mourned their loss. I don’t think he would have done that if they were evil or dangerous” he says thoughtfully. “Laura?” he asks gently.

Derek looks unhappy but he and Scott start talking and explaining everything. The rogue Alpha who turned out to be Peter Hale, Scott and Derek fighting, the final fight where his son napalmed Peter Hale so Derek could kill him and claim the Alpha power. Derek building a pack that included Reyes, Boyd, and Lahey and that he bit Jackson but it didn’t work. They then explained the whole Jackson/Kanima story and Noah was overwhelmed. Jackson Whittemore had killed half the force plus numerous others and Stiles and Scott had tried to secure him in the van to keep everyone safe?

“Jackson didn’t kill them sir. Matt Daehler and Gerard Argent did” Derek corrected him and that led to the rest of the story with Jackson’s rescue and release, the betrayal by Scott and how he poisoned Gerard, and the final defeat of Argent. That led to the news that his son, who they assured him was completely human, going out and fighting ogres, wisps, ghouls, and other supernatural creatures who were apparently being drawn to Beacon Hills for some reason.

“So my son, my normal, not supernatural, son has been fighting in some kind of magical war and lying to me about it? Have I got that right?” he asks. “So how do you not know where he is?” he demands of the two wolves.

Scott freezes but Derek starts talking. He doesn’t meet Noah’s eyes, but he relays the whole story of the night before. The chase, Lydia’s scream, and the attack of the bird thing and how it and Stiles vanished in some kind of ring.

“Are you telling me a monster took my son?” Noah looks at the man and Derek can tell that he is seriously contemplating testing to see if their claims of healing from bullets is true.

Derek shares everything that Deaton explained to them. “Deaton is calling everyone he knows to help us find him, but it may take several days.”

“Days. Days while my son is god only knows where?” he demands and tenses when Melissa tries to touch his arm in reassurance. “Why aren’t you out looking for him?” he pleads.

Derek looks miserable but he doesn’t shy away from the man’s anger. “We tried, but there was no trail to follow or even the suggestion that he was even on this planet. But I swear, once we know something, we will do everything to get him back. But there’s nothing we can do yet. Stiles has been our researcher, he was always the one to figure things out” he adds with a whisper but Noah still hears him.

Noah takes a moment and compartmentalizes his emotions. If he stops to think about this, he is going to go insane. He needs to do something. “Okay…start over. Hale…Derek, start over" he says pulling out his notepad. "I want you to tell me everything that you know starting with what led up to the fire. Then we are going to go through some of the unsolved cases I have been looking at and I am betting you will be able to help me get answers. And Scott, call your friends or pack or whatever over. I want to talk to everyone. We are going to get every single detail and fact of that night down so that Deaton can find my son!”

Chapter Text

The last four days have been a nightmare on everyone. After the rather painful explanation for the Sheriff, Derek and Scott had taken him to see Deaton only to have the vet reconfirm everything that they had told him. The Sheriff had not been happy, but even he knew that he couldn’t just make something happen and Deaton hadn’t needed to warn him against involving government agencies or law enforcement. Instead, Noah had dragged Scott, Derek, and the entire pack to his house and began going through all of his open files to see which ones were actually ones he could deal with and which were supernatural.

The pack had cleared a significant number of them for the Sheriff and even if he couldn’t officially close many of them, he was able to know which ones he could actually do something about so that he was able to make sure that they got the most attention from his deputies. He also got a crash course in everything that they faced and was prepared when the Argents had arrived from France three days after Stiles disappeared.

TWO DAYS AGO

“Scott said they would meet us at Deaton’s” Allison said as Chris pulled into the parking lot. “He said that Deaton had managed to come up with some information about Stiles.”

Chris nodded but didn’t say anything. He had received a message from Mattias Argent when they were changing planes in New York and the news he had to share wasn’t good. He hadn’t shared it with Allison yet because he knew that if it was correct, then the boy was most likely dead.

Allison was already moving towards the door and Chris followed as they moved into the lobby where Scott was waiting for them. “You made it” he said eagerly but stopped himself like he wasn’t sure what he should do next. Allison however didn’t hesitate and pulled him into a tight embrace.

“Scott, I’m so sorry” she began but Scott shook his head stopping her.

“Everyone’s waiting in the back” he said, his voice cracking as he tried to contain himself, turning to go into the back.

They followed the teen into the back room and Chris was surprised by the crowd waiting there. He was expecting Derek and Deaton, maybe one or two others, but the entire pack, including Peter Hale, were there. “Hale” Chris’s voice was strained and he could see the sudden tenseness when Allison spotted the former Alpha. “Have you learned anything?” he said but then froze when he noticed the last figure that he had missed. “Sheriff?”

Noah Stilinski stood there in full uniform with his arms crossed and he didn’t look very happy. “Argent” the Sheriff’s voice was controlled but there was an edge that told Chris that the man was now in the know and he wasn’t happy about things.

“Sheriff?” Allison said with a shocked voice before turning to Scott looking uncertain.

“We told him everything” Derek’s voice was rough but both Chris and Allison had looked surprised at the Alpha’s words.

Noah coughed and turned to Chris. “I have some questions for you about your…operations…in my town, but that can wait for now” he said, the promised conversation clear in his voice. “Scott said you were consulting your family records?” he prompted.

Allison sighed and shook her head. “We weren’t able to find anything other than warnings to avoid the rings” she began but stopped when she glanced at her father and saw the look on his face. “Dad?”

Chris steeled himself before looking at the group. “The family historian looked through their records and found a mention of a bird warrior that included the smell you mentioned, but the description wasn’t an exact match” he began and noted that everyone was staring anxiously.

“What are they?” Scott asks looking hopeful.

Chris glances at the Sheriff before taking a steadying breath. “Mattias found it listed in the Enochian libro etiam daemonia” he said with a resigned voice.

Deaton paled, as did Peter, but the rest looked confused. “The Angelic Book of Demons?” Lydia squeaked out. The rest of the pack paled and looked at the elder Argent.

“It is a very old text, supposedly written by the sorcerer John Dee in the 16th century that lists the Powers, both light and dark, that allegedly fought in the war in heaven. There are only scraps and pieces of it around in various collections, but the Argent Archive has a copy of one piece that describes a list of demonic warriors. There are several that seem to match your description of the thing you saw” Chris says unemotionally.

“Are you saying my son was taken by a real…demon?” Noah said sounding broken. Derek and Erica both moved towards the sheriff, hearing his heart racing.

“Demons are real?” Scott asks with an unspoken plea for anyone to deny it. Chris looked at both Deaton and Peter who were staring at each other looking sick.

Finally Deaton took a deep breath and looked at Noah. “Sheriff…we are grasping at scraps so we cannot be sure exactly what happened, we cannot know if this is what happened. The legends, even from that book, are garbled. We may be wrong” he added even though Noah could tell he didn't believe he was wrong.

“But wasn’t the war in heaven over ages ago?” Boyd asks and the others turn to look at him in surprise. “You are talking about Lucifer’s rebellion right? That was back before there were humans right?” he asks again looking for certain. “Am I the only one who went to Sunday School?” he mutters when everyone looks back at Deaton and Peter.

“No one really knows” Peter finally answered. “Dee’s writings are difficult to get through. They are incomplete, passages are missing, some are in code, and there is a significant amount of opinion that the man was actually insane.” He sighs heavily. “He described the war in heaven, but his concept of time is all over the place. Sometimes it refers to the past, but then he describes it in other places like it was still going on. In other places, he talks about it like it hasn’t actually happened yet. That’s what makes it all so frustrating” he adds sounding personally offended by the confusion.

Noah was struggling to stay standing before he felt a strong hand on his back and looked over to see Derek looking at him, concern clear on his face. “We will find him” Derek whispered and Noah straightened up and nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

“I do have some news” Deaton said to the room. “Several of my colleagues have offered information and support and more importantly, a sorceress that I know has agreed to consult her books to see if she can determine what happened. She is extremely gifted and knowledgeable. I wasn’t sure she would respond, but she did so she is currently coordinating things” he tells them.

“Where is she? Can we help?” Scott demands looking ready to head out right that second. The others look just as willing.

“She is in India Scott” he says and the teen deflates. “I have sent her everything we have, and I have also had several others who are sending additional information to both of us. I know it is hard, but we have to wait.”

The rest of the meeting when quickly and the meeting broke up. Chris noticed that Derek and Peter left with the Sheriff while the betas all headed out together. Scott and Allison were talking quietly in the corner as he moved to the vet.

“Deaton” Chris said softly so as not to alert anyone but he signaled the vet to step out and they moved to his office. The vet shut the door and then looked at the hunter with an unreadable expression. “If Stiles has been taken by a demon…” he stops and sees the weight on the former Emissary’s shoulder.

“I know, but I cannot take away their hope. Not yet” he says sadly and Chris nods and leaves without saying anything else.

ONE WEEK AFTER STILES’ DISAPPEARANCE

Noah opened the door to the vet clinic, trying not to rush, but getting the word that Deaton finally had some information for them was enough for him to drive over as fast as he could without attracting attention. Stiles had been gone for too long and he wanted his son back. Stepping into the back room he saw the others had already gathered except for Deaton.

“Has he told you anything?” he asks Scott who only shakes his head. Melissa pulls him into a hug and he isn’t surprised that she joined them. The last several days Melissa has been talking with him and keeping him going despite him constantly feeling like he is drowning.

“One of Deaton’s contacts found something apparently” Peter says with an unimpressed look only to be glared at by Derek.

“We have spoken to the family, but no one else has reported any issues with any rings” Chris tells him as Allison nods from where she is standing next to Lydia and Jackson. “So at least we know it isn’t something coordinated or large scale.”

Noah is about to answer when the door opens and Deaton comes in the room. Looking around at all of them he pauses for a moment looking at Derek before setting down a laptop and opening up Skype. A few moments later, a rather distinguished Indian woman is on the screen of the laptop. “Alan” she says with a hint of warmth.

“Everyone, this is Dr. Mari Sachdeva, my colleague” he introduces everyone to the woman on the screen.

“Dr. Sachdeva?” Lydia gasps in shock. “The Astrophysicist?” she asks looking at Deaton in shock. His eyebrows raise at her question and she rolls her eyes. “She was a finalist for the Nobel Prize in Physics last year!”

“Surprised that I am also a Sorceress?” Mari asks with a smirk and Lydia actually looks flustered but Deaton manages to cut off the redhead’s reply.

“Mari, can you tell us what you found?” Deaton’s voice is calm and he might be simply asking her about the weather.

“Well it seems that you stumbled into something rather significant. I reviewed my astronomic projections and it appears that a comet, first noticed in Summerian times and named Ereshkigal after the goddess of the underworld, is currently approaching Earth. Its appearance has created a rather specific alignment with Saturn and the star Sirius that lasts for exactly 84 days.

"But the portal closed and if had been open that long we would have noticed" Derek asks the woman looking uncertain.

“That's because you must also look at the Moon. The comet, Saturn, Sirius, and the Moon all combine to form the necessary alignment to open the portal" she tells them.

"So wait” Lydia said with a concentrated look. “Since the moon is constantly changing, that means that the moon will be in the same position three times during the alignment to create the portal.” Everyone looks confused but then she suddenly pales. “When did the alignment start?” she asks looking worried.

Mari nods at her proudly. “Very impressive thinking young lady” she says approvingly. “We were lucky. The alignment started the same night your friend was lost, so that was the first of three alignments that the ring should create” he tells her.

“Wait, so what does this mean?” Scott asks seeing quite a few confused faces around him, except for Lydia and Deaton.

“It means that we only have two chances to get to Stiles, but they are 28 days apart” Lydia says with a look of uncertainty. “We have three weeks before it lines up again” she adds.

“But the alignment is short. You will only have seven minutes when everything is in position, so you will need to be prepared” Dr. Sachdeva looks at Deaton “Alan, I will email you all my notes. I wish you all the best in finding your friend” she tells them. Everyone thanks her and then Deaton closes the laptop before looking at the group.

Derek steps forward. “I can go through and get Stiles. If I can’t get him back during the seven minute window, then I can bring him back 28 days later when it opens for the third time” Derek declares causing the entire room to explode in arguments as everyone tries to be heard. Noah and Scott are both demanding to go and Allison and Chris are arguing against anyone going when Deaton lets out a piercing whistle that silences everyone.

“I’m afraid it is not that simple” he says into the stunned silence. “Mari wasn’t sure where the portal went but we both spoke with a Thane from Oslo. Harl believes that the portal has a significant chance to open onto the Plains of Vigrid.” Deaton pauses but no one recognizes the name. “The Plains are a mystical place in ancient Norse mythology. It is known by different names in different cultures, but all of them shared the concept of a final battlefield where the forces of the light and the dark will meet. The Norse called it Ragnarok, you might also know it as Armageddon” he says with a finality.

There’s silence for several moments as everyone stares at the vet with looks of shock until finally Noah breaks the spell. “Alan, what are you saying?” he asks in a broken voice.

“I am sorry Sheriff, but the truth is that no one knows what is really on the other side of the portal” he says looking exhausted. “There are only whispers about it, but we don't know if is safe for human life or what the conditions are there. There is so much myth and legend that you are just as likely to be correct by guessing randomly. We don't know if even a werewolf could survive there."

“So what do we do?” Erica asks with a whimper that’s echoed by the other betas.

“No one can go there, it is too dangerous” Deaton tells them seriously and sees Scott, Derek, Noah, and surprisingly Peter all take a breath to argue. “But…we might be able to pull him out from this side, if he is still alive” he adds quickly.

“How?” Derek demands and Deaton starts explaining his idea. Several of his colleagues have suggested possible spells that they could use to summon Stiles to the portal once it opens and help him cross over if he is still able. They will need to work fast to gather components and materials to prepare the spell in time for the next opening, but they should have just enough time.

The remainder of the evening turns into a planning session where Lydia, Peter, and Chris all decide to join Deaton in researching ways to collect Stiles when the door opens in three weeks. The rest will have to travel all over the state and even to Mexico to gather what they need. Deaton has already arranged several shipments of some of the rarer items but they have a plan and though no one says it, they are all very aware just how small their chances are.

Chapter Text

Scott leaned against the examination table to try and catch his breath. The last three weeks had been stressful on everyone and he felt Stiles’ absence more than he ever had before. It had taken most of the time that Stiles had been missing for Scott to realize how much Stiles not only tied the group together, but made them effective. In his absence the pack was strained and tempers were flaring over stupid things. He also spent time, along with his mom, making sure that the Sheriff was taken care. He knew that Stiles’ first question would be “How’s my dad?” and Scott was determined to give a good report.

Looking over the assembled items that the pack had been gathering on Deaton’s orders he could barely believe that they had managed to get everything done in time.

Peter had been sent to a witch doctor in Mexico who provided an elixir made from a special plant that grew in some buried temple. The beta had been gone for nearly a week as he had to perform a series of tasks to ‘pay for’ the vial. He came back dirty, smelling horribly, and with a look that warned any of the pack from even asking what had happened.

Erica and Boyd had been sent to Seattle to harvest several flowers from the slopes of Mt. Rainer before picking up volcanic ash from Mt. Saint Helens and then they were off to an Inuit village in Alaska to meet with a wise woman who provided them with several other magical herbs. Their trip had taken the longest, being gone for just over two weeks.

Isaac and Scott had both been sent out multiple times on short trips to the mountains, the beach, and down to San Francisco to pick up flowers, stones, an obelisk, and several other totems from friends of Deaton. Scott had also been responsible for going to Stiles’ house to gather any items with his ‘essence’. He had brought back his toothbrush and hairbrush on the first trip. He found an old shirt and after an excruciating conversation with the Vet, he returned with a pair of unwashed boxers that had traces of the teen's sex that Scott had desperately tried to erase from his brain. Deaton had been nearly ecstatic when Scott had found a shirt buried in the bottom of the closet that had traces of Stiles’ blood on it.

Derek and the Sheriff had been stuck in Beacon Hills. The Sheriff had to act unaffected by his son’s disappearance and had told everyone that Stiles was visiting his Aunt in Arizona, helping her out during a family emergency. The man was holding up, but Scott and Melissa had both seen the signs of strain on the man. Derek had also taken to stopping by the Stilinski house when the Sheriff was off to update him on the group’s efforts and to discuss the territory.

Derek himself had gotten worse than ever Scott thought would be possible. When he wasn’t speaking to the Sheriff, the alpha was pretty much nonverbal, growling most of the time and when speaking it was rarely more than a word at a time. He was running around the town every night trying to keep an eye on everything but the Alpha Pack had managed to evade him. They had managed to tag the Sheriff’s station with their symbol, luckily in paint, and a deer carcass with their symbol had been left at both the Hale house and just yesterday at Scott’s house. Scott had freaked out but Deaton had come over and lined both his mother’s room and the dining room with mountain ash to provide a ‘safe room’ for her inside the house.

The frustrating thing was that there were no scents left behind at any place. Derek told him that they could mask their scent, but Scott was getting worked up and he could really use one of Stiles’ plans right about now.

“Scott?” Deaton’s voice breaks his reverie and the teen looks up as the man walks into the room. “We are just about ready. Can you contact Lydia to join us, we will need her assistance in assembling the components.

Scott nodded and pulled out his phone. Lydia and Jackson had gone the farthest on the quest for supplies. They had gone to New York for a supposed ‘shopping weekend’ for Lydia but had really been there to pick up three books, four different powders from three different magical shops, and a strange stone tablet that they got from a curio shop who Lydia told them was run by an apparently 400 year old NY city coroner.

After confirming that Lydia was already on the way, Scott rejoined the vet who was prepping the ingredients. “So what do we need to do?” he asks the vet who smiles gently.

“Since Ms. Martin's nature was so affected by the portal opening, I believe that the dark nature of death magic is probably involved. To counter that, we are creating a number of spells that we will use to attempt to reach Mr. Stilinski. First we will attempt to determine if he is still alive. We will then attempt a summoning to draw him to the portal as we don’t know how far he will have had to travel from it since he went through. We also want to 'disincline' others from approaching the portal. We will only have seven minutes so there are several spells that I will try that should help speed him to us” he explained.

“But why did you need all that stuff from his house?” Scott finally gets the nerve to ask.

“Each aspect of Mr. Stilinski’s essence holds power and connection to him. They may not be enough, but I hope that they will be enough to amplify our spells while keeping others from noticing. We do not want to bring through anything like that bird creature you encountered...or worse” he added with a knowing look.

Scott was going to ask more but Lydia and Jackson walked in and the red head quickly moved the teen out of the way as she and Deaton began their preparations. Scott drifted over to Jackson who looked extremely uncomfortable. “What’s wrong?” he asks quietly.

“The alphas marked Lydia’s door sometime last night” he growls out and Scott looks startled. “Her mother found it this morning and freaked. Luckily Lydia was able to calm her down when she called the Sheriff to come over and he explained it off as stupid vandalism. Lydia is pissed though” he adds unnecessarily.

“Have you told Derek yet?” Scott asks. Jackson shakes his head so the teen pulls the other beta outside where they call and update Derek. The alpha sounds stressed but promises to check it out immediately. Derek had been hovering at the clinic until Deaton had sent him away saying his presence could unbalance their spell. Scott thought that is more likely that the vet was just tired of the man’s looming. Tomorrow night was the alignment so hopefully they would have Stiles back by then.

“Any word from Argent?” Jackson asks after a few minutes.

“They were able to get the book for Deaton from Mr. Argent's friend in Vancouver and dropped it off but they had to run down to LA to deal with another group of hunters. Apparently there have been several murders there that appear to be due to Omegas” Scott says unhappily. Allison had explained that even though her and her father had limited their active hunting, most of the affiliated families still were in contact and when the call came in to help out, Chris couldn’t really say no. They promised to be back in time for the ritual tomorrow to help with the summoning. Deaton had said every connection to Stiles would help their efforts.

Derek paced inside his loft, sick of waiting, but Deaton had been rather explicit for once. He didn’t quite say get out, but it came pretty close. He was able to admit, at least to himself, that the last three weeks had not been very good ones for him. First, with the Alpha Pack sniffing around, he couldn’t leave Beacon Hills which meant that everyone else was being sent to gather the items for Deaton’s spell except him. Peter and Derek had talked about it extensively and even though Derek had ultimately agreed, he didn’t like it.

To keep himself from going crazy, he was splitting his time between patrolling the territory and spending time with the Sheriff. He remembered the man’s surprise when he showed up at his house three days after Stiles was gone with dinner. The Sheriff had let him in and was confused, which quickly turned to dismay when he saw that Derek had brought a vegetarian stir fry with brown rice. Derek smiled for a moment remembering the look of betrayal on the man’s face before Derek confessed that he had to make sure that the Sheriff was eating healthy or Stiles would definitely find out.

Whether he was sympathetic to Derek’s attempt, lonely for some company, or desperately missing his son, Noah had let the Alpha in and they had the first of many meals together. Between Scott, Melissa, and Derek, the Sheriff was getting at least one healthy meals each day. After just a week of deliveries, the other members of the pack had joined in and between them the Sheriff was getting three healthy and nutritious meals that even Stiles would approve of.

Derek had worried when the others had started joining in but Melissa had assured him that the man was moved and somewhat overwhelmed by the display. He rightfully understood that each of them were trying to honor Stiles while he was gone by doing the one thing that they were certain that he would want: to look after his dad. Derek had never been prouder of his pack at that point.

“Derek?” Peter’s voice interrupted his pacing. Looking up he saw his uncle standing there looking more concerned than amused.

“Did Deaton call?” Derek immediately snapped, worried that something had gone wrong. He had checked out Lydia's house but once again it was a dead end and he was frustrated.

Peter sighed. He wished his nephew would admit that he had feelings for the teen but he understood the fear. More than any of them, Peter knew that Stiles’ chances were low of coming out of this alive and he was sure that his nephew was very aware of that fact and was desperately trying to hold on to some hope. But Peter also saw the impact that the teen's disappearance had on the pack. Before they were fractured and staggering from one crisis to the next without becoming a real pack. But now? Now they were coming together, even with all the sniping. Jackson and Scott were both acting and even feeling like pack and Derek was actually improving as Alpha. When they weren’t running errands for the former Emissary, Derek had them training together to hone their skills and abilities. Convincing the teens to participate fully was easier than Peter dreamed of after Lydia warned that bringing Stiles through might bring others and that they might have to fight for him. That was enough for them to fully commit to training. If they didn’t bring the boy back, Peter wasn’t sure that the pack would stay together.

“Deaton and Ms. Martin are assembling the various elements for each of the different spells. We have the charts so kindly provided by our astrophysicist sorceress and the pack is ready and anxious to perform the ritual. You however, are not.” Derek was about to snarl at that but Peter cut him off. “I’m serious Derek. You are barely sleeping and you are running on your last bits of strength. You need a good meal, a shower, and a good twelve hours of sleep.”

“Now’s not the time” Derek grumbled but Peter wasn’t having it.

“And what will happen if we manage to pull Stiles back and that demon is with him? Or more than one? You are too tired and if you go down, what are the chances that the boy will survive?” Peter asks archly gaining another growl and another sigh. “Derek, you have done everything you can. But you need to be at your best tomorrow and to do that…you need to rest.”

Derek wanted to argue. If not about the rightness of Peter’s argument, than just in principle as he hated we he had to agree with Peter even when his uncle was right. He had pushed himself hard these last weeks and if they did have to fight that thing, or god forbid the Alpha Pack, he was in no shape to do so right now. Finally agreeing he nodded at his uncle who looked relieved. A quick dinner and shower and Derek would try to sleep and let his body recover. They would get him back…they had to.

Everyone had assembled at the clearing at Deaton’s request. Derek had accompanied Deaton, Peter, Lydia, and Jackson almost three hours before the others to assist the vet in preparing the area for the rescue attempt. Derek had told the pack to arrive a half hour before the portal was to open but no one really listened. Scott, Melissa, and the Sheriff had all arrived not long after Derek had gotten there. Erica and Boyd had showed up next with Isaac and the Argents showing up not fifteen minutes later. As a result the entire pack was waiting nearly two hours but Derek wasn’t going to try to get anyone to leave.

“There” Deaton said standing up from the little altar he had assembled in the field. They had laid out several small fires for burning incense around the fairy ring; drew lines with chalk, mountain ash, and blessed salt. “We are ready. I need to prepare everyone for what will happen” he says looking around the pack, meeting each person’s eyes before moving on.

“First, Ms. Martin and I have prepared the components of our spells, but all of you are needed for this as well. Each of you will hold a candle and one of the totems we have prepared for you based on your connection to Mr. Stilinski.” He pauses before picking up several items.

“Mr. Lahey, you will hold his Lacrosse stick, which represents his connection with others. It is where he found freedom from his problems as you did." Isaac nods. "Ms. Reyes, you have the keys to his jeep. I believe your connection to him and his vehicle is clear for you” he says with a rather pointed look causing the blonde she-wolf to blush furiously remembering when she had knocked him out with a piece of the jeep's engine. “His jeep represents his need for freedom and independence” he adds and Erica nods suddenly serious seeing the parallel to her own need that made her ask for the bite. Deaton takes out a stuffed animal “Mr. Boyd. The Sheriff said that this was Stiles’, a gift from his mother.”

Boyd looks seriously uncertain but Lydia smiled reassuringly “You both see the pack as a source of friends, even family, the need and desire to belong, to not be alone” she explains gently and Boyd swallows nervously.

Frowning unhappily, Deaton hands Chris the bloodied shirt Scott had found. “Chris, Stiles shed his blood in your home at Gerard’s hands” Deaton begins and Chris pales at the man's words while Allison looks suddenly angry and ready to jump to his defense but Deaton keeps going. “Sacrifice, for the sake of others, putting aside what you have been taught, even by family, to do the right thing is difficult. Both of you are willing to stand between those who would do wrong and the innocents they would harm” he explains and Allison deflates at the vet's words as Chris nods jerkily.

Deaton then turns to the Huntress and pulls out a blade that she recognizes as Stiles’. “Though not as skilled as you, he prepared this weapon, that he has used to fight for the pack” he tells her and Allison smiles realizing the connection between her and Stiles that the vet is using. Both of them had to convince others that they could be strong, to fight, and should be allowed to do so. While she had her family’s heritage to help her, Stiles had struggled to convince the pack to not shut him out. The link made sense.

“Sheriff” Deaton moved to the man and handed him a picture that made Noah's throat catch. Claudia. “You are his father, his greatest connection to this world. You and Claudia are family, what he loves more than anything. Use that love to call him home” he advises and Noah nods, not trusting his voice.

Melissa looks nervous but she barks out a laugh when the vet hands her a rather familiar looking baseball bat. “Scott told me the story about the bat and how both of you have used it to protect others. The Protector, the Shield, both are powerful totems.” Melissa nods as Deaton looks at his assistant.

“Scott, you are Stiles’ brother and his oldest friend” the vet says as he hands him a small item that causes the crooked-jawed teen to laugh. “The Sheriff said that the day you met, you gave Stiles this” he asks and Scott nods, his eyes tearing up.

“I was playing in the sand box and he came up and started talking. He told me we were going to be friends and I was kind of shy. But he didn’t care, he talked enough for both of us. When my mom came to get me, I gave him this even though it was my favorite” he laughs. “When mom asked why I told her that I could still play with it if I get to see him again. We’ve been best friends ever since.” He sniffs and looks up “I didn’t know he kept it.”

“He put it in his memory box not long after we lost Claudia” Noah says with a tight throat. “I know that it was precious to him.” Scott nodded but didn’t respond, just looked at the toy. Deaton moved over to the Hales.

“Peter, this is Stiles’ work” he says handing the man a portable usb drive. “It contains his research and efforts to create a new Bestiary, but in modern form.” Peter smiles and nods. “Knowledge. The pursuit of truth and understanding. Seeking information to guide the pack” he says knowingly and the vet nods before looking a Derek for a moment but then he pauses and looks at Lydia.

“Jackson” she says startling the beta as she hands him a rather familiar looking key. “Letting go of what you want for another’s happiness is painful and difficult. When I used this to free you from the Kanima’s spell, Stiles had to let go of the illusions he had about us. He had chosen to help both of us even though he thought he loved me. It wasn’t true, it was a mask he wore to fool others, to hide his own truth. Self-deception is comfortable, truth is hard. You need to let go of your deceptions too” she told him. Jackson looked stunned and didn’t respond.

“Derek” Deaton says looking pained. He hands the Alpha a small box. “This contains” he pauses for a moment looking uncomfortable “his essence. As Alpha, you are responsible for him as member of your pack. You both are dedicated to family, burdened by fear and guilt, with hope for something better. It is also part of his heart” he tells him and Derek frowns not getting it.

Opening the box he is hit with Stiles’ scent and it strikes like a hammer to his gut. It smells not just of Stiles but of the teen’s constant arousal and he slams the box closed and looks nervously at the vet who just stares knowingly. Derek doesn’t reply but nods knowing what isn't being said.

Stepping back to his altar, Deaton nods at Lydia who picks up the small necklace that Stiles had given her back in the third grade that he had made in their arts and crafts class that she never told anyone that she had kept. Lydia may not have encouraged him, but she did notice and enjoyed the attention.

“Once we begin the spell, you will need to focus on your totem” Deaton tells them as Lydia lights their candles and moves them to circle the fairy ring a few feet from the edge. “The important thing is that you hold your place and focus unless we tell you. We might see something, we might see nothing. But I will cast my spells and hopefully will find him and draw him here, but we cannot risk anyone crossing into the ring. Go no closer than you are now, do you understand?” he demands and they all nod in surprise at his sudden decisiveness.

Looking at his watch he nods and picks up the tablet Lydia had procured in New York and starts chanting. The others stand around waiting as the Emissary began casting his spell. “The alignment has started” Peter whispers loud enough for the other wolves to hear. The wind picks up and that stench of Sulphur and rotten meat suddenly comes through and the pack looks around but don’t see or hear anything.

Deaton shifts to other chants as Lydia keeps up a steady reminder for each of them to keep focusing on their totem. They had been going for some time with no changes beyond the wind and smell when there was a sudden screech and the pack startles when a figure suddenly appears in the clearing.

“Troll!” Peter yells at the shambling giant that looks confused before focusing on the pack.

“Go! Protect Deaton. Scott, Melissa, Sheriff, you stay” Lydia orders and Derek roars his assent. The pack moves to attack the troll. Jackson reaches it first but the beast can move faster than any of them would have believed possible and it swings his club smashing into the teen and sending him crashing into the trees with a loud crack. The rest of the pack gets cautious and dance around the deadly club as they distract and look for openings.

“Take his legs” Derek yells and Erica and Isaac darts forward and slash with their claws but they barely penetrate the troll’s rock-like skin. This won't be easy

Derek roars at the troll as he jumps back from his attack on the beast. He wants this over, but the troll wasn’t cooperating. Jackson and Boyd were in front of the troll, attacking every time he was distracted. Isaac and Erica were attacking from his sides while Peter was circling and dashing in and out. Derek had landed behind the monster but they were not having much luck. Boyd took a nasty hit from the troll and bounced out of the fight for a moment but it opened the troll to attack Derek and Peter and they took advantage of the opening.

Peter leapt and hits the troll’s leg, tearing through the skin and managing to rips out the beast's tendon, driving it to one knee. Derek jumps up and lands on its back, right behind its head and struggles to not get thrown off by the troll’s thrashing. Freeing one hand, Derek reaches around and drives his claws into the troll’s face and his right eye. The troll screams and throws Derek off who hits the ground hard but manages to turn it into a roll, but the damage the Alpha inflicted was massive. Derek had gouged out the eye and the troll was staggering as Jackson and Isaac both slam into the troll where he couldn’t see well enough to react.

Driven to his knees again Erica copies Derek’s attack and moments later the troll was completely blinded and roaring in pain. Erica had jumped back just as the troll staggered, flailing around wildly with his club, succeeding in driving the wolves back until Peter sees another opening and runs in and tears into the troll’s good leg driving him to the ground again. Derek roars and his body explodes as he shifts into his Alpha form, growing larger and stronger before launching himself and he lands on the troll and starts ripping and tearing furiously. The pack moves out of his way as the Alpha unleashes his fury on the troll until he finally manages to tear its head off.

Crashing to the ground Derek rolls free and lets out a roar of victory, echoed quickly by his pack. Their enemy was defeated! Shifting back he looks at the others…how much time had passed? Growling he leads them back to the fairy ring.

Scott watched the pack leave to face the troll but he held his place alongside his mother and the Sheriff. Deaton was still chanting and Lydia was handing him objects as he went along with no pattern the teen could discern. Lydia was able to do so while keeping her own candle in one hand. He didn’t see any totem but he ignored that and focused on the toy in his hand while forcing himself not to watch the others.

Deaton continued his chants and Scott wished he wore a watch. How much time did they have left? He was just about ready to try and grab his phone when the troll let out a pain-filled scream followed by an increase in the growls and roars of the pack. They were winning? He was freaking out when Lydia suddenly yelled at Deaton “One minute” and the vet suddenly breaks off his chant and looks at the ring with an inscrutable expression.

“Get the disc” he says and Lydia drops her candle and reaches for the bag by the altar they had set up. She pulls out something that looks like a Frisbee but glints like metal and hands it to Deaton who pours a vial of something on it, chanting, before he tosses it at the fairy ring. The disc flies through the air and looks like it is about to hit the ground inside the ring when it vanishes before touching down. It was gone.

With another roar behind him, Scott feels a shift in the fight and glances over and sees Derek shifting back to human, the troll in pieces, and the pack racing towards them. Just as Derek arrives Deaton collapses and falls over.

“It’s over” Lydia says in a devastated voice. “The alignments done” she tells them and Scott feels his heart clench as he moved to check on the vet. They failed!

“We need to get him back to the clinic” Lydia says and when she looks at everyone standing there her face hardens. “Boyd, Scott, take Deaton to the vet clinic. We will meet you there. Derek…find some clothes” she says with a rather pointed look at his current unclad state. Isaac, take the Sheriff and Mrs. McCall back. Peter, Jackson, and Erica, you three can help me gather everything here before we leave.”

Lydia watches the motionless group for a single moment before clapping her hands loudly. “NOW!” she yells. “Deaton thought this might happen. Once he wakes up, he can explain everything” she tells them before turning to start working.

“Go” Derek growls out and the others slowly start moving. He heads for his car where he keeps emergency clothes. By the time he dresses, the others are gone and Lydia, Peter, Jackson, and Erica are walking up with all of Deaton’s items. “Lydia” he starts but she cuts him off.

“I don’t know everything Derek. I am certain that Deaton didn't tell me everything. I know he was worried that we would not make it work this time and I know he had a plan. Let’s get back and once he wakes, we will all get the answers from him” she finishes and Derek hears the steel in her voice. She was a force and he was glad that it was directed at the vet instead of him for a change. Nodding, he took Peter and Erica in his car while Lydia and Jackson got in the Porsche and they headed out.

It didn’t take too long before Deaton woke up, but it was long enough for tempers to flare though everyone had managed to hold it in mostly because none of them could bear to look at the devastated Sheriff for more than a moment . When Lydia had announced their failure, the man had nearly broken and even now they could tell he was barely holding it together.

“Doc?” Scott said gently as he helped the vet sit up. Isaac handed over a bottle of water which the man accepted gratefully.

“Alan…what happened?” the Sheriff’s voice cracked with emotion and it wasn’t lost on the vet.

Deaton sighed heavily. “I worried that we would not be able to reach Stiles in the time we had so I prepared several contingency plans.”

“That Frisbee thing?” Scott asks as he watches his mom comforting the man he considers a second father.

“I wanted to be prepared. But most importantly, my initial spell was positive” he says and meets the Sheriff’s eyes. “Stiles is alive” he says and the room explodes with everyone yelling to be heard.

“SILENCE!” Derek roars, eyes flashing a vivid crimson and everyone suddenly goes silent, the wolves all shrinking back from his voice even as Lydia, Melissa, and the Sheriff all pause as well. “How do you know that?” he demands of the vet.

“My first spell sought out Mr. Stilinski through the portal and I felt it connect” he pauses and looks at the Sheriff sadly “I couldn’t tell anything about his condition just that he was alive and not nearby. I was able to pull on the link, to draw him to us, but it felt...wrong.” He frowns looking down. “It was like I was trying to pull him through water or something” he mutters before looking back at the Alpha. “When Ms. Martin announced the final minute, I readied and sent through a disc that I had prepared with a message for Mr. Stilinski about what we were doing and I sent it through with a spell that I hope will draw him to it. I was worried that we wouldn’t have enough time so I wanted to create a message in a bottle if you will, that would let him know to be ready and waiting when the portal opens again in 28 days.”

“You’re sure?” Noah asks, his voice desperate for reassurance and sees the vet’s immediate nod.

“I am certain, at least for the time we had the portal open, your son was alive. I admit that I was not at all certain he would be and that is why I cast the spell. But hopefully he will be in position next time and if he can hold on for 28 days, then we have a real chance” Deaton tells the man.

Noah nods silently as Melissa embraces him. Derek, calmer than before, looks around at the members of his pack. “We will get him back” he vows and the others all straighten up and nod. They wouldn’t fail the next time.

Chapter Text

The next few days were especially hard for Noah Stilinski. The failure of the spell to retrieve Stiles would have broken him if it wasn’t for the glimmer of hope that Alan had been able to give them: that Stiles was alive. For almost twenty eight days he had managed to hold himself together, it had gotten so bad that he had closed the door to Stiles room so he wouldn’t have to look at the empty room, looking so abandoned. Melissa had come in one day to clean up a bit, but Scott and the wolves wouldn’t let her wash anything in there, they wanted to keep his scent strong.

Noah would have denied it, but if anyone had told him that he would be eating regular meals, healthy ones at that, with Derek Hale on a regular basis he would have locked them up. He had regretted the arrest almost as soon as it happened, remembering that tragic day so long ago, a day that he learned was so much more wrong than he had ever known. If anyone deserved to be lost in another dimension, it was that woman. As much as he grudgingly liked Chris, the rest of his family, not counting Allison, was plain nuts. Noah was willing to cut Derek some serious slack after all he had been through, hell he even understood Peter, but the Argents? They seemed to relish killing and they used the excuse of hunting to justify their bloodlust.

He got up and walked into the spare bedroom and paused in the doorway. He didn’t like coming in here, this was too much her space. Claudia had made it into her workroom in addition to being the guest room, and her essence still lingered. Noah imagined that he could still smell her perfume in here even though he knew that he had thrown it out after a really bad day not long after the funeral. Stiles had cried when he did it but Noah had been far gone to see his son’s pain and needs, too focused on his own. And things got worse before they got better. It took several months of pain and grief before he finally hit bottom and it all came crashing down.

Noah had come home after a hard shift, looking to lose himself in the bottle, when he realized that Stiles wasn’t there. There was no note or anything and it was nearly nine at night. Frantic he called Melissa, guessing that he was there, but she didn’t answer. Growing more worried, Noah had driven to the McCall’s at breakneck speed and launched himself out of the car before it had fully stopped.

He had raced to the door only to have it open to a Melissa he had only seen once before, the night she had kicked Rafel McCall to the curb but this time her look of grim determination was aimed directly at him. “Stiles?” he growled out but she didn’t flinch, not even a little.

“I almost lost my son to a drunk” her voice was ice cold “I won’t lose Claudia’s.” Noah felt his blood freeze and stumbled back a step as she stepped forward, eyes flashing. “You go home and you decide whether you want to be a father because I am not going to go through another night like tonight. You want to know what happened to send your son to the emergency room tonight?” she asked him in a dangerous voice.

Noah had been ready to yell, to argue, to demand but her words slammed into his heart and he paled. “What?” he finally managed to croak out.

“He was trying to cook you dinner Noah. He burned himself. 1st degree burns along with several lacerations where he cut himself trying to get help” Melissa was ruthless and unforgiving. “He called me because he didn’t want to upset you” her voice finally broke. She stared at him with a look of such disappointment that he almost whimpered. “How could you do this to her?”

Noah fled. There is no other way to describe it. He might want to argue otherwise, but he knew what it was. He desperately wanted to rush into that house and hold his son and never let go, but he knew Mel was right. He needed to fix things. The first thing he did when he got home was to pour out every drop of alcohol in the house. Seeing that he had more empties in his trash than full bottles had been a hard slap, but he did it. He didn’t touch another drop for nearly a year, and it was almost two before he brought any to the house. Surprisingly it had been Mel who did that as well. “You aren’t an alcoholic Noah” she had told him that day. “You self-medicated by crawling into the bottle and you climbed out again. You don’t have to be afraid of it, just don’t use it as excuse. Trust me, I know what alcoholics are like and you were never that. You were just…numb” she added sadly.

The sheriff had realized soon after how much his deputies had been covering for him and keeping people from learning the truth but he saw the relief in their eyes when he came in to work for several days straight without a hint of alcohol about him. It took nearly a month until they permanently relaxed and accepted that he was back, but it never left Noah how easy it had been to give up.

He had also worked hard to fix things with Stiles. When Noah had come to pick Stiles up the next morning, after letting Mel know what he had done, the boy appeared completely unaware of anything between the adults, but Noah was fairly certain that he knew. His son was too smart and too curious not to. But things slowly started getting better. Stiles had gone to therapy for a bit and Noah had even talked to a counselor the department used a few times.

Looking around the room he remembered the day that he found the nearly empty bottle of Claudia’s perfume in Stiles’ room. His son had gotten it out of the trash that long ago day and hidden it away and once again Noah had to face that he wasn’t the only one grieving. Moving towards the bed he sat down heavily as he looked around. “Claude…I really wish you were here. You would know what to do so much better than me.”

Noah glanced over and saw the closet door slightly ajar and frowned. He didn’t think anyone had been in here in weeks, long before Stiles was lost. Moving over to the door, he pulled it open but nothing looked amiss. He was about to close the door when he spotted an unfamiliar box in the back corner, barely visible in the shadows. Bending down he picked it up and set it over on the bed, opening it up. He reeled from the sudden overwhelming rush of lilies and jasmine. Claudia! His heart stung and eyes watered but he forced himself to look in the box and he nearly broke.

Inside the box was his wife, more specifically, Stiles’ mother. That bottle of perfume he had found in Stiles’ room, a necklace Stiles had made for her in first grade that she proudly wore, and dried lilies, her favorite flower. There were several photos, both in frames and loose, along with several letters that Noah had recognized as ones she had written Stiles from the hospital on good days. Her favorite coffee mug was there too along with her mother’s broach and grandfather’s watch, which she had promised Stiles would be his one day. All of these treasured memories of his mother that Stiles had saved and protected without him ever knowing it. There was even a picture of Noah and Claudia on their wedding day.

Sorting through the pictures, he finally came to one of Claudia and Stiles playing in the back yard in the flower bed before she had gotten sick. They were both smiling happily, covered in dirt, mud, and bits of flowers all over their faces. Noah remembered coming into the yard and finding them there, dirty and deliriously happy. His wife and son, shining in the sun, not concerned for a moment what anyone would think. Noah had barely managed to take the picture he was laughing so hard and not five seconds later Claudia and Stiles had blasted him with the hose. Staring at two identical pairs of those warm amber eyes looking at him was too much. The first tears hit the glass and rolled down as Noah started to sob. He wouldn’t survive this again. He couldn’t lose his son too.

Scott stepped back from the steps to the porch as the sounds of the Sheriff’s sobs echoed in his ears. He had been coming over to check on Stiles’ dad today, even though he seemed to be doing okay since the night of the attempt. But as he was walking up he heard the man’s comments to Stiles’ mom and it was like a knife to the teen’s heart. He knew he had to do something but he was out of his element. Feeling small, scared, and uncertain, he gave in to his instincts and ran home. His mom would know how to fix this.

Melissa slipped inside the door, shaking her head that the man still forgot to lock his damn door. Just because he was the Sheriff didn’t mean that people wouldn’t take advantage of the situation. Sighing she headed up the stairs quietly, listening for any sounds coming from upstairs. She had been home, just getting comfortable from her shift when Scott had come home in a panic. After telling her what he had heard from Noah, Melissa knew that things had finally gotten to be too much. She is honestly surprised that the man had held on this long with all the uncertainty and shocks.

Stepping onto the second floor she wondered for a moment if he was in Stiles’ room but then she saw the open door to the guest room…Claudia’s place. A stab of pain struck her as she remembered her vibrant friend, one of the first she made when she moved to Beacon Hills, and the hole in all of their lives left behind when they lost her. All things considered, Melissa thought Noah had handled it pretty well. Sure he had crashed pretty hard, but one wake-up call and he pulled himself up and started living again. He needed to forgive himself that lapse.

Stepping to the doorway, Melissa looked inside and saw Noah sitting on the bed, hunched over but no longer sobbing, desperately clutching a picture frame in his hands. Moving slowly and gently she walked over to him and sat down, arms around his shoulder. He didn’t look up but now she could see the picture, streaked with what she knew were tears. It was Stiles and Claudia, smiling happily at the camera and what must have been Noah.

“I’m going to lose him” Noah whispered with a broken voice and Melissa tightened her embrace as he leaned in, starved for human touch.

“No. We are not” her voice was firm and steady. “Alan said that he was alive Noah. That is more than we knew before. If Stiles has managed to survive the last month, he will make it one more and then he will be home.”

“We don’t…” he started but she cut him off.

“Noah” her voice was a bit sharper. “That boy is too stubborn and determined to let anyone stop him from doing what he wants. He will stay alive until we rescue him and we will rescue him. Because if we don’t, I am certain that Derek will go through that damn ring after him regardless of Alan’s warning. He isn’t going to give up on Stiles and neither will the pack” she assures him.

They stay together for a while, not really talking, when Noah finally let’s go some of the tension in his body. He stares at the picture for a moment. “Did I ever tell you about the day we took this picture?” he asks quietly.

Melissa smiles a small smile. “No. But I would really like to hear it” she gently tells him and he does. He talks about that day. About Stiles. About Claudia. And it helps.

Derek stares at the mark on the front door of the Hale house and can barely control the rage he is feeling. The damn Alpha Pack is still causing trouble in town and he doesn’t have time to deal with their crap. After the last week, the pack is stretched thin and tension is building since the failed attempt to rescue Stiles. He knows he is supposed to set the example but he can barely manage to hold himself together, let alone a horde of unruly, unmanageable, annoying teenagers. What was he thinking biting them? He blames Peter for starting it by biting Scott.

“They’re getting bolder” Peter’s voice says behind him as Derek spins around. How the hell does the man manage to keep doing that?

“How can they avoid us like this?” Derek growls angrily.

“Alpha’s can hide their scent…and these are not normal alphas. Derek, they gained their power by killing their entire packs. This isn’t like a beta killing their alpha to take over, this is something completely different. Killing your beta…it damages you. The bond between an alpha and their pack members is a solemn relationship, greater than any oath. There is a reason that Alpha’s have enforcers to administer punishment to erring members. Even when deciding to execute a pack member, alphas do not do it themselves…it is too much a violation of the bond. It is unnatural” he says with conviction.

“Like you were with…mom?” Derek’s voice is barely audible but Peter hears it and snorts.

“Derek" Peter paused suddenly looking serious. "No Hale Alpha has ordered the death of one of our own pack members in over two hundred years. Exile? Yes, but we have rarely had wolves that were not also family. There was one daughter who left to form her own pack when tensions got too much, but they remained allies for decades. Talia...she would never have even considered doing that to a member of the pack. I think having to give that order would have broken her, but then, she would not have done it, I would have. I was the one who was supposed to act so her hands could be clean to outsiders” he smiled sadly. “I was lucky, she was much kinder and more forgiving than I was so I doubt she would have ever asked me to do something that would have been wrong. But Deucalion and his group…they truly are monsters. Even at my worst, in my madness and lust for vengeance never crossed that line. I could rationalize killing…” he swallowed without saying her name and rushed on “but once I bit Scott and you two were supposed to be my pack, I couldn’t do that.”

“Can we beat them?” Derek asks his uncle looking uncertain and hoping for some sign of the man he once was.

Peter frowned for a moment before smiling evilly. “Maybe not in a direct fight, but who says we have to fight them on their terms. They are trying to draw you in, force you to play by their rules. We need to flip the script so to speak and use our strengths to defeat them our way, not theirs. It will be hard, but…” he breaks off and looks out to the woods with confusion.

Derek is also looking that way. He smelled something when the wind changed and he growls. “Blood!” he snarls as he recognizes the coppery smell. It is only moments later when he recognizes the blood smell…PACK!” Snarling he takes off towards the smell and is only peripherally aware that Peter is right behind him. The only thing keeping him from howling out his fury is that he is upwind of them and if his pack is under attack, he doesn’t want to warn them he is coming.

Coming into a small break in the woods, along one of running trails, he and Peter pause just as Erica and Boyd stumble out of the woods, bloody, bruised, and reeking of pain. Derek growls and both betas look at him, their eyes flash golden, as they move towards him.

“It was the female alpha, Kali” Boyd says quietly as he helps Erica who stumbles. Peter grabs her other side as Derek stares back the way they came but he can’t hear or smell anything. “I think we lost her when we hit the stream” he adds looking bad.

Derek nods and moves to take most of Boyd’s weight as Peter takes Erica. They head back to the Hale house where they regroup and Derek calls the rest of the pack. Scott, Allison, and Isaac show up first and Derek growls but doesn’t say anything. Lydia, and Jackson show up moments later just as they are finishing bandaging the betas. “What happened?” Lydia demands looking at the two slow healing wolves. Erica sighs but sees that Boyd is not ready to be to talking so it’s up to her.

Erica smiled happily as Boyd chuckled softly as they walked down the street. He had taken her out for ice cream after they had gone to the movies, taking a much needed break from all the stress of losing Stiles, not to mention Derek’s extreme angst. The guy was nearly unbearable, snarling at everything as they prepared for the next rescue attempt. Unlike the others, Erica was relieved that they knew that Stiles was still alive and she was certain that they would succeed this next time. She had been afraid that he was gone, but once Deaton had assured them he was alive, she was completely certain he would make it back.

“You’re awfully quiet” Boyd told her as they walked on the near deserted streets. Neither of them had their own car and while Erica could sometimes wrangle Derek’s, they had decided not to push it tonight and walk instead. It was a nice night and as they approached the park, Erica appreciated getting to spend quality time with the quiet beta.

“I thought you would like that” she teased with a laugh but Boyd only shook his head.

“I like listening to you talk. You let me listen” he says with a soft smile that melts the blonde she-wolf’s heart. The last five weeks has been hard on her but Boyd has been her rock, always strong and there for her. He hasn’t broken down like the rest of them had, not even once. She knew he was worried, but Boyd didn’t get worked up about things he couldn’t change.

They are just passing the park when Boyd stops them looking around uncertainly. “What?” Erica starts to ask but then she hears something and she goes on high alert.

“Well, well, look who’s all alone” a female voice startles both of them as they spin around and see the other werewolf. Dark hair with her claws out, but the truly horrible thing is that she isn’t wearing shoes and her toenails have shifted into claws.

“Well that is truly disgusting” Erica mutters as Boyd growls. The woman snarls, mouth full of teeth as her eyes flash. Alpha!

Boyd has just enough time to push Erica to the side as the alpha attacks, barely missing the blonde but managing a swipe on Boyd’s arm, drawing blood.

Erica roars, claws out, and she attacks but the alpha is ready for her and dodges the attack easily. Erica gets several swings before the woman kicks out, connecting with her stomach and sending her flying. The pain from the alpha’s razor sharp claws is blinding as Erica feels the hot blood staining her shirt as she struggles to get back up. But she can’t wait and heal. Boyd is now fighting alone so she roars and dives back in.

Boyd has actually been paying attention to Derek and Peter’s lessons and he knows that the two of them are no match for an Alpha, let alone one of the Alpha Pack. Derek had reinforced that they should only confront them as a pack and while they were close to the preserve, help was too far away, they only had one chance and that was to run.

Unfortunately, Kali didn’t seem too willing to allow that based on her rather determined effort to gut both of them. Boyd fought defensively and cautiously, allowing Erica to be the wild card, dashing in and out unpredictably while he waited for his chance. He watched as Kali kicked out and he ducked but didn’t manage to completely dodge her attack, those feet claws ripping his back shallowly and he grunted but it gave Erica the opening she needed and she drove her claws into the woman’s back and screamed.

Kali roared in fury and pain and struggled to get the blonde off. Boyd had just managed to regain his feet when Kali got free and threw Erica across the park to crash hard into the ground. But by doing so, she opened herself up and Boyd seized his chance. Holding back his roar he threw his fist out, like Peter had shown them, and drove it straight into the Alpha’s face, breaking her nose. His next strike was with claws to the face, not enough to take her eyes, but the blood pouring from the head wound was almost as good. Dropping down Boyd kicked out, his steel toed boot smashing into her knees, the cracking of the bone shockingly loud.

Kali went down to one knee but he wasn’t waiting. He knew she was even more dangerous and he wasn’t about to get within range of her teeth and claws and instead he took off running towards Erica. She had managed to stand back up, barely, and he could see her eyes were a bit unfocused so he grabbed her without breaking his stride or speed and took off towards the woods.

“What are you doing?” Erica screeched as she realized they were running away. “We can take that bitch!” she roared but Boyd didn’t slow down. Instead he listened and when he finally heard the sound of running water he altered his course. They were nearly there when they heard the Kali’s howl behind them, close but not too close, and Erica demanded to be let down.

Swinging her down, Erica grabbed his hand and they ran faster. Finally breaking free of the trees they spotted the small stream and Boyd ran them right into it to Erica’s surprise. “To hide our scent” he told her and she nodded as they ran upstream, staying in the shallow water. “There!” he yelled a short while later and Erica looked up.

Hanging over the water was a large branch, high up but definitely within reach. “Jump for it” Boyd told her and she did, never slowing and feeling the wood as her claws dug in, Erica pulled herself up just as Boyd grabbed the branch to follow her. “We will stay in the trees as long as we can, hopefully she will lose our trace” he said and she nodded and jumped for the next tree.

Luckily they knew the woods and five minutes later when they dropped to the ground, they were closer to the Hale house and the alpha’s roars were farther away. She missed their jump to the trees and must be following the river trying to find their scent.

“And then you ran here?” Peter asked them as Erica finished their story. Derek was looking actually happy for a change and the blonde looked at him with concern.

“Yeah. What? Why are you looking at us like that?” she demanded of the Alpha but he just smiled.

“You actually listened and did exactly what we told you to do” Derek says surprised and looking at Boyd proudly before turning that look of pride at her. Erica swore she did not preen at the praise of her alpha.

“Kali is insane, trust me” Peter muttered. “You would not have been able to beat her without a lot of luck and I would bet that the others weren’t that far away. You were definitely smart” Peter complimented them.

“Well, Boyd was. I really wanted to try and kill her” Erica admitted sheepishly.

“You want to be an alpha?” Derek asks with a quirked eyebrow.

Both betas go quiet and Erica pales. “Derek” she whispers, the scent of fear coming off her “if we kill any of them…we will become an Alpha won’t we?” she asks sounding more scared than before.

Boyd grabs her hand and squeezes it gently. She snuggles close suddenly feeling lost. She finally has friends, has Boyd, has people who are proud of her. She can’t lose that. “You don’t have to. You only have to stop them and Derek can take care of them” Peter assures her. All three of the other wolves look at him in surprise and he sighs. “Believe it or not, I do not want to be an alpha again. I didn’t manage it well last time and I seriously doubt I would be better with a second chance. Besides, I will leave dealing with all of you to Derek” he adds snidely.

Derek looks surprised but he listened to his uncle’s heartbeat and it never wavered. Maybe he could trust him not to betray them after all.

The next few weeks were tough on the pack. Derek went into overprotective mode and become even more of a bear. His new rules required no less than three pack members to be together at any time. They also created mountain ash barriers around the Sheriff’s house, Lydia’s house, Erica’s home and Boyd’s house while the betas stayed with pack. Boyd’s grandmother had come out when then were putting the ash out and sniffed before going back and coming back with a bag for him, never saying anything other than to be careful. Erica had convinced her parents that she was staying with Lydia whose mother was actually out of town, so with Jackson, Boyd, and Erica there, Lydia had plenty of guards.

The biggest problem had been Scott. While he was fine with protecting the house, he didn’t like Derek’s rules as it cut in to his alone time with Allison. And while Isaac, and sometimes Jackson and Lydia, were all willing to help out, Scott just hated the rules and restrictions. But in a move that impressed even Peter, Derek didn’t fight or argue with Scott. Instead he went to Chris Argent and updated him on everything and shared his concern about the Alphas attacking the pack and the hunters if they were given the chance. So Chris had not only agreed and created his own barrier at the house, but he had vetoed any dates for Allison and Scott, though he generously allowed them to have their dates in his house…while he was there. Scott was utterly betrayed, Peter was beyond entertained, and Derek was smug. Melissa whacking his head for being stupid didn’t help win Scott sympathy but he eventually got used to it, even if Chris was regretting the offer as Scott was nearly living at the Argent house now.

The upside of all of this was that they had not seen any sign of the Alphas since Kali had attacked Erica and Boyd. There had been some vandalism, but the Sheriff wasn’t sure that it was them as it didn’t fit their pattern.

So instead of increased tension, the pack had closed ranks and focused on preparing for Deaton’s second attempt. The good news was that there was nothing extra for them to do. They could use the same elements from the first spell as Deaton had gotten enough for two attempts just in case. All they had to do was hold out till the moon was back in position and they could make the attempt.

Finally the night arrived. 28 days since their last attempt, 56 since Stiles had disappeared, and they had gathered once again in the clearing where the pack was last whole. Derek was on high alert but this time the sheriff had taken his own steps. Every deputy was currently on duty and patrolling, very visibly, around the town, all clustered close to this end of the preserve and close enough that he could call in the full force of the station in a moment. Chris had set his hunters out to make quite a bit of noise on the other side of the preserve, close to where they had found signs of the Alphas recently. They would hopefully provide a distraction for the wolves. A smaller, more trusted force was posted even closer than the deputies, ready to respond to Chris’s call.

Derek had worked with Deaton and re-positioned the pack to support him while still protecting everyone. Everyone still had their totems and were to focus on them, but they were spread out. Chris and Allison still were in platforms in the trees, safely hidden, armed with rifles and bows, and were ready and positioned to provide cover fire if needed. Melissa was back at the vet clinic behind a ring of mountain ash, several guns loaded with wolfsbane, and enough medical supplies to almost run an ER in case they had injuries as well as several contingencies to handle whatever condition they found Stiles.

“Once again, I cannot stress that you need to be ready for anything” Deaton warns them. “It is critical that we succeed” he added glancing at the Sheriff with a concerned look. Derek nods as do the rest of them. The Alpha has arranged the pack in three circles surrounding the vet. Closest to the druid are Scott, the Sheriff, and Lydia as they are essential to the spell. Lydia’s banshee connection to death, Deaton’s spell casting, and Scott & the Sheriff’s connection to Stiles being the most important to their success. Next up is Isaac, Erica and Boyd in a ring surrounding the inner circle. They were responsible for protecting the core group so they could focus all their attention on getting Stiles back. Lastly, Jackson, Peter, and Derek were the outer ring ready to defend the rest from outside attack, especially if they summoned another monster.

Chris and Allison were watching as well but this time they were much better prepared. Allison and Chris had weapons of blessed silver, cold iron, salt, and even holy water. They were ready to take on anything. Derek, Jackson, and Peter were also carrying several weapons in case their claws weren’t enough. Chris and the Sheriff had not shared with the Alpha that the two hunters had also brought several incendiary rounds and grenades that would immolate anything that would burn. They didn’t tell Derek or Peter, but Jackson had been warned so he could act if needed.

“Take your positions” Deaton instructed and began his chanting. Derek listened to the druid’s spell and there was a rush of warm air and they caught that stench again. Sulfur and rotting meat.

“On guard!” Derek growled but when he searched it seemed that the fairy ring was the source of the stench, it didn’t seem to be coming from any other source. “Anything?” he called out to the pack.

“Clear” Peter called from his side of the clearing.

“Nothing” Jackson added.

“No movement above” Noah reported. He had an earpiece to link with Chris and Allison so the hunters could give them information without giving away their positions.

Derek didn’t like this. Twice before something had come through and now all of sudden…nothing. He also had been more and more convinced that the Alpha Pack was waiting to attack at the worse possible moment…which was now. This would be the perfect time to attack them as they were distracted and desperate. But there were no signs.

“All’s quiet in town and preserve” Noah adds after checking in with the other teams.

Derek looks up just as he hears Lydia call out “One minute!” and he snaps. Not again! He turns and heads to the vet and the fairy ring. He runs up to the edge of the ring, the scent of sulfur nearly overwhelming.

“Where is he?” Derek growls not taking his eyes off the ring. How much time has passed he wonders and he is about to ignore the vet and go in to get the teen back his own way when Lydia lets out a wail that feels like a spike into his ears.

Derek drops to his knees as he hears his pack crying out and dropping down. All the wolves are down, blood pouring from their ears as Lydia’s scream somehow get even louder. He forces his eyes up and he sees the Sheriff staggering away from Lydia while Deaton stammers and loses his place before he falls. “NO!” Derek screams just as Lydia collapses. The sudden lack of sound is deafening as Derek lets a howl of anguish and rage.

STILES! Derek’s eyes flash when the teen’s scent suddenly hits his nose. Staggering up, he looks around and sees the pack trying to recover. Scott is out cold having been closest to Lydia while the Sheriff and Deaton are both trying to shake off the sonic attack. But how can he be smelling…Derek freezes when he sees a blob of white lying on the forest floor. It takes him a moment to realize the blob is inside the fairy circle. Stumbling over he is hit again with Stiles’ scent and he suddenly realizes that not only has his ears healed so he can hear again, but he is hearing that so familiar heartbeat, slower than normal, but still strong.

Stepping inside the circle he sees that it’s a body, crumbled up and face down. Reaching over gently, he is shocked by the coldness coming off the body through the strange clothes. As he him rolls over, Derek sucks in his breath at the familiar moles on pale skin and the smudges on the oh-so-familiar face. His hair is longer than Derek has ever seen on the teen, falling past his shoulders, but it absolutely is Stiles. “Stiles” Derek’s voice cracks with emotion but it is enough to alert the others. Derek feels a surge of relief as he hears steady breathing, his pulse visible to the Alpha…Stiles is alive even if unconscious.

“STILES!” Noah’s emotion heavy voice cries out as the sheriff drops down beside Derek as he pulls the limp body of his son out of the alpha’s arms and to him. It’s not natural how still and silent he is but Noah isn’t thinking about that yet, no he just knows that after so long, after being so scared of never seeing him again, his son is back!

Chapter Text

The next few moments are chaos. Noah has a tight grip on the unconscious body in his arms as the pack circles around them, just taking in the fact that Stiles was back. Derek was struggling to deal with his senses threatening to overwhelm him; Stiles’ scent, his heartbeat, and that unseen presence that has been missing from the pack since his loss is finally back.

“What happened to him?” Scott asks breaking the silence as he stares at his brother lying so still, almost unrecognizable with the long hair and strange clothes. If it wasn’t for his nose, he would not be certain it actually was him, but Scott knows that scent.

“Sheriff” Deaton’s voice is calm and reassuring. “We need to get Stiles back to clinic. Mrs. McCall is waiting there for us” he reminds the man.

The sheriff nods after a moment but before he can even try and lift the teen Derek leans forward and scoops him up, lifting him easily as he stands. Noah starts to protest but stops, logically he knows he isn’t strong enough, no matter how much he wants to be the one taking care of his son. They move out rather quickly. Scott, Deaton, Derek, and Stiles leading the way. Jackson is carrying an unconscious Lydia right behind them.

Allison and Chris are going to sweep the woods for the demon while Isaac, Erica, and Boyd begin collecting the supplies and evidence of the ritual at Derek’s instruction. The Alpha had overruled their objections with a flash of his eyes before leaving the clearing at a fast pace. The rest followed him and when they got to the car, the Sheriff and Derek got in the back with Stiles while Scott drove.

Noah stared at his son and frowned. “Deaton…how is his hair so long? He has only been gone two months, this much hair…” his voice trails off. He stares at his son’s face, but there are no new lines or scars or other signs of injury or change. He looks almost the exact same as when he left except his hair has grown several inches to the point of being shaggy.

Alan finally answers after a moment. “It is possible that time moved differently there than it did here” he says cautiously.

“What do you mean? How can time be different?” Scott asks, confusion clear in his voice.

“Different dimensions have different rules. While we were able to focus on Stiles to bring him home, we don’t know what things were like there. Harl said he believed it was the Plains, but he wasn’t completely certain, it was just his best guess. Even if it was, we don’t know how long a day here translates there” Deaton tries to explain.

“But he looks the same, mostly” Noah presses and Deaton nods.

“It may be a small factor…say two days for every one here, that way he was gone four months. It may even be something entirely different. We should be able to tell more once we get to the clinic. Melissa will check him medically and I can look for magical traces” Deaton says tentatively.

Derek hears the vet’s heartbeat, and though it is mostly steady, he detects enough of a reaction that he is fairly certain that the druid isn’t entirely certain of what he is saying, even if he hopes it is true. Scott does not appear to have noticed enough to be able to tell and Derek isn’t about to say anything while the Sheriff, whose heart is stressed at the moment, is in a position to hear anything bad.

They finally pull into the parking lot and the back door opens with Melissa standing there looking worried as Derek carries Stiles’ limp body inside. The priority is checking him out.

Melissa watches as Derek places Stiles on the table, much more gently than she would have imagined, and stares for a second at the boy that is almost her second son before she closes off her emotions in order to focus on the medical treatment and care. Derek steps back and allows Deaton and her to move forward to check him out and she frowns for a moment at the strange clothes he’s wearing. At first glance she thought it was linen, but the texture is wrong…off. She has probably encountered just about every fabric out there during her time in the ER, but this is something different.

“We need to remove his clothes to check for injuries” Deaton says clinically as he nods at Melissa to proceed and steps over to check on Lydia who Jackson has just set down on the other table.

Melissa reaches for a pair of shears and reaches for the cuff of his right leg, sliding the blades between the fabric and squeezes. She is expecting the crisp, clear sound of the scissors cutting through the pants. What she isn’t expecting is the sound of metal shattering as the scissors break, the blades sparking off the suddenly stiff fabric. Melissa jumps back at the sparks but she watches as the patch of fabric suddenly goes limp again.

“What was that?!” Scott yelps out as he reaches for his mother.

Derek growls as Deaton comes back and Melissa explains what happens. The vet looks thoughtful and picks up a scalpel and carefully pushes it against the inside of Stiles’ pants leg and watches as the fabric suddenly hardens and resists the blade. “This is…unexpected” he mutters.

Derek steps forward and extends his claws and reaches for Stiles’ other leg but the moment his claws touch the fabric, it stiffens and they can hear a sound as if his claws were sliding along metal but the pants remain unmarred. The Alpha frowns as he stares at the teen’s pants “What is it?” he finally asks the vet.

“I’m not certain” Alan’s voice is flat and unemotional, but there is a hint of excitement there. “Let’s look at the shirt” he tells them and Melissa and the vet find that it reacts the same way. Nodding to himself, Deaton and Melissa push the fabric up to expose Stiles’ torso as they look for any injuries or damage.

“How is he?” Noah asks, concern clear in his voice as he moves closer to the table to look for himself.

“He looks fine” Melissa quickly reassures him. She is surprised but there is nothing, no bruising, no cuts or abrasions, there is not even any sign of old injuries or scars except several that she recognizes from before he went missing. “I can’t see any sign of injury” she says with relief looking over at Deaton who is doing is own assessment.

Alan nods in agreement at the sheriff. “I do not detect any traces of magical injuries either. However” he pauses as he stares at the unconscious teen “I also cannot detect any magic on his clothes either and they definitely appear to have some. Frowning he reaches for another pair of scissors and moves to try and cut on the seam inside his shirt but it stiffens like the pants and his scissors are useless. “This cloth is fascinating, it appears to shift whenever it encounters any possible damage.”

“But is he okay? And why is he unconscious?” Noah asks, the stress clearly getting to him.

“I am not sure but we need to let Melissa check him out” Alan replies firmly as Melissa pulls over several medical diagnostic items that she ‘borrowed’ from the hospital. They watch as she connects Stiles to several monitors and moves methodically between them. Deaton steps back to allow the nurse to work unimpeded and she doesn’t even acknowledge him as she moves from one to another.

Scott, Derek, and Noah all make a move to interrupt or ask a question but quickly back down when Melissa glares at them. The room is finally quiet as she works and before she finishes, the rest of the pack, minus Allison and Chris, all arrive to join the waiting. Finally she steps back over to Noah and looks a lot less concerned.

“Okay, I can tell you his heart appears fine, as is his temperature, oxygen levels, and other vitals. In fact I would say he is in excellent health. The only thing I see off appears to be that he is slightly dehydrated but nothing that plenty of fluids wouldn’t fix. Beyond that, we would need to go to the hospital if we decide to do an MRI to look for brain or internal injuries” she pauses for a second “but I don’t think there are internal injuries” she adds with a slightly confused expression and quickly holds up a hand before anyone can interrupt. “No I don’t know why he is not awake. Alan warned me to be prepared, he said that the transition from wherever Stiles was to back to here might be traumatic, so we prepared for that. It might be that coming back simply exhausted him. I am going to recommend you take him home and we wait” she tells Noah.

The sheriff glances at the vet who is helping Lydia, now awake, to sit up. “I did warn Melissa that Stiles might been impacted by the magic of the travel” he assures the Sheriff. “If you prefer, he can stay here as the clinic is well protected from any magical interference, but I am not sure that it is necessary.”

Noah looks around at the pack and realizes that while he is definitely planning to take Stiles home, they are not going to be separated from him right now. Sighing he looks at Derek “Son, let’s get him home and we can take turns keeping an eye on him.”

Derek nods and looks at the pack. Lydia is still looking out of it so Jackson announces that he is taking her home as they split up and pile into the cars to head for the Stilinski house.

Placing Stiles on the couch in the family room, the pack is finally able to relax. Noah had thought at first to put Stiles in his own bed, but after a moment of staring at the teens who had descended on his house he realized the larger room would be better as it would allow everyone to stay together. “We can watch Stiles” Derek’s voice startles the sheriff as he looks up and sees the man standing at the entrance of the kitchen. “You look worn out” he adds unnecessarily.

“I don’t know if I can sleep son. He’s home but until I know he’s alright, I am not sure I am going to be any good” Noah says rubbing his eyes.

Derek stares for a moment before nodding and turning back to the family room. “Isaac, Boyd, bring Stiles’ mattress down here for the Sheriff. Erica, Scott, get pillows and blankets for the rest of us” he directs them and Isaac jumps up and heads upstairs with Boyd following along.

“C’mon, you can show me where it’s at” Erica says pulling on Scott’s arm, the beta reluctant to leave his brother’s side but ultimately relenting.

“Son you don’t need…” the sheriff begins but Derek looks back at him with a surprisingly heated glare.

“We both know what Stiles will say and do if we don’t take care of you” he reminds the sheriff with a slight smirk and the older man just sighs in resignation and silently agrees. A few minutes later and everything is set up and people start arranging themselves. “I will take first watch” Derek tells them, looking pointedly at the Sheriff and Scott, both who look ready to protest and demand to stay awake as well. “We all need sleep. I will wake up someone in a few hours” he promises.

A few minutes of muttering follow but everyone ultimately lays down as Derek moves to the recliner next to Stile’s head. He smiles as he glances down at his restored pack and almost laughs at the fact that all of them are already asleep, even the Sheriff. The last two months have been exhausting for everyone but they are all together again even if the Alpha Pack is still out there. They didn’t mess things up for once and Derek shifts, making sure he stays awake as well.

“Son?” the sheriff’s soft voice is enough to snap Derek to consciousness as he looks around for any sign of problem, tension clear in his body. “It’s okay” Noah says gently and Derek sees it is just starting to get light so it must still be fairly early. “You looked like you were having a bad dream” the sheriff adds with an understanding look.

Derek tries to shake off exhaustion he is still feeling and sit up. He had managed to stay awake for nearly two hours before realizing he was losing the fight and he woke up Boyd with instructions to wake up Scott two hours later and the Sheriff after that. He had hoped that Stiles would be awake by that point but a quick glance showed the teen still sleeping soundly, his breathing and heart sure and steady with the hold of sleep. Glancing up he sees the Sheriff looking concerned so he shakes his head and stands up. Sure it was a bad dream but it is most nights, Derek is used to it.

Noah just sighs knowing the alpha won’t go back to sleep now and just nods towards the kitchen “Coffee?” he asks softly and Derek nods and follows the man back to the kitchen. Moving surely but quietly, Noah sets to make a large pot of coffee knowing that they will go through it pretty quickly with this group.

“Any signs of waking” Derek finally asks after the Sheriff starts the pot. Derek has already pulled out the cups, sugar, and milk and set them out on the counter. While the Sheriff may only take a little sugar in his coffee, he knows the others will be waking soon.

“Just some light tossing, but then he settled down and nothing. That was about an hour ago” Noah tells him. “I called into the station, told them I would be out today” he adds looking back towards the sleeping pile. “Did Deaton say anything else?” he asks looking back at Derek.

“He said he would come by in the morning to check on him, but he wasn’t sure how long it would take. He thinks that if Stiles was tired to begin with, the transition back may have had even more of an effect” Derek repeats what the druid had texted him during his watch.

Just then Scott stumbles around the corner looking half asleep with his hair all tussled and his eyes only partially working. “Coffee?” he groans out, sniffing deeply to direct him.

Noah snorts at the teen but pours out some coffee before adding extra sugar and nearly half a cup of creamer. Scott was not a serious coffee drinker. “Did we wake you?” he asks after Scott has taken a deep gulp.

“Not really. Been hard to stay asleep. Stiles had a nightmare for a bit during my watch, but before I could do anything he settled back down. Derek looks concerned and steps around the corner to look in the room and is looking at Stiles for several seconds before the picture in front of him makes sense. Those warm, amber eyes are open and looking around.

“Stiles?” Derek says, louder than he intended but it is enough to catch the attention of the Sheriff and Scott who both come around the kitchen, eyes widening at seeing Stiles awake.

“Something smells good” Stiles says, his voice rough and dry.

“Stiles!” Noah says much louder before he is moving quickly towards the teen who had just started to sit up, managing to wake the rest of the pack who all look confused before they spot Stiles. “Stiles” the Sheriff croaks as he embraces his son but he pulls back after a moment looking confused by the lack of a response from his son. Stiles had let Noah hug him, but he didn’t hug back. Staring into those eyes, those eyes so much like Claudia’s, he sees confusion and uncertainty. What he doesn’t see is any emotion.

Stiles looks around at the sea of expectant faces staring down at him, including the large guy who looks like he is about to snap before looking back at the man who is still holding on to him. “Sorry…two questions. Who are you and what’s a Stiles?”

Chapter Text

Noah froze at the question, asked so innocently and easily. The room had gone deathly quiet when they heard Stiles ask the question and everyone stared at the confused teen. Swallowing down his emotions Noah searched his son’s face for any sign of recognition but there was nothing there. “Son, I’m your father. Don’t you recognize me?” he asks, his voice cracking a bit at the end.

Stiles looks at the Sheriff for a moment, like he is trying to place him but he just shakes his head. “I’m sorry, but I don’t” he replies carefully but then frowns as he looks around “but I don’t seem to remember anything…not even my own name” he mutters before looking back up.

“It’s Stiles” Noah tells him and he chokes down a laugh at the sudden look of disdain on his son’s face.

“You named me Stiles?” he asks looking profoundly disappointed. “Shouldn’t that count as child abuse?” he asks looking around the room.

There is a bit of nervous laughter from the pack. “Well, your dad is the Sheriff, so he is probably safe” Erica says gently and watches as Stiles looks back at his father.

“You’re a cop? Cool” he says after a moment. “But Stiles? What’s my last name?”

“Stilinski” Isaac replies first and he laughs at Stiles’ grimace.

“You named me Stiles Stilinski?” he demands of his father.

“Well actually, you did that. You didn’t like your real name so you decided everyone should call you Stiles” Scott informs him, looking nervous.

“So what’s my real name?” Stiles asks looking back to his father who opens his mouth for a second before stopping.

“I will tell you later when no one else is around” Noah replies and smiles when he sees the disappointment on Erica and Isaac’s faces. “You don’t really like people to know” he adds.

“God, worse than Stiles? Crazy. Um…look this is all kind of confusing but the truth is…I’m kind of starving” he says looking around just as his stomach growls loudly.

“Boyd, Erica. Go to the diner and get breakfast for everyone” Derek suddenly orders the betas who look look uncertain but they nod and start moving. “The kitchen’s pretty bare. Scott, can you call your mom and Dr. Deaton and ask them to come check out Stiles? Isaac, call Jackson and Lydia” Derek says looking at the Sheriff for a moment for some confirmation and he quickly nods agreeing with Derek’s plan.

“What about Allison?” Scott asks cautiously but hopeful.

Derek frowns but remembers all the help she and Chris have given during this so he nods permission. Scott smiles and looks at Stiles for a moment before moving off to the other room to call. “Let’s get some coffee and see if we have anything till they get back” Noah tells them after everyone has headed out and they move toward the kitchen, Stiles looking around the house with curious eyes.

“Hey. If you’re my dad, where’s my mom?”

“Dad?” Allison says as she walks into the kitchen. She sees her father standing there making breakfast and he looks over at her and she can tell that he is still exhausted after everything that happened last night. “Stiles is awake” she tells him.

Chris nods briefly and feels a bit of relief. The kid wasn’t his problem but he was human, one of the people that he had tried to protect, and after the last two months, he knows how hard it has been on the Sheriff and he is glad that they had some good news. He has lost more than a bit of sleep thinking how he would have reacted if it had been Allison. “So is everything okay?” he asks but frowns at the sudden uncertainty on his daughter’s face.

“Scott says that he has amnesia. He doesn’t know who he is or recognize anyone. He didn’t recognize his dad” she says sounding suddenly vulnerable.

Chris moves quickly to pull her into his arms. She stiffens for a moment before melting into his embrace. The idea of getting his daughter back but her not knowing who he was hits him like a physical blow. He knows that she is desperately trying to be strong, and fierce, and brave but she is still his little girl and still so young…they all are so young.

"Scott says they are doing breakfast, maybe we could go over?" Allison asks hesitantly.

Chris nods and they start getting ready to head over, much quieter than usual but neither Chris nor Allison comment on the fact that both of them stay much closer than normal as if they are afraid of letting the other out of their sight.

“Mr. Stilinski, please sit down” Alan says gently looking at the teen still standing in the kitchen. He had arrived just after Melissa to find a rather tense situation. The Sheriff was leaning against the kitchen counter looking fragile while Derek looked completely lost. Scott was talking to Stiles, discomfort obvious all over his face. The strange thing was that the only person who didn’t look upset or worked up was Stiles.

The teen nodded and moved over to the couch and sat down. “So, who are you?” he asks looking curious.

“My name is Alan Deaton. I run the Beacon Hills Veterinary Clinic. This is Melissa McCall, Scott’s mother, and she is a nurse” Deaton explains and pauses at the look of confusion on the teen’s face.

“Why am I seeing a vet?” Stiles asks warily but he smiles at Melissa who pulls out her stethoscope to check his heart and pulse.

“Well, I also help out in other ways, but for all the medical needs, we usually let Mrs. McCall take care of things” he assures the young man. “Can you please hold this?” he says holding out a leather strap with a piece of clear quartz attached.

Stiles shrugs and grabs the cord. Deaton has barely let go when the crystal starts glowing brightly. “Hey this is cool! How’s it doing that?” Stiles says as he squints through the glare of the light to look at the crystal.

Noah and Derek both look at the vet, the demand for an explanation clear in their unspoken expressions. “It detects magic” he whispers to the two men staring at Stiles nervously. “I’ve never seen it react that strongly before” he adds with an audible gulp.

The next hour passes rather quickly, even though it isn’t easy on the pack. Melissa and Deaton both finish their examinations without much additional information. Melissa had determined that, at least medically, Stiles is healthy and without serious issue beyond the memory loss. Deaton had looked at the teen magically, but he was fairly stumped as to what had actually happened. Without Stiles’ assistance, it seemed that they had reached a dead end. Deaton said he would reach out to some colleagues for help.

Lydia, Jackson, Chris, and Allison had all arrived shortly after the food did and everyone had dug in, even though it was much quieter than usual for two reasons. First, the pack was on edge and seemed worried about upsetting Stiles and second, Stiles wasn’t rambling in his usual manner. Rather he was smiling happily, eating heartily, and the most unsettling? He didn’t make a single comment when his dad ate extra bacon. Derek had almost said something before he caught himself.

After breakfast, the groups separated a bit with Scott and most of the betas talking with Stiles about school and a very sanitized version of what they had done as friends. Derek had pulled Deaton outside to talk about magic stuff leaving Melissa, Chris, and the Sheriff alone before they moved to the sheriff’s office and shutting the door.

“Mel, it nearly stopped my heart. He asked me about his mother and I just froze. It was so casual and we don’t really talk about her” he says, the pain clear in his voice. “Luckily Derek was there and he finally told Stiles she was gone.” Noah looks up at Melissa, his eyes shining with unshed tears “and he just said okay. Like it didn’t matter to him” Noah’s voice broke. Chris watched in silence thinking how he would react if Allison had forgotten her mother.

Melissa moved to embrace the man. “Noah, he has no memories right now. She is just an abstract concept for him, there’s no emotional connection for him. Once his memories return, he will remember her.”

Noah nods, but doesn’t reply. He just holds on as he remembers his son’s nonchalance about his mother being dead. He had even offered sympathies to Noah, but it was obvious that he didn’t have an emotional reaction to the news. Derek had distracted him allowing Noah time to recover, but even now it still hurt. He only hoped they could help his son heal. He couldn’t be the only one who remembered her.

“Okay, I have lasted as long as I can” Lydia said with a huff as she stared at Stiles. The others all looked at her in confusion but Jackson twitched. He recognized that look. “You cannot go around in those clothes” she adds with a disdainful sniff. “Allison, Erica…I think we should get Stiles into something more appropriate” she tells them standing up. Erica’s smile is nearly feral as she looks at the confused teen while Allison tries to hide her smile. Lydia heads for the stairs as Erica and Allison gather Stiles up to follow after the redhead.

Allison looks back at the boys who are all doing their best to look away though Scott does appear conflicted about whether he should step in to help. “We won’t be long boys” she says with a wave.

They huntress and the she-wolf manage to get Stiles up to his room to find Lydia staring at Stiles’ closet in exasperation. “Plaid? Seriously. Who owns this much plaid? Scottish people don’t own this much plaid” she mutters looking for something acceptable.

“What about a t-shirt?” Erica suggests as she moves to join the smaller woman. “He’s got to have a ton of those.”

“Good luck finding one that doesn’t have some stupid graphic on it” Lydia whispers to the blonde. “I mean all we need is some good jeans, a white t-shirt, and a red hoodie. How hard is that?” she asks out loud.

The two are still digging when they hear Allison’s sharp intake of breath. “LYDIA!” she whisper yells.

Lydia turns around to stare at Allison only to see her staring at Stiles in shock. Glancing over she sees the guy just standing there. She blinks. He is standing there wearing jeans, a white tee, and his red hoodie. “Where did you get those?” she demands crossly. And how did he get changed that fast?

“His clothes…they just…changed” Allison gets out looking rather freaked. “They just changed!” she says again looking at Lydia in a near panic.

Lydia stares for a moment at Allison before turning back to a thoroughly confused Stiles. “Stiles, can you do something for me?” she asks gently. He nods easily. “How about black jeans, tight, turquoise t-shirt with a black long-sleeved button up shirt?”

Stiles just stares for a moment before shrugging. Lydia watches in disbelief as his clothes shift like they are made of water. They change color, texture, and style and in a few seconds he is standing in the outfit she just described. She ignores the gasps from both Erica and Allison. “Maybe something formal. Black Tuxedo, Armani. Red bow tie, white shirt with moonstone buttons and silver cufflinks in the shape of wolf heads. If we need something formal” she adds with a carefully contrived smile.

Stiles looks confused. “Why would I need something formal?” he asks but Lydia just smiles at him and he shrugs. They watch as the clothes shift again to perfectly match Lydia’s description, down to the Armani tag in the jacket.

“What the hell?” Eric says in appreciation. “You look good in a tux Batman” she says eyeing the well fit suit.

“Agreed” Lydia mutters before shaking a bit. “But you’re right. Back to the hoodie and jeans” she says decisively. Stiles just sighs and his clothes shift back.

“I am never going to get used to that” Allison says shaking her head with wide open eyes.

“Why are you all so freaked out?” Stiles asks looking at them.

“Stiles. Can you tell me what just happened?” Lydia asks clinically.

“You wanted me to change my clothes so I did” he replies easily.

“How?” Lydia asks.

Stiles frowns for a second before looking at her. “I just did” he says with a shrug.

“Stiles, do know about magic?” Allison asks curiously. “That it’s real I mean.”

Stiles looks at her with confused expression. “Of course? Doesn’t everyone?”

“No! Most people are sure it isn’t real” Erica says with a smirk.

Stiles frowns for a moment. “So do they not know you are a werewolf?” he asks the blonde who looks completely stunned.

All three girls stumble for a moment before Erica finally recovers enough. “How do you know that?” she demands.

“It’s really obvious. I mean, most everyone is down there so I figured it was normal. I mean that Scott guy said he was my best friend and he’s one so I guess I just thought it was no big deal” Stiles replied.

“Okay. We need to figure out this amnesia thing” Lydia said looking serious. “His memory loss almost seems….strategic” she says with a determined look as she moves over and plants Stiles on his bed. “Question time Stilinski” she says ominously as the other two women come up beside her, all of them looking down at the teen who is starting to look a bit worried.
Stiles looks at her warily but he nods. “Identity everyone in the house and tell me what they are” Lydia instructs him.

Stiles pauses and closes his eyes. “The three adults, my father, Mrs. McCall, and Mr. Argent are all human, as is Allison” he answers looking at the brunette. “The big guy…” he pauses for a moment and looks at Erica.

“Boyd?” she offers and he nods.

“Boyd, curly haired guy, Scott, and that other guy, Derek, they are all werewolves like you” he says pointing at Erica.

“No other wolves?” Lydia asks cautiously.

“The other guy you were sitting by” he answers looking at Lydia “he’s a wolf, but off. There is something else there too but I’m not sure exactly what it is.” He frowns for a minute then shrugs.

“The vet is a druid and you are a banshee” he finishes looking at the redhead who looks stunned.

She glances at the others before looking back at Stiles. “How did you know about me? We didn’t discover that until after you were lost” she demands.

Stiles looks helplessly at the other two for a moment but neither seem willing to help him so he finally just sighs and turns back to the small figure next to him. “You reek of death” he says looking apologetic and sees Lydia’s eyes widen in shock. “It’s not bad” he adds quickly “it just…well it’s really obvious I guess.”

“I don’t smell anything” Erica says looking at Lydia curiously. “I mean you have never smelled different to any of us” she explains.

“It’s not a smell per se” Stiles tries to explain “it’s more like a sensation, like icy fingers brushing against you while you hear a distant wailing. The dead are drawn to you so some of their aura rubs off.”

Lydia looks both offended and intrigued. “But you are the only one who can sense that? Even Deaton needed a magic tool to figure it out. Why can you?” she says looking suddenly interested. “Something must have happened to you that changed your senses” she mutters.

“Lydia” Allison interrupts “shouldn’t we tell the others?” Allison looks really uncomfortable. Fighting wolves she gets, but this is getting way out of her comfort zone.
Lydia nods and gathers them up and leads them downstairs.

“So how can Stiles do all that?” Scott asks Deaton after Lydia explained everything they had discovered to the group. There was quite a reaction to Stiles’ transforming clothes, but the bigger question was his ability to sense Lydia and Jackson’s unique nature.

“I honestly don’t know Scott” Deaton said looking at the teen in question. “I know that other Fae would probably be able to determine Lydia’s nature, but Mr. Stilinski isn’t Fae. There are other beings who could as well, but again, everything about him appears human.” Though it doesn’t show, Scott can tell that Deaton is flustered because he truly doesn’t know what’s going on.

“So what do we do?” Noah asks the vet as he looks at his son, worry clear on his face.

“I think all we can do is wait. Wait and see if his memory returns or if something else happens. I will follow up with my colleagues, but I have to be honest, I have never heard of anything like it. I’m sorry, but I think we just have to wait” Alan says with a sigh.

Chapter Text

“Stiles?” the voice was tentative but he woke up anyway. Sitting up he saw the sheriff, his father he reminded himself, standing at the door. “Are you up for some breakfast?” the man asks gently.

Stiles nods and stands up and follows the older man downstairs. He feels bad because he knows that the man misses his son but he doesn’t remember anything despite everything they told him about himself. He definitely feels a connection to him, a stronger bond than he feels for the others, but he just can’t remember why. It is similar to how he feels stronger connections with Scott and the alpha Derek.

Yesterday was confusing for him watching how everyone acted around him. They were surprised and worked up about his clothes shifting and that he could sense them, but that didn’t make any sense to him. Their true nature was fairly easy to see, he had even figured out that the one wolf was previously a kanima which surprised him as that was unusual. The rest of them didn’t seem to understand how rare that was but then again they didn’t really seem to understand much even about themselves.

The alpha and his uncle seemed a bit more informed, but they were woefully ignorant about things they should have known. The druid was better, but even he seemed to lack a basic understanding of magic. Stiles, he still couldn’t believe that was his name, didn’t remember how he knew what he did, but it was familiar knowledge, something he thought everyone should have known. He didn’t make a scene yesterday as everyone was talking and arguing after the girls had brought him back downstairs but he did listen. They didn’t know where he had been, of course neither did he, but some of their ideas were just wrong on so many levels. He had decided not to correct them yet and he wasn’t sure why, but he felt he shouldn’t so he didn’t.

“I made pancakes” his father said with a small smile and Stiles smiled back. He didn’t remember them, but they did smell good. He flashed back to his normal breakfast of a porridge, fruits, and tea but he couldn’t firmly grasp when and where he ate that.

“They smell good” he says instead and the sheriff puts a plate down in front of him along with a cup of dark liquid that smells very good. “What is this?” he asks as he sniffs the rich aroma coming out of the cup.

“Coffee. You don’t remember coffee?” his father says sounding surprised.

“No” Stiles says and shakes his head but then he takes a taste and he moans in delight. It’s so good! He takes another sip, ignoring the heat and just savoring the taste flooding his mouth. He remembers this! “I like coffee don’t I?” he asks as he opens his eyes.

“I can’t get you out of bed without it” Noah says with a sad smile.

Stiles nods and takes another sip of the delicious brew. He can taste the stimulant inside along with a sweetener of some kind, not honey though. He decides that he will definitely have more. Not expecting much from the other food he is surprised at the taste of the ‘pancakes’ and the combination of golden texture, warm berries, and the sweet syrup on them triggers something in his mouth, heart, and mind. “I’ve eaten these before” he says looking at the food in confusion. “I remember this” he says in surprise as he knows that he has sat at this table, with this man, and eaten this very meal.

“Every Sunday” Noah says the hope clear in his voice.

Stiles takes another bite. “I don’t remember” he says disappointed that he cannot say otherwise “but I know we have done this. It feels…right” he finally says.

Noah feels a bit of the tension he has been holding in ebb away. “Deaton said that certain places or sounds or smells or tastes may trigger your memory. I think the pack wants to take you around to see if anything helps you remember.”

Stiles nods after a moment before looking at the man carefully. “You look tired” he says bluntly and Noah laughs.

“It’s been a tough 56 days” the Sheriff admits looking at his son. “I was afraid I had lost you forever and learning all this werewolf stuff was a pretty big surprise.”

Stiles frowned. “You didn’t know about it?” he asks obviously confused.

“You were trying to keep me safe and out of it. Apparently you thought if I knew the truth, I would be at greater risk” the Sheriff says with a flat tone.

Stiles shakes his head. “That doesn’t make sense. Ignorance isn’t safety. You need to know how to protect yourself, how to know when there is danger. Keeping you in the dark was a foolish decision” his voice was firm and certain.

Noah raises an eyebrow but smirks a bit. “I agree. I only wish that you, the you that remembers, would have thought that too. Finding out that your son is missing in another plane of existence at the same time that all the stories about magic and fairy tales are true was a blow. Apparently you had been running with the pack for quite some time without me knowing. Pretty sure I am going to ground you once you do remember” Noah mutters but then he sighs sadly as he looks at the young man across from him that is both his son but somehow not. “But you are back home and we will help you” he says confidently.

“Can you tell me, from what the others were saying yesterday, how long has everyone known about all of magical world?” Stiles asks tentatively.

The sheriff looks uncertain but he nods and tells Stiles everything the others have told him about how they all came together when Scott got bit and he got involved. After finishing the story he looks at Stiles who looks even more concerned. “Son, what’s wrong?”

Stiles debates answering but he remembers his own words about the price of ignorance. “It is just that their knowledge, even of themselves, is so limited. And more than a bit is wrong” he says with a frown.

“Wrong? What do you mean?” Noah says looking worried.

Stiles takes a breath before leaning forward. “The two born wolves and the druid have the most knowledge but it is…fragmented. Both of the men are disconnected from their wolves and have not embraced them fully. I wouldn’t be surprised from bitten wolves, but born ones should know better. They seem ignorant of their own abilities and nature. The druid is more apprentice than master but he is treated as if his knowledge was deep when it is actually rather limited. The banshee and former Kanima both are denying that part of themselves and the bitten wolves seem to only embrace the simplest parts of their wolves” Stiles explains.

“What other abilities?” Noah asks confused. He was pretty impressed.

“None of them seemed to have shifted to their full wolf form for one” he replies easily and pauses when the Sheriff looks sad.

“Derek explained that his mother and sister had that ability but that it was very rare among werewolves. Rare enough that it gave Talia significant influence with other packs” Noah explains remembering one of his and Derek’s dinner conversations.

Stiles shakes his head. “He’s wrong. The wolf is there, even in the bitten ones. They can shift fully if they wish to, but something has made them believe that it is separate, not part of them. They also limit themselves in their own gifts. I know wolves that are stronger, faster, with sharper senses. These wolves appear to be…washed out” he says looking uncertain he has the right words.

Noah isn’t sure how to respond.

“And the banshee is barely even aware of her gifts but she did say she didn’t know she was one until I went missing. Your druid…he seems barely gifted and it seems to be wrapped up in symbols and plants” Stiles sighs. “I didn’t want to criticize them yesterday, but it seems a surprise they have managed to survive everything you described.”

Noah has worked with many fine men and women during his time in law enforcement and in the military before that and he knows that look. It is the look of a drill sergeant or trainer who is frustrated with performance that should be better. “Maybe you could help them be better” he suggests and almost laughs at the surprised expression on his son’s face.

“Do you think they would want that?” he asks sincerely uncertain.

“With everything that happens here, I wouldn’t be surprised” Noah says just as there is a knock on the door followed by Scott and Isaac coming in.

“Stiles!” Scott says happily as they come in. “We thought we would show you around if you want” he offers eagerly. Stiles agrees and goes to shower and get ready while the Sheriff fires up the griddle to cook a couple more pancakes for the betas. Less than half an hour later Noah watches them walk out to Melissa’s car before going to get ready himself. He took off yesterday, but there are still problems that he needs to deal with, especially as the station still hasn’t fully recovered from the Kanima’s attack.

Scott and Isaac took Stiles around town, pointing out the local landmarks but nothing triggered anything in his memory. They had gone to the vet clinic, then the school, and the local library. The two betas had taken him to his favorite diner for lunch and ordered him is normal meal but he wasn’t sure he believed them. The curly fries were good, as was the meat sandwich, but it didn’t taste familiar. He was used to various meats, roasted over fire. There was also memories of stews, root vegetables, hard bread, and a drink that made him warm, but he couldn’t remember! The thick cakes, dripping with honey, to finish off the meal or between meals? Regardless, he didn’t remember this food like he did coffee.

The betas answered his questions and he gently gathered information about their own abilities and experiences and he was again surprised at the lack of basic understanding. He sensed that Scott was still harboring feelings of anger and denial over being bitten which was one of the reasons that he was blocking himself from truly embracing his wolf. But Isaac had wanted the bite and asked for it but he was almost as blocked. Scott was unhappy with his situation for some reason he didn’t understand especially after learning that it healed his breathing problems. But the thing was nothing appeared to fit. They both enjoyed many of the benefits, but they saw them more as enhancements than true changes and that was why, he was sure, they were limiting themselves.

“What about the lacrosse field?” Isaac suggested and Scott nodded excitedly.

“Yes! We can go there, maybe even play a little” the dark haired beta said happily. He even had their gear in the trunk.

Stiles agreed though he didn’t remember the game or how to play it but a few minutes later they were parking and walking to the field carrying sticks, balls, and pads. The two took turns helping Stiles get ready and then they started trying to explain the rules. “Maybe I could watch you two for a bit?” Stiles suggested after the third time one of them corrected the other on some point. Both boys agreed and ran out on the field and started playing.

Watching them he thought he was getting the idea. They fought over possession of the ball but he wasn’t sure why they had the nets on their sticks versus just picking them up but he did think it was a good way to practice staff fighting. He had been watching for a few minutes when he saw another car pull up. Glancing over he saw the former kanima and another boy he didn’t recognize get out and walk towards them carrying similar bags to the ones Scott and Isaac had.

“McCall!” Jackson yelled out to the two betas who stopped and stared before walking over.

“Stilinski” Danny said with a nod but he paused when the teen looked at him with no recognition or awareness.

“Sorry. Who are you?” Stiles asks politely.

Danny stops and looks confused, especially by the sincerity in the other teen’s voice. He doesn’t get the chance to respond before McCall is there. “Stiles this is Danny, Jackson’s best friend” he explains and Stiles nods but there is no recognition.

“What’s going on?” Danny asks looking at the other teens. The three betas all look nervous but they explain that Stiles was in an accident and is having some memory problems. Danny looks skeptical but Jackson confirms it and Isaac and Scott explain they are showing him around to try and help him remember and were trying to see if lacrosse would help.

“You can’t play with only two people” Jackson sneers and rolls his eyes at the beta. "Three on three is minimum but we could play two on two to show him some moves” he offers and they quickly split up and get ready.

Isaac and Scott take one side while Danny and Jackson take the other. Stiles watches and now it makes more sense. The nets are for transferring control of the ball while moving. Danny explained that usually there was one player covering the goal to prevent scoring but they were playing without that today. Stiles saw how they moved and could tell that the three wolves were holding back since Danny was obviously human, but they were still…sloppy.

After about 20 minutes they took a break and came over to Stiles to see if any of it helped him remember. It didn’t “but you seem to make a lot of mistakes” he adds to the shock of the other four. “I mean you are missing opportunities and your actions are inefficient.”

“Think you can do better?” Jackson snorts and Stiles picks up one of the sticks.

“Yes. Should I show you?” he offers and the other four all smile.

Jackson kindly offers to captain the opposing team and offers Stiles first pick. He picks Scott because he seems okay and it feels right. Jackson picks Danny. “I’ll sit this one out” Isaac offers but Stiles shakes his head.

“You can play on their team, it won’t make that much difference” he says easily but misses the shock and indignation on their faces.

“Well, maybe getting tossed around will help you remember” Jackson mutters and both Scott and Isaac barely control their growls in his defense.

They line up with Danny taking the goal and Jackson and Scott facing off. Stiles stands a bit behind and watches. Danny blows a whistle and in a quick scrummage Jackson gets the ball and starts to run towards the unguarded goal.

Danny is watching and he still can’t believe it. Jackson gets about three steps forward when Stilinski’s stick comes around and slams into Jackson’s freeing the ball. His stick spins around, catches the ball before it can hit the ground and flings it right at Scott who catches it in surprise. Every one of them looks stunned but Stiles is moving forward and calling to Scott who takes off after him. Isaac recovers first and races to intercept Scott who tosses the ball towards Stiles who swings his stick in a wide arc, snatching it in the air and with a spin, he sends the ball right past Danny and into the net. Jackson has barely recovered from losing the ball when Scott starts whooping and yelling.

“What the hell was that?” Danny says coming out of the goal. He looks at the other three but they are just as shocked.

“Seems pretty simple” Stiles replies and Jackson quickly proclaims it luck and that they were being easy on him.

They weren’t. The next half hour is humiliating for the three werewolves and the flabbergasted goalie. Stiles outplays them in every respect. He anticipates what they are going to do before they do it, he uses his stick like a part of his body, making moves that shouldn’t be possible or work but do. And to top it all off, he has more stamina and endurance than any of the three supernaturals. Jackson, Isaac, and Scott are all worn out, Danny who has been in the goal watching in silence is breathing heavily, while Stiles looks like he took a short jog, maybe a warm up.

“How the hell did you learn to play like that?” Jackson wheezes.

Stiles just shrugs. “I watched you and just did what was natural.”

“Oh god, with him we are definitely going to win state” Danny gushes and the other three wolves stare at their friend looking more concerned and worried. How did a human manage to do this?

Stiles walked into his house and sat on the sofa feeling really confused. The guys had all argued about his skills, Danny being excited while the other three freaked out. Finally they broke up and Scott and Isaac both spent the ride back trying to figure out how he had beaten all of them so easily. He tried to explain how they were projecting their moves and how they were being predictable, but they were just not getting it. Luckily they were also exhausted so they decided to just drop him off and go home and get cleaned up.

“Everything okay?” Noah asked coming around the corner from the kitchen. Stiles looked up at the man and sighed before relating everything that had happened on the field. “So you kicked their butts all over the place?” the sheriff clarifies with a smirk.

“I guess. It was like playing with kids. I mean I don’t remember ever playing the game, but the skills, running and jumping, analyzing your opponent, seeing everyone’s actions and knowing what they will do, all of that is natural to me and I don’t understand why they are so bad at it” Stiles sounds truly frustrated.

Noah tries to help his son, but he is at a loss. Deaton had called to update him, but in truth the vet didn’t know anything new. “I need to go in to the station for a bit, but if you prefer I can stay home and maybe we can watch the game?” he suggests just as the doorbell goes off.

Stiles and his father both look surprised but Stiles gets up and opens the door to see Lydia and Allison standing there. “What are you doing here?” he asks abruptly. Lydia raises an eyebrow at his question but he doesn’t react. She has to admit that this Stiles is way more immune to her signals.

“The boys told us about the game” Allison replies instead. “We thought we could take you for some ice cream” she smiles, her dimples on full display.

“And maybe do a bit of shopping beforehand” Lydia says innocently. Unfortunately Stiles doesn’t remember the danger and agrees after his father agrees and sends them off.

Three hours later and Stiles is seriously contemplating making a run for it. They have been shopping in multiple stores as the brunette and redhead go through the mall strategically with near military precision. But they finally finish and are heading for the ice cream stand near the mall.

Sitting at one of the outside tables, the three are enjoying their treats, the girls talking carelessly when Stiles notices that they are the only ones still there and he looks around feeling danger. “I think we should leave” he says cutting off Lydia who looks confused. He stands up and Allison, noting his stance, stands up and reaches for one of her daggers regretting leaving her crossbow in the car.

“How sweet” a voice comes from behind them causing the three teens to spin around and stare at the woman standing there. She has dark skin and black hair and strangely enough is also barefoot.

“You seriously need a pedicure” Lydia sniffs looking at the woman with disdain.

“She’s a werewolf…an alpha” Stiles says quietly but loud enough for both of the girls to hear him. Allison pulls her daggers out and braces herself. Lydia moves a step away from the woman who is now snarling through fangs with her claws fully extended. A glance shows claws at the end of her feet.

“Hale should keep better track of his playthings” she snarls stalking towards them as they move away. “Perhaps I should bite the three of you and take you for myself” her smile is twisted and cruel. “But it might be more fun to gut the Argent to pay your family back for all the wolves they murdered.

Allison pales and Lydia is getting angry. “I’ve been bit before, didn’t work then” Lydia sneers and the Alpha pauses hearing the girl’s steady heartbeat.

“Lydia…scream” Stiles says firmly and she looks at him in surprise. Kali snorts at them but Stiles looks at the red head and smiles. “Let her hear you” he says with a smirk.

“Oh yes, scream little human” Kali sneers. “You can start now or wait till my claws make you!”

Lydia narrows her eyes but stares at the advancing alpha and lets go. She has been holding her emotions in check for the last two months, struggling to keep her balance with everything but she is angry, scared, and pissed off and she pushes all of that into her scream.

Allison listens as her friend's scream starts out like a shout for help but then there is a pulse and she quickly covers her ears as a blast of sonic fury slams into the Alpha, throwing her across the lot. The windows in the ice cream trailer all shatter in explosions of fury before Lydia collapses in on herself. She jumps forward and catches the unconscious redhead as Stiles shakes his head.

“Bet the pack heard that” he says with a snicker.

“Half of California probably heard that!” Allison yells back but she is proud of what her friend did until she sees the Alpha standing back up and shaking off the effects of Lydia’s scream. “Stiles!” she points but he already saw it.

“Get her to the car, I will deal with her” Stiles says and steps forward.

Allison opens her mouth to argue when she hears the sound of metal on metal. It reminds her of her sensei in Minnesota. The man who taught her to use the katana. The sound was like when he would draw his blade from its metal sheath. The sound still managed to send shivers down her back and she looked around but didn’t see anyone else. She looked back at Stiles and froze. He was holding a metallic green sword in his hand that looked like nothing she had seen before.

First it was an almost emerald green, but still obviously metallic. It was thin and long and it spread from the tip to the handle, making it triangular in shape. The handle was black leather and firmly gripped in the teen’s hand and he was holding it like Master Li had; easily and naturally.

“You think your little banshee’s tricks and a toy sword will save you?” the Alpha snarled as she leapt at the three teens, hands and claws extended as she roared.

Looking back, Allison had to describe what happened to the others more than once and she was still not certain she truly understood what she saw. The alpha had jumped at them, but Stiles was already moving, spinning around with his arm reaching out in an arc that had first appeared to miss entirely until the woman landed with a scream of pain and Allison saw she was cradling what was left of her hand. Stiles’ blade had sheared off all four of the fingers on her left hand, leaving only the thumb.

The alpha was shocked, but her fury was only increased as she spun around and tried to tear Stiles’ face off with the claws on her feet but the teen was already dodging. He dropped so that her claws passed over him and with a flip his foot came up and smashed into her jaw and Allison could hear the sound of cracking bones as he slammed her jaws together.

The she-wolf didn’t hesitate and her right hand swung out, aimed straight at Stiles’ chest and Allison yelled out helplessly as she watched the wolf tear him in half. At least that’s what she was trying to do but her claws slid along his shirt, now looking like it did when they found him in the circle, the magical cloth deflecting her claws and leaving it without even a tear.

“What the hell?” she roared as Stiles punched out and slammed his fist into her throat and knocking her back. She coughed as her throat healed and then she snarled and unleashed a hellstorm of claws and talons as she swiped, kicked, and tried to rip the teen apart. She failed. He met, blocked, or ducked her every attack while his sword danced and moved like water flowing around him, cutting her over and over again. It took several moments before Allison realized what she was seeing…the cuts weren’t healing!

She was starting to think they had a chance when the Alpha managed to get a solid kick through his defenses and landed a solid blow on him, knocking him back and down. Stiles rolled and was back on his knees just as Kali spun around, flinging her leg out, claws fully extended, at his exposed neck. It seemed that everything slowed down as Allison watched in horror but then Stiles continued his spin, moving backwards, and keeping his throat less than an inch from the claws as they passed over him. The horror was his hand, holding that green sword, which spun along with him and Allison watched in utter fascination as she watched it slice through the Alpha’s leg, shearing it off just above the knee.

Time sped up as Allison watched the she-wolf crash to the ground. Cuts all over her face and body, one hand missing four fingers, and now missing a leg, she was roaring a mix of pain and fury as she tried to push herself up to a standing position. Allison watched as the spastic goofball she had known slowly walked up and looked down at the spitting werewolf. “YOU BAST…” she started to yell but her roar was cut off when Stiles swung his arm and Allison watched as the alpha's long black hair flew up and over and landed in the grass as her severed head rolled to a stop next to a tree, her body collapsing on the ground.

Stiles turned around, his expression unemotional and unconcerned about the dead alpha behind him. “Is she alright?” he asks looking at Lydia as he comes over.

Allison is shaking her head, words lost to her, as she hears the rest of the pack break through the trees and run up to them.

Chapter Text

Derek burst into the clearing, claws out and furious. He had been at the pack house with Erica, Boyd, and Peter when they heard Lydia’s scream. It had brought all four of them out of their seats and they were moving almost before they knew what was going on. He had quickly sped up and the other three were racing behind him as he led them towards the lingering echoes of the Banshee’s scream. He was vaguely aware of Erica yelling something while they were running and he guessed she had called the others when Scott, Isaac, and Jackson suddenly joined them, the three betas running full out.

“What’s happening?” Scott breathlessly demanded of Derek but the Alpha didn’t slow. “Lydia and Allison were taking Stiles out” he added and the alpha let out a roar and increased his speed towards the dying echo.

It took them several minutes but suddenly the wind shifted and Derek caught the scent of blood and his eyes flashed in rage at the idea that Stiles was under attack. He finally breached the tree line and his eyes immediately sought and found his pack members. He spotted Allison kneeling on the ground, Lydia in her arms but Derek could hear both of their heartbeats, a bit quick but solid. Glancing over he spotted Stiles standing next to the girls and he seemed fine. “Stiles?” Derek snarls as he slows down.

Stiles looks up and sees the Alpha and smiles with a nod. “Alpha” he says easily and Derek stares at the teen, tensed but not worried or concerned. A quick glance doesn’t give any sign of injury on the young man, but the smell of blood is thick and Derek quickly looks around for the source when he spots the body and freezes.

Moving over slowly he spots the headless woman’s body and he stops in shock. Derek spots the missing leg, but the other one still has the claws on the toes. One hand is missing the fingers, but the claws are still on the other one. Glancing around he finally spots the woman’s head, long black hair hiding her face, but Derek still recognizes it…Kali. Stepping over to the head he looks down in shock. “Well this is interesting” Peter says from beside him causing Derek to flinch. “I imagine the Alpha Pack will not be particularly happy about this” he adds unnecessarily.

“What happened here?” Derek demands turning around and staring at the three. How did they do this, he spots Allison’s knives but Stiles and Lydia don’t have any weapons.

Allison opens her mouth to answer when Lydia lets out a pained groan and both Stiles and Jackson quickly move towards the redhead. Jackson looks lost but Stiles is focused as he gently brushes the girl’s face. “She exhausted herself and her voice” he says clinically. “We need to get her some medicine to help heal her throat” he says looking at Derek as he stands.

Derek wants to argue but he also wants the pack out of here. Who knows how long it will take before someone calls this in. “Scott, Allison, Jackson…get Lydia to Deaton’s. Isaac, Boyd, Peter…get rid of the body…parts” he says after a pause. “Stiles, Erica and I will follow you to Deaton’s after we do a sweep to make sure no one else is around” he orders.

Everyone nods but he can see the resistance, everyone wants to know what the hell happened. He watches as Scott and Jackson move off to Allison’s car while the others start gathering up pieces of the former Alpha. Derek stares at the relaxed stance of Stiles and notices that the youth may appear relaxed, but he is very much aware of everything around them. “Let’s go” he orders and takes off with Erica behind him. Stiles easily keeps up and moves as silently as they do which makes Derek even more nervous.

Allison was still reeling from the encounter with the Alpha and how Stiles had fought. Since discovering the truth about her family, Allison had been training hard with her father and Derek and she had realized that many of her earlier experiences that her parents had arranged were actually designed to prepare her for this life. She was skilled, not outrageously so, but she knew she was better than most hunters, but what she saw today showed her how unprepared she really was.

By the time the pack had arrived, Lydia was unconscious and the Alpha was dead. Somehow after the fight Stiles’ strange sword had vanished as quickly as it had arrived. She hadn’t heard that metallic sound again so she wasn’t sure what to say but she knew it wasn’t time to talk about it while they were exposed. She shut down her thoughts and focused on getting Lydia to Deaton and then she would explain it to the rest of the pack.

As Jackson grabbed Lydia, Allison watched Stiles walk after Derek, movements controlled and so different from the teen she knew. She has met several extremely competent hunters over the last year but right now she doesn’t think that any of them would be able to last in a fight with Stiles.

“Okay, let’s go over this again” Derek said slowly as he looked at Allison, the frustration clear on her face. The pack had arrived at the vet clinic and Deaton had assured them that Lydia was fine, just exhausted, something that Stiles had also said but they didn’t feel comfortable taking his word for it. The Sheriff had called to let them know he was handling things at the ice cream stand and would be by soon. “Walk us through what happened.”

Allison took a deep breath and looked around at the anxious faces around her with the exception of Stiles who appeared relaxed and it annoyed her for some reason she couldn’t quite name. “We were at the ice cream place and had gotten our order and eaten most of it. Stiles suddenly looked concerned and wanted us to leave and so we started moving. I could tell something felt off, but it wasn’t until I realized that we were the only ones there that I understood how vulnerable we were.”

Scott moves to grab her hand and Allison smiles in appreciation before turning back to Derek. “We were getting ready to leave when she showed up, making threats.”

“Kali?” Derek clarified and when Allison nodded he motioned for her to continue.

“She was saying something about turning us or killing us or something when Stiles told Lydia to scream. She wasn’t certain but Stiles seemed confident and Kali made some remark about it but Lydia took a breath and she screamed.” Allison pauses and glances over at the unconscious redhead, Jackson by her side looking worried.

“She screamed?” Peter prompted the silent hunter.

Allison nodded. “It was like that night in the woods. Her scream was a physical force. Shattered windows, knocked over tables, and sent the Alpha flying backwards. Lydia collapsed after and I thought we were good but Kali was already starting to recover, despite her injuries.”

“With the power she gained from killing her pack, her abilities would have been amplified significantly” Peter mused looking at his nephew.

“Then what happened. We heard Lydia and started running for you” Derek tells her and she nods again looking thoughtful and confused.

“I was checking on Lydia when Stiles told me to get her to the car. I was going to argue, I only had my daggers but I didn’t think we could make it when I saw that Stiles was holding a sword” she says slowly.

“A sword?” Derek and Peter both say and look at each other in surprise. “Where did he get a sword?” Derek prods.

“I don’t know. I heard this sound, like it was being drawn from a scabbard but…” she looks at Stiles in confusion before shaking her head “…he didn’t have it beforehand. I know that and it was so strange looking.”

“Strange looking how?” Erica chimes in.

“It was green. I mean the blade was this metallic green that I have never seen before. And it was shaped strange, like an elongated triangle. The edges flared out almost twice as wide at the handle as it was at the tip. And it seemed to…” she trails off.

“Seemed to what?” Boyd softly asks.

“Glow” Allison finally says. “It wasn’t bright or anything, it was subtle. More like an aura or maybe a distortion. Whatever it was, it was more than a simple sword.”

“Where did you get it?” Scott asks looking at Stiles.

Stiles frowns for a moment. “I’m not exactly sure. It was just there when I needed it.”

“Can you show it to us?” Peter asks eagerly.

Stiles looks confused at the question. “But I don’t need it” he answers and Derek smirks a bit at his uncle’s obvious frustration at the teen’s answer.

“Later Peter” Derek cuts off the elder wolf before he can push again. “Allison, what happened next?” he asks carefully. How had he gotten to the point in his life when a disappearing magic sword was the least concerning thing he faced in a day.

Allison seems to brace herself but Derek can see a shift come over her as she suddenly looks calculating. “Kali attacked us. But she was…doomed” her voice was almost sad for the fallen Alpha. “She never stood a chance Derek. Stiles moved like nothing I have seen before and I have seen some really skilled swordsmen. But Stiles…he was always a step, two or three moves ahead and that sword moved like it was part of him. He sliced off her claws and it was like every move it made, it got through her defenses. It cut her over and over again. It took me longer than I care to admit before I finally noticed” she tells them looking back at Stiles.

“Noticed what?” Peter leans forward.

“The cuts, the wounds…they weren’t healing. The blood was flowing from all of them and didn’t stop” she said into the sudden silence. The rest of the pack looked confused except for Peter who was intrigued and Deaton who was as stoic as ever.

“She wasn’t healing?” Derek repeated.

“No. She was losing and she knew it. Tried to kick out at Stiles with the claws on her feet but he did this spin around, bent nearly in half, and his sword sliced her leg off like it was nothing. The blade went through skin, muscle, and bone as if it were water” she recounted. Looking up at Derek and Peter’s expressions of shock she nodded. “She went down hard and started making some threat when Stiles swung and took her head” she finished and looked back at the teen.

Right then the door opened and the Sheriff walked into the clinic looking flushed. “That was not pleasant” he says before pausing at the concerned looks on everyone’s faces. “What did I miss?”

Stiles watched the pack as they went over the story again for the Sheriff as the man looked thoroughly confused and equally exasperated. Allison focused mostly on Stiles’ swordwork while Peter and Deaton kept coming back to the actual sword and trying to figure out where it came from and went.

“Are you okay?” Derek’s voice was soft and Stiles turned to look at the werewolf standing next to him looking worried.

“Fine” Stiles says easily. “I don’t really understand why everyone is so worked up about it” he admits to the older man. “I just fought her. I mean she was strong, but she was sloppy. Her attack was almost feral, just strength, speed, and claws.”

Derek almost laughed. “That would be enough for most fights” he tells the teen who looks at him and chuckles.

“Maybe” Stiles replies with a smile “but she had no skill, no grace, and no strategy. She wouldn’t last five minutes on the battlefield.”

“What battlefield?” Derek asks very casually not looking at the teen.

“The Plains” he replies immediately and then looks confused. “I…I remember fighting alongside friends and allies but…” he lets out a frustrated breath “it’s like my memories are there but are all scrambled up and I can’t make sense of them.”

“You told the sheriff that we didn’t seem to know our own abilities?” Derek says with a bit of defensiveness but still curious.

Stiles sighs. “You and the others don’t seem to be in touch with your wolves. You can’t shift fully, none of you, and I don’t know why. And that’s just the start.”

Derek smiles weakly but nods. “Stiles, a full shift is very, very rare. My family has had those with the gift, but it was almost always the Alpha. My mother and sister both were able to do so, but none of the rest of the pack. And bitten wolves can’t do it at all.”

Stiles shakes his head. “That’s where you are wrong Derek. I don’t know how I know, but I know that you can. I can see your wolf, the wolf you will shift into. Jet black fur all over with red eyes” he describes and Derek is painfully reminded of his mother and Laura. Stiles looks over at the other pack members “Erica’s wolf is golden colored with a dark tan stripe. Scott’s is chocolate brown with patches of black while Isaac’s is a paler gold than Erica with white patches. Boyd’s is dark grey with a white belly while Jackson’s is red and gold and grey…very distinctive” he explains. “Peter’s is a light grey with white and black patches” he finishes.

Derek is staring in surprise at the teen’s descriptions of the pack and how clear they appear to be. “Stiles, you say you see these wolves?” he asks and the teen nods easily. “Do you think you could…help us shift?” he asks cautiously.

Stiles leans back for a second before looking slowly over the pack and then down for a few minutes before looking back up at the Alpha. “It really is not hard to do. A full shift is about embracing your wolf fully, it’s about realizing that, in your very core, the two are one. You are not separate from your wolf, you are your wolf. You have to find, and embrace, that part of yourself. The wild part. You were born into a pack but you have always seen yourself as human or werewolf, not wolf. You have to put those distinctions aside and instead find that place where you are everything at once.” Stiles’ voice is steady and firm, and Derek finds it very comforting.

“Can you show me?” he asks quietly and Stiles looks at him before nodding and standing up. He knows he should be focused on other things, but if Stiles is can actually do this, it would change everything.

“Yes…but not here. For your first shift, you need to be in a place where your wolf will be most comfortable and that is not a building. We can go to the woods” he instructs and Derek looks at the other pack members who are still arguing.

“Come with me” he says quietly and leads Stiles back to the front and then out the main doors. “Let’s go and see if you can help me with the shift. If you can, then we can try with the others.”

Stiles nods and follows Derek into the woods behind the clinic. They walk for a few minutes before Derek pulls out his phone and sends a quick text. Finally they come to a small clearing in the woods and the Alpha looks at Stiles “will this work?” he asks.

Stiles nods and sits in the center, cross legged on the ground and tells Derek to sit across from him. They begin with Stiles guiding their breathing and synchronizing their heartbeats and breaths. Derek listens to the softly melodic voice, more sure and firm than the teenager he remembers. Stiles helps him focus on his own heartbeat before having him open his senses, one at a time, to the world around him.

They begin with hearing and Stiles has Derek describe everything he hears in precise detail. The Alpha begins easily enough but Stiles keeps asking “Is that all you hear?” and Derek focuses again and finds the odd animal out, an owl hunting in the night, its wings nearly silent as it flies. He describes insects burrowing and even the sounds of leaves and grass moving gently with the breeze.

Scent is next and Derek feels more at ease. He knows smells and he describes everything for several minutes in great detail. Mentioning things from nearly a mile away before he finally stops to hear that same question “Is that all you scent?” again. He stretches and strains and finds subtle layers of scents in the forest, flower buds that are not quite open yet, but he can still catch the barest hint of their fragrance. He smells open water and a sudden waft of earthiness above him that startles him until he realizes that bats are out feeding. He continues to find smaller and smaller scents before Stiles finally moves on.

“Open your eyes” Stiles soft voice calls out. “What do you see?”

Derek looks at the teen sitting there but then he looks around them. He has excellent night vision so he describes the clearing in precise terms. He sees the bats chasing bugs in the air and sees a flash of grey that was the owl he heard earlier. He is sure he has everything this time.

“Is that all you see?” Stiles asks and Derek almost groans as he doesn’t know what else to say. He looks again but nothing comes to his eyes and he looks at Stiles in frustration.

Stiles reaches out a single finger on his hand and gently touches Derek’s chin and exerts a soft pressure. Derek allows his head to be tilted back until he is looking into the sky fully. The stars are clear and bright and the moon is about half full but very bright. The Alpha stares for a few minutes before he starts describing the stars and sky.

After that they are quiet for several minutes, just breathing in the nature all around them. “Feel for your wolf Derek” Stiles voice is soft but strong. “Touch it and allow your hands to feel that fur and realize that you are feeling it both from your hand and in your fur. Allow yourself to flow together, to evolve into something greater than you have ever been before.”

It would take a few years before Derek was able to truly describe how it felt but it was like he knew, fully and totally, that he could do this and he felt his body flowing as he shifted. Not like he did to his beta shift. That always required a degree of intense emotion, usually anger or fear. Peter described the Alpha shift as one of fury or rage, but this? This was different. He was perfectly aligned, mind, body, and soul. He leaned forward and his hands touched the ground and he felt the dirt in his claws as he opened his eyes and stared at his paws. Standing up on all fours he could see the black fur and feel his tail was horribly constrained. He even whined a bit.

Stiles let out a full laugh as he looked at the suddenly red eyes of the black wolf standing there. “Maybe next time you should take your clothes off first” he managed. Looking at the wolf draped awkwardly in Derek’s clothes he started laughing again.

“But why did they leave?” Scott said again to the room but everyone was tired of the beta’s questions. It had taken several minutes before they had realized that Stiles and Derek had slipped out of the clinic alone while the rest of the pack had been arguing about the attack. Scott wanted to go after them but Peter had argued strongly against it. He hadn’t really explained why, but he had that smug look like he knew something they didn’t.

“Not to mention Derek asked us not to follow them” Lydia reminded him. The biggest surprise of the entire thing was Lydia agreeing with Peter. She had finally woken up and shared her view on the entire encounter and how Stiles had guided her in unleashing her scream. She didn’t see the fight but of everyone, she appeared the least surprised by Stiles’ skill. When Derek’s text had arrived, she had been even more certain that Stiles was telling something important to Derek and they should wait. “Besides, I am fairly certain that Derek is safe out there with Stiles” she adds with a smirk.

“But Stiles…” Scott mutters looking thoroughly confused.

“Scott…” Allison’s voice is gentle. “Right now…Stiles would probably be protecting Derek, not the other way around” she reminds him with a sympathetic look at the beta’s lost expression. “I feel sorry for anyone, werewolf or otherwise, who bothers them.”

“But he doesn’t have his sword anymore” Scott’s unhappiness is almost a whine but it is cut off by Erica’s snort.

“If they are attacked, he will need it so it should show up. Batman’s got serious game now” the blonde reminds the pack.

“Stiles isn’t defenseless now, at least not like before” Noah reminds the teen that he watched grow up beside his son. He knows that Scott has felt responsible for Stiles’ disappearance these last weeks and had confessed to the sheriff how he had let Stiles down since all of this started. The sheriff and Melissa had tried to reassure the teen that nothing short of chaining him up would have kept Stiles out of it so he needed to focus on right now.

“I am actually more concerned about the sword Ms. Argent described” Deaton’s voice was a surprise to everyone. He had been quiet for so long many of them had forgotten he was there. He had been looking in his books ever since Allison had described the fight.

“What do you mean Alan?” Noah asks looking concerned at the man’s worried expression.

“I vaguely remember reading a story or legend about a green blade, much like Ms. Argent described, but I have not been able to find it in my books. I am worried that it may be dangerous to Mr. Stilinski if any enchantments on it are not safe for him.”

“It was pretty dangerous to Kali” Erica muttered.

“What kind of danger?” Allison asks the vet ignoring the she-wolf.

“It could possibly be a cursed blade. I know I have seen something like that before…something about souls” he mutters.

Right then the bell rings and the pack looks up at the sound and smell of Stiles and Derek. Stiles walks in with a bundle of clothes but Derek is nowhere to be seen. “Where’s Derek?” Isaac asks sounding concerned.

Stiles smiles and steps to the side and turns behind him. The sudden gasp from the pack causes the teen to smile broadly as they watch the jet black wolf slowly enter the room.

“That’s a wolf!” Scott yelps just as the wolf’s eyes flash red.

“Derek?” Peter’s voice is shocked and awed as he steps forward. “My god you look like Talia” he whispers and Derek’s eyes flash again and the beta feels his eyes flash their own icy blue.

Everyone is looking at the former Alpha in confusion when Deaton clears his throat. “I wasn’t aware that Mr. Hale had the gift of the full shift” he says looking between Derek, Stiles, and Peter.

Peter just shakes his head but Stiles chuckles. “All wolves have the gift but somehow they have forgotten it. I just helped Derek figure it out” he says easily before looking at the others. “I can help all of you as well.”

Peter sputters while the rest of the pack blanches. “Bitten wolves can’t full shift!” he protests. Deaton nods in agreement with the eldest wolf.

Stiles laughs. “Peter, I don’t know who told you that but it’s not true. All the heirs of Fenris can shift, whether born or bitten. I can see your wolves hovering over each of you, just waiting.”

“Wait! You mean we can shift too?” Erica exclaims looking at Boyd and Isaac who are stunned.

“Of course. It’s really not that hard” Stiles says with a shrug.

“You can teach every one of us to full shift?” Peter asks with a wicked gleam in his eyes. “A pack where all members can full shift is unheard of.” Peter’s voice is almost reverential as he looks at the teen. “Yes. Teach me” he says quickly.

There is a sudden motion, a flicker of shadow and light, and suddenly Derek is standing up, fully human and completely naked. “Stiles will teach us all” he says, a confidence in his voice that they have rarely heard before.

“Oh…” Allison says with a shocked expression as she looks at the Alpha.

“My…” Lydia adds with an appreciative leer.

“God” Erica finishes with a whistle of appreciation.

Noah rubs his eyes hoping this will end soon. “You will all work with Stiles on this and be prepared to be...exposed” Derek says with a smirk “especially when it is your turn” he reminds them and Isaac turns beet red at the implication. Erica and Jackson look intrigued and Boyd is as usual unreadable. Scott is looking uncertain and hesitant but he still manages to put his hand over Allison’s eyes to stop her from staring at Derek.

Chapter Text

Stiles watched the pack with a sense of amusement as they ran around the clearing behind the Hale House, tumbling and rolling in their full shift forms looking more like they were playing than actually training. The pack had been determined to attempt the full shift that night in the vet's office when Derek had shifted in front of them but Stiles had insisted instead on waiting until the next night so that all of them could rest and recover despite Peter’s loud objections. Derek had finally had to step in and end the complaining and had backed up Stiles's decision. To be honest, after the day they had, Stiles knew that they all needed to relax and de-stress as well before even trying to make the attempt. They were too worked up to quiet the noise and find their core wolf. He tried to help them prepare by giving them instructions to meditate and find their center although he was fairly sure that they wouldn’t manage to follow through on their own.

They met the following night and everyone had tried hard, they really did. It was a struggle but not really a surprise when Peter was the first, after Derek, to actually manage the full shift. The older man had been determined, trying too hard actually, but once he stopped fighting and actually listened to what Stiles was telling them and relaxed, he managed the shift and his entire being changed. Stiles didn’t quite laugh at the joy of the older werewolf running around trying to see himself all at once, even chasing his tail, but it was a close thing.

The big surprise of that night was that Erica also manage the shift and the shock on the rest of the pack’s faces was priceless. There had been grumbling that it was a born vs bitten issues but the blonde proved the rest of them wrong. After another few hours of trying, it was obvious that no one else was going to manage it that night so Derek had shifted and taken off with Erica and Peter, running through the Preserve for several hours. Stiles sent the others home with instructions to practice their meditation at home before coming back together the next night. Stiles hoped that Erica and Peter would be able to help the others as well the next time they tried.

The next night Boyd and Jackson both had shifted within moments of each other to their delight. They appeared more surprised than happy but that quickly wore off when they joined the other three in their run that night howling happily. Isaac managed the change the night after Jackson and Boyd leaving only Scott behind. Stiles worked for an additional day, but he knew that the teen had a major block that was preventing him from making the necessary connection.

It wasn’t until Stiles had taken Scott out during the day to the Lacrosse field that they finally had a breakthrough. “Scott, I think the reason that you can’t shift yet is because you don’t really want to” Stiles said sympathetically.

Scott flailed a bit and whined. “I’m trying Stiles! I mean I am doing everything you say, listening and smelling, and seeing, but it’s not working” his voice was plaintive and Stiles knew that the beta truly did not understand what he was trying to tell him. After Isaac shifted, Stiles had sought out both Allison and Lydia and both had talked to him about Scott and offered their own insights on why he was struggling which only confirmed his suspicions.

“Scott, you see making the shift as the ultimate surrender of your humanity. That by embracing the wolf as part of you, somehow that means that you have lost something. The fact is that you are still fighting against your new reality. You see your wolf as something imposed upon you” he explained carefully.

“But it was!” Scott yelled in frustration. “Peter bit me when he was crazy. I didn’t want any of this!” he complained.

Stiles sighed. “Scott, that’s not how this works. The bite of an alpha triggers a transformation in a person, but the wolf, that comes from your own soul. You had to have some of the qualities of the wolf within you or the bite would have killed you. The bite fails because the link between the person and the wolf isn't strong enough because they are too different. To survive, you accepted the wolf on a subconscious level because you recognized it as part of you. Everyone tells me how you are loyal and brave, determined to do right by those you care for, but somehow you have decided that liking and accepting being a werewolf means that you will lose your humanity.”

Scott looked at his friend in confusion. “I don’t understand” he finally admitted.

Stiles sat on the ground and after a gesture Scott joined him. “Scott, being human doesn’t make you a good person. Plenty of humans have committed some of the world’s greatest evils and atrocities.”

“I know that” Scott mutters in his defense but Stiles pushes on.

“But in your head you have made everything good; compassion, morality, ethics, even goodness itself as characteristics of your human side. You see your anger, rage, passion, fear, and violence as being the wolf instead of yourself so therefore all of that must be wrong. But all of that was there before Peter bit you, you just suppressed it. You see that part of you as something to fight against or a mistake, so by denying it you feel you are denying the darkness. But life doesn’t work that way. It is not the power we have or the gifts that we are given that define us, it is the choices we make, the person we choose to be, and how we use those gifts” Stiles voice was sympathetic.

“I didn’t want this” Scott’s voice quivers a bit as he tries to make his friend understand.

“But that didn’t stop you from liking what it gave you” Stiles says with a knowing look and Scott looks startled and even a bit hurt but Stiles presses on. “The bite cured your asthma which could have killed you, it gave you strength and the ability to succeed in school which you used to be popular not to mention get yourself a girlfriend. You say you didn’t want this, but you have embraced everything it gave you even while claiming that you want it all undone. Would you truly give up everything you have gained?”

Scott looks dejected and doesn’t answer, but he also is listening so Stiles counts that as a win. “I know not having a choice isn’t easy. I didn’t choose what happened to me either, even if I could remember it. But spending energy fighting life or destiny or fate isn’t going to get you anywhere. Let me ask you something” he says with a pause. “Let’s say your mom was badly injured, so badly that she would die. Would you ask Derek to give her bite to try and save her?” he poses.

Scott reacts sharply to the question as he stares at his near brother. But he only sees curiosity in the teen’s face. “What…?” Scotts stammers.

“Would you ask Derek to bite your mom to save her life?” Stiles repeats. “Or would you let her die so that her humanity is left intact?”

“I wouldn’t let her die!” Scott replies quickly. “I mean…” he breaks off looking startled.

Stiles sighs in commiseration. “Scott, think about it. If you think that it is okay to bite her to save her life, then how can the wolf be evil? You wouldn’t do anything that would hurt your mother. The truth is that deep down, you know that the wolf is not wrong. So if it isn’t, then you being a wolf isn’t wrong either.”

Scott nods slowly but remains quiet. Stiles decides to wait him out and after nearly an hour, Scott finally breaks. “Maybe we could start over?” he suggests hesitantly and Stiles nods.

That night Scott managed the shift and the full pack made the run with Derek. Now they are all 'training' as wolves together while Stiles stays off to the side with Lydia and Allison but he can tell that both of the girls are worried. It has been almost a week since Kali was killed but there had been no response from the Alpha Pack, in fact there hadn't been any sign of them in Beacon Hills. The pack was getting worried, but Derek had them shifting their patrols so that they were significantly more aware of anyone coming into their territory. How a full shift wolf would fair against an alpha was unknown, but it would definitely be a surprise.

Turning to look back at their pursuers, Lori stumbled but her brother caught her arm to keep her upright and pulled her along as they ran. She grasped her side, blood still dripping, as they continued running. They had to warn Satomi about the invading wolves but she wasn’t sure that they would make it back to the woman who had taken in the siblings. The alpha twins had surprised them and had hurt both of them pretty badly and if it wasn’t for sheer dumb luck, they would have probably be dead by now.

Lori thought back over the last few days and tried to figure out why they had been targeted. The Alpha Pack had shown up with almost no warning, had killed two of their fellow Betas over the last four days, and now had jumped her and Brett when they were leaving the mall. If it hadn’t been for the new store under construction that they had diverted through, they would have died. They had run in and Brett had spotted the nail gun laying there, still attached to the air pump. The twins entered in their Frankenwolf form and Brett had unloaded the nail gun into the alpha.

Even though it wasn’t enough to kill them, Lori knew that getting hit by a few dozen nails had to have hurt based on the wolf’s screams. They had been furious but then Brett had fired at a large gas tank behind the alpha and it exploded throwing all of them through the air. The betas had been farther away so the twins had taken the brunt of the blast, they had even appeared to be forcibly separated by the explosion but Brett and her didn’t wait around to check. Her brother had pulled her up and they had ran towards their nearest safe house.

Thankfully, Satomi had set up several safe places for the pack in the event of something like this so they had focused on getting there as fast as possible. “Lori, look there!” Brett yelled as he pointed towards a beat up pickup truck. She almost wept at the sight of the green monstrosity.

“Marcus!” she yelled just as the beta came around the truck and spotted them. Satomi’s second didn’t hesitate and opened the door and helped the siblings enter. Seconds later they were driving away heading back to the safety of the pack.

“What happened?” Marcus demanded of the pair and Brett explained their encounter with the twins. “We need to tell Satomi. The Alpha Pack’s attacks make no sense” the beta frowned as he drove to his alpha. Deucalion had never attacked a pack as established as Satomi’s before, he wondered if it because they were so small.

The pack had finally stopped playing and actually focusing on their training and Derek watched over his pack with a sense of pride, even with all the threats. Since managing the full shift, the betas, even Peter, had discovered a new source of strength and determination that they brought to the training. Derek could feel the increase in the Pack bonds along with the increase in his own power but this time it was a clean and pure power.

When he had originally taken the Alpha power from Peter it had been wild and intoxicating, dulling his own judgement as it magnified all of his instincts. His actions in those first weeks weren’t ones he was particularly proud of but this was different. Instead of feeling almost drunk, he felt more grounded, more in control. He was stronger and faster, they all were, but there wasn’t a loss of their humanity or a risk of going feral.

When he had mentioned it to Stiles the teen had laughed and explained that was natural and how things should be. By fully connecting their human and wolf sides, neither was a threat to the other and were instead working together in harmony. He had explained that they would be faster, stronger, faster to heal, and their bonds would help them be more in tune with each other as a pack. Peter had quickly agreed and had shared more about Talia’s experiences with the full shift than Derek had ever heard. His uncle told them how centered, how controlled, Derek’s mother had been. Peter couldn’t imagine what it would have been like if they all could have shared her gift but now that they did, he was certain that the betas were probably two to three times as strong as a typical beta and Derek was easily as strong as one of Deucalion’s Alphas without having to kill his own pack. It remained to be seen how he would measure against the ‘Demon Wolf’ himself.

Derek shook his head. He didn’t understand how Deucalion had convinced the others to commit such an atrocity. The bonds he felt to his pack were so strong, even the idea of someone trying to hurt them made him furious. The Alpha Pack would go down like Kali had! He finally believed that and with that thought his eyes drifted over to the amnesiac teen who was now working with Lydia. Stiles had talked with her several times as the wolves were learning to shift, but now he was apparently trying something else.

Lydia was looking at him with a combination of doubt, fear, and determination that caused the Alpha to frown and wonder if he should intervene. Before he could move though her face cleared of everything but the determination and she turned to face the straw target that Stiles had set up. Derek didn’t see any weapons in the redhead's hands, not even any of the ones Allison had brought with her so he wasn’t sure what the plan was.

He trusted the teen so he was about to turn back to the wolves when Lydia screamed and Derek covered his ears in shock as the sound hit him with a near physical force. He saw the others all writhing in pain as well and he turned towards Lydia just as the straw target exploded in a cloud of hay, the watermelon head turning into a wet, pink cloud. That however wasn’t the impressive part. What was impressive was the scene behind the former target.

At least a half dozen trees had been ripped from the ground and thrown, boulders and dirt ripped along the path and a corridor of destruction and chaos that spread from the redhead and into the woods at least thirty yards.

“What the hell!” Jackson yelled, blood drying on his ears as the pack stared at the two humans.

Stiles laughed happily and Lydia was still standing and looking stunned at what she had wrought. The pack gathered around them as Stiles explained that the scream of a banshee was a weapon like no other, though he did tell her that she needed to focus more. She should have been able to unleash her scream without hurting the others.

The teens were all impressed and Derek was about to step in when he heard a phone go off and he looked over at Peter in surprise. He knew his uncle had a phone, but he had never actually seen the man use it. The beta was staring at it with a look of surprise before he answered it, moving closer to Derek.

The two older wolves drifted away from the others but Stiles had taken note of their movements and body language. They were concerned. “I want you to rest for a bit Lydia” he told her and for a moment she was going to argue but then she nodded and moved to sit down. It was exhausting to scream like that.

“So Stilinski, how about you spar with us?” Jackson said with a smirk as he looked at the teen. Scott growled but the others look interested.

“It wouldn’t be much of a fight” Stiles says smiling at the beta. “You are stronger, but not strong enough” he reminds the arrogant teen.

“Well then, how about you versus all of us” he taunts.

“Knock it off Jackson” Scott snarls as he moves to push against the other beta.

“That might actually be a good idea” Stiles replies causing everyone to freeze and stare at the teen in shock.

“Wait” Erica interrupts. “You mean the five of us against you?”

“What about me?” Allison asks from where she is sitting with Lydia.

Stiles looks at the huntress for a few seconds before responding “Why don’t you sit this one out Allie and you can judge how they do” he offers and the huntress nods. She looks at Lydia who is getting a bit of color back.

The pack moves to an open area around the house with Stiles in the center. “Wait, but he doesn’t have any weapons” Scott protests.

Stiles just smirks and takes a pose that says he is ready. “Can we go full shift?” Erica asks before anyone moves and the smile on her face when Stiles agrees is terrifying.

“GO!” Allison shouts and the betas roar and launch themselves at the unarmed teen.

Jackson unfortunately was Stiles' first target and the teen spun and his foot slammed into the beta’s face, breaking his nose and sending the beta sprawling in a heap as Stiles danced away. Boyd was now the closest and he jumped towards the teen but his arms were suddenly empty when Stiles dropped down and swept his leg sending the quiet beta to slam into the ground with a rather impressive sound.

Erica leapt towards him but Stiles fell backward, dropping to the ground as his legs came up and launched the blonde into the air and slamming painfully into Scott who had been trying to circle around his friend. Isaac tried, he really did, but with a blur of motion the curly haired wolf was suddenly being kicked in the face over and over again before he hit the ground.

Jackson and Boyd were both up again and looking significantly more careful, but determined. Stiles spun around and looked at them and smirked. He flung out his hand and Allison heard that metallic sound again but this time she was watching and saw it happen.

From Stiles’ wrist, a blade of green metal extended, moving like some kind of liquid, it extended until it formed into that sword she had seen him wield before. The others hadn’t and they stared at the teen in shock.

“What the fuck!” Jackson growls out and the others look equally concerned but then there is a deeper growl and Allison realizes that both Isaac and Erica have shifted into their full wolf forms.

Stiles spins around, weaving his sword in a green blur that takes her breath away. The blade seems to have a life of its own but then Stiles slams it to the ground and the blade shimmers and extends. Allison watches in stunned amazement as the sword morphs into a six foot long staff with that same metallic green sheen.

Stiles spins the staff around with dizzying speed and smiles at the wolves. “Well?” he taunts. The wolves look very uncertain about this new development.

Allison and Lydia stare at the scene in front of them and wince in sympathy for their friends. Stiles spins around the betas knocking them with either his staff, feet, or fists. He moves like nothing they have seen outside movie special effects. Erica leaps at him but a flick of his wrist spins his staff and sends her crashing into Scott yet again sending both betas into a mess of arms and legs. “Dammit Stiles, stop doing that!” Scott wails as he goes down.

Stiles is laughing as he jumps over Isaac, lands on Boyd’s shoulders before spinning around and using his momentum to lift and throw the beta into a tree where he hits so hard that leaves come down.

“That looked particularly painful” Peter says surprising both girls. Lydia looks up and sees the beta standing next to Derek as both of them watch the massacre.

“Stiles is playing” Allison says, the admiration clear in her voice. She sees Peter’s raised eyebrow and smirks. “He isn’t really trying. Despite everything, they are just not on his level.”

“Where did he get the staff?” Derek asks and Allison is about to respond when they see said staff shimmer flow into a new shape, about the size of his sword earlier but instead shaped like the letter J. “What the hell?” Derek mutters as Stiles uses his new weapon to hook Jackson and send him flying into the same tree as Boyd, slamming into the other beta who had just managed to get up and they both went down with a loud crash.

The four observers winced at the sound of that impact. “Scott” Lydia says pointing with her chin as they watch the beta launch at Stiles just as the teen is turning around.

Stiles sees him and though he isn’t in position to use his weapon, he drops down and Scott’s face is hilarious to behold. Stiles bends at the knees going parallel to the ground allowing Scott to soar right over him, missing the teen entirely before Stiles spins around, regaining his stance right before he kicks out slamming into Scott’s chest when the beta had tried to turn back to attack. Derek winces at the sound of broken ribs.

“Enough!” Derek calls out moving towards the severely outmatched pack and notices that Stiles is the first to relax. Derek watches in surprise as he sees the weapon flow back up the teens arm, disappearing from view.

“Jeez Stilinski, what the hell happened to you?” Jackson mutters as the beta moves carefully, bruises still visible. “And where did you get that thing?” he groans remembering how hard that damn staff was.

“Later Jackson” Derek orders and sees the others, including Lydia, Allison, and Peter joining them. “We found out where the Alpha Pack has been” he said gaining everyone’s immediate attention as he explains Peter’s call with Alpha Satomi.

Chapter Text

They had all gathered on the ruined porch of the Hale house to listen as Derek and Peter told them about Satomi’s call. “So the Alpha Pack has been harassing their pack? Why?” Jackson wondered and Derek saw the others looking confused as well.

“She doesn’t know. Normally Deucalion targets new Alphas and Satomi has been an Alpha longer than any of them have” Peter replied from his perch on the stairs. “They killed several of her betas and she thinks that they might be trying to ‘encourage’ one of her pack to kill her and become the Alpha who they could ‘convince’ to join them.”

“Is that likely?” Erica asks with concern.

Derek shakes his head. “Deucalion made a serious blunder attacking Satomi” he says and surprisingly Peter agrees. “She has been an Alpha since before my mother and she has taken in wolves for decades. She isn’t some foolish or cruel Alpha whose pack is full of resentment. She cares deeply for her wolves and while she demands respect, she treats them well. I truly doubt any would try.”

“And if they did, she would win” Peter adds with a snort. Derek acknowledges the point as both of them knew that the elder Alpha was especially well thought of by Talia.

“So do you think they know about Kali?” Boyd asks curiously.

Both of the older wolves look uncertain. “They are not a true pack, not like we are, so I am not sure that they have pack bonds that would alert them to danger. But if I had to guess, I would guess they do not” Peter tells them. “Considering their independent natures, she could have stayed behind to harass us, keeping up the pressure, while they attacked Satomi. She wasn’t intended to win, she didn’t need to. Just keeping us off balance would be enough. But it won’t take them long to figure things out once they come back.”

“Is Satomi’s pack going to do anything?” Lydia asks shrewdly.

Derek smiles. “Satomi has several bolt holes that she is going to use to hide her pack until they give up. If they can’t find them, then they can’t do anything and I have no doubt that Satomi has significantly more patience than Deucalion. He can’t afford to leave anyone behind when they decide to finally attack in full force. So, once the Alphas leave there, she will be able to bring her pack to just outside our territory and wait for our signal. When they do attack, she will close in on them from behind.”

“Maybe we can speed that along” Lydia said calculatedly. The rest of them looked at her and she smiled. “If word got out that someone matching Kali’s description was found…” she says with a slight smile.

“No. We would have to have a body and then the Sheriff would be involved officially and that leaves a record” Allison reminded her. “But we could use her image, maybe by a sketch artist, to say she is a person of interest in several cases, specifically the vandalism around town.”

“You mean have the sheriff send out her picture, but she is dead?” Scott asks.

“We know that, but if the police near Satomi’s pack happen to show that picture around, the Alphas would probably see it and come running back to find out what’s happening, especially if they have lost phone contact” Lydia smirks before looking at Allison. “Think you can draw her?” she challenges the Huntress.

Marin walks into her brother’s office and looks around the waiting room with a critical eye. They have not spoken in several years and it would have been several more if things hadn’t started going off track. She had been in Martinville with the Alpha Pack as Deucalion, ignoring her advice, was attempting to influence a coup in Alpha Satomi’s pack. She had argued against it, warning him that her age had not lessened her strength but he didn’t listen. The truth was he was becoming more and more unstable and she knew that a great part of that was the corruption from his stolen power.

After killing his own beta when the man attempted to usurp him after Deucalion was blinded by Gerard Argent, the Alpha had relished the surge of power and in less than a month had murdered his own pack, killing every single member including his emissary and the power he had stolen had started him down the path of madness. Kali and Ennis hadn’t required very much convincing, both of them were already half mad and upon learning that they would become even more powerful, they both had gleefully slaughtered their own packs. Kali had even slain her emissary and lover with no mercy.

The twins had been abused in their uncle’s pack. The man had hated his brother but as he was alpha, the beta had simply seethed under his authority. A tragic accident with a hunter when the boys were five led to David Steiner taking over for his brother and leading the Steiner pack into cruelty and abuse. Convincing the teens to kill their uncle did not take long with the abuse the rest of the pack heaped upon them in order to gain the good graces of their alpha. Once they had his power, they took revenge and killed what remained of their pack, those not killed or driven away by David, in a single night.

Now Deucalion was trying to terrorize Alpha Ito’s pack into killing the woman and failing utterly. Not only had they been nearly impossible to find as the woman did not have an emissary that Marin could find, she had prepared for a siege by both hunters and wolves. After the abortive attack on the brother and sister the entire pack had vanished into the wind. Deucalion had raged as neither the twins nor Ennis had any true wits to figure things out. He always relied on Kali for that.

But then yesterday they saw Kali’s picture on a wall alerting people that she was wanted in Beacon Hillls in connection with a number of undescribed investigations. Deucalion had been furious and after unsuccessfully trying to reach the woman, and realizing that they hadn’t heard from her in days, he sent Marin to sniff things out.

She had checked the several spots that the Alphas had set up as bases around the town but there was no sign of Kali anywhere. Running low on ideas she finally gritted her teeth and decided to confront her brother. She knew that he hadn’t committed to the Hale boy yet, not sure that he ever would, not with his ‘hands-off’ approach. Marin and he had argued extensively over the years about that. She knew that you had to get your hands dirty and keep the bigger picture in mind. Keeping the balance was not something to do with little acts, it required commitment and determination. A willingness to take large risks, to think of the long term goal.

Deucalion was a pawn however much he thought himself a king. He was going mad, but before he met his end he would change things. The Hunters had gotten too organized, too coordinated, and too wrapped up in modern technology and methods. The packs needed to modernize. They couldn’t keep hiding in the woods, staying in small packs, and barely talking to anyone outside their neighbors while the Hunters created global information networks. Deucalion would be the push they needed. Ultimately there would be a point where enough packs would say ‘enough’ and join together. They would unite and destroy the Alpha Pack and once connected by blood and battle, they wouldn’t let go of those ties so easily. They would help each other and that future alliance would solidify and ultimately become the counter to the Hunters. Balance would be restored when the supernatural was strong enough to force the hunters back to their side, the uneasy truce would keep both sides in balance.

Alan had never understood this.

“Marin” his voice, flat and unwelcoming, broke into her thoughts though her face showed neither emotion nor reaction.

“Alan” she replied in the same tone.

“Do you have an animal that needs care?” he asks with an artificial smile. “I cannot imagine what other business would bring you here but I don’t see anything.” He looks around in an obvious way that reminds her of so many other arguments that they have had.

“Don’t play games Alan” she says with a sigh. “I am looking for Kali.”

Deaton magnificently raises a single eyebrow at his sister but he doesn’t reply.

“Alan, you don’t need to get involved in this” she reminds him.

“I never said I was Marin, but that means that I am not going to be a source of information for you and Deucalion. Unlike you, I don’t believe the balance is served by catering to his mania” he says calmly. “However I can truthfully say that I do not know where Kali is at the moment.”

Marin watches him closely and doesn’t see any of his tells. He isn’t lying. “Perhaps, but you must have heard something from Hale or his pack. Maybe the McCall boy you are so interested in?” she suggests slyly. Marin had noticed the extra attention her brother was giving the beta and it stood out. He would normally never employ a wolf as it would be too much like taking sides.

“Scott worked here before he was bitten, against his will I might add, so I saw no need to distance myself from him. Giving advice is not a violation of my vows, nor is rendering aid. But I do not serve as emissary anymore” he says with a slight pause. “I’m retired.”

Marin barely manages to contain her snort of derision at that statement. The presence of the wards, traces of both recent magic and the ingredients of the trade are clearly in the air. He may not be an emissary, but he is far from retired. “You do not want Deucalion as an enemy Alan. Many have learned that lesson too late” she warns.

Alan smiles slightly as he watches his sister. “I never said I was his enemy Marin. I just am not his friend or ally. You have declared yourself for him and you will bear the consequences of your choices as do we all. Besides, Deucalion may have gathered significant power to himself but no one is invincible. There is always something greater, stronger, or more powerful. Sooner or later he will come face to face with that fact and on that day he will fall. If you stand with him, you will share his fate.”

Marin narrows her eyes at the subtle warning the druid just gave her. “Hale? McCall? They may have potential but…” she freezes remembering Deucalion’s unusual interest in McCall. He had directed them to gather as much information as possible but not to approach under any circumstances. As a near omega, he was perfect for the Alpha’s typical strategy of turning a pack member against his alpha and seizing power. But the man had basically forbidden any attempt at communicating with the teen.

“McCall. That’s the play?” she says shrewdly as she stares at the blank expression on her brother’s face. No reaction to give anything but she starts thinking of the possibilities. An alpha turned unwillingly. Able to resist the call of both the Alpha that turned him, Peter Hale, and his successor Derek Hale. Stubborn and defiant, the boy even continued to associate with the Argent girl with a reckless disregard for his own safety and sanity. Then there was Alan, watching her carefully. Her brother had spent a significant amount of time with the teen, most probably dropping thoughts carefully into fertile ground, guiding him to a destiny that…

She gasps as her eyes widen in shock. “He’s a True Alpha potential” she says with certainty. That explains everything. Deucalion’s interest yet caution. The decision to attack Ito’s pack in the middle of dealing with the Hales. Leaving Kali behind with instructions to go after the three betas bitten by the younger Hale only. He wants a True Alpha in his pack. But having a True Alpha would potentially draw others to him willingly. But there is no way that Deucalion could keep the nobility of a True Alpha intact with his ways. But to corrupt one? That he could most certainly do. “You play a dangerous game” she warns her brother.

“More dangerous than you know” he replies before turning his back on her as he heads to the back. He pauses and looks back. “The Hales will not join Deucalion. His efforts here will fail” he predicts and then smiles. “You might remember that there was one wolf who even Deucalion feared. And her blood flows in the veins of the pack” he says as the door closes behind him.

“Talia” she whispers to no one and feels a chill down her spine at the memory of the formidable former Alpha, before straightening her shoulders and leaving to head back to advise the Alpha. She had discovered that the sheriff appeared to be looking for Kali for simple vandalism but that made no sense. No more sense than the she-alpha’s disappearance. Marin prided herself on her ability to see everything and plan accordingly but suddenly she was certain that there was something she was missing. Something critical.

“Stiles?” the sheriff calls out tiredly as he steps into the house. This was not one of his better days and he really needs to see his son, safe and well. Coming around the corner he doesn’t see any trace of the teenager but according to the text he got from Scott, he should be here. He goes upstairs but Stiles’ room is empty so he heads back downstairs and into the kitchen which is also empty. He pulls out his phone to call Scott when he sees movement out the window in the back yard and moves to the door to back deck to look out. Spotting a flash of white in the yard he flicks on the outside light and opens the door. Stepping out he freezes as he sees a pair of eyes looking at him from the top of the table.
“What the?!” he jumps back but the raccoon doesn’t react, just watches him. Noah shakes his head and glances around and notices that the raccoon isn’t alone. There must be a couple of dozen birds all around the deck including several owls, a group of crows, several smaller birds, and two hawks all watching him with unblinking gazes. He suddenly feels nervous as the thought that this is how too many bad movies start crosses his mind.

He slowly takes a step forward but none of the animals move though their eyes all follow him, watching silently as he shifts his gaze and sees Stiles sitting in the grass, legs crossed and eyes closed like he is asleep but Noah knows he isn’t. A shift behind the teen and Noah sees three large deer all standing around him, antlers high and full, and they are watching him as well. He swallows nervously as he glances around and spots several coyotes, foxes, and oh god, at least three mountain lions! Cursing for leaving his gun in the house he slowly moves his hand to his pocket to grab his phone when he hears a rattling noise.

Freezing he looks down and sees the large rattle snake sitting in the grass at the bottom of the steps off the patio. Swallowing down his fear he spots a half dozen more snakes and lots of smaller things moving which are probably insects of some kind. “Stiles” he croaks as he finally manages to get the phone out.

A sudden deep drawing of breath has Noah looking up and seeing Stiles’s shoulders rising and falling as he exhales before opening his eyes and the sheriff flinches at the sight. Stiles’ eyes are glowing a deep, dark green. Close to black but with enough illumination that the color is still visible. It is like the wolves’ eyes, but also different as there is a coldness, a lack of fire, that seems to shine through even the icy blues of Jackson and Peter. Noah watches as his son cracks his neck and shakes his hands out apparently unaware of the creatures around him. “Stiles…don’t move” he hisses.

The glow suddenly stops and the teen looks over at him with a calculating expression, evaluating with precision which quickly turns to confusion. “Sheriff?” Stiles sounds confused. “What’s wrong?”

Noah tries to hide the flinch but he can’t help it. Not once since getting his son back has Stiles called him dad. It is always ‘sheriff’ or ‘sir’, but never dad. His son, the one he knows, always called him dad and that Stiles hadn’t made it back yet. “Stiles…the animals…” he whisper yells and sees the confusion clear up immediately.

“Sorry sir” the teen replies. “I didn’t want to be disturbed.” Stiles looks around him and nods briefly. “Thank you all for your help. You can go” he adds and the sheriff watches with amazement as the animals all start leaving. The birds all fly off in different directions, the raccoon scrambles off and heads to the woods, following the other large animals. Noah hears the rustling of the grass as the snakes follow behind them. Stiles walks up to the stunned sheriff “Dinner?” he asks and walks into the house.

Noah Stilinski stands there for a second trying to reconcile what he just saw. Several of those animals were natural enemies yet they left like friends. The deer ran off, but didn’t appear too concerned about the several large predators following right behind them.

Walking in the house in a daze Noah watches his son as he moves around the kitchen gathering vegetables and other groceries. “Allison and Erica took me shopping and helped me buy food” he says easily as he starts assembling their meal.

“Stiles” Noah’s voice cracks but he clears it with a quick cough “what was that back there? I mean those animals were all just…and then they just left?” He is floundering but can’t help it.

Stiles looks up and sees the confusion on the man’s face. “We were training the pack at the Alpha’s house in the woods when they got a call from another wolf. Kali’s pack was attacking them several towns away and Derek and Peter both think that they don’t know what’s happened here yet” Stiles explains. “After everyone argued about what to do, I asked Allison and Erica to help me and left while the others were still trying to figure things out. After getting home I felt I needed to meditate. I have been getting flashes of memories but they are all jumbled up and make no sense” he admits.

Noah suddenly focuses on his son and not the scene in the back yard. “You are remembering things? Me, the pack?” he questions.

Stiles shakes his head. “No. Nothing about here” he pauses and looks at the sheriff’s hopeful expression and sighs. “I think it is where I was. I remember fighting and pain and anger….lots and lots of anger. But other things too. Friends…others who I fought beside…things I fought against…red skies…honeyed wine and roast meat…laughter and singing” he says with a slight smile.

“Singing?” Noah says with a slight smile. He loves his son but he cannot sing.

“It was loud…I don’t think it was good” he admits and lets out a small laugh which Noah shares. Stiles looks out back and seems extraordinarily tired “I decided to meditate outside but with our enemies out there, I called for some help to watch over me. They came” he said simply.

“They were protecting you?” Noah says slowly and remembers how all of the animals had stared at him as if they were waiting for him to make a move. “If I had tried to reach you…”

“They would have alerted me or driven you off” Stiles says easily. “The crows and the ravens were coordinating the others and keeping an eye out. You probably only saw less than a quarter of what was actually there.”

Noah finally sits down and lets out his breath. He stares at his son’s relaxed face. “I am trying son, I really am but all this magic stuff…it’s still a bit hard to take in.”

Stiles nods but then frowns as he really looks at him. “You have met death today” says firmly. Not a question but the invitation to share is there in his tone.

“Car accident. Young kid was racing his friends and lost control and hit a telephone pole. Of course he wasn’t wearing his seat belt” Noah shudders remembering the kid, not much older than Stiles and the decision to go to his parents’ house himself. It was always painful, but Noah rarely ever delegated that job to his deputies. He made each of his deputies go with him in rotation to get the experience, but as Sheriff of the town he felt it was still his job.

Stiles watches the burden of the death on the sheriff and feels for the man. He didn’t know why it was different for him. Death was a certainty, fighting the inevitable was a waste of time and energy. He knew that the others in the pack were nearly untouched by death. Derek and Peter both had been more touched by it, and Lydia drew it to her as easily as she breathed, but even then it was still so small that Stiles knew they were innocents by comparison. He didn’t remember specifics but he knew that he had waded through blood and he knew death intimately.

He moves to sit beside the man who he knows intellectually is his father but he seems so…innocent that Stiles has struggled to see the man as someone older than himself. “A memory I found tonight” he says gently and the sheriff looks up “I don’t know his name but he was young. Don’t know how I know that but I did. He was much younger than I was and he was scared as we prepared for battle.”

Noah stiffened but didn’t interrupt.

“We had gathered before dawn, I remember that indescribable gray light that proceeds the dawn very clearly, and our foes were coming for us and he was terrified. It wasn’t the dying I don’t think. He was more afraid that he would fail us; that he wouldn’t measure up. I think that is more common for many people. Our fears are often not for ourselves, but rather we fear how it affects our vision of ourselves, and in how we are seen in the eyes of others, and that truly hurts us the most. Being seen as timid, fearful, weak, foolish, cowardly, worthless…that can make the fear so much worse. Being afraid of physical harm is simple, it is simple and reasonable. Being afraid of letting others down? That is not something that can be set aside easily or convince you by others’ words of its untruth.” Stiles sighs and looks at the weary eyes of the sheriff and nods briefly. “You carry too much fear and guilt for things that are not yours” he pauses and smiles slightly “perhaps you Derek and Peter should all talk about letting that fear and guilt go” he says knowingly.

Noah stares at his son and wonders who this man sitting in front of him is. How did his son find wisdom like this? “What happened to you Mieczslaw?” he whispers.

Stiles feels a shiver at the man saying his name. The first time the sheriff had said it Stiles had known immediately it was truth though he knew it was not the name he used. It held a truth all of its own. “I don’t know…not completely” he says honesty clear in his voice. “But I know it was something. I watch and listen to all of you talking and debating and the only thing that feels right is that you are all so…” he struggles but finally looks directly at the sheriff “…young.”

“Young?” Noah asks confused.

“It doesn’t make sense I know. I know you are my father. It is something that I feel beyond just you telling me that. Kind of like how I knew my name was right when you told me. But the pack, Derek, Peter, Alan, Melissa, Chris, even you. You all seem so…childlike” he says gently.

Noah doesn’t know how to respond to that. They have all noticed that Stiles is different in many ways from the spastic teen that disappeared that night but they had thought it was mostly due to the memory loss. He doesn’t know how to help his son. “How long were you over there?” Noah whispers, terrified of what his son may say.

Stiles doesn’t respond but stares out the window into the night, his breath even and constant as he contemplates the sheriff’s question. Noah doesn’t say anything as he can feel his son’s unhappiness and discomfort clearly, but he forces himself to wait for his son to decide whether to respond. Finally the teen sighs and looks back at his father. “I don’t know…not exactly. But I know it was far longer than the few days that I was gone from here.” Noah just stares and the teen sighs again “Years…maybe decades” he finally admits.

Noah’s heart drops to his stomach at his son’s words.

Chapter Text

Stiles walks into the clearing around the Hale House and frowns at the quiet of the place. Last night hadn’t been an easy one with the Sheriff struggling to deal with Stiles’ revelation, but he had tried. Stiles had truthfully admitted that he wasn’t 100% sure, that he couldn’t really say for certain how long he was gone, but at the same time, he was sure. It wasn’t that he could point towards a memory or fact that would prove his feelings, they were just that, feelings. But Stiles knew he was right. He had been gone for years.

The Sheriff had struggled and when Stiles handed him a glass of amber liquor that he had taken from the pantry where Noah had hidden it. “You don’t like it when I drink” the Sheriff had told him.

“No? Well, sometimes you just need to be numb for a bit” Stiles had replied and poured his own glass.

“You’re underage” his father had mumbled “or you should be” he added with a whisper.

Stiles shrugged and easily tossed the whole glass back, the warmth of the liquor was familiar, if a bit tame. “I’m pretty sure I have drunk much worse” he says with a snort as he pours them both another glass. He holds up his glass “Skol!”

“Na Zdrowie!” his father replies and Stiles smiles. A few glasses later and Stiles was helping the man to his bed to sleep, the Sheriff finally succumbing to the potent alcohol though Stiles was barely affected. He managed to get his father in bed and in the morning, had sent him off with coffee and breakfast. Though neither of them really talked about the previous night, there had been a look of uncertainty in the Sheriff’s eyes. Stiles had tried to reassure him, but he knew the man needed time to process.

Now Stiles was standing in the clearing behind the Hale house with no sign of anyone else around. He wasn’t sure where Derek, Peter, or Isaac were but he needed to do something physical or he was going to go crazy. Stepping around the house into the training area the wolves had been using, Stiles cracked his neck and began moving through a series of positions and motions designed to loosen up his muscles and warm him up.

As he moved into the familiar patterns and flows, he found his focus shifting from his father’s worried eyes into a calming blur of the space around him so he sped up, moving faster and faster until he finally reached the end of the exercises. Warmed up, but by no means tired or even sweating hard, he moved his shoulders and his shirt began to separate and flow into three individual pieces. Each of the sleeves of his shirt separated at his shoulders and flowed down his arms until they formed into leather bracers around his wrists. The body of his shirt slid down his chest becoming a thick cloth belt, wrapped around his waist several times, and leaving his chest bare to the cooler air.

The metal bracer circling his bicep shifted to liquid and flowed down his arm until reaching his hand where it expanded until it had reformed into the deep green staff and with a snap, Stiles set it moving. For the next forty-five minutes, Stiles danced a deadly dance with his staff spinning and slamming into targets only he could see. Each move calculated and precise, his very muscles could remember fights he had been in and he moved through each battle, improving what he danced just beyond the edges of his memories.

He was finally feeling the strain of his workout, rivulets of salty sweat rolling down his chest and back, and he was feeling the warm burn of his muscles. Stepping back he took a deep breath and something caught at the edge of his senses. Something was near…watching him. It only took a moment to identify the werewolf and he hid a smile so that he didn’t let on that he knew that the Alpha was watching from the treeline.

Moving his staff around, the green metal shifted into his leaf-shaped sword and Stiles took his first position. Eyes closed he visualized the field, especially the trees, rocks, and several limbs that he had noticed in his earlier motions. Launching into a spin, Stiles swung his sword in a deadly arc, swinging, turning, spinning back, and moving like it was part of him. He moved across the field, eyes still closed until he was near one of the larger tree limbs that had fallen and with a flick he sliced it in half before swinging back and impaling the upper half before it had even begun to fall.

A flick of his hand and the branch went flying to land a few feet from the hidden Alpha and Stiles barely restrained the smirk as he heard the man startle and grumble in what he thought was a too quiet voice. But Stiles wasn’t worried, instead he was dancing, dancing like he remembered. Allowing the earth to flow into him, to guide his hands, and with a barely understood reason he whispers “Kenaz” and suddenly he sees the entire clearing in his mind as if his eyes were open. But he sees so much more. He can see in all directions at once, up and down, behind trees and rocks, and even the crouching Alpha of the Hale pack and he smiles. “Eihwaz” he whispers and suddenly feels a rush of strength and speed flow into him and he smiles.

A second later and he moves in a blur and is suddenly gone, running into the woods at blinding speed.

“Where is she?” Deucalion demanded harshly as he stared at the unemotional face of his emissary. After days of no contact with the she-wolf, Deucalion had dispatched Morrell back to Beacon Hills while they stayed to take care of Satomi Ito and her pack of misfits. And what a disaster that had turned into with that damn woman’s misdirections and manipulations. They had managed to catch one of her betas out alone and the twins had attacked but the woman was a gifted fighter and came close to actually hurting them when they merged into their combined alpha form. The beta barely held out against them when another of her betas showed up and the two were actually managing to test the twins. Ennis had arrived moments later and killed the female beta which cause the male beta to go berserk and launch himself at Ennis. The Alpha had lashed out and torn the beta’s throat out leaving them with two dead betas and no information on Ito. Worse, their deaths had given warning to the Alpha and she had reacted by retreating into hiding, keeping her pack away from anyone.

It had been sheer luck that Ethan had spotted the brother and sister from her pack and they wisely alerted Deucalion to their presence before making any moves. Ennis, warned that they had to be taken alive, had joined Ethan and Aiden but the betas had detected the Alphas and ran, not even trying to fight though the trick with the nail gun had given them the time necessary to get far enough away that they had found another pack mate who helped them escape.

Since then, there had been no sign of Ito or any of her pack. Unlike the Hale brat, Ito was not visible in the community and so her disappearance went unnoticed. It also meant that there were no leads either. The one house they had identified was abandoned the day the first betas were killed and no one had returned. There was also no trace of them going anywhere else.

Morrell had argued against targeting Ito and her pack, but Deucalion couldn’t resist the temptation to destroy such an elder wolf. Bringing her down would have been almost as good as destroying Talia Hale. And killing her and forcing the boy alpha and the potential True Alpha to submit would cement his status across the entire continent. With that move, no pack would resist or challenge him.

But now they had lost all trace of Ito and her pack which meant he couldn’t kill them and then Kali had stopped checking in and those posters starting showing up with her picture indicating police interest. It wouldn’t take long for hunters to take notice and start maneuvering after them and Deucalion did not relish the idea of fighting wolves and hunters at the same time. He preferred his battles much neater and direct.

“I could find no sign of her” Morrell finally replied with a look of concern. “I tried to get information from Alan, but he appears to be unwilling to get involved.”

Deucalion frowned and his eyes flashed red behind his sunglasses as a growl escaped him. “Then perhaps we should ‘persuade’ your brother to change his mind” his voice was deceptively soft.

“You know that would be a useless endeavor. Our oaths are powerful and my brother is stubborn” she pauses for a moment, considering what her brother had said before deciding to share the one piece of information that still confounded her. “He hinted at the idea that this was a fight you couldn’t win. That Hale was his mother’s son and that the McCall boy...” she paused and glanced at the other three Alphas sitting around them before she turned back to see whether the Demon Wolf would stop her but he didn’t. “He seems to think the boy has the potential to become a True Alpha.” Both twins looked startled at her announcement while Ennis simply glared. Deucalion just stared at her. “His power, combined with Hale’s, might be enough to defeat you.”

“That whelp and a boy barely bitten a year?” Deucalion snorted in disbelief. Even if the boy was a True Alpha, he was still only one wolf and could not stand against him.

“I agree that those two, even if everything Alan believes is true and they fought together, it would not be enough to defeat the five of you…but Alan’s words are often designed to confuse and either conceal or reveal certain facts” she warned.

“And which is he doing?” Deucalion challenged.

Marin sighed before looking back at the Alpha of Alphas. “He believes firmly that you will lose if it comes to a fight. Since the two of them are not enough to do so, I feel that there is some fact or factor that he knows will tip the balance but he is not sharing.”

“McCall is dating the Argent girl” Ethan mutters and both emissary and alphas all turn to look at him. “If Hale joined forces with the Argents…” Ethan trails off but the implications are clear.

Deucalion shakes his head in denial. “They destroyed his family, wiped out his pack. There is no way he would ever trust them.”

“Not even to destroy a greater enemy?” Marin asks and the Demon Wolf growls, crimson eyes flashing clearly behind the shades.

Derek watches in fascination from his hidden vantage point as Stiles dances around the field with his staff. Seeing the teen shirtless isn’t what’s holding him in place, no, it’s that Derek doesn’t want to disturb him. Watching Stiles move reminds him of his mother in some ways. She moved with a grace and confidence that neither he, Laura, nor Peter had ever managed, even with the Alpha power. With her it was like the power was not some external force, it came to her as easily as breathing, it was her natural state. He knew he was biased, but several of the wolves he had met after the fire that knew his family had all told similar tales. Talia Hale was a werewolf like no other and had the respect of wolves from all over the world. He finally figure out that her status among their kind was probably a major factor in why Kate and Gerard targeted them. Bringing her down would definitely send a message to the packs.

Stiles moved like that right now. Before he disappeared through the portal Derek would never had thought anything like that about the young man in front of him. Stiles was a spastic, talkative, and outrageously annoying teen who was smart, reckless, and loyal to a fault. If he was truly being honest with himself, Derek had more than once wondered what would have happened if Stiles had been the one bitten instead of Scott. Derek is sure that the teen would have handled it much better and would have actually listened to him. Even now, with Scott acting almost like pack, there was still a gap between them. Derek had to admit that he trusted Stiles way more than he did Scott and that had been a surprise.

The night they lost him still plagues him even though they have gotten him back. The most jarring thing however was that his scent had changed. Peter and he were the only ones sensitive enough to tell but after several days they both had detected the subtle change. In the teen there was something there…a strength that was buried deep, not developed, but in the man who returned it was clear, strong, and certain. The man who came back was someone whom both of their wolves recognized as someone dangerous. Maybe not to them, Stiles felt more like pack than ever, but Peter had actually wondered if he could actually eliminate the entire Alpha Pack on his own and was completely serious about it. Derek had laughed at the idea but Peter wasn’t joking. He had warned Derek after Stiles had taught them all how to shift that he should never underestimate the teen. Peter also bluntly warned him not to screw things up with Stiles, the pack couldn’t afford to lose him.

Watching the teen dance around with his staff made Derek finally let go of his resistance and accept that Peter was not only correct, he was probably even underestimating Stiles. While Derek knew he was stronger and faster, had claws and fangs, and could heal rapidly, he was also fairly certain that unless he got lucky or managed a surprise attack, he wasn’t sure that he could beat Stiles in a fair fight. Assuming that the teen would ever try. Derek had noticed that in all the training he did with the pack, he never directly fought Derek. He fought the rest, even Peter, but not Derek.

Derek frowned as he watched Stiles stop in the clearing and breathe deeply. The staff melted and quickly reformed into the familiar sword shape and Derek shook his head. Where the hell did he get that thing? Stiles stood still, breathing deeply, for several minutes before he closed his eyes and shifted his feet into a stance that screamed ‘ready’ and in another breath he burst into activity.

The Alpha watched as Stiles fought imaginary opponents and he danced around the clearing with his eyes still firmly closed. Derek almost called out when Stiles was about to step into a pile of rocks but the man just leaped over it and continued his dance. Derek kept watching his face to see him open the, but the teen never opened his eyes and all of a sudden Stiles sword swung out and cut the heads off several flowers, right near the top, before he spun around and moved into his next swing. Derek watched in fascination as Stiles avoided every obstacle and potential difficulty with ease, never once opening his eyes.

During his dance, Derek watched Stiles’ blade slice off fallen tree limbs, cut flowers, and even slice a dead stump nearly in half without faltering. He knew exactly what he was doing Derek decided. The fact that his eyes weren’t open was beside the fact. Derek heard Stiles whisper something, so quiet he couldn’t make it out but then Stiles' sword sliced a fallen branch in half and then impaled the falling piece in mid air with his blade. Moving his sword in a smooth arc, he flung the piece of wood directly at Derek’s hiding place.

Jumping back in surprise, Derek let out a low growl, before looking up and seeing a small smirk on the teen’s face. Derek heard another whisper and when Stiles opened his eyes, they were glowing with a blue white light. He opened his mouth to call out when Stiles turned and leaped into the trees, disappearing into the shadows.

After a brief hesitation, Derek ran forward to where the teen last was but he couldn’t hear the teen’s heartbeat anywhere so he took off after the lingering scent that he was so familiar with. Running into the trees Derek looked for traces of the teen but there were barely any. A small broken branch, a crushed flower, the hint of Stiles’ scent was all he had but he was chasing after the teen, worried that something had him in thrall.

Derek later reasons that is why Stiles caught him unaware. Derek was moving quickly when he felt a sudden threat and threw himself forward to the ground just as Stiles’ staff swung in the space where his head had been just a second earlier. “Nice dodge” Stiles offered before dashing away.

Derek growled and jumped up chasing after him, but despite his speed, the teen had vanished again. Moving more carefully, the alpha stalked silently through the trees, his senses fully extended when he barely heard a whistling sound and he rolled to his right just as that damn staff went flying by his ears. Looking up he saw Stiles, his clothes now covering everything but his eyes in shades of dark green, black, brown, and grey standing on a tree limb, twirling his staff which now had a three fingered hook on one end. “Better” the teen laughed and then swung the staff to catch another branch and swung away, disappearing into the darkness almost instantly.

Snarling at the taunting but recognizing it as play Derek grinned and pulled his shirt off while kicking off his shoes. Stepping out of his jeans he did the full shift and his senses sharpened tremendously and he pegged Stiles direction and launched after the fleeing teen. Derek’s eyes were much sharper in this form and he was able to discern Stiles’ form even in his night dark suit, but the teen was moving from the trees to the ground and back to the trees with an ease and speed that left Derek chasing after.

“Too bad wolves can’t climb trees” Stiles voice comes from behind and above and Derek spins around and sees the teen about twenty feet up in a tree and he jumps, shifting into his Alpha form and easily grabbing a branch and climbing rapidly.

Stiles waits and watches until Derek is barely a foot away before he falls backwards off the tree and Derek freezes in shock as the teen falls out of the tree only to spin around, land on his feet, and take off again. Roaring out a challenge, Derek launches himself out of the tree and gives chase. He loses sight of the teen but he hears him running full out and Derek doesn’t need to see him to chase him. Breaking through some bushes he never sees the blow coming as Stiles drops down above him and lands atop the alpha sending him crashing to the ground.

Derek, however surprised, isn’t without his own tricks. Laura had done this exact move to him too many times to count and Derek had finally learned a counter. Rolling and shifting, Derek spins them both over the ground, the two of them crashing over and over again until Stiles is suddenly on his back, his arms pinned above his head and Derek straddling him.

Stiles smiles at the glowing red eyes above him as they slowly travel down the now fully visible body on top of him. A body with absolutely no clothes and Derek, still huffing and panting suddenly realizes their situation and that the moon is bright enough above them that the Alpha is sure that Stiles has a very good view. “You know…I was looking to work off some energy with practicing…but now I have suddenly gotten a different idea” he says, his eyes burning with a hunger that almost frightens Derek.

Derek starts to loosen his grip on Stiles’ hands and shift his weight to move when Stiles, sensing the shift, suddenly flips them and Derek finds himself on his back with Stiles above him smiling wickedly. “I can definitely think of something much more enjoyable we can do” he almost purrs leaning down. Derek is shocked at the teen’s boldness when he feels teeth at his neck and he trembles.

Leaning back, Stiles looks down at Derek, eyes blazing when they suddenly stop and he leans back. “Unless you…” Stiles takes in Derek’s trembling and slight edge of panic “…Derek…are you a virgin?” he asks gently, his hands no longer holding the alpha so firmly.

“What?” Derek doesn’t understand for a moment before he finally comprehends Stiles’ question. “No. No, I’m not” his voice isn’t as firm as he would like and he is glad that Stiles can’t hear his heartbeat at the moment.

Stiles face contorts into one of confusion and he sits up, still straddling Derek but then tension that was there is rapidly fading. “Did I mistake your interest? Do you prefer only women? Or perhaps you are a chaste warrior? I thought I sensed interest but I would not take from you what was not freely offered” Stiles’ voice is gentle and reassuring.

“What?” Derek says still confused and trying to follow Stiles’ thoughts. “Oh! No. No, I don’t have a preference, I like both men and women” he adds in a much quieter voice, not looking at the teen.

“Is it me then? Am I not someone you are interested in?” Stiles asks in a gentle voice.

Derek looks at the teen who is watching him without embarrassment, only concern. “No…you are…I’m not…uninterested.”

Stiles nods before leaning down and brushing his lips softly over Derek’s and is gone before the Alpha can react. “If you are not uninterested, and I am definitely interested…why are you hesitant?” he asks as his thumb gently caresses the line of Derek’s jaw.

“Stiles…Stiles you don’t, I mean you aren’t…you have never thought of me like this” he says with an uncertain expression. “I mean you are a virgin…” Derek starts only to be cut off by Stiles’ bark of laughter.

“Oh Derek, I assure you that I am not a virgin” he replies with a wicked gleam in his eyes. “I may not remember all the details, but you will not be my first lover. I remember flashes of urgency and desire as well as slow lingering loving. I cannot tell you even one name, but I do know that I know many ways to bring joy to a lover. Male or female” he adds smiling as he darts in for a quick kiss. Leaning back he sees the shock on Derek’s face and smiles again. “And as for before, while I can’t say for sure, but I seriously doubt I wasn’t interested in you” he smiles and lowers himself till he is just over the Alpha’s ear as he bites down with the barest pressure on the Alpha’s earlobe, drawing out a whine of pleasure as his hands slide down the hot skin over his sides.

Derek feels his whole body reacting and he wants to stop this, to not take advantage of Stiles…”Oh God!” he moans as Stiles manages to squeeze his hip, bite down on his neck and entangle their fingers all at once sending waves of pleasure through his body. No one has touched him like this! Ever. Not Kate, not the others he met in New York to forget, no one has caused him to react like this and he surrenders and turns his head and latches on to Stiles’ neck, sucking hard over his pulse and causing the man to moan happily. “Stiles” he growls happily as Stile’s clothes melt away and Derek is suddenly grasping bare flesh and he looks up and sees Stiles staring at him, his eyes glowing that blue white light.

“Berkano” Stiles whispers and Derek feels a rush of warmth race through his body as they both glow for a moment before he feels a rush of desire and hunger and he rolls them over again and greedily attacks the other man’s mouth.

Chapter Text

Derek woke suddenly, reaching out but no one was there. He opened his eyes and saw the leaves, dark in the night sky. He fell asleep. Sitting up from the soft grass he glanced around for a second before he spotted Stiles standing off to the side, looking out over the woods. Derek stood and walked over the man, unashamed of his nudity even though Stiles was clothed once again in that strange magical garment that he wore. It was softer somehow, more like a karate uniform than anything else.

“Did I wake you?” Stiles asked as Derek stepped behind him and wrapped his arms around the young man’s waist.

“No, but I didn’t hear you get up” Derek muttered more concerned about that.

Stiles gave a small snort of laughter and turned to look back at the Alpha. “Wasn’t the first time that I snuck out of someone’s bed” he admitted though Derek could tell he didn’t remember any details.

“You looked concerned. Do you regret…” Derek trailed off suddenly nervous that there had been a mistake.

“No” Stiles responded easily and quickly which allowed Derek to reduce his anxiety back to a manageable level. “It’s just…” the young man’s voice trailed off.

“It’s just what?” Derek prodded gently tightening his grip and enjoying when some of the tension in the other man relaxed.

“I want to fight” Stiles replies but then shakes his head. “I don’t mean that. I mean I think I should be ready to fight, like this is the natural order of things. Loving, taking pleasure, then fighting for your life” he finishes sounding vulnerable for the first time since he has returned.

“Loving?” Derek murmurs softly.

Stiles smiles and turns around fully as he lifts his hand to Derek’s cheek. “I don’t remember you from before” he pauses for a moment before continuing “but this?” he gestures both to them and their previous grassy bower “this feels right, like it is what should be.”

Derek smiles for a second but then frowns “So why would you be ready to fight?”

Stiles shakes his head. “It’s just a feeling. Like how it’s always been.” He shakes his head as his arms tighten and pulls Derek in closer. “But I guess that was somewhere else. Here is different” he states and Derek thinks he is trying to convince himself when he leans forward, capturing Derek’s mouth with a firm kiss. “Here we have time” he whispers and Derek feels that magical cloth move to circle them both and he smiles and lowers them back to the soft ground.

Noah Stilinski frowns as he looks at the vet/mystic across the table that currently holds one of Beacon Hills K-9 trainees. After the attack on the station, he had managed to get a budget bump from the town to bring in two dogs. The first was already riding with Deputy Lake and this pup would be assigned to Deputy Daniels once she finished her training as a K-9 partner.

“It’s not that simple Sheriff” Alan said as he soothed the dog and continued his examination. “Even my best resources can only do so much. Stiles has not be able to give us enough information about where he was to narrow down the possibilities. Even finding the configurations for when the door would be open didn’t give us a destination.” He sighed allowing some of his frustration to show. “It seems that there are more opinions than facts and right now, no one’s opinion is reliable. They are just guessing.”

“What kind of information do you need?” Noah asks with a concerned frown on his face.

“Anything really” Alan replies. “Terrain, sky, stars, moon or moons, who he saw there, what he ate, what he did” the druid trails off before taking a deep breath. “Noah, I know you are worried, but we cannot rush this. I have some options to push things…” he frowns and Noah can see the worry on his face “but what I have seen Stiles do…I think it would be unwise to pressure him.”

“He mentioned somethings last night after I found him” Noah says slowly. He had already recounted how he found Stiles and the animals, which had thoroughly shook the other man. “He mentioned fighting, lots of fighting, red skies, a young boy he fought beside, honeyed wine, and roast meat. And singing” He adds with a snort. He looks over and sees a thoughtful expression on the druid’s face. “Does that tell you something?” he asks.

Alan is quiet for a few moments before looking at the Sheriff. “I’m not certain, it sounds familiar somehow. I will share this with my contacts but something” he trails off a bit before looking at the Sheriff. “Honeyed wine and singing?” he asks looking doubtful.

“I got the impression that the singing was the result of the wine. Apparently it was loud, not necessarily good” Noah smiled a bit at that.

Deaton gave one of his noncommittal ‘hmms’ before turning back to his patient. Something about this sounds familiar.

“It’s time to deal with the whelp” Deucalion said to the others as they settled into their base back in Beacon Hills. It had been an infuriating failure trying to find Satomi and his patience had run out. He would return after dealing with Hale’s misfits and end her once and for all. He was no longer interested in recruiting. No, this would be a lesson to others.

“So what’s the plan?” Aiden asks from his seat beside his twin. Ennis was lurking on the other side of the room and Morell is sitting in a large chair seemingly unconcerned.

“We send him a message. Taking his betas from him will both weaken him and drive him mindless with the need to recover them.

“You don’t want to kill them?” Ethan asks sounding confused.

“No” the Alpha replies with a patronizing voice. “We need him to go crazy with the loss of pack. If we kill them, then he will mourn the loss and hide like Satomi. If they are still alive, he will feel their suffering through the pack bonds” he finishes with a wicked smile.

Ennis growls happily as both of the twins smile in understanding. Morell doesn’t react but she does look over at Deucalion. “You have a plan?” she asks in a tone of voice that suggests that she doesn’t really care one way or the other.

“The arrogant boy and his woman” Deucalion answers.

Ethan looks worried. “You mean Whittemore and Martin?” he asks sounding nervous.

Deucalion nods still smiling but Marin suddenly realizes the danger. “Deucalion, the boy is the son of the District Attorney. If he disappears, his father will raise police all over the state, maybe even the FBI. And the girl’s parents are equally influential. Taking the two of them may make things difficult, especially if we are to be here for any period of time” she says looking concerned.

Deucalion frowns unhappily at her comment but Ethan speaks before he can reply. “What about Reyes and Boyd? They are nobodies in school and their parents have no influence. I doubt anyone would even notice they were gone except for Hale.”

Deucalion is quiet, his face unreadable as he considers their words. He knows that the vain boy is a weak link, his connection to Hale is still tentative and he is certain that he could break the boy’s spirit easily. But Morell has a point. The boy’s father may make enough of a commotion that the hunters would get involved and while he would be happy to put them down, he really didn’t have the resources to fight Hale, hunters, and the human police. “Very well. Aiden, take your brother and find those two and bring them here. No need to be gentle” he adds and the twins both show feral grins before leaving the building.

Marin remains sitting, quiet, but Deucalion can sense her unease. “You disagree?” he asks, voice deceptively calm, the danger just beneath the surface.

“Not exactly” she replies after a moment. The alpha waits as she takes a moment before continuing. “I don’t have a problem with taking the betas, they are tools and if they make his defeat more certain then dealing with the pawns is good. I am concerned about what we do not know” she finally admits.

Deucalion eases a bit as her challenge is not directed at him. “You worry about Deaton’s warning?” he guesses.

“That…but more than that. My brother isn’t one to speak without considerable thought behind his words. His belief that this fight was one you couldn’t win…it speaks that there is something hidden on the board. Kali’s absence, and her disappearance with no contact strongly suggests that she was killed” she is suddenly cut off by Deucalion’s growl.

“You think she is dead?” he demands.

“You know that as an Alpha Pack, you do not have the pack bonds that traditionally exist between an alpha and their betas” she says carefully and pauses until he nods. “Those bonds are a strength and a weakness. A weakness you have often exploited, but if Kali is dead, you would not be able to sense it. Each of you contain your power within yourselves, you do not share as a traditional Alpha like Hale would. If he killed Kali…then he has her power and he is significantly stronger than before.”

Deucalion leans back at that thought. He was certain that Kali’s absence was most likely her chasing after some prey but if the whelp managed to take her down, then this game just got more interesting. He smiles as he looks at his Emissary “Perhaps this will actually be worth our time” he tells her.

“You’re leaving?!” Scott yelps as Allison looks guilty over the table at Grinders, Beacon Hills’ newest coffee house.

“I know it’s not the best time…” she starts out but Scott’s voice is nearly panicked.

“Best time?!?!” his voice breaks with emotion. “Allie we are facing the Alpha Pack and Stiles is still messed up…”

“He has memory problems Scott, but he is a better fighter than anyone in the pack, including my dad and me” she says gently.

Scott looks confused. “I know he is good in a fight…”

“Scott he isn’t good, he’s phenomenal. It’s not just that he knows how to fight, he is something else, something we don’t understand, but dad and I know you will keep an eye on him. But the intel we got about Gerard won’t stay good for long. We have a chance to finally end him and the threat he represents. We can’t ignore this” she says with an expression that begs him to understand.

Scott’s face falls. Failing to finally take care of Gerard has been one of his biggest failures. He thought that the plan was perfect but afterwards Stiles privately tore him a new one. Both for not sharing and for screwing over Derek. Not to mention that Stiles ended up hurt and beaten because he was so focused on his mom and Allison. “I know” he mutters and winces at the relieved reaction that Allison has at his words. “It’s just losing you and your dad right before a fight isn’t going to go over well” he says carefully.

Allison’s eyes narrow as she recognizes Scott’s attempt at guilt. “Scott, I doubt Derek or Peter would mind in the slightest if we were gone for a bit, not to mention if we finally eliminated Gerard. It’s a good division of resources” she insists and he sighs unhappily.

“Fine. But you will keep us informed?” he asks with a serious look and she nods, now relaxed. They don’t leave until tomorrow so she and Scott still have tonight.

“I don’t think we should have sneaked off” Boyd says with a soft voice as Erica licked her ice cream cone.

“We deserve a break” Erica replies with a devilish smirk. “We have been running patrols and spending hours being on alert for weeks. We needed this” she says linking her arm through Boyd’s as they continued walking.

Erica had convinced Boyd to sneak off for a date night and it had been worth it. They had ate a fun dinner in the good Mexican restaurant before going to see the new horror flick and finished off the evening with ice cream from Busters. Now they were heading home, sure to get in trouble with Derek, but it was worth it.

“You know Derek is going to have us running patrols separately for this” Boyd warns her again. He didn’t fight too hard when the she wolf suggested it because it was true they needed some time together and though they both loved running as wolves, it wasn’t quite the same thing.

Erica laughs and Boyd is amazed at the sparkle of life and joy in her eyes. While losing Stiles was rough on everyone, Boyd recognized that his loss brought them together and made them a real pack. He and Erica had talked about leaving Beacon Hills when all the craziness with the Kanima and Gerard happened, but he is glad they stayed. Derek had really stepped up and with Scott and the Sheriff involved, things were beyond better. “Well, it was nice to escape for a little while.”

Erica snuggled deeper under his arm and sighed happily as she took another lick as they walked along the street that led to Erica's house.

“Oh look, so sweet” a voice called out and the two wolves stopped to look over at a guy about their age who was sitting on a stone wall besides the sidewalk. “Young love…so tragic” the boy says with a smirk.

“Who the hell are you?” Erica snarls barely managing to contain herself. Why didn’t they hear or smell this jerk.

“Blondie sounds confused” a similar voice says from behind them and Erica spins and sees the same guy standing there with a sneer on his face. “Guess they don’t know they shouldn’t be out at night all alone, right bro?”

Boyd is glaring at the teen on the wal and sees him jump down and start towards them. “You better back off” he warns but the teen only smiles and then Boyd sees the guy’s eyes flash red. He barely has time to yell “Alpha” before the guy is jumping him with claws and fangs out.

Erica snarls and pops her own claws and fangs, flashing her eyes at the other twin who only laughs as his eyes flash red as well. “They’re both Alphas!” she yells as she swings for the guy rushing her, but staying close to Boyd to cover his back.

The Alphas are both attacking the betas and Boyd is getting ready to tell Erica to run when he hears her yell and he turns to see her being flung into a streetlight and slamming into it hard. He can hear some of her bones break from the impact and he roars furiously and backhands one of the twins away as he races for Erica. He reaches her, hearing her heartbeat and grabs her up to run when he hears a snarl and ripping sound. Looking up he sees the twins melting into one another until they form a single werewolf nearly twice his size. Boyd jumps up to run but the Frankenstein-alpha is faster than he thought and he punches Boyd hard, causing him to drop Erica and slam into theground.

Boyd tries to scramble up but the alpha grabs him by the throat and lifts him up with one hand. Grasping Boyd tries to claw the guy’s arm but the alpha roars and slams him into the ground. Boyd struggles with the pain and feels himself being lifted again. Before he can do anything he is slammed down again and everything goes dark.

Sighing, Melissa puts the chart back on the wall as she is finally done with the last piece of paperwork that she needed to finish before getting to leave after what felt like a never ending double shift. Right now she is looking forward to some Chinese take-out, a long hot bath, and about twelve hours of sleep. “Goodnight Andrea” Melissa says waving at her friend .

Andrea smiles and shoos Melissa off “Go home Mel. Get out of here and relax” she says with the energy of someone who is fully rested. “Maybe go spend some time with our handsome sheriff” she teases and giggles at Melissa’s blush.

“You…you just hush” Melissa stammers before hightailing it out of there. She was ready to get out of here and back home. Maybe even hope that there was some good news about Stiles and his memory. Sighing she pulls out her keys as she steps into the staff parking lot.

“Pardon me, perhaps you can assist me?” Melissa looks up in surprise at the British accent and sees the man who had spoken and was surprised to see a rather well dressed blind man standing in front of her in the parking lot.

“Is something wrong? Are you hurt?” Melissa asks looking him over but not seeing anything overtly wrong.

“I am fine, but I seem to have gotten turned around” he says with smile as she feels a sudden chill that she can’t put her finger on. “I’m looking for Scott McCall” he adds and she freezes.

“Who?” she manages to ask with a flat tone and the man’s smile increases and he chuckles in a way that has her reaching for the mace in her bag.

“Did you know your heartbeat gives you away?” the man says and she jerks out her hand with the mace when her arm is grabbed roughly from behind and the man is squeezing it until she drops the mace. She looks at the large bald man holding her and tenses when his eyes flash red. “I am Deucalion” the blind man says “and your presence as our guest will make sure that your son obeys me” he finishes with a smirk, his eyes flashing red, and before she can draw a breath to scream she sees the large man swing his arm and backhands her, knocking her to the ground as she loses consciousness.

Chapter Text

Derek walked back into the loft after having dropped Stiles off at his house and was ready to crash. The night had been amazing as he could have ever imagined it. The only thing was there was a feeling of wrongness that had him wondering if he had somehow made a mistake, taken advantage when he shouldn’t have.

“Well look who’s finally home” Peter’s voice caused him to look up and frown at the gleeful look on his uncle’s face. “And based on the smell, it seems you have been busy with our little amnesiac” he added with a leer.

Derek growled only a little, he wasn’t going to rise to his uncle’s baiting. “It’s none of your business Peter” he growls out as he heads for the stairs.

“Derek” Peter’s voice is suddenly without its normal smug superiority and actually sounds slightly like he cares. “It’s not Stiles getting hurt that concerns me.” Derek pauses and looks at his uncle in confusion.

“Derek, whatever happened to him, wherever he went, he is more emotionally stable and capable on all levels than you. He knows things about werewolves that we didn’t know!” Peter’s eyes are fierce as he grudgingly admits to that particular detail. “He can handle this” he points to his nephew “whatever it is, and be fine. You on the other hand…you don’t have the best history with this” he says and surprisingly Derek doesn’t hear any judgement or anger, just concern.

“I’m fine, he’s…” Derek pauses trying to explain it in a way that makes sense “…he’s just…so much more” he finally says. “Before…before we lost him, he was frustrating and irritating and a know-it-all who always pushed and pushed” he grounds out.

“Even then?” Peter asks in surprise.

“What? No! Of course not. I just told you” he starts to explain but stops at Peter’s laugh.

“Oh you are so like your mother” Peter says with a fond smile. “When she met your father…it was like gasoline and fire. She ranted about him for weeks about how much she couldn’t stand him and it was entirely mutual. They fought endlessly and I even asked our mother about it but she only laughed and promised it would work out. When they finally got together they were as intense in love as they were when they fought. They pushed and challenged each other like every decision was life or death” Peter sat down on the couch to recover from his laughter and the emotions of those memories.

“I don’t remember them ever fighting” Derek muttered looking at his uncle before sitting down as well. “They always seemed so in sync. Like they agreed on everything.”

Peter snorted. “By the time you were born they had it down and pushed each other in ways that were healthier and better. Apparently they had a huge screaming match when Laura was two and it really scared her. They hadn’t realized that she had woken up and came looking for them. After that I never heard them argue like that again” Peter explains. “But now that I think about it, you and Stiles are very similar to the two of them.”

Derek leans back and tries to hide the small smile on his face. Hearing that he was like his parents makes him feel a bit better. “Stiles…he challenges me in a good way and now…now he is so much more, he’s not in danger from our world. I think he can probably stand against anything.”

Peter chuckled. “Derek, that boy could probably take out anything we might have to face on his own. I know that I will definitely make sure not to get on his bad side. Even with the new tricks he’s taught us. And if he gets his memory back?” Peter looks very thoughtful. “He will probably be considerably more dangerous.

Derek doesn’t respond immediately, instead carefully considering his uncle’s words. They sit in silence for a few minutes before he hears footsteps on the stairs. Both him and Peter look up but relax when they catch Isaac’s scent but his heart is racing as he runs up the stairs.

Derek crosses the loft and pulls the door open just as Isaac barrels in. “Erica and Boyd! I can’t reach them. They aren’t answering their phones and I know something is wrong” he rushes out as he looks at his Alpha.

Sudden dread hits Derek’s stomach as he reaches for the pack bonds and realizes that the wrongness he is feeling is coming from his betas! Something has happened!

Scott stomped down the stairs after a rather painful 2 hours of reading for school. He was determined to do better with his grades so he was forcing himself to do schoolwork every day on his summer readings. Swinging around the living room he sniffed and smelt…nothing? Stepping into the kitchen he saw the empty room with no mom or dinner. Frowning he pulled out his phone to double check the time but he was right. His mom should have been home nearly an hour ago and he didn’t have any messages.

A quick check out the front window showed that her car wasn’t there so she must have gotten delayed. Dialing her number he waited until the voice mail picked up. “Hey mom, are you running late?” he asked easily before hanging up. It wasn’t unusual for his mom to get delayed at the hospital, especially if an emergency came in when she was about to leave but she usually managed to send off a text or call.

Looking at his phone he pulled up the front desk for Beacon Hills hospital and hit call. “Beacon Hills Hospital this is Janice speaking, how can I help you?”

“Hi Janice, it’s Scott McCall” he replied thankful someone he knew had answered the phone.

“Hi Scott, what can I do for you?” she answered easily.

“Yeah, I was just checking to see if my mom got delayed” he asked.

“No” Janice sounded confused “she left on time about an hour ago.

Scott paused but then quickly replied. “I bet she just stopped at the store. Thanks Janice” he said and then hung up after saying goodbye.

Melissa wouldn’t have gone to the store, she was planning on shopping tomorrow and had even made a point of asking Scott to add anything he wanted to the list. Feeling anxious he grabbed his keys and went outside and jumped on his bike. He decided to drive her normal route, maybe she had a flat or something, but he made it to the hospital with no sign of his mom’s car. Pulling into the staff lot he paused when he spotted her car still parked there. Jumping off his bike he ran over to the car and spotted a lump on the ground that smelled like his mom. Grabbing it he realized it was her purse with her keys and phone inside and then he sees her can of pepper spray on the ground. Starting to panic he sniffs around and suddenly smells it…wolves! Two unknown wolves were here!

Frantic, he barely contains the howl demanding to be let out before racing to his bike and jumping on. He had to get help!!

The doors to the loft burst open and Scott ran inside and momentarily faltered seeing nearly the whole pack there. Jackson was sitting on the couch next to Isaac while Stiles, Lydia, and Peter all were around the table staring at something. Derek had moved from the table towards the door looking ready to pounce only to pause when he saw it was Scott.

“They took my mom!” Scott said in a panicked voice that got everyone’s attention.

“Melissa?” Peter asked looking momentarily surprised.

“Boyd and Erica are missing too” Isaac said unhappily causing Scott to look at the blonde wolf with shock.

“What?” Scott’s brain wasn’t making any sense of this.

“The Alpha Pack took Erica and Boyd, but they are still alive” Lydia said looking up. “Derek can tell that much so we were operating under the idea that they were trying to pick us off.”

“Then why take my mom?” Scott demanded angrily. “She isn’t a part of this!”

“Because it is better than taking you” Stiles said confidently and the others all turned to stare at him in surprise.

“Stiles?” Derek prods knowing there is more and still not used to Stiles not rambling.

“Taking two of your pack, but not killing them, is designed to set off your instincts. Your pack is in mortal danger and normally that would be enough to unhinge an Alpha enough so that they would act without reason” he explains.

“Normally?” Peter asks with a hungry look. His desire to know, to understand, to get access to everything in Stiles’ head clearly showing in every line of his body.

“The bonds you all formed by shifting and running together gives you stronger connections than in a pack without them, as you have said what would be a normal pack. Those bonds give you a reassurance about their status, even on an unconscious level, which allows you to keep your focus” he says looking at Derek. “But, it also means that if they are being tortured, you will know it through the bond” Stiles warns.

“I haven’t felt that” Derek admits carefully.

“They probably don’t know” Peter muses thoughtfully. The pack looks at him. “That is something we didn’t know, and even if Deucalion and his pack knew about the possibility of using the bonds that way, I doubt he would consider us to be so connected. If he did, he would not have bothered with attacking us because he would know you would never join him. No pack that connected would turn on their alpha nor he on them.”

Derek looks at his uncle in surprise…that almost sounded like a compliment.

“What about my mom?” Scott pleaded again.

“They took her because taking her cripples you and makes you a threat to the pack” Stiles replies simply and Scott looks horrified by his friend’s casual description.

“I’m not a threat!!” he yells at the stranger wearing his friend’s face.

“What would you do to save her?” Stiles poses to the beta who suddenly goes silent. “They took her because they believe that they can get you to turn on the pack, betray them even, if it means saving Melissa.” He shakes his head and looks at Derek. “This is a strategic attack. They are trying to fracture your pack by forcing you to split your attention. Assuming that Scott was even supposed to find out this early. It would be smarter to threaten her to not only turn him, but keep his silence.” Stiles frowns and looks at Scott. “How did you find out she was missing?”

“She was late coming from her shift. I was doing homework and realized I was starving but she wasn’t there. I called the hospital and they said she had left some time ago so I went there and found her car and smelled the strange wolves” he told them.

Scott was looking nearly broken and Isaac had come over to support him as the others all looked upset. Melissa was pretty much respected and even a little loved by everyone. She had handled all this better than could be expected and had patched up each of them at least once.

“They finally made a mistake” Stiles finally said into the silence causing looks of surprise.

“What?” Derek asked confused by the certainty in the other man’s voice.

Everyone is staring at the teen. “Taking the betas was an external attack. But taking Melissa was designed to make Scott a threat we didn’t know about, either by removing him from the board and weakening us, or turning him giving him the chance to shift the balance at a critical moment. We knowing about it removes the threat of turning and since they haven’t set things in motion yet, the advantage has shifted to us” Stiles tells them.

“Their attempted power move just became a weakness” Lydia said, her eyes almost glowing as the others watched the genius put the pieces together.

“And with our abilities still unknown to them, and the loss of Kali, they won’t be expecting us to attack” Peter says with a dangerous edge to his voice.

“Exactly!” Stiles says happily.

“But we can’t find them!” Scott reminds them sounding miserable.

“Well actually I think we can” Stiles says looking thoughtfully. “Derek should be able to home in on Erica and Boyd using the bond. I can walk him through that. But we need a plan once we find them.”

“We attack” Derek growls and the others respond eagerly.

Stiles looks at the alpha with an unimpressed expression and Derek suddenly feels rather foolish. Before, Stiles’ plans, even the good ones, were too elaborate or reckless. Derek has to keep reminding himself that this Stiles is different. “What would you suggest?” he grits out after staring into those amber eyes that were watching him carefully.

Stiles is quiet for a few seconds, assessing Derek’s seriousness before he nods and turns to the others. “Scott, you and Peter will full shift and flank the main group. Derek, Isaac, Jackson, Lydia, and I will be the vanguard. They will be expecting us. You are the wild cards so not seeing you hopefully won’t alert them to anything. Once the five of us engage them, you two can move in to rescue Melissa and free Erica and Boyd. Once they are free, we will outnumber them and have the best chance to end their threat.”

“They will probably have their prisoners guarded” Peter offers and Stiles nods.

“They should, but once we engage, they will have to shift their focus. We know that there are four of them left and with three hostages to cover, we can give them enough of a fight that they can’t afford to leave anyone out. With Scott ‘not there’ they can’t threaten Melissa effectively. Whoever is watching her and the betas won’t be able to guard them, watch the fight, and be able to prepare for the two of you to attack” Stiles says and looks back to Derek with a questioning expression.

“That sounds good. But why bring Lydia?” Derek asks and ignores the sudden intake of breath from the redhead as she looks ready to tear into him for even daring to ask the question.

“One, her powers will warn us if things get too close to failure. Second, I doubt they know about her and what she can do. A sudden scream at the right time might be just what we need. Third, Jackson will be there with her and if she is in danger, he will fight even harder to protect her” Stiles explains and even Peter seems shocked by Stiles’ unemotional suggestion to use Lydia that way. Jackson growls unhappily.

Stiles looks at the beta unconcerned before shifting to look at Lydia. “Besides, pretty sure she would not agree to stay behind” he adds with a hint of a smile.

“Damn straight” Lydia replies but glares at Stiles anyways “and don’t think we won’t be discussing this plan of yours afterwards” she warns.

“When do we go?” Isaac asks looking around.

Derek looks at each of them before turning to Stiles. “Now.”

The pack gathered at the Hale house to allow Derek to try to locate the missing betas in a place he is better connected to and in a more natural environment for his wolf. Scott and Peter have already shifted and have slunk off into the shadows to keep watch. Derek and Stiles are sitting on the ground facing each other as the teen tries to guide the Alpha into using his bond.

Derek struggles for the first fifteen or so minutes before he finally starts calming down enough to really listen and follow Stiles’ instructions. He is finally able to distinguish the ‘feel’ of Erica and Boyd in his mind, to get a sense of their ‘flavor’ and he is just getting a hint of their direction when he feels a flash of terror, pain, and his back explodes in pain causing him to yell out and partially shift.

“Focus!” Stiles’ voice snaps out as the others all jump in reaction to their alpha’s roar. “They are hurting them so you are open to their pain. You can help pull it, make it easier on them, but not too much. You need to be able to find them. Look beyond the pain!” Stiles orders harshly.

Derek is used to pain. He has felt too much of it in his short life and he can almost taste the terror and fear coming through from both of his betas. He can feel the punches, claws, and kicks impacting both of them as well as their fury at the other’s treatment. Boyd is desperate to get to Erica and protect her but then Derek feels a crippling pain and realizes that the beta’s leg was just broken. The pain is sharp, clear, and blinding but it also focused his senses and Derek’s eyes pop open, flashing crimson.

“I know where they are!” he roars and in seconds he is moving.

Stiles had warned them to be ready so the pack is only moments behind their alpha. Lydia, carried on Jackson’s back while the rest of them are running behind Derek, moving at their top speed. Stiles looks over and for the briefest moment he spots Scott before the wolf veers away. Peter and Scott are with them.

It seems like only minutes later before Derek bursts into the clearing with a roar at the sight in front of him. His pack comes out behind him with Lydia dropping off and Jackson and Isaac on either side of Derek with Stiles, just a few feet behind.

Across the clearing is a terrifying sight for the Hale pack. The big, bald alpha is standing there with his clawed hand around Melissa McCall’s neck as she kneels on the ground in front of him like a grotesque shield. On the other side Boyd and Erica are lying in the grass, bleeding and not moving though their heartbeats are still strong. Twin wolves are standing on either side, both of their eyes glowing red.

Derek however is laser focused on the third man standing in the middle. Tall, blonde, and wearing dark glasses at night, he reeks of power and corruption to Derek but he recognizes him from when the alpha once visited his mother. Deucalion!

“Deucalion!” Derek roars in fury but the alpha only smirks.

“Hale” he says with an accent that would be more in place with some British aristocrat than a powerful werewolf. “I am rather surprised you managed to actually find us after all of your flailing about but I suppose it's good that you are here" he says with an exaggerated tone. "Your betas haven't proved to be very entertaining. I can't imagine what you ever saw in them to give them the bite” he says with a smirk. “I believe you also know the lovely Mrs. McCall?” he tilts his head to the nurse.

“Barely” Derek growls. “Not my problem” he adds without hesitation and doesn’t miss the quickly hidden reaction from the alpha when he didn’t hear any lie in Derek’s heartbeat.

Deucalion just smirks again and is about to start talking when Derek snaps. “Now!” Derek roars and both Jackson and Isaac launch themselves at the twins while Derek moves towards Deucalion.

The large alpha, Ennis, tosses Melissa aside and leaps towards Derek just as Stiles starts to move and his eyes flick to a shadow behind Deucalion and he barely has time to shout when he sees a blast of energy shoot out, aimed straight at Derek.

Stiles only has a moment but he manages to bump into Derek and knock him out of the way just as the blast of magic catches him full in the face and sends him flying.
Derek feels Stiles’ push just as he is adjusting to face Ennis when the smell of ozone and sulfur rush past him and he feels the blast slide past, barely missing him. But he hears it hit flesh and he turns in time to see Stiles take the blast full on and go flying. “STILES!” Derek roars but he can’t do anything but watch as the teen flies across the clearing and slams into a tree with a heart wrenching crash only to drop to the ground unmoving. He sees Lydia moving towards the teen just as Ennis slashes out but Derek ducks away and turns back to the brute.

Derek roars and leaps into the fight.

Chapter Text

Derek dodges Ennis’ swipe, again, and punches hard into the man’s kidney generating a rather pleasing grunt of pain from the brute before jumping back again and briefly regretting being unable to use his claws this time. They had been trading blows for the last few seconds but Derek hadn’t forgotten Deucalion who was still sitting there like some ancient ruler watching gladiators fighting for his amusement.

The bigger concern for Derek was the witch at his side who had taken down Stiles with a spell that was supposed to take him down. For all of Stiles’ increased skills and abilities, he was still human and a blast designed to take down an alpha might be enough to be fatal to a human. Thankfully Derek could still hear the unique heartbeat of the other man so he knew he was still alive somehow even if he was out of the fight.

Derek had managed to catch a brief glance of Jackson and Isaac fighting the merged form of the twins across the clearing but even with their increased power they were barely holding their own. Derek took a moment to wipe the blood off his forehead from a swipe from the other alpha’s claws that he hadn’t managed to dodge.

“Your pack is going to die Hale” Ennis snarled gleefully as he tried to give the witch a clear shot but Derek was too smart to fall for that and was keeping the alpha between him and her. “You should have taken our offer.”

“Kali thought so too, want to know where her pieces are buried?” Derek snarls and the other alpha roars furiously and lunges at Derek swinging hard and catching the alpha on his side, raking his claws through Derek’s flesh. While his rage made him strong, it also made him vulnerable as Derek manages to strike back hard enough causing Ennis to stagger backwards.

Ennis roars again in pain but doesn't let it slow him down as he attacks again.

Isaac grunts as he hits the ground but manages to roll with it and spring into a crouch prepared for a follow up attack that didn’t come. Jackson had recovered from the monster alpha throwing him and had attacked the twins from behind after they had tossed Isaac. Sparing a second to glance around the field he knew they were in trouble. Jackson and he were barely managing to avoid getting killed by the frankenwolf and they hadn’t had even a second to shift into their wolf forms even if Derek hadn’t warned them to hold that in reserve unless absolutely necessary.

Seeing Stiles go down so fast had really rattled the betas as they were counting on the guy to be their surprise weapon. Derek was still fighting Ennis while Deucalion was enjoying the show. Hopefully Peter and Scott would be in position and able to shift things any time now. While Isaac and Jackson hadn’t managed to do a lot of damage, the damned alphas kept healing faster than they could injure them, they had managed to draw the fight away from Boyd and Erica who were unconscious but alive. They were tied up with wolfsbane, the acrid smell burned his nose even from here, but right now they were not able to be threatened or hurt.

Suddenly Jackson screams and Isaac sees the monstrous alpha’s claws in Jackson’s leg, digging deep, before ripping out and sending the beta crashing to the ground. The move was horrible but it gave him an opening and he rushed to take it.

Springing behind the hulking form Isaac dug both his claws into the hamstrings of the alpha and ripped them almost to the bone sending the alpha to the ground with a roar of pain. Isaac was already out of range of his claws as he kept moving along his attack and grabs Jackson to pull him away. The asshole would heal quickly, much faster than Jackson, but at least it gives them a brief moment to catch their breath.

Deucalion smirks as he watches the fight with his alpha eyes. The red tint over everything was the price he paid to see despite Argent’s treachery but it is enough to show that the Hale brat was actually managing to hold his own with Ennis. The older alpha should have been able to finish off the fool with the extra power killing his pack had given him but Hale appeared nearly as strong and was healing as fast as Deucalion's own pack of alphas. He hadn’t believed it possible but it appears that the boy had managed to kill Kali after all. That’s the only reason he could have for showing this level of power.

“Hale is doing well” Marin says carefully as she watches the fight echoing his own thoughts. She has been watching for an opening to strike again but the two alphas are too entangled for her to have any real chance of success and accidentally tipping the balance towards Hale would not be in her best interest.

“Moderately” Deucalion agrees with a sigh. “It appears that our young Mr. McCall however is not going to show. Such a wasted opportunity” he says sounding particularly put upon. “Take the woman and secure her, we can use her later to bring the boy to heel” he orders.

Marin nods and starts to walk towards where Ennis had thrown the woman and sees her sitting up against a tree, eyes burning with fear and anger when she hears the low growl coming from the trees. Shifting her eyes she tries to penetrate the shadows when a large, very angry, brown and black wolf steps out of the shadows, ears back and teeth glistening in the light of the moon reflecting off those dangerous weapons. The wolf is looking at her and she feels a shiver of atavistic fear at the presence of this predator like she was prey or threat.

“What?” she gasps taking a step back as the wolf moves methodically and suddenly is standing in front of the woman, putting her behind him and placing it between her and her captive. “Deucalion?” she whispers but the alpha still hears her and turns to see the wolf and he growls haughtily and flashes his eyes at the beast.

Neither the druidess nor the alpha of alphas are at all prepared for the return flash of gold in the wolf’s eyes or the relieved whisper of “Scott” that came from Melissa McCall. “He can full shift” Marin whispers in shocked realization and steps further back and away from the fully shifted werewolf who is suddenly much more dangerous. Deucalion lets out a snarl at the beta facing him but the boy just snarls back defiantly. Scott has defied alphas before and he isn't about to let anything near his mother!

Deucalion is about to attack the teen when he hears a desperate howl and he spins and sees the twins, still united in their merged form scream as a light gray wolf lands on their back, it's teeth tearing into their neck and shoulder, fountaining blood and drawing forth screams from the merged form. They reach around to try and dislodge the wolf but it has already hit the ground and is moving rapidly when he sees the wolf's eyes flashing at them with their icy blue glow. Another one!!!

Deucalion roars just as the twins separate, both bleeding and staggering but he knows that they are already healing but they are now facing two betas and a full shifted wolf as well. “Hale” Deucalion snarls remembering Peter as Talia's brother and how their information on the weakened state of the older Hale appears completely wrong, so he turns back towards his emissary. “If the boy and the other Hale can full shift we don’t need the brat. Kill him!” he orders her.

Marin, still shaken by the sight of two shifted wolves and what that may mean only nods and when she sees an opening in the fight, she flings another spell at Derek. It’s not much, she needs time to summon a truly powerful blast but she doesn't need to kill the Hale Alpha, only tip the scales and her spell manages to unbalance him enough for Ennis to punch him hard and send him to the ground. Derek can’t shake off the two combined attacks before Ennis suddenly has his claws wrapped around Derek’s throat as he snarls down at him.

“Now who’s going to die?” he taunts.

Derek is struggling to breathe when he hears a soft whistle in the air, he;s both barely able to hear it over Ennis' grunts, the snarls of Scott facing Deucalion, and the others fighting the twins, and somehow still hear it clearly for some reason and it seems as if everything slows down, each moment stretching out impossibly.

He can tell the second Ennis hears it as well. There is a moment of confusion that crosses the alpha’s face, then what Derek can tell is the alpha getting the idea that it’s a trap or something, but that’s gone almost instantly as the brute can’t stand not knowing. Derek watches as the man’s eyes shift to the field for a split second before widening in shock. Watching it, Derek can truly say that there was some recognition of what was happening the millisecond before the emerald green axe slammed between the alpha’s eyes and buried itself halfway into the head of the now dead alpha.

Noah Stilinski is not happy as he sits in his office. He wants to be out there looking for Melissa and watching over his son but between Stiles, Peter, and Lydia, he allowed himself to be convinced that he needed to stay out of the fight so that he could direct his men in the right way to keep both them and the town safe.

The sheriff was especially feeling the absence of Chris Argent. The man was not someone he thought he would ever fully trust, Argent's willingness to forget laws and rules was too much even if he understood the reasons, but Noah was too much a cop to support all of that. Be he could also be honest enough with himself to admit that he would have preferred to have Argent and his crew here while things were happening.

“Sheriff?” Graeme stuck her head in his office as he looked up. “We got a call about some noise out in the preserve. Some animals or something” she tells him.

Noah nods. “I will call the rangers and see what they know. I also just got a tip about a rave downtown in one of the abandoned buildings in the warehouse district. Can you send Stevens and Jacobs over to do a drive through, see if there is anything there?”

Tara nods and heads back out. Noah sighs. Lydia had told him about the rave after making him promise that he would only use it as a distraction if needed. While it wasn’t often her scene, she didn’t want to risk tipping off any of their fellow students that she might have given them up, especially as the pack had all skipped out on the party. Rubbing his temples he looked at the radio before looking at his phone and silently praying he had made the right choice.

Derek could almost swear that the whole clearing went absolutely silent even though he knows it didn’t. The look of disbelief as he died was permanently etched on the man's face as he fell dead onto his back from the momentum of the blow, the axe, gleaming green, buried in his head. A quick glance shows him the absolute shock and surprise on both Morrell and Deucalion’s faces it is almost worth all the pain they have been through. He watches the pair shift their eyes and he follows their line of sight and, though he was expecting it, he is still surprised by what he sees.

Stiles, on one knee, his hand still extended from the throw, has a look on his face that Derek has never seen before, not even when his mom was at her most dangerous. It is a look of complete and total control, fearless and terrifyingly angry. He notes Lydia kneeling slightly behind him, eyes wide as she stares at the teen as he slowly rises to his feet, his white shirt and pants once again hanging on him making him appear to have just gotten out of bed.

Deucalion snarls furiously but he quickly gains control and looks at the druid beside him with utter contempt. “It appears your magic is not as powerful as you claim. If a lowly human could shake it off so easily” he says, his voice icy with the threat.

“That’s impossible” she whispers staring at the teen with a dawning look of horror. Her brother’s warning! It wasn’t about the wolves, it was all about this boy!

“Then kill him” Deucalion orders as he turns to look at Derek with the promise to tear the other alpha apart clear in his crimson eyes as his face shifts into its distorted monstrous appearance.

“Derek” Stiles voice is low in volume, but still loud enough that he can hear it clearly over the sounds of battle coming from the twins and his betas. “Go help the others, I’ll deal with these two” he says without the slightest tremble, his heartbeat steady and sure.

Derek looks at him uncertainly but seeing the determination he just nods and races off to the surprise of both Deucalion and Morrell. “You made a serious mistake coming here, a mistake you will answer for with your lives” Stiles tells them as he walks forward.

Morrell stares at him in horror “What are you?” she whispers and then hears the growl coming from the alpha and prepares a simple spell and flings it at the teen.

“Algiz” Stiles says accompanied by a white flash in eyes. A glowing white disc appears in front of him and Morrell’s spell slams into it and shatters into a million shards of light that flicker and disappear as Stiles walks through the residue without a pause or twitch. Marin stares at the boy and feels an ice cold grip around her heart.

“Impressive” Deucalion sneers. “You are apparently more than you appear boy but I am the Alpha of Alpha, the Demon Wolf” he roars as he fully shifts into his alpha form, thick corded muscles, deadly claws, and glistening fangs. His form is massive, nearly twice the size of Ennis as his eyes blaze at the teen in front of him.

Stiles smirks, and passing by the dead alpha he casually grabs his axe and with a flick of his wrist the metal flows like water, reforming into the long blade. “You are nothing” Stiles tells him with a terrifying smirk as he cocks his head in an almost wolflike manner.

Marin is watching, unable to turn away, and feels terror as she watches as the boy's clothes flow like his sword did, gaining size and shifting in color and texture. The boots are first, thick leather with metal studs and a metal plate down the front and back as armor. His pants shift as well into leather and metal, obviously designed to maximize movement and protection. The chest forms into chain mail with metal plates over a leather shirt, bracers on his arms and neck. In seconds he is clad as some ancient warrior come to life, familiar in a way that screams at her to run.

“What are you?” Deucalion growls around his fangs as his eyes bore into the teen.

Stiles smiles as his clothes flow up and over his head forming into a wolf’s head helmet. “I am your death. I have killed more wolves than there is grass on the field and I have faced and defeated more real demons that you can conceive of you miserable piece of shit. You threatened my family and you will die.” Stiles smiled as he spun his sword in a tight circle. “I am Einherjar” his says, his words cold and deadly, all humor gone from his voice.

Morrell’s face goes white and breaks, turning to run. Not even her fear of Deucalion is enough her stay and face one of those legendary warriors. She only manages a few steps when she hears that dreadful voice, both young and ancient, behind her, “Eihwaz.” She stumbles as she feels something catch her foot and she goes down and crashes to the forest floor. Scrambling, she looks back and sees the tree roots that have wrapped around her ankle. She blanches and tries to reach for it to tear it off when she realizes that it isn’t a single branch and that they are all reaching for every part of her. She tries to get free, but her magic as deserted her and nature is no longer heeding her call and in moments both her legs and arms are trapped and holding her down. Her magic reaches out but is rejected angrily and she knows she is truly trapped.

Deucalion doesn’t pause or even notice his emissary’s flight or fall, ignoring her cries for help as he launches toward the boy but Stiles is moving, faster than any human should be able to move and as the alpha rushes past the man who has somehow dodged his attack he feels the cold metal of the blade slice into his shoulder, the pain sharp and clear.

He spins around furious that the boy drew first blood when he freezes. He feels the blood flowing down his arm and he glances at the cut bleeding freely. He glances at the boy standing ready for the next move when Deucalion really looks at the green sword, a single line of his blood on the edge and he suddenly realizes that he isn’t healing. No cut or wound he has ever received since killing his pack has lasted even half this long. The boy is something new and the alpha feels a momentary chill that comes with a clear realization. This boy killed Kali, not Hale! This toddler killed two of his alphas and took down his emissary without any of them managing to land a single injury. This fight won’t be quite as easy as he first thought. He snarls. Good! And leaps at the teen, much more carefully and determined to use his skill, not brute force, to take the boy.

Derek rushes across the clearing trying to reconcile his feeling that he has abandoned Stiles with the certainty of the man’s orders. His voice was calm, confident, and absolutely controlled, not like the Stiles from before or even after his return. The amnesiac Stiles was certain in some ways, but there was a lingering sense of confusion that he didn’t hear in the man’s voice this time. Taking down Ennis had definitely shifted things and if Stiles could hold on, they could rejoin him shortly.

The other draw was the pain filled yell that he heard from Isaac as the teen had taken a particularly nasty blow from the twin Alphas. They had split after Peter’s attack and the wound inflicted by his uncle had already started healing but it had still been bad. Isaac and Jackson were shifting between the twins while Peter had managed to race in and bite and tear several times, but they were obviously recovering and with Isaac hurt, things were about to shift in their favor. But now Derek was there and he launched himself at the closest twin just as the guy tears into Jackson’s side with a sneer and a smirk. He was turning to join his twin when Derek slammed into him, his own claws ripping into the alpha’s side with a squelching sound accompanied by the man’s scream of pain.

“Aiden!” the other twin yelled as his brother went down when Peter took the distraction and raced in for another attack and managed to knock him down but the alpha managed a hit of own and Peter went flying.

Aiden, struggling to his feet with wounds that were not healing quickly thanks to Derek’s alpha status, snarled and tried to stand but Derek didn’t give him the chance. A quick strike and his claws tore through the alpha’s throat and he gurgled helplessly as he fell to the ground as Derek felt a rush of power surge through him.

“NO!” the remaining twin screamed as he flung Peter and ran towards them and with a rage filled strength and speed that caught Derek off guard as he was still reeling from the rush and suddenly Derek was down clutching his torn open abdomen.

The alpha had gotten almost to his twin when the scream hit him and Derek watched as he saw the alpha’s eardrums explode from Lydia’s wail. He staggered backward, close enough to Derek that he was able to stand and with a roar, he tore the alpha’s throat out and sent him into death with his twin.

The rush of power from the second alpha gave his healing a massive boost almost repairing the injuries fully and he did a quick check of his pack, seeing Jackson, Isaac, and Peter all at the end of their strengths. Lydia had dropped to her knees from her wail but they were all alive.

He turned back to Stiles and froze at the sight.

Deucalion snarls as he steps back, glaring at the man in front of him. Despite his superior strength and skill, the alpha had only managed to draw blood a few times. That damn armor turned aside his claws more often than not so he had switched to fists and brute strength which was working, but that damned sword that the boy used was a serious issue. The boy wielded it like no one Deucalion had ever seen. Spinning and dancing like a part of him, able to strike and injure over and over again.

“Got to say Dukey…I’m not impressed” Stiles taunts and smirks at the werewolf’s reaction.

Letting out a roar that shook the trees, the Demon Wolf is furious. The Alpha was bleeding from multiple cuts that were bleeding freely, something he hadn’t dealt with in many years. In their last clash, the boy had managed to slice off two of his fingers and from the pain in his hand he was certain that they would not be growing back. He stared hatefully at this boy in front of him who had ruined everything. He had lost both Ennis and Kali, Morell was out of commission tied up by trees or something, and he had heard the death of Aiden and the wail of what appeared to be a Banshee!

“You have ruined everything!” he snarls and leaps for the boy.

Derek is watching Deucalion leap and he wants to jump in but Stiles is moving fast and the two of them are dancing around each other so rapidly that he is afraid to try and intervene. Stiles moves fast, not as fast as the alpha, but his moves are controlled, precise, and thought out. When he can’t dodge his sword manages to turn asides attacks and his armor has significantly blocked many of the alpha’s attacks. Derek watches Stiles movements like he was water. He spins around, ducks, dodges, jumps, bends and springs back like it was nothing. Derek had watched Stiles train with the pack, and even when he was fighting them all as wolves, he wasn’t this good.

“Incredible” Peter says just behind him and Derek glances at his uncle, naked and streaked with blood from the shift. “He moves like nothing I’ve seen before” he whispers. Derek notices that Lydia has freed Boyd and Erica with Jackson and that Isaac is missing. A glance to the other side and he spots Isaac next to Melissa and Scott, both watching the fight in amazement.

“He said something earlier” Derek says and roars in fury when he sees Deucalion get in a solid hit on Stiles side and even from here he can hear ribs break. He doesn’t have a chance to move before Peter has an iron grip on his arm holding him back.

“Don’t. Neither of us are at his level. We could throw him off, wait for a clear shot” Peter advises but Derek can tell the man is concerned about Stiles as well.

“I’m impressed” Stiles says as he spits out blood and feels the tenderness in his side. He then smirks and his armor shifts and suddenly his ribs are bound tightly held in place better than any bandage with his new armor.

“What are you!?” Deucalion screams as he sees the magical protections once again denying him victory.

“Death” Stiles says in an icy voice and launches at the wolf with a blur of sword play, spinning and dancing around.

Deucalion is quickly on the defense as the damned blade slices across his chest, arms, and legs leaving bleeding cuts. He leaps forward but Stiles dodges to the side and with a swing of his emerald sword Deucalion sees a flash before the pain hits and half his world goes dark. He took his eye!

Deucalion roars and spins, trying to get his claws into flesh but the boy is gone and with another swing, the alpha feels the metal tear across his back. Enraged, the werewolf is lashing out wildly, maddened by the pain and the loss of his eye, desperate to get a blow in somehow and tear the boy apart. He spins and glares, his one remaining eye blazing crimson when he realizes the boy has jumped out of range of his claws.

Stiles spins around, his sword shimmering as Deucalion rushes forward only to see that the green blade isn’t a sword anymore, but a spear. He can’t stop his momentum and he tries to defend himself but he fails as the spear pierces his remaining eye, blinding him fully and finally. He jerks back, the spear pulling out as he roars in fury and pain. But Deucalion had learned to fight blind before he regained his partial sight so he stills and moves strategically, listening for the boy. He may actually be defeated, but if nothing else he will take the boy who ruined everything with him.

He focuses all of his energy into his hearing, listening intently for the heartbeat and breathing and locates Stiles. With a smile as he knows exactly where the boy is he turns to strike when he screams as the banshee’s wail hits him, drowning out everything and driving knives into his ears.

Stiles watches the alpha scream in agony as Lydia’s wail hits him and blows out his ears. She was watching and when Stiles had finally blinded him, she acted and used the last of her strength to take away his last advantage. He was proud of her bravery and intelligence in acting perfectly and he felt even a bit of sympathy for the alpha. It didn’t however cause him to pause even slightly as he watches the alpha turn away from the sound just as Stiles’ sword went into the alpha’s heart and out his back.

“No” Deucalion barely manages to say as all control leaves and he collapses, his body finally giving up.

Stiles stares down at the werewolf with no sympathy or compassion. He was an enemy and they die. He slowly looks up and sees Scott, Melissa, and Isaac watching him in stunned silence before he looks over and sees the others, Derek and Peter both twitching with the desire to move.

He smiles and then it all hits and his eyes roll up and he collapses.

“STILES!” Derek yells as he rushes toward the falling figure.

Chapter Text

Stiles fought the fog of sleep and thought for a moment that he must have gotten killed again before he suddenly remembered the dream he had been having. He was home again and with his dad and the pack, it had been so real. Their faces had been so sharp and clear, so much clearer than they had been in his dreams and thoughts for longer than he could remember. He could almost remember the smell of his father’s aftershave and the taste of coffee was still on his lips when he took a deep breath in sadness at the loss of his beloved beverage.

Suddenly he remembers the part of his dream with Derek in the woods and smiles happily. The man could not possibly have been as good looking in reality as he was in his dreams and he surely wasn’t as open and vulnerable as Stiles’ imagination conjured up. No, Derek Hale was definitely not interested in him back then and now was far too late.

It was strange how in his dreams he had helped the pack all shift and become stronger. Normally his dreams were rarely so vivid yet he still remembers each of their wolves, even Peter’s, and he barely remembers the man, but now those memories are now so clear and easy to grasp. He wonders if he has some time before he needs to get up when he suddenly tenses. He is laying on metal, not his usual furs and he still doesn’t remember last night’s fight.

He is also aware of several people nearby and while they feel familiar the smells of the tents are missing. Taking in a breath he smells his father’s cologne again and realizes he must still be dreaming.

“Magnus” he mutters as he starts to sit up “you would not believe the dream I had.”

He barely gets the words out when voices erupt around him. “Stiles!” he hears from several voices but one cuts him to the bone because it sounds so much like his dream of his father that he opens his eyes to try and identify the source when he freezes looking directly at his father’s face.

It takes barely a second before he is scanning the room, seeing the faces from his dreams of his father and his pack and realizes he is not in his tent or the hall. He looks back at his father staring at him in shock and a bit a fear and is confused how young the man looks. He looks like Stiles’ memory made him but he can’t still be alive.

“Stiles, are you alright?” another voice says and he turns and sees the face of his once closest friend. Scott looks like a baby he is so young, so innocent, so naïve.

“Scott? How?” he croaks before closing his eyes as he feels overwhelmed by the dreams that suddenly don’t feel like dreams anymore.

“Stiles?” Derek’s voice is firm, but gentle. The trace of Alpha still there but the concern and worry also clear. Looking at the man, who apparently does actually look that good in reality, he has a cascade of memories of the battle last night and it wasn’t on the plains. No it was in Beacon Hills. Where he is now…somehow.

Stiles looks at the man before turning back to his father. “I’m not dreaming am I?” he whispers softly. “Dad?”

Noah Stilinski had not had the best few hours. After sitting in his office waiting for things to go down while keeping his deputies out of harm’s way, he had finally got word from Lydia Martin that (1) they had taken care of the problem, (2) everyone was fine, and (3) could he check on her dogs at Deaton’s if he had a moment.

The sheriff was no fool and his appreciation of the girl’s intelligence went even higher if possible. She had managed to tell him that they had dealt with the Alpha pack, no casualties were had, and that they needed him at the vet’s to talk to the pack. She had managed to get him all that info in a format that anyone else intercepting it would not be alerted to anything untoward or risk any exposure. He suddenly understood why his son had been so enamored of the girl for so long…she was as smart and sneaky as he was.

Walking in to the clinic he had visually counted the group and though banged up, they were all there, including Boyd and Erica who looked rough but recovering but he didn’t spot Stiles. Then he looked at the examination table and saw his son laying on it unmoving. “Stiles?” he yelled rushing over but his son didn’t move.

“He is alive, just unconscious” Deaton quickly assured him and Noah stared down at the leather and metal armor his son was wearing but he didn’t see any major wounds.

“What happened?”

Derek and the others began recounting the battle and though Noah paled when he heard about the witch taking him down, they quickly assured him that Stiles had recovered and killed Deucalion before passing out. Deaton thought that it was a combination of magical fatigue, adrenaline crash, and exhaustion. “And Morrell?” he asked looking at the vet carefully.

“Secure” Peter answered with a smirk that didn’t bode very well for the women. “Stiles had trapped her and once the Alphas were beaten she lost her will to fight.” Deaton didn’t look very happy with the former alpha but he didn’t say anything. Peter still noticed. “She’s alive…more than she deserves” he adds but Derek cuts both Peter and Deaton off before they could continue what was obviously going to be an argument.

“Stiles fought better than ever before” Derek told the sheriff who looked a bit surprised. “It was like everything we saw was watered down and this time it wasn’t. I would never have thought that any human, no matter how good or skilled, would have been able to match an Alpha like Deucalion but the truth was that the man didn’t really have a chance.”

Noah was about to ask for more when every wolf in the room spun around and stared at Stiles and Noah couldn’t guess why when he noticed his son’s breathing had changed. “He’s waking up” Derek says softly as he moves to one side of the teen while Noah moves to another.

They watch him for several seconds before he finally speaks. “Magnus?” before everyone starts yelling.

Noah watches his son’s eyes fly open as he stares around at the pack in shock before he spots Noah and he freezes, almost afraid.

“Stiles, are you alright?” Scott says moving close and Stiles looks at him with confusion and uncertainty, like something isn’t right.

“Scott? How?”

“Stiles?” Derek breaks Stiles’ attempt and he shifts to look at the alpha in surprise.

“I’m not dreaming am I?” Stiles whispers softly before turning, almost as if against his will, “Dad?”

Noah freezes at that word. Stiles hadn’t called him dad since they rescued him from that damned circle. He was polite, respectful even, but there was a barrier between them. Looking at his son he finally saw recognition in those familiar eyes, eyes that suddenly seemed so much older than they should have been. “Stiles…son…are you okay?”

Stiles swallows as he forces himself up and he laughs, but it is a sound without any real humor. “Beyond thinking I have finally lost my mind?” he asks and just shakes his head. “This can’t be real. You can’t be here, you are all dead and gone” he whispers and suddenly Noah is pulling his son into his arms.

He feels Stiles stiffen and lock up but only for a second before he inhales and the stiffness becomes a tremble as his son is desperately grasping onto him and Noah suddenly is reminded of how strong his son is by the hug. He holds for a second before his trembling starts to get worse.

“Stiles!” Derek yells, fear in his voice, and reaches for the teen after hearing his heartbeat start to soar. All the wolves hear it and smell the combination of grief, fear, rage, hope, and confusion mixed with the saltiness of tears as Stiles clings to his father like a drowning man.

They don’t know what to do, even Scott is struggling on how to act when Stiles’ heartbeat quickly slows and is suddenly normal, way too quickly to be normal but then he is pulling away, eyes dry and taking several calming breaths before looking around.

Stiles stops his gaze and stares at Deaton. “Ansuz” The word is clear and his voice thrums with power as his eyes glow with a blue white light. Deaton feels the magic rush over him and he freezes as he suddenly feels exposed and raw. He is being judged! The strength and power of that word is enough to tell him to surrender and not fight and the druid trusts his training. Stiles may have once been a teen with potential, but this man is not one that Alan has any intention of angering.

After what feels like an eternity Stiles’ eyes return to normal and Alan almost collapses from the removal of that gaze. “You walk too closely to your line Druid” Stiles’ voice is harsh but not cruel. “But you have not crossed it” he admits and is done with the man. Stiles had not always trusted Deaton and his decisions, but failure to act is not in and of itself evil. He found no real darkness and that was his only real concern.

“Stiles?” Scott looks thoroughly confused “what was that? I don’t understand?”

Stiles looks at his old friend from so long ago. “Deaton practices the art” he replies simply “and so he will face judgement for his choices. He is not as…secure in his fate as he likes to think” he tells them not providing clarity to any of them but Deaton nods in understanding. He has been given notice.

“Stiles? You seem different” Lydia says leaning against Jackson who is staring at the teen in surprise. They all are.

Stiles looks at the redhead and feels a bit of nostalgia. He remembers her as being taller somehow, more imposing. But then memory plays tricks on you and he has spent a great deal of time around some amazing women and in his stories, the redheaded Banshee always stood proud and equal to those warrior women so seeing her now is a bit of a surprise.

“I’m sorry” he finally sighs feeling the weight of too many years. “The last days, since I have been here, those memories are all jumbled in my head and I am trying to make sense of it. I know it was me, but it feels like someone else” he says simply.

The pack looks confused as they try to understand what their friend is saying when the sound of a phone causes everyone to jump. Derek growls at Scott who is fumbling with his phone before seeing the name and answering it. “Allison?” he asks.

Stiles suddenly laughs. He was watching the teen and suddenly remembers how Scott was around Allison and the pressure feels a bit less. “Scott!” Derek growls and Scott looks up.
“Allison and Mr. Argent are almost back to Beacon Hills. They want to know if we need them” he asks looking at the Alpha.

Derek glances at Stiles who decides to get off the table causing everyone to try and move but he is upright and standing tall so they stop their rush and give him space. “No. Tell him that the problem is solved” he tells the teen who nods and proceeds to do so.

“Son” Noah says gently. “Can you tell us what happened?”

Such a simple question but without a simple answer. ‘What happened?’ How can Stiles even begin to explain his life to his father and pack? He thinks it would be easier to leave but the memories of his return are coming back and he remembers how much has happened in his loss and return. Suddenly his eyes widen. “How long was I gone?” he asks turning to look at Deaton and Lydia, certain that he must be wrong.

“Fifty six days” Lydia answers and he sways for a moment, Derek reaching and steadying him.

Fifty six days? That can’t be! Stiles can’t make that add up in any way. He was gone two months for them…then this is really real. His dad, his friends…they are alive. And what is he? “I think this is going to take some time” he finally says and feels Derek suddenly tense up.

“Let’s go back to the house” Noah says sounding confident for the first time all evening. “We can have everyone meet there, get comfortable, and Stiles can tell us…everything.”

Stiles snorts at that. Telling everything would take some time, time he isn’t sure he has. He has never heard of a soldier leaving before. Never would have considered it possible. But he had been gone a while, especially long if you considered how time moved differently. His friends and fellows had been without him for who knows how long so why hadn’t something happened. He just goes along as Derek orders everyone around. Everyone is going to the Sheriff’s house, including Deaton and Allison and Chris has been alerted and will meet them there. Scott also called his mom and she was already at the house waiting.

Splitting up they moved into various cars with Stiles riding with his father and surprisingly enough Derek. The alpha had given his keys to Boyd and everyone else split up and moments later they were heading out.

Now Stiles just had to figure out how to explain to everyone how the end of the world had already happened.