Innocence In Being Human 3/3
Innocence In Being Human
Part Three
For two days Derek, Stiles, Allison, and Chris poured everything they had into finding out something about the angels. The more they looked into it the more evidence piled up that this was what they were dealing with. Stiles looked more and more angry. When Allison or Chris took breaks they would walk off another room and do some target practice. Derek watched Allison use a bow and arrow to hit target after target while Chris was quick on his feet with a firearm. They were both very impressive considering they were human.
"We have a contact a few towns over that might have something," Allison said. Derek blinked and realized that it was nearly one in the morning. He was exhausted and he hadn't even noticed. "We'll go check it out and you two keep looking around here, sound good?"
"You have my number," Derek said. Chris and Allison walked with Derek and Stiles back to the Camaro and even followed them back to the motel. Derek wasn't entirely surprised that he wasn't allowed to take any of the books or the bestiary with him. The Argents didn't trust them yet which made sense. Derek didn't entirely trust them either but they needed help. As Stiles salted the doors and windows Derek made a quick phone call to see if Laura had improved at all. She hadn't and Derek felt helpless. If it was an angel that was helping Peter then they needed more help than just the Argents. "Have you thought about trying to get in contact with Lydia?"
"Lydia? You mean the Lydia that poisoned us and threatened us? That Lydia?" Stiles asked dubiously.
"Four humans against an angel and a werewolf? I don't like those odds," Derek said.
"There aren't any odds that could make this even for us. Even if we did pull in Lydia she'd find some way to take advantage of how weak we are right now. She was loyal to me when I was her boss but she's still a demon. We can't be trusted," Stiles said. Derek wanted to correct Stiles and tell him that Derek trusted him but the words died on his tongue. Stiles was an exception and Derek needed to remember that. Lydia could find some way of buying their souls without either of them even realizing it. Derek had seen Stiles having nightmares over the past few days, how he woke up screaming about the Pit, and Derek wasn't exactly keen on the idea of experiencing what caused those nightmares.
"Good point," Derek said. He collapsed into their pile of blankets and pillows on the floor as Stiles moved around the room. They were going to run out of mountain ash eventually but Derek didn't know any providers in the area. Derek flipped through his Dad's journal to see if he mentioned anything about someone that could sell them some ash. Near the back he found a single name that he didn't recognize; Alan Deaton. The name sounded vaguely familiar but he couldn't place it. Stiles had just collapsed into their makeshift bed when it dawned on him; Alan Deaton was his families emissary. "Stiles? What do you know about emissaries?"
"They're the humans that bind and protect a wolfs pack. They're knowledgeable and can be extremely powerful. Usually they're druids, why?" Stiles replied.
"I think I just found reference to the one that helped my family," Derek said. Stiles moved and looked at the book as Derek scrolled through his phone and found an Alan Deaton that still lived in Beacon Hills. “He’s a veterinarian.”
“I feel like that joke is too easy even for me to make,” Stiles said.
“I’m so glad you have some self control,” Derek said as he nudged Stiles with his elbow. He was too tired to stay awake and while Derek still wanted to have a longer conversation with Stiles about his promise now wasn’t the time. Stiles was almost asleep anyway. Derek closed his eyes and hoped for no more nightmares.
+++
Alan Deaton was not what Stiles expected. Truth be told he wasn’t entirely sure what he expected but an unassuming man who smiled when they walked in was not it. His gaze lingered a bit too long on Derek though. Stiles hadn’t survived this long without learning how to read people. Deaton knew exactly who Derek was. Stiles hoped they weren’t going to have to pressure him to tell them anything.
“Alan Deaton?” Derek said. Stiles lingered near the exit; druids always made him nervous and they never liked him very much. They were too keen to sell their souls at the end of the day and would make it extremely irritating for him to collect.
“Yes and you’re Derek Hale,” Deaton said. “You’re not right though.”
“That’s what I came to talk to you about,” Derek said. “Can we talk in private?” Deaton eyed Stiles again and Stiles wanted to tell the man to either say whatever he was thinking or stop looking at him like that. Deaton nodded and turned the sign on the door to 'closed.' They walked into the back room of the clinic and the animals didn't react to his presence which was odd. Usually they got very on edge when he was around. That was just another reminder to Stiles that he was a human now. Deaton crossed his arms as he regarded them both.
"You've grown quite a bit Derek," Deaton said confirming what they both already knew. "I don't know who you are though."
"This is Stiles," Derek said without expanding the introduction to include what Stiles used to be. Deaton, however, looked less an impressed.
"Laura mentioned a demon that you were traveling with, is this him?" Deaton asked Derek.
"Yes, that's me," Stiles said because he hated when people acted like he wasn't there. "Though you should make that 'demon' part as a past tense."
"That's why we're here," Derek said no doubt to direct the conversation away from a confrontation. "We're in trouble." Deaton looked between the two of them and nodded.
"You should start from the beginning," he said. It took a long time for Derek to go through their entire history together all the way back to the original deal that brought Laura back. Stiles didn't really want to share all of this information with a stranger but if they really were going up against an angel they needed all the help they could get. Stiles just hated the looks that he got from Allison and Chris and now Deaton. He knew what he was and Stiles knew his reputation but that didn't make him any less annoyed when they all acted like he was about to backstab them. He got plenty of those looks from Derek in the beginning and after he saved Laura's life she seemed to like him more. By the time Derek was done explaining everything Stiles was sitting on an exam table, his legs swinging back and forth, bored out of his skull. He should have brought a book.
"I see," Deaton said. "That's quite a story you have there. The fact that Chris Argent is willing to trust you says a lot."
"Considering what happened with Kate it really is," Derek said nodding.
"And I trust you Derek. Your family was a very large part of my life for a long time," Deaton continued.
"There's a 'but' in this conversation somewhere, isn't there?" Stiles deadpanned after he remained silent throughout most of Derek's explanation.
"However," Deaton said which was basically the same thing and it was like he said it just to prove that Stiles wasn't right. "I don't trust him."
"I do though, isn't that enough?" Derek asked but Deaton shook his head.
"The information you want me to find could be extremely dangerous in the hands of demons. The last thing we want is a literal war between good and evil after the demons step on the toes of an angel because they know a secret." Deaton fixated his gaze on Stiles and Stiles stared right back at him. This was annoying and if there was anything Stiles hated more than it was when he had to prove himself to someone.
"Test me then," Stiles said. "I'll prove you can trust me with information on the angels, Peter, and how to get us back to normal. Then Derek, Laura, and I get the fuck out of here." Deaton still didn't look convinced.
"My Uncle tried to kill my sister and took my wolf from me," Derek said softly. "He's killing people and he's going to kill again. He's my uncle and I have to stop him." If the moment wasn't so serious Stiles would have made a comment about Derek's hero complex but he bit his tongue. Deaton regarded them both with much trepidation but eventually pulled a photo out of a desk and set it on the desk. It looked like an extremely old jewelry box but Stiles could tell from the engraved markings that it was more than that.
"There is a sharmen a few towns over who took this from me. If you can get it back and bring it to me I'll help you," Deaton said. "It'll be dangerous and it's likely that someone will try to stop you from taking it."
"If we get this for you you'll help us?" Derek asked and Deaton nodded. "Then we'll do it." Deaton wrote down an address on a piece of paper and never once let Stiles out of his sight. Stiles was all too happy when they left.
"This is a bad idea," Stiles said when they got into the Camaro.
"I know it is," Derek replied. He started the car and drove away from the clinic. They swung by the motel room for some supplies. Stiles didn't know what this shamen was capable of so he took a little bit of everything. He really didn't want to fight as a human though. When he got back out to the car Derek was on the phone. "So we're going on a quest to prove our worth." Stiles closed the door and Derek switched the phone to speaker.
"One of you have to pull a sword from a stone first?" Allison asked.
"This is a terrible idea," Stiles grumbled. "We're humans going against something supernatural. We're practically useless."
"I'm not useless," Allison snapped. "Neither is my Dad and neither are any humans for that matter. You can't forget what we're capable of when we're determined enough."
"That determination is what has me worried," Derek said. "We don't know what this shamen has sacrificed for their power. We're pretty defenseless."
"Then find someone else who can tell you about how to deal with a werewolf with a guardian angel," Allison said and hung up on them.
"We probably deserved that," Stiles said. Derek started the car and they drove out of town. It was the late afternoon by the time they got to the right town. Derek parked the car in a busy parking lot in the back corner away from any cameras. Stiles really wasn't comfortable with any of this but the box must be important if Deaton was willing to send them to go get it. The shaman's store was a little knick knack shop called Sage that sold piles of useless junk to people who believed in the supernatural. There were a few legitimate looking things judging from the website but they were few and far between. The owner was a frighteningly beautiful woman known only as Morrell. The box was in a picture of the shop behind a glass case with a sign that said 'not for sale' Stiles took the picture that Deaton gave them and began to look at the markings again.
"What are you looking at?" Derek asked.
"These markings," Stiles said without really paying attention to Derek. "I sort of recognize them. They're protection seals."
"Protection from what? Not that it really matters since we're human anyway," Derek said.
"From a lot of things," Stiles mumbled. He wasn't about to tell Derek that he recognized the markings as thing specifically drawn to keep demons out. Deaton really was testing him. There was something in that box that was either extremely dangerous or extremely tempting to demons. Stiles looked up and watched the lights in the shop go out. A moment later the lights in the apartment above the shop turned on. They were going to have to break in with a shamen two floors above them. Stiles didn't like those odds.
"Let's go," Derek said. They crossed the street and crept around to the backdoor of the building. Derek swore to himself when the door wouldn't open. "I usually just kick them down."
"Do you have a lock pick?" Stiles asked and Derek nodded. "Well then you're in luck that I liked to look in locked places when I was alive," Stiles replied. He pressed an ear to the door, took the lock pick from their bag, and began to work on the lock. It took too long for him to get the door opened but it clicked open eventually. No alarms went off but Stiles was pretty sure that if there was any security it wasn't meant for humans. Stiles had a knife on his hip but he really didn't want to use it. Derek had a shotgun but he brought his rock salt bullets. Getting shot with rock salt would hurt anyone was the logic.
They opened the back door into the main shop and Stiles was immediately overwhelmed with the smell of cheap incense. He almost sneezed it was so potent.
"Get the box; I'll keep watch," Derek said. Stiles nodded and began to look for the glass case that had the box. There was a good chance it had to be him that had to take the box since he was the one Deaton didn't trust. The case was along the far wall and even as a human Stiles could sense that there was something otherworldly about it. He looked around the case for something that could indicate a warning system when it opened but if there was one it wasn't anything Stiles could see. He braced himself for something terrible to happen when he opened the door anyway.
Stiles' fingers tingled when he touched the box. It felt sturdy when he picked it up and there was something in it, something heavy, too heavy for a box this small. Whatever was in there was dangerous to him or could help him in ways he couldn't imagine. Is this the test? Stiles thought. You wanted to see if I'd look and see what you have in here? Stiles narrowed his eyes and placed the box in the bag.
"Stiles, someone is--" Derek said just as the door that lead upstairs was nearly thrown off its hinges. Derek turned his gun on Morrell who stood in doorway and glared at them.
"Normally, when someone steals from me, they try to take my money," she said calmly.
"Put your hands up and I won't have to shoot," Derek said but Morrell didn't look worried at all. If anything she looked a little amused.
"You're not ordinary robbers though," she said. Stiles immediately knew that this was about to go sideways in very painful ways. He opened his mouth to warn Derek but Morrell was too fast. She knocked Derek's gun from his hand and kicked him into the counter, hard. It was enough to knock the wind out of him momentarily and long enough for Morrell punch Derek in the face and chest then turn her attention to Stiles. He pulled the knife from his hip and held it in hand. He hoped that fighting was a muscle memory that he retained. "There's only one person who knows about that box and what it is. Why did he send you two to get it?"
"I'm sorry but that's classified. You can file an appeal if you want but I wouldn't hold your breath for approval," Stiles replied. Morrell smiled as she slowly advanced on him. She picked a knife off of the shelf and shook her head sadly.
"We'll see how biting that sense of humor is in a moment or two." Morrell moved much faster than Stiles was anticipating but he still managed to block her from gutting him. This body Stiles was using these days wasn't very strong but it was young so he was fast enough to keep up with her. Their knives clashed for a few blows until Stiles wasn't fast enough anymore. Morrell nicked his forearm and knocked Stiles to the ground. The cut wasn't terrible but it hurt more than he was used to on Earth. It made Stiles think of hell and now was not the fucking time for a flashback. "No, you're not normal robbers or least you weren't normal. I can see what you both used to be."
"You don't know anything about us," Derek said. Derek's nose was bleeding and Stiles was relatively sure it was broken. He lunged at Morrell and managed to get the knife out of her hands. As Derek tried to subdue her Stiles pushed through the memories of the Pit and picked up Derek's gun. Stiles wasn't a huge fan of guns but sometimes they served their purpose. The blood from the wound on his arm made his hand feel slick. There were a few extra shells in the bag, real shotgun shells, and Stiles decided that he didn't want to deal with this anymore. He popped the two rock salt shells out and replaced them with tradition buckshot shells. Morrell and Derek broke apart and Stiles pointed the gun at her.
"I have no qualms about shooting you," he warned.
"You wear the scars of hell on you like a tattoo," Morrell spit out. "Of course you'd have no qualms about shooting me though I am curious why you and a werewolf are walking around as mortals."
"Be curious all you want," Derek said with a hand to his nose. If Stiles wasn't threatening to shoot someone he would have found the plugged up tone to Derek's voice funny. "We're leaving now."
"You don't want to let that hellspawn have what's in that box," Morrell said. "He'll use it against all of us. That's what they do." For half a moment Stiles contemplating shooting her to keep her quiet but that would just prove her point. Instead Stiles held her gaze and handed the gun to Derek. She raised an eyebrow and looked genuinely surprised. Stiles picked up the bag with the box and got his knife back into the sheath on his belt.
"Let's go," he said. Derek nodded and kept the gun pointed at Morrell until the door to the back room slammed shut. Then they ran as fast as they could back to the Camaro. No one followed them but Stiles could feel that woman watching their every move from the window of the shop. There weren't any sirens so she hadn't called the police. Stiles tossed the bag at his feet and they peeled out of the parking lot. Stiles wanted to tell Derek to go faster but the last thing they needed was to get pulled over. It took nearly ten minutes for Derek to ask about it.
"What did she mean? What's in there?" he asked.
"I don't know," Stiles replied without looking at Derek. "The markings are designed to keep almost everything out but mostly my kind. That kind of protection wouldn't go into something that isn't dangerous or powerful to us."
"Are you going to look and see what it is?" Derek said after a beat of silence.
"No," Stiles said without hesitation. Stiles didn't know if that was the answer Derek was looking for and they passed the rest of the drive back to Beacon Hills in silence.
+++
Deaton was waiting for them when Derek pulled up to the veterinarians office. It was fairly obvious that Deaton didn't trust Stiles and this little scavenger hunt was a waste of time but it looked like Deaton might be the only one that could help them. Deaton smiled pleasantly and led them back into the back room of the office. Stiles pulled the box out of his bag and set it on the table. Deaton picked it up and looked the box over. Derek wasn't sure what Deaton was looking for but when Deaton smiled Derek figured he must have found it.
"Will you help us now?" Stiles asked.
"Why don't we tend to those injuries first," Deaton said. Deaton offered to put stitches in Stiles' arm but Stiles told him not to bother. Derek didn't bother to try and hide his pain when Deaton set his broken nose. It throbbed horribly and Derek idly wondered if his nose was going to look a little off for the rest of his life now. He wondered if the cut on Stiles' arm was going to scar. "Morrell was fairly impressed by you two."
"You know her?" Stiles asked.
"She's my sister. She wouldn't give me that box back but we still talk. She called me as soon as you two left because she knew I was the only one who would send someone to steal the box from her," Deaton explained as he looked up to meet Stiles' gaze. "She was worried you would look."
"Well, I didn't, so I passed your little test. If we're done wasting time I'd love to know how to deal with the werewolf running around with an angel as backup," Stiles said shortly. Deaton nodded and opened a book.
"Peter is just a normal werewolf. While an angel might have raised him he's still alive. Raising people from the dead isn't an easy task. You can kill him just like you'd kill any other wolf," Deaton said.
"Why would an angel raise him in the first place?" Derek asked.
"Your angel is probably using Peter as a weapon for their own divine purpose. Peter needs to be powerful to be a decent weapon. The angel is probably letting Peter get away with killing people by picking someone who has sinned in the past. That way the killing is justified. Peter attacked Laura because he wants her Alpha status but at the same time he needs a pack. You are family so there's already a bond there. I believe Peter intends to wound Laura just bad enough that the Alpha title will pass to him and then revive her as a member of his pack. That's the same reason why he took away your wolf, Derek," Deaton said.
"How can I be a member of anyone's pack as a human?" Derek asked.
"Peter told you he'd give it back if you submitted to him," Stiles said. "Blackmail?"
"Essentially. If Derek is human he's more likely to say 'yes' to submission since he's weaker. That's what I believe Peter's reasoning is. As for you, Stiles, he made you human to keep you from getting involved." Deaton pulled out a jar of mountain ash and placed it on the table. "He's not going to stop coming after you, Derek. He needs a pack."
"Why is an angel helping Peter though? Why give him access to such a powerful spell?" Stiles asked. "They've always said they're above human beings, why help a werewolf?"
"What better weapon against the forces of hell than a werewolf whose family was killed by a demon?" Deaton said. "Your angel is a bigger problem I have to look into more for you. Killing an angel is no easy task but you can help keep them at bay." Deaton pulled out a piece of paper with what looked like a seal on it. "Draw this with blood and put your hand on it. That'll banish your angel."
"But not kill them," Derek said and Deaton nodded. "What about Peter? Is that really my Uncle?"
"Peter lived for quite some time with those injuries from the fire no doubt in a great amount of pain," Stiles said softly. "When you go through something as traumatic as that you don't come out as the same person." Derek knew that Stiles wasn't just talking about Peter which broke his heart a little. Derek wanted to reach over and take Stiles' hand, touch his shoulder, but managed to stop himself. Deaton didn't need to know about that aspect of their partnership though judging from the way he was looking at them Deaton already knew.
"I'll keep looking into your angel problem," Deaton said. Derek nodded and they took the mountain ash and the picture of the banishing seal from the table. Derek exchanged numbers with Deaton and they headed back to the motel. He was at a red light when the phone rang; it was Allison.
"How did it go?" she asked.
"Meet us at our motel and we'll tell you," Derek said.
"See you in five," Allison said and hung up. Stiles turned the mountain ash jar over in his hands and said nothing. The aches from the fight with Morrell were settling into Derek's bones and he really wanted to sleep. He had to fill in Allison and Chris about the seal and what they learned. Stiles glared when Derek got out of the Camaro stiffly.
"You're hurting," Stiles said.
"I'll be fine," Derek replied.
"I can handle this." Stiles pushed Derek toward their motel room. "Take a nap and we'll meet up later. You don't need to worry about me; I can take care of myself. Get some sleep." Derek hesitated but getting thrown into the counter really did a number on his lower back. He wasn't used to pain lingering like this for so long and it threw him off.
"Fine, but call me if you need me," Derek replied. Stiles walked over to the SUV that Allison and Chris were waiting in and Derek watched him just to be sure. It had been a long day so maybe Stiles was right and sleep was the way to go. Derek opened their motel room and salted the door behind him. He nearly collapsed into the pile of blankets on the floor. He barely had his shoes off before Derek was drifting off. Derek was behind the mountain ash line and he salted the room; he could sleep and not worry about it too much.
+++
"God damn it ow?" Stiles said as Allison began to probe as the cut on his arm. He probably should have let Deaton stitch it up but there were more important things to worry about. Allison took one look at the bandage that he had nearly bled through and sat him down in the back seat of the SUV.
"Stop complaining," Allison said.
"Have better bedside manner then," Stiles replied briskly.
"So this banishing seal is our best line of defense," Chris said because apparently he was the one who was playing adult in this group.
"More like only," Stiles said. He tried to get his arm back but the glare Allison shot at him was soul melting. "Deaton is looking into it."
"Is there anything to protect yourself from angels? Like mountain ash or salt?" Allison asked as she finished bandaging Stiles' arm.
"Not really, why?" Stiles replied.
"If Peter needs Derek and this angel is already willing to help, what's to stop the angel from breaking the mountain ash circle?" Allison asked. Stiles was about to say there wasn't when he felt something over his bond with Derek. It wasn't as strong now that they were human but there was still enough there that Stiles knew when something was wrong. Stiles jumped out of the SUV and raced across the parking lot to his motel room. He could hear Allison and Chris behind him but he didn't pay them much attention. Stiles threw open the door to the room and found it empty. There was no sign of Derek anywhere. The line of salt against the door was gone and when Stiles knelt down next to the mountain ash circle he could see where it was barely broken.
"Peter has Derek," Stiles whispered. "We need to get to the hospital, now. If Peter has Derek that means he's going to go after Laura now."
"I'll drive," Chris said. They ran back to the car and sped off. Chris was breaking several speeding laws but no one pulled them over. Allison had a crossbow in hand and she offered Stiles a gun. He assumed it was loaded with wolfsbane bullets. It took some careful maneuvering to keep the guns and crossbow hidden from the hospital staff as they made their way down the hallway toward Laura's room. There wasn't anyone nearby, it was like this section was deserted, but Stiles didn't consider himself that lucky. Laura was hurt and there wasn't any guarantee that she would survive getting taken out of the hospital. Stiles turned the corner and saw Peter rolling Laura around a corner on a bed. Peter looked up, grinned at Stiles, and ran off.
Stiles didn't bother to wait for Allison or Chris to catch up he took off running after Peter. Peter was a werewolf and much faster than him though and they were in the parking garage by the time Stiles managed to catch up. The door to the garage slammed behind him him and locked Allison and Chris out. Stiles could only assume that was Peter's guardian angel out to help. At the very end of the parking lot Stiles saw Peter loading an unconscious Laura into his car. Stiles only had one shot to make this. He raised the gun to put a bullet in Peter's head.
He never even saw Peter move but before Stiles could fire a shot Peter knocked the gun from his hand and picked Stiles up off the ground by his shirt.
"I thought as a human you'd be less of a nuisance to me," Peter said. Stiles struggled to keep free but he was a human trying to escape a werewolf on pure strength alone. He didn't stand a chance. "You're not going stay out of my family's business, are you?"
"I'm not very good at walking away from things," Stiles sneered.
"I'm on a divine mission to make sure what happened to my family never happens again. I have an angel on my side now I just need the power and a pack which I will have soon. I'm one of the good guys, Stiles, unlike you," Peter said smirking.
"You don't know anything about me," Stiles said.
"But you didn't deny that you aren't a protagonist in this story. You're not even the antagonist anymore. You're just a henchmen that needs to be dealt with. So this is me dealing with it." Peter threw Stiles aside like he weighed nothing at all. Stiles knew that this was going to hurt, he prepared himself for it, but hitting the concrete wall of the parking garage knocked the wind out of his lungs. The world cut to black just as a door opened and a car sped away.
+++
Derek woke up slowly. The last thing he remembered was the door to the motel room opening and everything going dark. He blinked a few times to clear his blurred vision and wasn't surprised that he wasn't in his motel room anymore. Derek sat up and realized that he was in the basement of the old Hale house, locked in one of the rooms that were set aside for the full moon's, and he wasn't alone. Laura was on the ground nearby, unconscious, and Derek scrambled over to her. She was breathing on her own and it didn't look like she was hurt but Laura wasn't awake either.
"She'll be fine," Peter said from behind the closed door. There was a small window on the top of the door and the glass was broken. It wasn't large enough to help Derek in any way though.
"You're going to kill her to take her title," Derek snapped.
"I'm going to mostly kill her," Peter replied chuckling. "After I'm the Alpha and you both submit we'll be a pack again, Derek. Not only that but we'll be a pack with a purpose."
"And what purpose is that?"
"I've been given the task to protect the world from evil. I've been given the divine right to do whatever I need to prevent what happened to our family from happening to anyone else. That is the right that was bestowed upon me from the one that raised me from the dead and healed my wounds." Peter's voice sounded dazed, in awe, as if he couldn't believe that he was alive either. "She's my guide, Derek, and I'll be yours. The three of us with Her help can save so many lives."
"I already save lives," Derek said.
"Yes, She told me. You're a hunter now. The hunters didn't help protect our family from those hellspawns and you aren't enough to protect others as well. The three of us though, with her help, we can get our revenge," Peter said as he looked through the small broken window at Derek. There weren't many moments in his life when Derek truly felt like prey but this one was one of them. He didn't move toward the door but he did keep himself between Peter and Laura.
"Did your angel friend tell you I already got revenge? I killed the demon that killed our family," Derek said.
"It's not about specifics, Derek. It's about what those creatures think they can get away with. I heard all about your little adventure with that partner of yours. I wouldn't put too much faith in him coming to help you." Those words made Derek's blood run cold. If Peter killed Stiles then Stiles was in the Pit at this very moment. Peter grinned like he knew what Derek was thinking. "Once I give you your wolf back you will submit to me. Then you'll see just what good we're going to be doing in this world." Peter turned and left his footsteps echoing throughout the ruined house. Derek touched Laura's hair and wished he could feel the comfort that she always brought him, the comfort of pack. His bond with Stiles wasn't strong enough now that they were both human and Derek had no idea if this crushing sensation of loneliness was from his situation or if Stiles was really dead.
"This is for the best," a voice whispered. Derek looked around but didn't see anyone. He could only assume that this was Peter's angel.
"Why don't you stop hiding in the shadows so we can meet face to face," Derek said. He heard the distinct sound of someone laughing at him softly.
"We will meet soon, Derek." Derek wanted to try and find some way out but he knew there wasn't one. Maybe if he was a werewolf he'd have the strength to break down a door but as a human there was nothing he could do right now. Derek moved Laura's head into his lap and told himself over and over again that Stiles was fine and help was on the way.
+++
Someone was yelling his name and Stiles wanted to tell them to shut up. Everything hurt in a way that felt very real which was a strange comfort. It was the reassurance that he wasn't dead and back in the Pit he guessed. That didn't mean that Stiles wasn't in an insane amount of pain. Peter had thrown him into a wall. He had every right to be in pain but there wasn't any time to dwell on that. Derek and Laura were both gone and Stiles knew them both well enough that neither of them would submit to an Alpha that killed people who were hiking through the woods. If they wouldn't submit they weren't of any use to Peter and he would kill them. Stiles wasn't sure what he would do if either Derek or Laura were dead. Probably something incredibly stupid like give himself up to Lydia in exchange for their lives.
"Stiles, Stiles you have to wake up," Allison yelled at him. Chris said something in the background but Stiles couldn't understand what it was. He slowly opened his eyes and it took a moment for Allison's face to come into focus. "I thought he had killed you for a second there."
"There aren't enough words in the English language to depict how bad that would be," Stiles replied. Allison helped him sit up and Stiles didn't bother to hide his wince in pain. "They got away?"
"Something blocked the door so we couldn't follow you out here," Chris said. "If I had to wager a guess it'd be Peter's angel."
"He was too fast for me," Stiles said softly. Allison helped Stiles to his feet and he didn't feel bad when he let her carry some of his weight. "We need to find them before he hurts them."
"This began at the Hale house. I think assuming that he took them there is a good one to make," Allison said. She helped Stiles walk through the garage and out to the street where the car was waiting. "We have weapons but there's only so much we can do against an angel."
"Go to the vets office," Stiles said. Chris and Allison exchanged a glance but drove him to Deaton's office anyway. The parking lot was empty save for one car and when Allison helped Stiles walk in the door Deaton looked like he was expecting them.
"Chris, good to see you again. I heard you were in town. This must be Allison. I've heard so much about you through the grapevine," Deaton said and he turned his attention to Stiles. "You look like you've seen better days."
"Nothing I haven't dealt with before. Since I can't heal though I could use a serious painkiller and anymore information that you have on angel's." Deaton looked a little apprehensive but he gave Stiles a shot anyway. It dulled the pain enough that he could focus but sharp enough that Stiles wasn't too dazed.
"I'm afraid I haven't been able to find anything," Deaton said. "I've seen an angelic blade mentioned a few times in the lore but, from what I can gather, these are weapons angel's carry. Unless you can find an angel willing to give up their weapon we don't have any other way of killing them. The banishing sigil is the best option you have."
"I don't suppose you have any Holy Oil lying around that we can have?" Stiles asked and Deaton shook his head. Stiles turned to Allison and Chris. They both looked determined and unafraid. Stiles wasn't sure when he forgot how strong and dangerous humans could be but he wasn't going to forget it anytime soon. "Will you help me?"
"Yes," Allison said without hesitation. "Peter is killing people and needs to be put down."
"Then let's get going." Stiles nodded to Deaton and walked out of the office with Allison and Chris. They gathered various wolfsbane weapons and loaded them onto their persons. Stiles turned a knife over in his hand and remembered the banishing sigil. There was no telling when this angel was going to make their presence known during this fight. He had to be ready to draw this at a moments notice. Stiles just hoped that he wasn't too late.
+++
Derek wasn't sure when he dozed off but the sound of someone moving around made him jerk awake. Judging from the pain in his neck and how his legs were asleep it had been several hours since Peter left. The sun was up and casted shadows of light through the broken floorboards of his family house. Perhaps Stiles really was dead and that's why no one had come to help him yet. Derek tried to tell himself that it wasn't true, that even as a human he would have felt Stiles die through their bond, and he wondered if he repeated it enough times it would be true. There was more movement outside the door and Derek tried to shield Laura.
"It's quite odd I think," Peter said as he opened the door. "You'd think with an angel on my side She could just make me an Alpha but it seems I have to do this the old fashion way."
"I'm not going to let you hurt her," Derek warned but Peter laughed.
"Don't worry. I'm only going to hurt her a little," Peter replied. Derek got to his feet and clenched his fists, ready to beat Peter back with nothing but his human strength if he had to, when something lifted Derek off of his feet and slammed him into one of the walls. It was like fighting a demon, some form of telekinesis, and no matter how hard he struggled he couldn't get away. "Thank you, Jennifer." Derek blinked and suddenly there was a woman in the room with them. For a second he thought he heard the sound of wings flapping in the breeze but there was nothing there. She had long, dark hair, and dark eyes. She was stunningly beautiful and terrifying in a way that Derek couldn't put into words. This was the angel.
"It's no problem, Peter," Jennifer said smoothly. Peter knelt down next to Laura and Jennifer joined him. Derek struggled to get away, he couldn't just sit here and let this happen, but Jennifer's hold on him was absolute. Peter flicked his claws out and looked down at Laura like she wasn’t his niece.
“She’s weak. You’re going to kill her,” Derek said frantically.
“I will heal her,” Jennifer replied. Peter smirked and plunged his claws into Laura’s chest. Her eyes snapped open and glowed a bright red. Derek struggled to get away, to try and help, but he was hurting himself in the process. Peter’s eyes glowed a bright blue then transitioned into Alpha red. Peter removed his claws and looked at the blood thoughtfully. Jennifer placed a hand on Laura’s shoulder and Derek watched as the wounds on Laura’s chest healed. Laura gasped for breath and coughed violently. Jennifer stood up and walked toward Derek. “Do you wish to be a wolf again?”
“I will not submit to him,” Derek spat out. Jennifer walked into Derek’s personal space and looked at him like she didn’t understand him.
“We’re going to do so much good in this world,” she said. “This body that I’m in, she begged for this. She begged for salvation and for revenge when a werewolf nearly ripped her apart. I healed her flesh and I’m giving her the opportunity to right so many wrongs. The pack with my help can help so many people. Don’t you see that?”
“I guess I’m having a hard time seeing past the fact that he nearly killed my sister and slaughtered a bunch of humans that just happened to be in the woods,” Derek snapped.
“They were bad people,” Peter said like that justified his actions. “We’re on a divine mission to eradicate all the evil from the world. All you need to do is submit.” Jennifer placed a hand on Derek’s cheek, she was cold to touch, and it was like she opened a door inside of him. His wolf was suddenly present again and the rush of his heightened senses knocked the air out of Derek’s lungs. Jennifer took several steps back and let Derek fall to his hands and knees. Derek dug his claws into the floorboards and tried to control his anger. “Submit,” Peter said darkly. Derek looked up and into Peter’s red Alpha eyes. He could feel their connection because they were still family at the end of the day. Derek felt like he should submit to an Alpha despite how much he didn’t want to.
Derek heard a car quickly approaching the house, he heard three heartbeats get out of that car, but Peter did nothing. He just smirked like this was all part of his plan. Jennifer stepped back into the shadows and faded from sight.
“Looks like we have company,” Peter said. Peter took Derek by the shirt and threw him up through the ceiling to the ground floor of the house. Derek grunted from the pain of going through the floorboards but rolled his shoulders. Chris, Allison, and Stiles all burst in through the front door with weapons raised.
“Get down!” Allison shouted. Derek dropped to his knees just as Peter emerged. Allison had a long bow and quickly fired several arrows into Peter’s chest. Chris and Stiles nearly emptied their clips and Derek could smell the wolfsbane. Peter, however, barely flinched. He pulled the arrows out and tossed them aside. Black blood leaked from the wounds but it was like Peter couldn’t feel the poison rushing through his system.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to do better than that,” Peter said. Derek charged forward despite how much more powerful he knew Peter was then him. Stiles was still a human and while Chris and Allison were talented humans there was only so much damage they could do to an Alpha werewolf. Peter avoided Derek’s attacks easily and when Peter managed to land a punch Derek thought he nearly lost his head. Derek tasted blood but it was Peter’s powerful roar that made him wince. He wanted to cower to that, submit, but Derek couldn’t let himself do that. Peter hit Derek hard enough that Derek felt several of his ribs crack and he fell to his knees in pain.
Peter turned to Allison, Chris, and Stiles. He was so fast that he must have been a blur to normal human eyes. He backhanded Stiles hard enough that Stiles hit a wall and swiped his leg out to knock Chris off of his feet. Derek could feel his ribs healing but not quickly enough. Allison fired another arrow into Peter’s shoulder and he turned on her growling. Peter knocked the bow from her hand and pinned Allison down by her neck.
“Do you really think you have a chance against me, human? I’m going to rip your pretty little throat out,” Peter said. Derek struggled to get to his feet but someone beat him to it. They threw Peter off of Allison and away several feet. It was Laura and she looked furious.
“How about we even this fight up a bit, little brother,” she said without looking at Derek. Derek got his feet and stood next to his sister. Their bond was much stronger than anything he had with Peter even if she wasn’t his Alpha. Laura’s eyes glowed bright yellow and she flashed her fangs. Peter chuckled as he got to his feet. Derek didn’t let Peter get in another snarky remark; he charged his uncle with Laura at his side.
+++
This was the second time Peter had thrown him into a wall and Stiles was pretty over it. The painkillers only did so much for his battered and bruised body. Allison and Chris were trying to attack Peter while Laura and Derek tried to tear him apart. Stiles winced as he reached into his pocket to load another round into his gun when he heard the movement of wings in the air. Stiles froze because he knew that sound. He looked up slowly at the woman that was standing in front of him. Stiles knew that this was the angel the moment he laid eyes on her. He could see it in the way she used the body she was possessing, the way she looked at him like he was curious thing that she didn’t understand, and how she was a terrifying thing to behold.
“You must be Stiles,” she said as if there wasn’t a battle going on nearby. Everyone else was too focused on Peter to see that she was here.
“And you must be our friendly werewolf guardian angel,” Stiles replied. He didn’t bother to finish loading his gun; it wouldn’t do him any good against an angel. There was a knife on his hip but there wasn’t enough time to draw a sigil. Stiles stood up so he was eye to eye with her.
“I don’t know if ‘guardian’ is the right word,” she said. “You can call me Jennifer.”
“I wasn’t aware we were going to exchange pleasantries,” Stiles said carefully. She could snap his neck in seconds so mouthing off probably wasn’t in his best interests. Jennifer was right there though and there was nothing he could do. “This amount of interference isn’t really your guys’ style; what changed?”
“Interference is what your kind loves to do,” Jennifer said easily. “I decided that the good people of the world are at the mercy of evil far too long. So I decided to do something about it.”
“By resurrecting a werewolf and turning him into your personal weapon?” Stiles asked raising both of his eyebrows.
“That’s exactly what I did.” Jennifer narrowed her and Stiles felt like he was staring down a giant. He crossed his arms and stood his ground. There was a loud growl and Jennifer turned his gaze to the fight. Stiles glanced over his shoulder. Laura kicked Peter in the head hard enough to snap a bone and raised her claws to slash his throat. “Though I suppose this isn’t going according to plan. I can take one victory from this though.” Stiles turned back to her and was about to ask what she was talking about when a vice like hand snatched his throat. Jennifer lifted Stiles clear off of his feet just as Stiles heard claw slash across flesh. Laura must have taken her title back. That was a good thing but now he was going to get his neck broken by an angel.
“Got to kill the nasty little hellspawn don’t you,” Stiles struggled to say. He tried to pry her fingers off of his throat but she was far too strong for him. Stiles couldn’t breath and his lungs felt like they were on fire. Jennifer smiled and nodded.
+++
Derek had cuts and bruises all over his body that were taking far too long to heal. Peter was an apha and his wounds were much harder to heal. The bond he felt from Laura flared to life the moment she raked her claws across his throat. Peter wasn’t the uncle he knew anymore. He was a man warped by revenge and believing that he was doing the right thing. Derek heard a heartbeat jump and he turned to see Jennifer holding Stiles up by his neck. Stiles could barely breath and was struggling to get free. Derek knew he couldn’t attack her because she would snap Stiles’ neck but he refused to sit by and do nothing while someone he cared about was hurt again.
“Don’t kill him,” Derek said. Jennifer glanced at Derek and raised an eyebrow.
“He might be human now but that won’t last long. Now that Peter is dead the spell he cast will fade soon. Now is the time for me to do this. Now is the perfect time for me to get rid of one more demon,” Jennifer replied.
“I know you’re trying to help us mortals,” Derek said as he carefully took a few steps toward Jennifer and Stiles. “And I know that Stiles is a demon and has done some really terrible things in the past but no creature is sin free. We’ve all done terrible things but you can’t condemn all of us.”
“He’s a former king of the crossroads. The path to get to that position is soaked in blood. He’s stolen countless souls and sent them all to hell. Why shouldn’t he die? What is the world going to lose without him?” Jennifer asked. Stiles’ heartbeat was beginning to slow down and his lips were turning blue.
“Okay, yes, he’s done all of that, but he’s also saved my life. He’s helped me hunt things that were hurting other people. Every life that I’ve saved from a hunt that he’s helped me with is a life he’s helped save. He sacrificed himself so get me put on a blacklist so no demon can ever take my soul in a deal. He suffered the Pit a second time for me. He’s done bad things in the past but he’s here now doing good,” Derek said.
“He saved my life too,” Laura said suddenly. “He took a bullet that would have killed me and he stopped Derek from committing a murder.”
“None of that means anything, who is he to you? Why do you care?” Jennifer snapped. Stiles’ eyes were rolling into the back of his head; they were out of time.
“I care because I love him and he loves me as much as he’s capable of,” Derek said. The words were out of his mouth before he could think twice. They hadn’t said it to each other since the trickster’s world and Derek thought it was because it wasn’t true in the real world. Yet here he was bargaining with an angel for the life of the demon that he was in love with. Jennifer stared at Derek with wide eyes like she couldn’t believe he just said that. “You could hear my heartbeat; I’m not lying.” Jennifer looked back at Stiles and narrowed her eyes like she was trying to see something. Just as Stiles’ heart slowed to a stop she dropped him. Stiles fell to the ground in a heap. Jennifer looked like she was about to say something when a bright light made her vanish. Derek looked over and saw Chris with a bloody hand over a banishing sigil.
“Couldn’t risk him going with her,” he said breathlessly. Derek rushed over to Stiles and knelt down next to him. He wasn’t breathing. Allison moved Derek out of the way and started CPR. A heartbeat echoed in his ear, the smell of sulfur filled the air, and when Derek looked down at Stiles his eyes were open and demon black. Stiles blinked and they were back to the honey brown. Derek didn’t know what to say so he said nothing. He just looked down at Stiles and smiled.
+++
Allison and Chris said they were going to send more hunters down to watch Beacon Hills but if they ever had problems they couldn’t handle they would call Derek for help. Stiles wasn’t sure how he felt about that but at least they didn’t have to wait around Beacon Hills anymore. Jennifer hadn’t returned after Chris banished her and Stiles wasn’t convinced she wouldn’t show up again. He needed to find a way to get a hold of one of the angel swords or at least some holy oil. Stiles wasn’t looking forward to calling in those favors.
Laura was tired and asleep in the motel room while Chris, Allison, and Derek talked quietly in the parking lot. Stiles wasn’t really listening since it was all formal hunter crap and he was still getting used to being himself again. Derek shook Chris and Allison’s hands and they went their separate ways. Derek walked over and joined Stiles on the hood of the Camaro. They hadn’t talked about Derek had said and how he managed to convince Jennifer not kill him. Stiles felt like he was going to be sick when he thought about.
“I figure we’ll head out in the morning,” Derek said like he hadn’t confessed to being in love with Stiles a few hours ago.
“I didn’t deserve that,” Stiles said. Derek frowned and looked at him but Stiles refused to meet Derek’s gaze. “All of that stuff you said about me being good and doing good. It’s not right and you shouldn’t have said it.”
“I didn’t lie though,” Derek said.
“It’s all my fault,” Stiles blurted. “All of this, every single terrible thing that has happened to you has been my fault. I was the one who was helpless to stop my Dad from getting sick and made the deal with Saul. The only reason Saul was even Beacon Hills was because I was born here. That’s why he came here and I was helpless to stop him from killing your family. He went after Laura because he heard about how you were looking for me and him. I was the one that bonded us in the Pit and painted this giant targets on our backs for it. This all goes back to me, all of it, you should hate me for everything I’ve done to you not--” Stiles cut himself off because he couldn’t even say the word. He was fairly sure he wasn’t capable of speaking it let alone feeling it.
“You can’t make yourself responsible for the actions of others. You’re not guilty of anything Saul did than I’m guilty of anything Peter did just because we’re related. It’s not your fault that Saul decided to kill my family. He didn’t need to do that. I don’t blame you and I never will,” Derek said softly after a long silence. “I know you can’t feel the same way I do, I get that and I’m not asking you to, but I know you care. You know how I know you care?”
“How?” Stiles whispered.
“If you didn’t care you wouldn’t feel guilty.” Derek moved closer so their shoulders were touching. Stiles felt like he was going to have a panic attack despite the fact that he wasn’t human anymore and he never used to get them when he was a demon. “Just say you’ll continue to work with me. We make a good team and there are still plenty of other things out there that you need to poke with sticks.” Stiles huffed a laugh and nodded slowly.
“Yeah, I’ll keep working with you,” he said. Stiles glanced up at Derek and met his gaze for the first time. Derek looked so calm and maybe even a little relieved like finding out that Stiles wasn’t planning on leaving was the best news he got all day. Maybe there was something fundamentally broken in him. Something that kept Stiles from being able to love Derek entirely yet as Stiles pulled him into a kiss he couldn’t deny that something was there. Perhaps Derek was right and Stiles just loved him as much as he was capable of. When Derek kissed him back Stiles felt like he was saying ‘I know and what you’re capable of is enough.’
Stiles broke their kiss and pressed his forehead to Derek’s. He would let Derek and Laura get some sleep and in the morning they would all leave Beacon Hills behind them. Stiles wasn’t sure if admitting their feelings for each other was a good idea, they had so many enemies that could use it against them, but the bond between them felt stronger than ever. Their bond had great potential that they hadn’t even begun to tap into. Stiles was surprised how excited it made him to see what they could accomplish together.
The creatures of the world have no idea what they’re in for, Stiles thought and he grinned.
<-- back | masterpost -->
Part Three
For two days Derek, Stiles, Allison, and Chris poured everything they had into finding out something about the angels. The more they looked into it the more evidence piled up that this was what they were dealing with. Stiles looked more and more angry. When Allison or Chris took breaks they would walk off another room and do some target practice. Derek watched Allison use a bow and arrow to hit target after target while Chris was quick on his feet with a firearm. They were both very impressive considering they were human.
"We have a contact a few towns over that might have something," Allison said. Derek blinked and realized that it was nearly one in the morning. He was exhausted and he hadn't even noticed. "We'll go check it out and you two keep looking around here, sound good?"
"You have my number," Derek said. Chris and Allison walked with Derek and Stiles back to the Camaro and even followed them back to the motel. Derek wasn't entirely surprised that he wasn't allowed to take any of the books or the bestiary with him. The Argents didn't trust them yet which made sense. Derek didn't entirely trust them either but they needed help. As Stiles salted the doors and windows Derek made a quick phone call to see if Laura had improved at all. She hadn't and Derek felt helpless. If it was an angel that was helping Peter then they needed more help than just the Argents. "Have you thought about trying to get in contact with Lydia?"
"Lydia? You mean the Lydia that poisoned us and threatened us? That Lydia?" Stiles asked dubiously.
"Four humans against an angel and a werewolf? I don't like those odds," Derek said.
"There aren't any odds that could make this even for us. Even if we did pull in Lydia she'd find some way to take advantage of how weak we are right now. She was loyal to me when I was her boss but she's still a demon. We can't be trusted," Stiles said. Derek wanted to correct Stiles and tell him that Derek trusted him but the words died on his tongue. Stiles was an exception and Derek needed to remember that. Lydia could find some way of buying their souls without either of them even realizing it. Derek had seen Stiles having nightmares over the past few days, how he woke up screaming about the Pit, and Derek wasn't exactly keen on the idea of experiencing what caused those nightmares.
"Good point," Derek said. He collapsed into their pile of blankets and pillows on the floor as Stiles moved around the room. They were going to run out of mountain ash eventually but Derek didn't know any providers in the area. Derek flipped through his Dad's journal to see if he mentioned anything about someone that could sell them some ash. Near the back he found a single name that he didn't recognize; Alan Deaton. The name sounded vaguely familiar but he couldn't place it. Stiles had just collapsed into their makeshift bed when it dawned on him; Alan Deaton was his families emissary. "Stiles? What do you know about emissaries?"
"They're the humans that bind and protect a wolfs pack. They're knowledgeable and can be extremely powerful. Usually they're druids, why?" Stiles replied.
"I think I just found reference to the one that helped my family," Derek said. Stiles moved and looked at the book as Derek scrolled through his phone and found an Alan Deaton that still lived in Beacon Hills. “He’s a veterinarian.”
“I feel like that joke is too easy even for me to make,” Stiles said.
“I’m so glad you have some self control,” Derek said as he nudged Stiles with his elbow. He was too tired to stay awake and while Derek still wanted to have a longer conversation with Stiles about his promise now wasn’t the time. Stiles was almost asleep anyway. Derek closed his eyes and hoped for no more nightmares.
+++
Alan Deaton was not what Stiles expected. Truth be told he wasn’t entirely sure what he expected but an unassuming man who smiled when they walked in was not it. His gaze lingered a bit too long on Derek though. Stiles hadn’t survived this long without learning how to read people. Deaton knew exactly who Derek was. Stiles hoped they weren’t going to have to pressure him to tell them anything.
“Alan Deaton?” Derek said. Stiles lingered near the exit; druids always made him nervous and they never liked him very much. They were too keen to sell their souls at the end of the day and would make it extremely irritating for him to collect.
“Yes and you’re Derek Hale,” Deaton said. “You’re not right though.”
“That’s what I came to talk to you about,” Derek said. “Can we talk in private?” Deaton eyed Stiles again and Stiles wanted to tell the man to either say whatever he was thinking or stop looking at him like that. Deaton nodded and turned the sign on the door to 'closed.' They walked into the back room of the clinic and the animals didn't react to his presence which was odd. Usually they got very on edge when he was around. That was just another reminder to Stiles that he was a human now. Deaton crossed his arms as he regarded them both.
"You've grown quite a bit Derek," Deaton said confirming what they both already knew. "I don't know who you are though."
"This is Stiles," Derek said without expanding the introduction to include what Stiles used to be. Deaton, however, looked less an impressed.
"Laura mentioned a demon that you were traveling with, is this him?" Deaton asked Derek.
"Yes, that's me," Stiles said because he hated when people acted like he wasn't there. "Though you should make that 'demon' part as a past tense."
"That's why we're here," Derek said no doubt to direct the conversation away from a confrontation. "We're in trouble." Deaton looked between the two of them and nodded.
"You should start from the beginning," he said. It took a long time for Derek to go through their entire history together all the way back to the original deal that brought Laura back. Stiles didn't really want to share all of this information with a stranger but if they really were going up against an angel they needed all the help they could get. Stiles just hated the looks that he got from Allison and Chris and now Deaton. He knew what he was and Stiles knew his reputation but that didn't make him any less annoyed when they all acted like he was about to backstab them. He got plenty of those looks from Derek in the beginning and after he saved Laura's life she seemed to like him more. By the time Derek was done explaining everything Stiles was sitting on an exam table, his legs swinging back and forth, bored out of his skull. He should have brought a book.
"I see," Deaton said. "That's quite a story you have there. The fact that Chris Argent is willing to trust you says a lot."
"Considering what happened with Kate it really is," Derek said nodding.
"And I trust you Derek. Your family was a very large part of my life for a long time," Deaton continued.
"There's a 'but' in this conversation somewhere, isn't there?" Stiles deadpanned after he remained silent throughout most of Derek's explanation.
"However," Deaton said which was basically the same thing and it was like he said it just to prove that Stiles wasn't right. "I don't trust him."
"I do though, isn't that enough?" Derek asked but Deaton shook his head.
"The information you want me to find could be extremely dangerous in the hands of demons. The last thing we want is a literal war between good and evil after the demons step on the toes of an angel because they know a secret." Deaton fixated his gaze on Stiles and Stiles stared right back at him. This was annoying and if there was anything Stiles hated more than it was when he had to prove himself to someone.
"Test me then," Stiles said. "I'll prove you can trust me with information on the angels, Peter, and how to get us back to normal. Then Derek, Laura, and I get the fuck out of here." Deaton still didn't look convinced.
"My Uncle tried to kill my sister and took my wolf from me," Derek said softly. "He's killing people and he's going to kill again. He's my uncle and I have to stop him." If the moment wasn't so serious Stiles would have made a comment about Derek's hero complex but he bit his tongue. Deaton regarded them both with much trepidation but eventually pulled a photo out of a desk and set it on the desk. It looked like an extremely old jewelry box but Stiles could tell from the engraved markings that it was more than that.
"There is a sharmen a few towns over who took this from me. If you can get it back and bring it to me I'll help you," Deaton said. "It'll be dangerous and it's likely that someone will try to stop you from taking it."
"If we get this for you you'll help us?" Derek asked and Deaton nodded. "Then we'll do it." Deaton wrote down an address on a piece of paper and never once let Stiles out of his sight. Stiles was all too happy when they left.
"This is a bad idea," Stiles said when they got into the Camaro.
"I know it is," Derek replied. He started the car and drove away from the clinic. They swung by the motel room for some supplies. Stiles didn't know what this shamen was capable of so he took a little bit of everything. He really didn't want to fight as a human though. When he got back out to the car Derek was on the phone. "So we're going on a quest to prove our worth." Stiles closed the door and Derek switched the phone to speaker.
"One of you have to pull a sword from a stone first?" Allison asked.
"This is a terrible idea," Stiles grumbled. "We're humans going against something supernatural. We're practically useless."
"I'm not useless," Allison snapped. "Neither is my Dad and neither are any humans for that matter. You can't forget what we're capable of when we're determined enough."
"That determination is what has me worried," Derek said. "We don't know what this shamen has sacrificed for their power. We're pretty defenseless."
"Then find someone else who can tell you about how to deal with a werewolf with a guardian angel," Allison said and hung up on them.
"We probably deserved that," Stiles said. Derek started the car and they drove out of town. It was the late afternoon by the time they got to the right town. Derek parked the car in a busy parking lot in the back corner away from any cameras. Stiles really wasn't comfortable with any of this but the box must be important if Deaton was willing to send them to go get it. The shaman's store was a little knick knack shop called Sage that sold piles of useless junk to people who believed in the supernatural. There were a few legitimate looking things judging from the website but they were few and far between. The owner was a frighteningly beautiful woman known only as Morrell. The box was in a picture of the shop behind a glass case with a sign that said 'not for sale' Stiles took the picture that Deaton gave them and began to look at the markings again.
"What are you looking at?" Derek asked.
"These markings," Stiles said without really paying attention to Derek. "I sort of recognize them. They're protection seals."
"Protection from what? Not that it really matters since we're human anyway," Derek said.
"From a lot of things," Stiles mumbled. He wasn't about to tell Derek that he recognized the markings as thing specifically drawn to keep demons out. Deaton really was testing him. There was something in that box that was either extremely dangerous or extremely tempting to demons. Stiles looked up and watched the lights in the shop go out. A moment later the lights in the apartment above the shop turned on. They were going to have to break in with a shamen two floors above them. Stiles didn't like those odds.
"Let's go," Derek said. They crossed the street and crept around to the backdoor of the building. Derek swore to himself when the door wouldn't open. "I usually just kick them down."
"Do you have a lock pick?" Stiles asked and Derek nodded. "Well then you're in luck that I liked to look in locked places when I was alive," Stiles replied. He pressed an ear to the door, took the lock pick from their bag, and began to work on the lock. It took too long for him to get the door opened but it clicked open eventually. No alarms went off but Stiles was pretty sure that if there was any security it wasn't meant for humans. Stiles had a knife on his hip but he really didn't want to use it. Derek had a shotgun but he brought his rock salt bullets. Getting shot with rock salt would hurt anyone was the logic.
They opened the back door into the main shop and Stiles was immediately overwhelmed with the smell of cheap incense. He almost sneezed it was so potent.
"Get the box; I'll keep watch," Derek said. Stiles nodded and began to look for the glass case that had the box. There was a good chance it had to be him that had to take the box since he was the one Deaton didn't trust. The case was along the far wall and even as a human Stiles could sense that there was something otherworldly about it. He looked around the case for something that could indicate a warning system when it opened but if there was one it wasn't anything Stiles could see. He braced himself for something terrible to happen when he opened the door anyway.
Stiles' fingers tingled when he touched the box. It felt sturdy when he picked it up and there was something in it, something heavy, too heavy for a box this small. Whatever was in there was dangerous to him or could help him in ways he couldn't imagine. Is this the test? Stiles thought. You wanted to see if I'd look and see what you have in here? Stiles narrowed his eyes and placed the box in the bag.
"Stiles, someone is--" Derek said just as the door that lead upstairs was nearly thrown off its hinges. Derek turned his gun on Morrell who stood in doorway and glared at them.
"Normally, when someone steals from me, they try to take my money," she said calmly.
"Put your hands up and I won't have to shoot," Derek said but Morrell didn't look worried at all. If anything she looked a little amused.
"You're not ordinary robbers though," she said. Stiles immediately knew that this was about to go sideways in very painful ways. He opened his mouth to warn Derek but Morrell was too fast. She knocked Derek's gun from his hand and kicked him into the counter, hard. It was enough to knock the wind out of him momentarily and long enough for Morrell punch Derek in the face and chest then turn her attention to Stiles. He pulled the knife from his hip and held it in hand. He hoped that fighting was a muscle memory that he retained. "There's only one person who knows about that box and what it is. Why did he send you two to get it?"
"I'm sorry but that's classified. You can file an appeal if you want but I wouldn't hold your breath for approval," Stiles replied. Morrell smiled as she slowly advanced on him. She picked a knife off of the shelf and shook her head sadly.
"We'll see how biting that sense of humor is in a moment or two." Morrell moved much faster than Stiles was anticipating but he still managed to block her from gutting him. This body Stiles was using these days wasn't very strong but it was young so he was fast enough to keep up with her. Their knives clashed for a few blows until Stiles wasn't fast enough anymore. Morrell nicked his forearm and knocked Stiles to the ground. The cut wasn't terrible but it hurt more than he was used to on Earth. It made Stiles think of hell and now was not the fucking time for a flashback. "No, you're not normal robbers or least you weren't normal. I can see what you both used to be."
"You don't know anything about us," Derek said. Derek's nose was bleeding and Stiles was relatively sure it was broken. He lunged at Morrell and managed to get the knife out of her hands. As Derek tried to subdue her Stiles pushed through the memories of the Pit and picked up Derek's gun. Stiles wasn't a huge fan of guns but sometimes they served their purpose. The blood from the wound on his arm made his hand feel slick. There were a few extra shells in the bag, real shotgun shells, and Stiles decided that he didn't want to deal with this anymore. He popped the two rock salt shells out and replaced them with tradition buckshot shells. Morrell and Derek broke apart and Stiles pointed the gun at her.
"I have no qualms about shooting you," he warned.
"You wear the scars of hell on you like a tattoo," Morrell spit out. "Of course you'd have no qualms about shooting me though I am curious why you and a werewolf are walking around as mortals."
"Be curious all you want," Derek said with a hand to his nose. If Stiles wasn't threatening to shoot someone he would have found the plugged up tone to Derek's voice funny. "We're leaving now."
"You don't want to let that hellspawn have what's in that box," Morrell said. "He'll use it against all of us. That's what they do." For half a moment Stiles contemplating shooting her to keep her quiet but that would just prove her point. Instead Stiles held her gaze and handed the gun to Derek. She raised an eyebrow and looked genuinely surprised. Stiles picked up the bag with the box and got his knife back into the sheath on his belt.
"Let's go," he said. Derek nodded and kept the gun pointed at Morrell until the door to the back room slammed shut. Then they ran as fast as they could back to the Camaro. No one followed them but Stiles could feel that woman watching their every move from the window of the shop. There weren't any sirens so she hadn't called the police. Stiles tossed the bag at his feet and they peeled out of the parking lot. Stiles wanted to tell Derek to go faster but the last thing they needed was to get pulled over. It took nearly ten minutes for Derek to ask about it.
"What did she mean? What's in there?" he asked.
"I don't know," Stiles replied without looking at Derek. "The markings are designed to keep almost everything out but mostly my kind. That kind of protection wouldn't go into something that isn't dangerous or powerful to us."
"Are you going to look and see what it is?" Derek said after a beat of silence.
"No," Stiles said without hesitation. Stiles didn't know if that was the answer Derek was looking for and they passed the rest of the drive back to Beacon Hills in silence.
+++
Deaton was waiting for them when Derek pulled up to the veterinarians office. It was fairly obvious that Deaton didn't trust Stiles and this little scavenger hunt was a waste of time but it looked like Deaton might be the only one that could help them. Deaton smiled pleasantly and led them back into the back room of the office. Stiles pulled the box out of his bag and set it on the table. Deaton picked it up and looked the box over. Derek wasn't sure what Deaton was looking for but when Deaton smiled Derek figured he must have found it.
"Will you help us now?" Stiles asked.
"Why don't we tend to those injuries first," Deaton said. Deaton offered to put stitches in Stiles' arm but Stiles told him not to bother. Derek didn't bother to try and hide his pain when Deaton set his broken nose. It throbbed horribly and Derek idly wondered if his nose was going to look a little off for the rest of his life now. He wondered if the cut on Stiles' arm was going to scar. "Morrell was fairly impressed by you two."
"You know her?" Stiles asked.
"She's my sister. She wouldn't give me that box back but we still talk. She called me as soon as you two left because she knew I was the only one who would send someone to steal the box from her," Deaton explained as he looked up to meet Stiles' gaze. "She was worried you would look."
"Well, I didn't, so I passed your little test. If we're done wasting time I'd love to know how to deal with the werewolf running around with an angel as backup," Stiles said shortly. Deaton nodded and opened a book.
"Peter is just a normal werewolf. While an angel might have raised him he's still alive. Raising people from the dead isn't an easy task. You can kill him just like you'd kill any other wolf," Deaton said.
"Why would an angel raise him in the first place?" Derek asked.
"Your angel is probably using Peter as a weapon for their own divine purpose. Peter needs to be powerful to be a decent weapon. The angel is probably letting Peter get away with killing people by picking someone who has sinned in the past. That way the killing is justified. Peter attacked Laura because he wants her Alpha status but at the same time he needs a pack. You are family so there's already a bond there. I believe Peter intends to wound Laura just bad enough that the Alpha title will pass to him and then revive her as a member of his pack. That's the same reason why he took away your wolf, Derek," Deaton said.
"How can I be a member of anyone's pack as a human?" Derek asked.
"Peter told you he'd give it back if you submitted to him," Stiles said. "Blackmail?"
"Essentially. If Derek is human he's more likely to say 'yes' to submission since he's weaker. That's what I believe Peter's reasoning is. As for you, Stiles, he made you human to keep you from getting involved." Deaton pulled out a jar of mountain ash and placed it on the table. "He's not going to stop coming after you, Derek. He needs a pack."
"Why is an angel helping Peter though? Why give him access to such a powerful spell?" Stiles asked. "They've always said they're above human beings, why help a werewolf?"
"What better weapon against the forces of hell than a werewolf whose family was killed by a demon?" Deaton said. "Your angel is a bigger problem I have to look into more for you. Killing an angel is no easy task but you can help keep them at bay." Deaton pulled out a piece of paper with what looked like a seal on it. "Draw this with blood and put your hand on it. That'll banish your angel."
"But not kill them," Derek said and Deaton nodded. "What about Peter? Is that really my Uncle?"
"Peter lived for quite some time with those injuries from the fire no doubt in a great amount of pain," Stiles said softly. "When you go through something as traumatic as that you don't come out as the same person." Derek knew that Stiles wasn't just talking about Peter which broke his heart a little. Derek wanted to reach over and take Stiles' hand, touch his shoulder, but managed to stop himself. Deaton didn't need to know about that aspect of their partnership though judging from the way he was looking at them Deaton already knew.
"I'll keep looking into your angel problem," Deaton said. Derek nodded and they took the mountain ash and the picture of the banishing seal from the table. Derek exchanged numbers with Deaton and they headed back to the motel. He was at a red light when the phone rang; it was Allison.
"How did it go?" she asked.
"Meet us at our motel and we'll tell you," Derek said.
"See you in five," Allison said and hung up. Stiles turned the mountain ash jar over in his hands and said nothing. The aches from the fight with Morrell were settling into Derek's bones and he really wanted to sleep. He had to fill in Allison and Chris about the seal and what they learned. Stiles glared when Derek got out of the Camaro stiffly.
"You're hurting," Stiles said.
"I'll be fine," Derek replied.
"I can handle this." Stiles pushed Derek toward their motel room. "Take a nap and we'll meet up later. You don't need to worry about me; I can take care of myself. Get some sleep." Derek hesitated but getting thrown into the counter really did a number on his lower back. He wasn't used to pain lingering like this for so long and it threw him off.
"Fine, but call me if you need me," Derek replied. Stiles walked over to the SUV that Allison and Chris were waiting in and Derek watched him just to be sure. It had been a long day so maybe Stiles was right and sleep was the way to go. Derek opened their motel room and salted the door behind him. He nearly collapsed into the pile of blankets on the floor. He barely had his shoes off before Derek was drifting off. Derek was behind the mountain ash line and he salted the room; he could sleep and not worry about it too much.
+++
"God damn it ow?" Stiles said as Allison began to probe as the cut on his arm. He probably should have let Deaton stitch it up but there were more important things to worry about. Allison took one look at the bandage that he had nearly bled through and sat him down in the back seat of the SUV.
"Stop complaining," Allison said.
"Have better bedside manner then," Stiles replied briskly.
"So this banishing seal is our best line of defense," Chris said because apparently he was the one who was playing adult in this group.
"More like only," Stiles said. He tried to get his arm back but the glare Allison shot at him was soul melting. "Deaton is looking into it."
"Is there anything to protect yourself from angels? Like mountain ash or salt?" Allison asked as she finished bandaging Stiles' arm.
"Not really, why?" Stiles replied.
"If Peter needs Derek and this angel is already willing to help, what's to stop the angel from breaking the mountain ash circle?" Allison asked. Stiles was about to say there wasn't when he felt something over his bond with Derek. It wasn't as strong now that they were human but there was still enough there that Stiles knew when something was wrong. Stiles jumped out of the SUV and raced across the parking lot to his motel room. He could hear Allison and Chris behind him but he didn't pay them much attention. Stiles threw open the door to the room and found it empty. There was no sign of Derek anywhere. The line of salt against the door was gone and when Stiles knelt down next to the mountain ash circle he could see where it was barely broken.
"Peter has Derek," Stiles whispered. "We need to get to the hospital, now. If Peter has Derek that means he's going to go after Laura now."
"I'll drive," Chris said. They ran back to the car and sped off. Chris was breaking several speeding laws but no one pulled them over. Allison had a crossbow in hand and she offered Stiles a gun. He assumed it was loaded with wolfsbane bullets. It took some careful maneuvering to keep the guns and crossbow hidden from the hospital staff as they made their way down the hallway toward Laura's room. There wasn't anyone nearby, it was like this section was deserted, but Stiles didn't consider himself that lucky. Laura was hurt and there wasn't any guarantee that she would survive getting taken out of the hospital. Stiles turned the corner and saw Peter rolling Laura around a corner on a bed. Peter looked up, grinned at Stiles, and ran off.
Stiles didn't bother to wait for Allison or Chris to catch up he took off running after Peter. Peter was a werewolf and much faster than him though and they were in the parking garage by the time Stiles managed to catch up. The door to the garage slammed behind him him and locked Allison and Chris out. Stiles could only assume that was Peter's guardian angel out to help. At the very end of the parking lot Stiles saw Peter loading an unconscious Laura into his car. Stiles only had one shot to make this. He raised the gun to put a bullet in Peter's head.
He never even saw Peter move but before Stiles could fire a shot Peter knocked the gun from his hand and picked Stiles up off the ground by his shirt.
"I thought as a human you'd be less of a nuisance to me," Peter said. Stiles struggled to keep free but he was a human trying to escape a werewolf on pure strength alone. He didn't stand a chance. "You're not going stay out of my family's business, are you?"
"I'm not very good at walking away from things," Stiles sneered.
"I'm on a divine mission to make sure what happened to my family never happens again. I have an angel on my side now I just need the power and a pack which I will have soon. I'm one of the good guys, Stiles, unlike you," Peter said smirking.
"You don't know anything about me," Stiles said.
"But you didn't deny that you aren't a protagonist in this story. You're not even the antagonist anymore. You're just a henchmen that needs to be dealt with. So this is me dealing with it." Peter threw Stiles aside like he weighed nothing at all. Stiles knew that this was going to hurt, he prepared himself for it, but hitting the concrete wall of the parking garage knocked the wind out of his lungs. The world cut to black just as a door opened and a car sped away.
+++
Derek woke up slowly. The last thing he remembered was the door to the motel room opening and everything going dark. He blinked a few times to clear his blurred vision and wasn't surprised that he wasn't in his motel room anymore. Derek sat up and realized that he was in the basement of the old Hale house, locked in one of the rooms that were set aside for the full moon's, and he wasn't alone. Laura was on the ground nearby, unconscious, and Derek scrambled over to her. She was breathing on her own and it didn't look like she was hurt but Laura wasn't awake either.
"She'll be fine," Peter said from behind the closed door. There was a small window on the top of the door and the glass was broken. It wasn't large enough to help Derek in any way though.
"You're going to kill her to take her title," Derek snapped.
"I'm going to mostly kill her," Peter replied chuckling. "After I'm the Alpha and you both submit we'll be a pack again, Derek. Not only that but we'll be a pack with a purpose."
"And what purpose is that?"
"I've been given the task to protect the world from evil. I've been given the divine right to do whatever I need to prevent what happened to our family from happening to anyone else. That is the right that was bestowed upon me from the one that raised me from the dead and healed my wounds." Peter's voice sounded dazed, in awe, as if he couldn't believe that he was alive either. "She's my guide, Derek, and I'll be yours. The three of us with Her help can save so many lives."
"I already save lives," Derek said.
"Yes, She told me. You're a hunter now. The hunters didn't help protect our family from those hellspawns and you aren't enough to protect others as well. The three of us though, with her help, we can get our revenge," Peter said as he looked through the small broken window at Derek. There weren't many moments in his life when Derek truly felt like prey but this one was one of them. He didn't move toward the door but he did keep himself between Peter and Laura.
"Did your angel friend tell you I already got revenge? I killed the demon that killed our family," Derek said.
"It's not about specifics, Derek. It's about what those creatures think they can get away with. I heard all about your little adventure with that partner of yours. I wouldn't put too much faith in him coming to help you." Those words made Derek's blood run cold. If Peter killed Stiles then Stiles was in the Pit at this very moment. Peter grinned like he knew what Derek was thinking. "Once I give you your wolf back you will submit to me. Then you'll see just what good we're going to be doing in this world." Peter turned and left his footsteps echoing throughout the ruined house. Derek touched Laura's hair and wished he could feel the comfort that she always brought him, the comfort of pack. His bond with Stiles wasn't strong enough now that they were both human and Derek had no idea if this crushing sensation of loneliness was from his situation or if Stiles was really dead.
"This is for the best," a voice whispered. Derek looked around but didn't see anyone. He could only assume that this was Peter's angel.
"Why don't you stop hiding in the shadows so we can meet face to face," Derek said. He heard the distinct sound of someone laughing at him softly.
"We will meet soon, Derek." Derek wanted to try and find some way out but he knew there wasn't one. Maybe if he was a werewolf he'd have the strength to break down a door but as a human there was nothing he could do right now. Derek moved Laura's head into his lap and told himself over and over again that Stiles was fine and help was on the way.
+++
Someone was yelling his name and Stiles wanted to tell them to shut up. Everything hurt in a way that felt very real which was a strange comfort. It was the reassurance that he wasn't dead and back in the Pit he guessed. That didn't mean that Stiles wasn't in an insane amount of pain. Peter had thrown him into a wall. He had every right to be in pain but there wasn't any time to dwell on that. Derek and Laura were both gone and Stiles knew them both well enough that neither of them would submit to an Alpha that killed people who were hiking through the woods. If they wouldn't submit they weren't of any use to Peter and he would kill them. Stiles wasn't sure what he would do if either Derek or Laura were dead. Probably something incredibly stupid like give himself up to Lydia in exchange for their lives.
"Stiles, Stiles you have to wake up," Allison yelled at him. Chris said something in the background but Stiles couldn't understand what it was. He slowly opened his eyes and it took a moment for Allison's face to come into focus. "I thought he had killed you for a second there."
"There aren't enough words in the English language to depict how bad that would be," Stiles replied. Allison helped him sit up and Stiles didn't bother to hide his wince in pain. "They got away?"
"Something blocked the door so we couldn't follow you out here," Chris said. "If I had to wager a guess it'd be Peter's angel."
"He was too fast for me," Stiles said softly. Allison helped Stiles to his feet and he didn't feel bad when he let her carry some of his weight. "We need to find them before he hurts them."
"This began at the Hale house. I think assuming that he took them there is a good one to make," Allison said. She helped Stiles walk through the garage and out to the street where the car was waiting. "We have weapons but there's only so much we can do against an angel."
"Go to the vets office," Stiles said. Chris and Allison exchanged a glance but drove him to Deaton's office anyway. The parking lot was empty save for one car and when Allison helped Stiles walk in the door Deaton looked like he was expecting them.
"Chris, good to see you again. I heard you were in town. This must be Allison. I've heard so much about you through the grapevine," Deaton said and he turned his attention to Stiles. "You look like you've seen better days."
"Nothing I haven't dealt with before. Since I can't heal though I could use a serious painkiller and anymore information that you have on angel's." Deaton looked a little apprehensive but he gave Stiles a shot anyway. It dulled the pain enough that he could focus but sharp enough that Stiles wasn't too dazed.
"I'm afraid I haven't been able to find anything," Deaton said. "I've seen an angelic blade mentioned a few times in the lore but, from what I can gather, these are weapons angel's carry. Unless you can find an angel willing to give up their weapon we don't have any other way of killing them. The banishing sigil is the best option you have."
"I don't suppose you have any Holy Oil lying around that we can have?" Stiles asked and Deaton shook his head. Stiles turned to Allison and Chris. They both looked determined and unafraid. Stiles wasn't sure when he forgot how strong and dangerous humans could be but he wasn't going to forget it anytime soon. "Will you help me?"
"Yes," Allison said without hesitation. "Peter is killing people and needs to be put down."
"Then let's get going." Stiles nodded to Deaton and walked out of the office with Allison and Chris. They gathered various wolfsbane weapons and loaded them onto their persons. Stiles turned a knife over in his hand and remembered the banishing sigil. There was no telling when this angel was going to make their presence known during this fight. He had to be ready to draw this at a moments notice. Stiles just hoped that he wasn't too late.
+++
Derek wasn't sure when he dozed off but the sound of someone moving around made him jerk awake. Judging from the pain in his neck and how his legs were asleep it had been several hours since Peter left. The sun was up and casted shadows of light through the broken floorboards of his family house. Perhaps Stiles really was dead and that's why no one had come to help him yet. Derek tried to tell himself that it wasn't true, that even as a human he would have felt Stiles die through their bond, and he wondered if he repeated it enough times it would be true. There was more movement outside the door and Derek tried to shield Laura.
"It's quite odd I think," Peter said as he opened the door. "You'd think with an angel on my side She could just make me an Alpha but it seems I have to do this the old fashion way."
"I'm not going to let you hurt her," Derek warned but Peter laughed.
"Don't worry. I'm only going to hurt her a little," Peter replied. Derek got to his feet and clenched his fists, ready to beat Peter back with nothing but his human strength if he had to, when something lifted Derek off of his feet and slammed him into one of the walls. It was like fighting a demon, some form of telekinesis, and no matter how hard he struggled he couldn't get away. "Thank you, Jennifer." Derek blinked and suddenly there was a woman in the room with them. For a second he thought he heard the sound of wings flapping in the breeze but there was nothing there. She had long, dark hair, and dark eyes. She was stunningly beautiful and terrifying in a way that Derek couldn't put into words. This was the angel.
"It's no problem, Peter," Jennifer said smoothly. Peter knelt down next to Laura and Jennifer joined him. Derek struggled to get away, he couldn't just sit here and let this happen, but Jennifer's hold on him was absolute. Peter flicked his claws out and looked down at Laura like she wasn’t his niece.
“She’s weak. You’re going to kill her,” Derek said frantically.
“I will heal her,” Jennifer replied. Peter smirked and plunged his claws into Laura’s chest. Her eyes snapped open and glowed a bright red. Derek struggled to get away, to try and help, but he was hurting himself in the process. Peter’s eyes glowed a bright blue then transitioned into Alpha red. Peter removed his claws and looked at the blood thoughtfully. Jennifer placed a hand on Laura’s shoulder and Derek watched as the wounds on Laura’s chest healed. Laura gasped for breath and coughed violently. Jennifer stood up and walked toward Derek. “Do you wish to be a wolf again?”
“I will not submit to him,” Derek spat out. Jennifer walked into Derek’s personal space and looked at him like she didn’t understand him.
“We’re going to do so much good in this world,” she said. “This body that I’m in, she begged for this. She begged for salvation and for revenge when a werewolf nearly ripped her apart. I healed her flesh and I’m giving her the opportunity to right so many wrongs. The pack with my help can help so many people. Don’t you see that?”
“I guess I’m having a hard time seeing past the fact that he nearly killed my sister and slaughtered a bunch of humans that just happened to be in the woods,” Derek snapped.
“They were bad people,” Peter said like that justified his actions. “We’re on a divine mission to eradicate all the evil from the world. All you need to do is submit.” Jennifer placed a hand on Derek’s cheek, she was cold to touch, and it was like she opened a door inside of him. His wolf was suddenly present again and the rush of his heightened senses knocked the air out of Derek’s lungs. Jennifer took several steps back and let Derek fall to his hands and knees. Derek dug his claws into the floorboards and tried to control his anger. “Submit,” Peter said darkly. Derek looked up and into Peter’s red Alpha eyes. He could feel their connection because they were still family at the end of the day. Derek felt like he should submit to an Alpha despite how much he didn’t want to.
Derek heard a car quickly approaching the house, he heard three heartbeats get out of that car, but Peter did nothing. He just smirked like this was all part of his plan. Jennifer stepped back into the shadows and faded from sight.
“Looks like we have company,” Peter said. Peter took Derek by the shirt and threw him up through the ceiling to the ground floor of the house. Derek grunted from the pain of going through the floorboards but rolled his shoulders. Chris, Allison, and Stiles all burst in through the front door with weapons raised.
“Get down!” Allison shouted. Derek dropped to his knees just as Peter emerged. Allison had a long bow and quickly fired several arrows into Peter’s chest. Chris and Stiles nearly emptied their clips and Derek could smell the wolfsbane. Peter, however, barely flinched. He pulled the arrows out and tossed them aside. Black blood leaked from the wounds but it was like Peter couldn’t feel the poison rushing through his system.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to do better than that,” Peter said. Derek charged forward despite how much more powerful he knew Peter was then him. Stiles was still a human and while Chris and Allison were talented humans there was only so much damage they could do to an Alpha werewolf. Peter avoided Derek’s attacks easily and when Peter managed to land a punch Derek thought he nearly lost his head. Derek tasted blood but it was Peter’s powerful roar that made him wince. He wanted to cower to that, submit, but Derek couldn’t let himself do that. Peter hit Derek hard enough that Derek felt several of his ribs crack and he fell to his knees in pain.
Peter turned to Allison, Chris, and Stiles. He was so fast that he must have been a blur to normal human eyes. He backhanded Stiles hard enough that Stiles hit a wall and swiped his leg out to knock Chris off of his feet. Derek could feel his ribs healing but not quickly enough. Allison fired another arrow into Peter’s shoulder and he turned on her growling. Peter knocked the bow from her hand and pinned Allison down by her neck.
“Do you really think you have a chance against me, human? I’m going to rip your pretty little throat out,” Peter said. Derek struggled to get to his feet but someone beat him to it. They threw Peter off of Allison and away several feet. It was Laura and she looked furious.
“How about we even this fight up a bit, little brother,” she said without looking at Derek. Derek got his feet and stood next to his sister. Their bond was much stronger than anything he had with Peter even if she wasn’t his Alpha. Laura’s eyes glowed bright yellow and she flashed her fangs. Peter chuckled as he got to his feet. Derek didn’t let Peter get in another snarky remark; he charged his uncle with Laura at his side.
+++
This was the second time Peter had thrown him into a wall and Stiles was pretty over it. The painkillers only did so much for his battered and bruised body. Allison and Chris were trying to attack Peter while Laura and Derek tried to tear him apart. Stiles winced as he reached into his pocket to load another round into his gun when he heard the movement of wings in the air. Stiles froze because he knew that sound. He looked up slowly at the woman that was standing in front of him. Stiles knew that this was the angel the moment he laid eyes on her. He could see it in the way she used the body she was possessing, the way she looked at him like he was curious thing that she didn’t understand, and how she was a terrifying thing to behold.
“You must be Stiles,” she said as if there wasn’t a battle going on nearby. Everyone else was too focused on Peter to see that she was here.
“And you must be our friendly werewolf guardian angel,” Stiles replied. He didn’t bother to finish loading his gun; it wouldn’t do him any good against an angel. There was a knife on his hip but there wasn’t enough time to draw a sigil. Stiles stood up so he was eye to eye with her.
“I don’t know if ‘guardian’ is the right word,” she said. “You can call me Jennifer.”
“I wasn’t aware we were going to exchange pleasantries,” Stiles said carefully. She could snap his neck in seconds so mouthing off probably wasn’t in his best interests. Jennifer was right there though and there was nothing he could do. “This amount of interference isn’t really your guys’ style; what changed?”
“Interference is what your kind loves to do,” Jennifer said easily. “I decided that the good people of the world are at the mercy of evil far too long. So I decided to do something about it.”
“By resurrecting a werewolf and turning him into your personal weapon?” Stiles asked raising both of his eyebrows.
“That’s exactly what I did.” Jennifer narrowed her and Stiles felt like he was staring down a giant. He crossed his arms and stood his ground. There was a loud growl and Jennifer turned his gaze to the fight. Stiles glanced over his shoulder. Laura kicked Peter in the head hard enough to snap a bone and raised her claws to slash his throat. “Though I suppose this isn’t going according to plan. I can take one victory from this though.” Stiles turned back to her and was about to ask what she was talking about when a vice like hand snatched his throat. Jennifer lifted Stiles clear off of his feet just as Stiles heard claw slash across flesh. Laura must have taken her title back. That was a good thing but now he was going to get his neck broken by an angel.
“Got to kill the nasty little hellspawn don’t you,” Stiles struggled to say. He tried to pry her fingers off of his throat but she was far too strong for him. Stiles couldn’t breath and his lungs felt like they were on fire. Jennifer smiled and nodded.
+++
Derek had cuts and bruises all over his body that were taking far too long to heal. Peter was an apha and his wounds were much harder to heal. The bond he felt from Laura flared to life the moment she raked her claws across his throat. Peter wasn’t the uncle he knew anymore. He was a man warped by revenge and believing that he was doing the right thing. Derek heard a heartbeat jump and he turned to see Jennifer holding Stiles up by his neck. Stiles could barely breath and was struggling to get free. Derek knew he couldn’t attack her because she would snap Stiles’ neck but he refused to sit by and do nothing while someone he cared about was hurt again.
“Don’t kill him,” Derek said. Jennifer glanced at Derek and raised an eyebrow.
“He might be human now but that won’t last long. Now that Peter is dead the spell he cast will fade soon. Now is the time for me to do this. Now is the perfect time for me to get rid of one more demon,” Jennifer replied.
“I know you’re trying to help us mortals,” Derek said as he carefully took a few steps toward Jennifer and Stiles. “And I know that Stiles is a demon and has done some really terrible things in the past but no creature is sin free. We’ve all done terrible things but you can’t condemn all of us.”
“He’s a former king of the crossroads. The path to get to that position is soaked in blood. He’s stolen countless souls and sent them all to hell. Why shouldn’t he die? What is the world going to lose without him?” Jennifer asked. Stiles’ heartbeat was beginning to slow down and his lips were turning blue.
“Okay, yes, he’s done all of that, but he’s also saved my life. He’s helped me hunt things that were hurting other people. Every life that I’ve saved from a hunt that he’s helped me with is a life he’s helped save. He sacrificed himself so get me put on a blacklist so no demon can ever take my soul in a deal. He suffered the Pit a second time for me. He’s done bad things in the past but he’s here now doing good,” Derek said.
“He saved my life too,” Laura said suddenly. “He took a bullet that would have killed me and he stopped Derek from committing a murder.”
“None of that means anything, who is he to you? Why do you care?” Jennifer snapped. Stiles’ eyes were rolling into the back of his head; they were out of time.
“I care because I love him and he loves me as much as he’s capable of,” Derek said. The words were out of his mouth before he could think twice. They hadn’t said it to each other since the trickster’s world and Derek thought it was because it wasn’t true in the real world. Yet here he was bargaining with an angel for the life of the demon that he was in love with. Jennifer stared at Derek with wide eyes like she couldn’t believe he just said that. “You could hear my heartbeat; I’m not lying.” Jennifer looked back at Stiles and narrowed her eyes like she was trying to see something. Just as Stiles’ heart slowed to a stop she dropped him. Stiles fell to the ground in a heap. Jennifer looked like she was about to say something when a bright light made her vanish. Derek looked over and saw Chris with a bloody hand over a banishing sigil.
“Couldn’t risk him going with her,” he said breathlessly. Derek rushed over to Stiles and knelt down next to him. He wasn’t breathing. Allison moved Derek out of the way and started CPR. A heartbeat echoed in his ear, the smell of sulfur filled the air, and when Derek looked down at Stiles his eyes were open and demon black. Stiles blinked and they were back to the honey brown. Derek didn’t know what to say so he said nothing. He just looked down at Stiles and smiled.
+++
Allison and Chris said they were going to send more hunters down to watch Beacon Hills but if they ever had problems they couldn’t handle they would call Derek for help. Stiles wasn’t sure how he felt about that but at least they didn’t have to wait around Beacon Hills anymore. Jennifer hadn’t returned after Chris banished her and Stiles wasn’t convinced she wouldn’t show up again. He needed to find a way to get a hold of one of the angel swords or at least some holy oil. Stiles wasn’t looking forward to calling in those favors.
Laura was tired and asleep in the motel room while Chris, Allison, and Derek talked quietly in the parking lot. Stiles wasn’t really listening since it was all formal hunter crap and he was still getting used to being himself again. Derek shook Chris and Allison’s hands and they went their separate ways. Derek walked over and joined Stiles on the hood of the Camaro. They hadn’t talked about Derek had said and how he managed to convince Jennifer not kill him. Stiles felt like he was going to be sick when he thought about.
“I figure we’ll head out in the morning,” Derek said like he hadn’t confessed to being in love with Stiles a few hours ago.
“I didn’t deserve that,” Stiles said. Derek frowned and looked at him but Stiles refused to meet Derek’s gaze. “All of that stuff you said about me being good and doing good. It’s not right and you shouldn’t have said it.”
“I didn’t lie though,” Derek said.
“It’s all my fault,” Stiles blurted. “All of this, every single terrible thing that has happened to you has been my fault. I was the one who was helpless to stop my Dad from getting sick and made the deal with Saul. The only reason Saul was even Beacon Hills was because I was born here. That’s why he came here and I was helpless to stop him from killing your family. He went after Laura because he heard about how you were looking for me and him. I was the one that bonded us in the Pit and painted this giant targets on our backs for it. This all goes back to me, all of it, you should hate me for everything I’ve done to you not--” Stiles cut himself off because he couldn’t even say the word. He was fairly sure he wasn’t capable of speaking it let alone feeling it.
“You can’t make yourself responsible for the actions of others. You’re not guilty of anything Saul did than I’m guilty of anything Peter did just because we’re related. It’s not your fault that Saul decided to kill my family. He didn’t need to do that. I don’t blame you and I never will,” Derek said softly after a long silence. “I know you can’t feel the same way I do, I get that and I’m not asking you to, but I know you care. You know how I know you care?”
“How?” Stiles whispered.
“If you didn’t care you wouldn’t feel guilty.” Derek moved closer so their shoulders were touching. Stiles felt like he was going to have a panic attack despite the fact that he wasn’t human anymore and he never used to get them when he was a demon. “Just say you’ll continue to work with me. We make a good team and there are still plenty of other things out there that you need to poke with sticks.” Stiles huffed a laugh and nodded slowly.
“Yeah, I’ll keep working with you,” he said. Stiles glanced up at Derek and met his gaze for the first time. Derek looked so calm and maybe even a little relieved like finding out that Stiles wasn’t planning on leaving was the best news he got all day. Maybe there was something fundamentally broken in him. Something that kept Stiles from being able to love Derek entirely yet as Stiles pulled him into a kiss he couldn’t deny that something was there. Perhaps Derek was right and Stiles just loved him as much as he was capable of. When Derek kissed him back Stiles felt like he was saying ‘I know and what you’re capable of is enough.’
Stiles broke their kiss and pressed his forehead to Derek’s. He would let Derek and Laura get some sleep and in the morning they would all leave Beacon Hills behind them. Stiles wasn’t sure if admitting their feelings for each other was a good idea, they had so many enemies that could use it against them, but the bond between them felt stronger than ever. Their bond had great potential that they hadn’t even begun to tap into. Stiles was surprised how excited it made him to see what they could accomplish together.
The creatures of the world have no idea what they’re in for, Stiles thought and he grinned.
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