(i've got a feeling) heading for another take II
Title: (i've got a feeling) we will never get closer than this
Chapter Index (i've got a feeling) Master Post
Part One: Read heading for another take I
☋ month six ☋
Stiles was a little surprised by Scott’s downtrodden mood when they met up after school. “What’s up?” he asked uncertainly. They hadn’t talked much during school that day, so it was possible that something had happened yesterday and Scott hadn’t had a chance to tell him yet. Scott managing to stick to the same mood the entire day was generally only reserved for dwelling on Allison so this had to be something serious.
“Deaton is telling me to leave the pack,” Scott grumbled, his voice hardly audible.
Stiles tried not to let his emotions show on his face at that revelation. He had been talking (others might call it badgering) to Scott about rejoining Derek’s pack, but Stiles hadn’t really thought about going to Deaton about it. He was Scott’s Alpha and as far as Stiles had known, he enjoyed the role and wasn’t keen on giving it up. So this revelation was rather illuminating. “What do you mean?” he asked finally, going for something safe.
“He keeps telling me that he’s running out of things that he can teach me because he’s only human and that I need to join Derek’s pack again if I want to ‘hone myself to my full potential’ or something like that.” Scott wasn’t even trying to keep the bitterness from his voice.
“Why don’t you want to join Derek’s pack?” Stiles ventured, because Scott seriously seemed opposed to it but never really said why.
He grumbled in reply and for a few minutes Stiles resigned himself to the fact that Scott just wasn’t going to give him a straight answer to that. “Derek doesn’t trust anyone. He expects everyone to just listen to him and go along with what he says but he won’t give anyone the benefit of the doubt. That’s not the mark of a good Alpha.”
Stiles considered that, because it was definitely true. Derek had a horrific tendency to push everyone away from himself but then expect that they all still trust in him - it was pretty warped. “Alright, you’re right about that, but dude, he’s actually getting better,” Stiles said and it wasn’t a complete lie. Derek had grown accustomed to at least talking to the pack and considering their ideas more, though Stiles didn’t think he trusted them at all. “He just needs the time to learn; he isn’t perfect by a long shot, but he’s doing a hell of a lot better than he had been back when he first bit Isaac, Erica, and Boyd.”
Scott didn’t seem convinced. He also didn’t seem like he wanted to concede to Stiles’ argument, which he had been making a lot in the past couple of weeks. “I’ll believe it when I see it,” he said as a challenge.
“Well you won’t see it until you join the pack again,” Stiles goaded hopefully, nudging Scott’s elbow.
“You never give up, do you?” Scott groaned.
“How long have you known me?”
“I may be regretting my kindergarten choices of friendship,” Scott said solemnly, but there was a smirk playing at the edge of his mouth.
Stiles gasped in mock hurt. “That is a terrible thing to say to someone who basically carried you through middle school, Scott McCall.”
Scott narrowed his eyes. “I’m going to carry your ass out that window,” he said lamely.
“Okay, Coach, any other awesome threats you want to throw my way?”
Scott pounced on him which was not at all fair.
☋
Derek didn’t seem particularly receptive to the idea that Lydia and Stiles were pitching to him. Stiles was trying to decide if he just genuinely didn’t want Scott back in the pack or if maybe he felt some residual betrayal at the way Scott had sold him out to Gerard and then walked out on him after his usefulness had expired. Stiles couldn’t exactly say that it was unwarranted.
“What makes you think that Scott even wants back in the pack?” Derek asked them skeptically.
“Because I’m his best friend and I talk to him everyday?” Stiles offered dumbly. Lydia threw him a look of annoyance, like he was making her stupider by sitting next to her.
“Scott said that Deaton has told him that their time together is at an end. While he does think of Scott like a son, he’s not really an Alpha, even if Scott wants him to be one. Scott needs a werewolf to show him how to develop properly - he needs you, Derek.” Lydia stated, obviously a hundredfold more eloquently than Stiles would have managed.
Derek weighed the truthfulness of her words against his knowledge of Scott’s behavior. Scott was a risk in more ways than one, because he thought with his heart instead of his brain whereas Derek never considered his heart in anything - it was just a liability. He studied Lydia and Stiles’ faces, seeing the hopefulness and the resoluteness there; they had already decided that Scott was pack and needed to be here. The only problems he saw arising were with Jackson and Peter - Jackson he could take care of, Peter was something he wasn’t entirely certain about. He didn’t quite know Peter’s motivation still and that was a problem.
He tried to clear his head of that and focus back on Scott though. Despite the risks, he was still useful. “Tell him to come by and I’ll talk to him,” Derek offered amicably.
Stiles broke out in a maniacal grin. “Oh man, thanks, Derek!”
☋
Derek didn’t expect Scott to stop by that evening, but maybe that said something about him. He wasn’t really sure what, but it was something.
“So uh, Stiles said that I should come by,” Scott said, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.
Derek nodded. “He and Lydia said that Deaton has been telling you that you should consider looking for a new pack?” Floundering around the topic at hand was pointless; they both knew what they were here for.
Scott nodded slowly. “He says that he’s got nothing else he can teach me - that I need a werewolf to go any further.” He didn’t sound particularly happy that that werewolf was Derek.
Derek considered him for a moment before delving in. “You don’t need to come here just because Deaton says you need a werewolf for an Alpha, Scott. I know that you weren’t happy with the way I did things six months ago and you were right. All of you were right. I-I was reckless and I let the power go to my head and I didn’t deserve to keep the pack that I ended up with, but they gave me the chance anyway and I damn well did my best. And I have no qualms with taking you in, but we aren’t going to allow you to stay if you’re going to hate all the time you spend with us. Because believe it or not, we’ve actually got something resembling a family and it’s working well enough for us that we can’t afford to have it disassembled from the inside-out.” He took a deep breath, surprising even himself by how much he had said.
Scott looked surprised by the speech. It wasn’t often that Derek gave speeches, after all. It was mostly glowering and growling. “Stiles said that things were going pretty well for you guys, I guess I just didn’t think it was true.”
Derek raised an eyebrow. “Thanks?”
Scott laughed. “Sorry. I really would like to be with you guys again. I mean, if that’s alright with you. But I still want to help Deaton and Chris when they need me, if I can.” He looked stupidly hopeful, like Derek might already be dashing away his hopes and dreams.
“You can still help them, Scott. I’m not going to keep you from seeing people - unless you have contact with the Alpha pack, in which case there will be issues,” Derek gave him a hard look, though there wasn’t a lot of malice behind it. He didn’t really blame Scott for what he had done with Gerard, considering the way the man kept threatening his mom, but he should have come to him instead of always trying to handle things on his own.
Scott held up his hands. “I know just as much as you do on that front, I swear. Well, you guys might know more than I do, even.”
Derek clapped him on the shoulder. “We all know more than you do, Scott,” to which Scott scowled good-naturedly. “Welcome back, man.”
☊ present day ☊
Derek snorted. “Dart throwing isn’t an Olympic sport.”
Stiles looked annoyed. “I don’t care, it is awesome and we should include it!”
It was a Friday evening and they were spending most of it bickering back and forth, sheets of paper spread all over Derek’s bed along with a bowl of popcorn that was half empty and far too many cans of caffeine being consumed (mostly on Stiles’ part). The clock was ticking ever closer to midnight and they had only really agreed on three events after being at this for four and a half hours.
“I don’t really see the benefit,” Derek sighed, shifting his position and looking at Stiles expectantly.
“There are plenty!” Stiles ticked them off on his fingers as he named them, “Hand-eye coordination, depth perception, wrist control, strength-checking for delicate tasks, the possibility for either teams or singular competition...”
Derek tried not to look too annoyed about how knowledgeable Stiles had become in just the past four hours from what Derek had told him of what the wolves needed to learn in order to coexist and work properly together. “Couldn’t we just use archery for that?” Derek suggested, annoyance creeping into his voice anyway.
“It’s not a fine motor skill,” Stiles replied simply.
“Do you even know what that means?” Derek asked skeptically.
Stiles looked like he was considering that. “Sort of, but who cares. You know I’m right.”
“Put it on the list, but I doubt it’ll make the final cut,” Derek sighed at the smirk he received for it. “We need to include some good team sports,” Derek said, looking at the scribbled notes they had all over the bed.
“Lacrosse, duh,” Stiles replied, already writing it down.
“No, it needs to be something they aren’t used to playing.”
“Why?” Stiles asked curiously.
“Because if they are doing something that is routine then they aren’t inside of their heads completely and that allows for distractions. They always need to be focused on their pack mates when the situations call for it so that they don’t tender mistakes. If the entire pack isn’t working together because one wolf is too busy thinking about himself instead of the group, the whole unit is nullified and that’s what we’ve got to get-”
Stiles was watching him, eyes gliding over his face steadily like he’d been saying something worth studying closely.
Derek balked. “What?”
Stiles shook his head, eyes coming into focus as he blinked a couple of times. “Uh, nothing, I just - I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you talk about them like that. Or talk about the reasoning for a pack beyond ‘stronger, better, faster,’ y’know?”
He raised his eyebrow. “I didn’t make the pack just to make myself better, Stiles. I didn’t offer them the bite just to benefit myself...”
“Oh! Oh, I know that - that’s not what I meant, really. It’s just - you usually talk about how they’ve got to-”
“We,” Derek cut across him pointedly.
“What?” Stiles asked, a look of confusion on his face.
“You keep referring to the pack as ‘they.’ This is your pack too.”
Stiles opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. “Right. Right, I just - I don’t really consider myself when I’m talking about the werewolves...” he trailed off, looking down at his hands.
Derek knew that it was more difficult for them than Lydia and Stiles sometimes liked to let on. Being accepted into the pack was one thing, but that didn’t change the fact that they were still human and the significant differences between them and the rest of the pack could be intimidating at times. “But this is still your pack, even if you’re not one of the werewolves. You should get used to being in the collective and stop excluding yourself. You’re a permanent fixture.”
Stiles looked up at him about halfway through that and stared him down, brown eyes daring Derek to be lying. But he wouldn’t lie, not about his pack, not about something that important to both Stiles and himself. “Okay, yeah - I’ll work on that. What I meant was that I’ve never heard you talk about the pack - about us - outside of pack meetings... it’s-it’s nice.”
Derek had his eyebrow halfway up his forehead again. He wasn’t certain what Stiles was going on about.
“Oh my God, forget it. You are incapable of taking a compliment.”
“That was a compliment?”
“Yes!”
“In what universe?”
Stiles groaned exasperatedly. “You are such a pain in the ass! Like, you say that we are infuriating, but you are the most infuriatingly frustrating Alpha in the world! Not just that, the most infuriating person in the world! Holy crap, it’s like trying to get a brick wall to understand the finer intricacies of human emotion!”
Derek frowned. “I think that’s a bit excessive...”
“You really have no idea how ridiculous it is to talk to you. And I mean, you’ve even improved, which is what is so mind-boggling about it!” Stiles gave a weird, manic-looking smile and ran his hand over his shorn head in frustration.
“Why does it bother you so much?” Derek pressed, wondering where all this was even coming from.
“Because apparently I am the Pack Mom and that’s what I do - I worry about everything and everyone,” Stiles sighed and he was scrubbing his face like this was the most taxing thing he’d ever talked about.
Derek smirked. “Pack Mom?” he asked with amusement.
“Yes. Mommy Wolf,” he said, pointing to himself, then he pointed to Derek, “Daddy Wolf, and Baby Wolves,” he gestured out into the air, which apparently meant the rest of the pack.
Derek snorted over a laugh that was bubbling in his chest. “Who said that?” he asked incredulously.
“Oh please, Derek,” Stiles replied, but he sounded a little amused now, “don’t you know it’s all the rage in Pack Hale-Stilinski? I mean, you might be the head of the family, but everyone knows that all the real power resides in the hands of the momma.” He puffed out his chest and fisted his hands at his hips in a mock-superman pose.
Derek rolled his eyes and pretended that Stiles had not just said something else about taking over power as the Alpha. Seriously, he was lucky that no one else was around right now.
“This is a pack and maybe even a family, but we do not have those types of traditional family roles. And I am not ‘Daddy Wolf’,” he scoffed.
“You’re just pissed that everyone loves me more than they do you,” Stiles stuck his tongue out, abandoning his pose and tossing a wayward pencil at Derek’s face.
He caught it with ease before it could hit him in the nose. “I’m green with envy,” he deadpanned.
“That’s alright, I can teach you some of my tricks. They are widespread and many, but I’m sure you could catch on eventually,” Stiles laughed, eyes gleaming.
Derek studied his face, taking in the happiness that splayed through the lines at the corners of his eyes and the wrinkle of his nose as he smiled. It was a nice sight to have in front of him and it was something Derek could get used to seeing in the pack hideout more regularly. Stiles seemed to be worried more than smiling lately so it was important that he was genuinely cheerful every now and then.
“Does Jackson know that he’s being referred to as a ‘Baby Wolf’?” Derek asked, a dangerous glint in his eyes.
Stiles visibly deflated. “Derek, we just got our runaway back, I don’t understand - why are you trying to tear this family apart?” Stiles piled on as much overreaching emotion as he could muster into the last bit, clutching at Derek’s pant leg and looking thoroughly distraught.
“Okay, now it’s just getting weird,” Derek said.
Stiles released his leg and his face cleared of all previous distress as he sat up. “Yeah, you’re right, I think we should leave that alone for now. Besides, I definitely don’t have the child-bearing hips for this motherhood gig,” he said, looking down at his own waist with a smirk because he very obviously was not leaving it alone at all. Stiles jumped suddenly though and said, “Oh shit!” and Derek looked confusedly at him.
“What?”
“I didn’t tell my dad I’d be out this late. I guess I should probably...go?” Stiles looked at Derek uncertainly.
Derek frowned. “You can stay if you want, Stiles. You don’t have to leave.”
“Yeah?” Stiles asked, sounding far more surprised than he should.
Derek rolled his eyes. “Yes, this is the home of the pack, Stiles, and that includes you. When are you going to stop being surprised by that?”
“I don’t know, it just doesn’t seem to be the same for me as it does for the wolves,” he jumped off the bed and lifted his hands in front of his face in self defense. “I know - I know, it’s the same, I get it. Let me go call him.”
Stiles walked into the other room, but of course Derek could still hear him and his father’s voice on the phone perfectly fine.
“Stiles,” the Sheriff said when he picked up the phone. From what it sounded like, he was working.
“Hey Dad, sorry I didn’t call sooner. Let time get away from me.”
“Out with Scott?”
“Yeah... Scott and Isaac,” Stiles replied. Lie.
“What are you boys doing?”
“Oh y’know, just playing video games...eating pizza...watching movies. Just hanging out - the usual.” Another lie.
“Friday night and Scott isn’t out with Allison?” the Sheriff sounded skeptical.
“Well, I think Allison’s dad said something about mandatory father-daughter time and commandeered her Friday night because she’d been spending too much time with Scott.” While that could possibly have a kernel of truth to it, still a lie.
“Ah, well I can’t blame him for that. How’s Isaac doing?” he asked, concern obvious in his voice.
“Oh he’s-he’s good,” Stiles answered, apparently not certain what to say.
“He’s doing okay at Scott’s?” was apparently the real question.
“Oh, yeah. Yeah of course. I mean, Ms. McCall... well, she’s Ms. McCall - Isaac couldn’t ask for a better foster parent, really. He really likes it there and he and Scott are getting along really well.” A little too well on Isaac’s part, apparently, Derek thought with amusement.
“Good, I’m glad. It was a great thing for her to take him in like that. She’s a good woman,” the Sheriff said and there was definitely an interesting tone in his voice that Derek noticed and Stiles probably didn’t recognize at all.
“Yeah, she’s great,” he replied, sounding clueless.
“Well you boys don’t get into any trouble, alright? I’ll know if you do.” Derek could have sworn he heard him tapping his name badge through the phone.
“Hmm thanks for the reassurance of your belief in my character. It’s very refreshing,” Stiles said sarcastically.
“Just know that I’m always watching you,” the Sheriff said and Derek snorted.
“Oh awesome, Big Brother and everything - that’s just great, Dad. Not creepy at all. I think I’m going to go before I get even more weirded out by this conversation.”
“Uh huh. Have fun. Love you, son.”
“Love you too, creepy father-o-mine,” Stiles said and hung up his phone.
When Stiles walked back into Derek’s room, Derek asked, “Does it bother you?”
“Huh?” Stiles looked confused.
“Having to lie to him so much.”
He shrugged and tried to look nonchalant. If he was phased by Derek having known what transpired during his phone conversion, he didn't show it. "It is what it is. He is better off not knowing, so if lying to him is what keeps him from knowing, then so be it. At least I can tell him the truth about who I am with - mostly. He knows who my friends are and that is a step in the right direction."
Derek considered that. He was basically the link in the chain that made everything fall apart - the black sheep no one could talk about. Sometimes it was unfortunate that no one knew about him, but other times he remembered that it was for the best that Stiles' father didn't know that Derek was in his life (or the other teens' lives, for that matter). On top of his 'person of interest' status, it would be odd for him to be hanging out with a bunch of teenagers, so keeping it on the down-low was the best thing for it. "I'm glad you have such a great relationship with him. It's a good thing, Stiles." He tried not to look wistful as he said it.
The teen nodded. "Yeah-yeah it is," he replied, smiling wide. "Now what team sport were you thinking of subjecting them to?" He plopped back on the bed, reclining his head on Derek’s legs and pillowing his hands behind his neck, smirking over at the werewolf.
“I’m thinking baseball,” Derek replied, eying Stiles with a bit of amusement.
“Baseball,” the teenager parroted, rolling it around on his tongue. “I think I like the sound of that, actually. I would be pretty awesome at it.”
“You’re not playing,” Derek said immediately.
“But there are only five of them! They’ll need us!”
“There are six of us,” Derek corrected, amused by the fact that Stiles forgot about him.
“Right, but that gives you three people per team? How’s that enough for a baseball team?”
“It’s enough for werewolves, Stiles.”
“God, I hate werewolves sometimes.”
☋ month one ☋
“Well, this is exciting, isn’t it?” Peter said as they made their way back toward the pack hideout. Derek was still tense after seeing the Alpha pack symbol on the Hale house and he kept glancing over at Isaac, worried that he’d be suddenly snatched right from his side. Wherever Erica and Boyd might be, the chances that they wouldn’t run into the Alpha pack were slim. The chances that they would survive that run-in were slimmer still.
He scowled at his uncle. “It’s a regular circus act,” he responded dryly.
He saw Peter look over at Isaac and roll his eyes. “He’s quite the Debbie Downer, isn’t he? No wonder half his pack abandoned him. Oh wait, that was over half now, wasn’t it? Scott...didn’t see that one coming, did you, Derek?”
“Would you shut up?” Derek growled.
“It was kind of a brilliant plan though, when you think about it. I’m a bit surprised that a dimwit like Scott was actually able to pull that one off. I guess it just goes to show you that anyone can surprise you these days, right Derek?” He was fishing but Derek wasn’t biting. There was no way that Peter had changed and if he thought that Derek was stupid enough to fall for it, he was as much of a dumbass as Scott.
Isaac decided to fill the silence that Derek let linger. “So what is Gerard going to turn into? A kanima?”
“Doubtful,” Peter replied. “Kanimas are created because of problems created in one’s past. And while Gerard might have those issues, the Mountain Ash has added a whole other level of fucked up. We’ll probably be dealing with something we haven’t seen before. The good doctor has effectively created a new species.” Peter couldn’t have sounded more excited about that if he had started skipping down the trail they were walking, the bastard.
“That doesn’t sound good...” Isaac offered.
“It’s not,” Derek said. “That’s why we have to find him and kill him,” he said simply.
“Of course. The Derek answer to everything. Find, maim, kill. Just like you wanted to do with Jackson...”
Derek wheeled around on Peter, eyes raging with anger. “Don’t you fucking start with me, Peter. I saw you back there - you were practically salivating at the chance to kill him! After all that bullshit you spat at me about trying to save him, you were the one that moved at the first chance you saw to kill him - so don’t even fucking give me that.”
Peter just shrugged. “I was doing what was necessary - and there’s nothing wrong with taking delight in the things that I do. Not everyone goes through life negative and sour like you, Derek. Things worked out fine, though - you even got a new baby werewolf to raise so you should be ecstatic, right? You’re three down and two up!”
Derek’s eyes narrowed so far they were practically slits, but he didn’t say anything.
“That Jackson - he’s definitely going to be a handful though. Right, Isaac?”
“Uhh...” Isaac stumbled out, looking over at Derek for confirmation about what he was supposed to do in this situation.
“You’re going to need all the help you can get to handle that one. You don’t realize it, Derek, but Jackson’s got quite a bit of the same personality as you do, so you’re going to be grating each other from day one. There’s no way you’re going to know how to deal with that kind of personality. You’ll need someone like me around to show you-”
“No,” Derek said simply, cutting over him.
“You haven’t even-”
“No,” Derek said again.
“Derek, you need me in your pack,” Peter said, more roughly this time and he sounded a little less sing-songy than before.
“He wants to be in our pack?” Isaac asked incredulously. “Didn’t he try to kill all of you?”
“Yes,” Derek replied to Isaac and then he turned to Peter, “You’re not going to be in my pack, Peter. You murdered Laura, tried to get Scott to kill all his friends, you attacked Lydia and brain-fucked her - I’m not letting you be in this pack.”
Peter looked at him for a long moment before turning to Isaac. “Do you really think that he cares about your well-being? You know he doesn’t trust you and he’s never going to. He expects you to trust everything he says, but won’t ever give the same in return. You’re going to just follow him blindly into oblivion?”
Isaac looked uncertainly between Derek and Peter. After a long moment he replied, “He didn’t try to murder me or my family. He didn’t ask me to murder my friends or my family, either.”
Derek was surprised by the surge of fulfilment he felt in his chest from Isaac’s words. He’d never had anyone talk about him like that - to say that they’d rather be with him, even if it was just because he was better than a skeevy murderer like his uncle.
“I’m willing to let you stay, if you remain useful to me, but I’m not letting you in my pack. Those are my terms - take them or leave them.” Derek knew that the opening was still too wide and that Peter was going to use it to his full advantage, but he would rather have Peter close to him where he could keep an eye on him than have him running amok where he had no idea what he was up to. Some would tell him it was stupid, but it was definitely smarter to keep this enemy close to him than to set him free to his own devices.
Peter acted like he was considering it, but Derek knew what his answer was going to be. “Alright, nephew, you drive a hard bargain, but I’ll accept your supercilious terms, but only because I want us to be a family again and if this is the only way you are going to allow it, then I am going to just have to accept that.” Peter reached out his hand like he was going to touch Derek’s shoulder and Derek backed off immediately.
“Don’t touch me,” he said scornfully and walked away from Peter, Isaac in tow.
☊ present day ☊
Chris and Deaton had requested a meeting with Derek to talk to him about something so he was waiting for their arrival at the old Hale house; he chose it rather than the pack hideout just in case wayward ears happened to overhear what they would be discussing. They hadn’t met since Gerard had first gone missing, which could really only bring him to a couple of conclusions, only one of which made the most logical sense.
He waited in the living room with arms crossed over his chest, uncertain if he considered this good news or bad news. Gerard showing his face again meant trouble, but if they could get him taken care of and have one less problem to worry about, Derek would be more than relieved.
The hunter and veterinarian entered the house looking solemn but determined and Derek hoped that was a good sign. "So, what's this about?" he asked for the sake of formality.
Chris spread a map out on the nearby table and waved Derek over to it. It was of the northwestern United States and marks had been made all over it that Derek didn’t necessarily understand. He was about to ask when Chris began to explain. “We’ve been tracking Gerard as best we could since his disappearance nine months ago, as you well know. Things were looking fairly quiet and we weren’t certain that we were going to find him at all - though we knew he wasn’t dead - but then we began to hear some news stories come in from Yreka,” Chris tapped on the town that was north from Beacon Hills, hitting close to Oregon’s southern border, “about two and a half months ago that sounded promising. A number of unexplained deaths were happening within the same town, all near the general vicinity of the Klamath National Forest, which would be the perfect hideout for someone like Gerard who was probably shifting into something unexplainable and needed good shelter more often than not - so we decided to check it out.”
“And not to tell anyone else about it,” Derek said with an audible growl, glaring at the location on the map. Gerard had run fairly far; apparently he hadn’t wanted them to stumble across him - or to stumble across any of them during any of his unfortunate transformations. But mostly Derek was not happy that all of this information was being given to him almost three months after the fact.
“We didn’t find that it was pertinent for your pack to be informed just yet,” Deaton said, speaking for the first time in his ever-calm manner.
Derek rolled his eyes. “Of course you didn’t. It’s not like he is a threat to everyone here.”
“He might be, but he’s still my father, my responsibility and it is still my decision what we do with him when the time comes,” Chris replied, the annoyance sitting just at the edge of his voice as he very carefully tried to keep it at bay.
“Scott made him my responsibility too when he decided that I was going to be the one who bit him and help turn him into whatever freak of nature he and Deaton created,” Derek said sourly, still obviously unhappy about their secret plan. Which had not turned out quite as well as they had hoped either - he didn’t have to remind either of them though, they’d been told that already. “I know he’s your father, Argent, but you don’t just get to go on secret missions and not let the rest of us know that you’ve found the bastard. That’s bullshit. My pack has the right to know about this.”
“Your pack is half of the reason that he was here in the first place, Hale. Maybe if you hadn’t gone around biting every teenager that could wal-”
“Alright boys,” Deaton interjected with a calm voice, placing a hand on Chris’ shoulder, “how about we compare our dick sizes later and get back to the matter at hand? Besides, we all know that I’d win at that contest anyhow.” He was smirking, and that unnatural part alone was enough to get Derek to let it go and never ever go down that road again if it meant that he didn’t have to see that creepy smile on Deaton’s face again.
“...Right,” Chris said, when it was clear Derek was not going to say a damn thing after that bit. “So, we found him. Or we assume we did. We don’t know what he is though. It’s not anything that the Argent family has ever seen before and Deaton isn’t certain about it either.”
“Well that’s just fucking won-” Derek began, his temper rising.
“That’s not all,” Chris cut over him, which made Derek growl but he let Chris say his piece. “We believe that Gerard is coming back now. Once we left Yreka we think that Gerard noticed our presence and has decided to come back to Beacon Hills again. During our stay he was beginning to gain more control over his transformations, so it was only a matter of time before he gained enough control that it would be safe enough to travel south again.”
“You gotta be fucking kidding me! How could you two just go on a fucking Gerard hunt and not tell any of us? And then get him on your scent and have him trekking right back toward us? This is fucking ridiculous!”
“Let’s not get worked up about the things we can’t change, Derek, and worry more about the things that we can,” Deaton said.
“Which is what, exactly?” Derek asked sarcastically, turning toward him.
“Figuring out what Gerard is and how we can stop him before he hurts anyone else, for starters,” Deaton responded mollifyingly.
“The pack has to be told about this,” Derek said flatly. He was not going to let his pack wait around to be slaughtered like a line of sitting ducks.
“It’s not particularly prudent to inform your pack right now, Derek,” Deaton said and apparently he saw the anger rising in the werewolf’s face because he continued rather quickly, “that is not to say that we do not want you to inform a select member of the pack, however.”
He rolled his eyes. “Scott?”
“While Scott has helped us in the past, he isn’t the one that we had in mind. He’s also a little too hot-headed when it comes to Gerard - when we take Allison into consideration. He wouldn’t be a wise choice.”
“Then who-” Derek began, but it didn’t take him long to answer the question for himself after he’d begun to ask it. If it wasn’t Scott that they were after, then there was really only one other person it could be. “No,” Derek said immediately, not giving it any thought whatsoever.
“Your concern for Stiles’ well-being is admirable, Derek, but he is not quite as fragile is you might think. And whatever your reservations, he is the best suited for this; we need him,” Deaton pressed and Derek felt himself getting frustrated again.
“I said ‘no.’ You’re not pressuring him into something like this again, Deaton. You’re not using that bullshit excuse that ‘he’s the only one who can’ because he’s not and you know it! You’re not putting him into danger like that again!” He knew what this was about - the fucking Mountain Ash. Scott and Deaton had used pills laced with Mountain Ash to poison Gerard and whatever it had done to twist him into the shapeshifter he was, they were going to try to use Stiles to see if he could somehow control it or stop it or kill it or something. Derek was not going to let that happen. Boyd and Erica had been one thing - the danger hadn’t been quite as great. But this - this was beyond anything anyone understood the repercussions of and he wasn’t letting Deaton use Stiles as his witchdoctor guinea pig just to see if it would actually turn out any results. He wouldn’t allow it.
“The danger might be great, but it is technically Stiles’ decision whether he wants to partake in the possibility of it or not,” Deaton said coolly.
“I am his Alpha, it is my decision to make!” Derek replied hotly, but he knew what Deaton’s reply was going to be before he even made it. He wanted to protect his pack, but he couldn’t make those decisions for them.
“It is your duty as his Alpha to tell him his options and allow him to make his own decisions. You are perfectly aware of that, Derek. I know you want to protect him - that you want to protect your entire pack because it is thriving now more than ever - but Stiles is a brilliant young man and that intelligence and intuition is something that we desperately need if we are going to stand a chance in figuring out what Gerard is and stopping him. Please don’t make this harder for everyone by being irrational.”
Derek remained stubborn. “I’m not telling him.”
“Would you rather that we tell him?” Chris asked, a bit petulant. He softened a bit, though, and added, “Allison could tell him...”
“Fuck! Fine! Godddamnit, Deaton, don’t go creating anymore unnatural creatures while we deal with the Alpha pack and Gerard, okay? Don’t you think we have enough?” he said, acting like a damn child, because truthfully he was pissed and he just wanted to say something and it was all he could come up with.
“Right. I think we’ll leave you to it, Derek. Don’t wait too long to talk to Stiles about this. We don’t know how much time we have before Gerard gets here, but we’ll keep an eye out for him until you do.”
Derek sighed and nodded. “Thanks,” he said in a defeated tone and he did mean it, but he also realized just how much more difficult things were going to get now.
Continue to Part Three
Chapter Index (i've got a feeling) Master Post
Part One: Read heading for another take I
☋ month six ☋
Stiles was a little surprised by Scott’s downtrodden mood when they met up after school. “What’s up?” he asked uncertainly. They hadn’t talked much during school that day, so it was possible that something had happened yesterday and Scott hadn’t had a chance to tell him yet. Scott managing to stick to the same mood the entire day was generally only reserved for dwelling on Allison so this had to be something serious.
“Deaton is telling me to leave the pack,” Scott grumbled, his voice hardly audible.
Stiles tried not to let his emotions show on his face at that revelation. He had been talking (others might call it badgering) to Scott about rejoining Derek’s pack, but Stiles hadn’t really thought about going to Deaton about it. He was Scott’s Alpha and as far as Stiles had known, he enjoyed the role and wasn’t keen on giving it up. So this revelation was rather illuminating. “What do you mean?” he asked finally, going for something safe.
“He keeps telling me that he’s running out of things that he can teach me because he’s only human and that I need to join Derek’s pack again if I want to ‘hone myself to my full potential’ or something like that.” Scott wasn’t even trying to keep the bitterness from his voice.
“Why don’t you want to join Derek’s pack?” Stiles ventured, because Scott seriously seemed opposed to it but never really said why.
He grumbled in reply and for a few minutes Stiles resigned himself to the fact that Scott just wasn’t going to give him a straight answer to that. “Derek doesn’t trust anyone. He expects everyone to just listen to him and go along with what he says but he won’t give anyone the benefit of the doubt. That’s not the mark of a good Alpha.”
Stiles considered that, because it was definitely true. Derek had a horrific tendency to push everyone away from himself but then expect that they all still trust in him - it was pretty warped. “Alright, you’re right about that, but dude, he’s actually getting better,” Stiles said and it wasn’t a complete lie. Derek had grown accustomed to at least talking to the pack and considering their ideas more, though Stiles didn’t think he trusted them at all. “He just needs the time to learn; he isn’t perfect by a long shot, but he’s doing a hell of a lot better than he had been back when he first bit Isaac, Erica, and Boyd.”
Scott didn’t seem convinced. He also didn’t seem like he wanted to concede to Stiles’ argument, which he had been making a lot in the past couple of weeks. “I’ll believe it when I see it,” he said as a challenge.
“Well you won’t see it until you join the pack again,” Stiles goaded hopefully, nudging Scott’s elbow.
“You never give up, do you?” Scott groaned.
“How long have you known me?”
“I may be regretting my kindergarten choices of friendship,” Scott said solemnly, but there was a smirk playing at the edge of his mouth.
Stiles gasped in mock hurt. “That is a terrible thing to say to someone who basically carried you through middle school, Scott McCall.”
Scott narrowed his eyes. “I’m going to carry your ass out that window,” he said lamely.
“Okay, Coach, any other awesome threats you want to throw my way?”
Scott pounced on him which was not at all fair.
☋
Derek didn’t seem particularly receptive to the idea that Lydia and Stiles were pitching to him. Stiles was trying to decide if he just genuinely didn’t want Scott back in the pack or if maybe he felt some residual betrayal at the way Scott had sold him out to Gerard and then walked out on him after his usefulness had expired. Stiles couldn’t exactly say that it was unwarranted.
“What makes you think that Scott even wants back in the pack?” Derek asked them skeptically.
“Because I’m his best friend and I talk to him everyday?” Stiles offered dumbly. Lydia threw him a look of annoyance, like he was making her stupider by sitting next to her.
“Scott said that Deaton has told him that their time together is at an end. While he does think of Scott like a son, he’s not really an Alpha, even if Scott wants him to be one. Scott needs a werewolf to show him how to develop properly - he needs you, Derek.” Lydia stated, obviously a hundredfold more eloquently than Stiles would have managed.
Derek weighed the truthfulness of her words against his knowledge of Scott’s behavior. Scott was a risk in more ways than one, because he thought with his heart instead of his brain whereas Derek never considered his heart in anything - it was just a liability. He studied Lydia and Stiles’ faces, seeing the hopefulness and the resoluteness there; they had already decided that Scott was pack and needed to be here. The only problems he saw arising were with Jackson and Peter - Jackson he could take care of, Peter was something he wasn’t entirely certain about. He didn’t quite know Peter’s motivation still and that was a problem.
He tried to clear his head of that and focus back on Scott though. Despite the risks, he was still useful. “Tell him to come by and I’ll talk to him,” Derek offered amicably.
Stiles broke out in a maniacal grin. “Oh man, thanks, Derek!”
☋
Derek didn’t expect Scott to stop by that evening, but maybe that said something about him. He wasn’t really sure what, but it was something.
“So uh, Stiles said that I should come by,” Scott said, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.
Derek nodded. “He and Lydia said that Deaton has been telling you that you should consider looking for a new pack?” Floundering around the topic at hand was pointless; they both knew what they were here for.
Scott nodded slowly. “He says that he’s got nothing else he can teach me - that I need a werewolf to go any further.” He didn’t sound particularly happy that that werewolf was Derek.
Derek considered him for a moment before delving in. “You don’t need to come here just because Deaton says you need a werewolf for an Alpha, Scott. I know that you weren’t happy with the way I did things six months ago and you were right. All of you were right. I-I was reckless and I let the power go to my head and I didn’t deserve to keep the pack that I ended up with, but they gave me the chance anyway and I damn well did my best. And I have no qualms with taking you in, but we aren’t going to allow you to stay if you’re going to hate all the time you spend with us. Because believe it or not, we’ve actually got something resembling a family and it’s working well enough for us that we can’t afford to have it disassembled from the inside-out.” He took a deep breath, surprising even himself by how much he had said.
Scott looked surprised by the speech. It wasn’t often that Derek gave speeches, after all. It was mostly glowering and growling. “Stiles said that things were going pretty well for you guys, I guess I just didn’t think it was true.”
Derek raised an eyebrow. “Thanks?”
Scott laughed. “Sorry. I really would like to be with you guys again. I mean, if that’s alright with you. But I still want to help Deaton and Chris when they need me, if I can.” He looked stupidly hopeful, like Derek might already be dashing away his hopes and dreams.
“You can still help them, Scott. I’m not going to keep you from seeing people - unless you have contact with the Alpha pack, in which case there will be issues,” Derek gave him a hard look, though there wasn’t a lot of malice behind it. He didn’t really blame Scott for what he had done with Gerard, considering the way the man kept threatening his mom, but he should have come to him instead of always trying to handle things on his own.
Scott held up his hands. “I know just as much as you do on that front, I swear. Well, you guys might know more than I do, even.”
Derek clapped him on the shoulder. “We all know more than you do, Scott,” to which Scott scowled good-naturedly. “Welcome back, man.”
☊ present day ☊
Derek snorted. “Dart throwing isn’t an Olympic sport.”
Stiles looked annoyed. “I don’t care, it is awesome and we should include it!”
It was a Friday evening and they were spending most of it bickering back and forth, sheets of paper spread all over Derek’s bed along with a bowl of popcorn that was half empty and far too many cans of caffeine being consumed (mostly on Stiles’ part). The clock was ticking ever closer to midnight and they had only really agreed on three events after being at this for four and a half hours.
“I don’t really see the benefit,” Derek sighed, shifting his position and looking at Stiles expectantly.
“There are plenty!” Stiles ticked them off on his fingers as he named them, “Hand-eye coordination, depth perception, wrist control, strength-checking for delicate tasks, the possibility for either teams or singular competition...”
Derek tried not to look too annoyed about how knowledgeable Stiles had become in just the past four hours from what Derek had told him of what the wolves needed to learn in order to coexist and work properly together. “Couldn’t we just use archery for that?” Derek suggested, annoyance creeping into his voice anyway.
“It’s not a fine motor skill,” Stiles replied simply.
“Do you even know what that means?” Derek asked skeptically.
Stiles looked like he was considering that. “Sort of, but who cares. You know I’m right.”
“Put it on the list, but I doubt it’ll make the final cut,” Derek sighed at the smirk he received for it. “We need to include some good team sports,” Derek said, looking at the scribbled notes they had all over the bed.
“Lacrosse, duh,” Stiles replied, already writing it down.
“No, it needs to be something they aren’t used to playing.”
“Why?” Stiles asked curiously.
“Because if they are doing something that is routine then they aren’t inside of their heads completely and that allows for distractions. They always need to be focused on their pack mates when the situations call for it so that they don’t tender mistakes. If the entire pack isn’t working together because one wolf is too busy thinking about himself instead of the group, the whole unit is nullified and that’s what we’ve got to get-”
Stiles was watching him, eyes gliding over his face steadily like he’d been saying something worth studying closely.
Derek balked. “What?”
Stiles shook his head, eyes coming into focus as he blinked a couple of times. “Uh, nothing, I just - I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard you talk about them like that. Or talk about the reasoning for a pack beyond ‘stronger, better, faster,’ y’know?”
He raised his eyebrow. “I didn’t make the pack just to make myself better, Stiles. I didn’t offer them the bite just to benefit myself...”
“Oh! Oh, I know that - that’s not what I meant, really. It’s just - you usually talk about how they’ve got to-”
“We,” Derek cut across him pointedly.
“What?” Stiles asked, a look of confusion on his face.
“You keep referring to the pack as ‘they.’ This is your pack too.”
Stiles opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. “Right. Right, I just - I don’t really consider myself when I’m talking about the werewolves...” he trailed off, looking down at his hands.
Derek knew that it was more difficult for them than Lydia and Stiles sometimes liked to let on. Being accepted into the pack was one thing, but that didn’t change the fact that they were still human and the significant differences between them and the rest of the pack could be intimidating at times. “But this is still your pack, even if you’re not one of the werewolves. You should get used to being in the collective and stop excluding yourself. You’re a permanent fixture.”
Stiles looked up at him about halfway through that and stared him down, brown eyes daring Derek to be lying. But he wouldn’t lie, not about his pack, not about something that important to both Stiles and himself. “Okay, yeah - I’ll work on that. What I meant was that I’ve never heard you talk about the pack - about us - outside of pack meetings... it’s-it’s nice.”
Derek had his eyebrow halfway up his forehead again. He wasn’t certain what Stiles was going on about.
“Oh my God, forget it. You are incapable of taking a compliment.”
“That was a compliment?”
“Yes!”
“In what universe?”
Stiles groaned exasperatedly. “You are such a pain in the ass! Like, you say that we are infuriating, but you are the most infuriatingly frustrating Alpha in the world! Not just that, the most infuriating person in the world! Holy crap, it’s like trying to get a brick wall to understand the finer intricacies of human emotion!”
Derek frowned. “I think that’s a bit excessive...”
“You really have no idea how ridiculous it is to talk to you. And I mean, you’ve even improved, which is what is so mind-boggling about it!” Stiles gave a weird, manic-looking smile and ran his hand over his shorn head in frustration.
“Why does it bother you so much?” Derek pressed, wondering where all this was even coming from.
“Because apparently I am the Pack Mom and that’s what I do - I worry about everything and everyone,” Stiles sighed and he was scrubbing his face like this was the most taxing thing he’d ever talked about.
Derek smirked. “Pack Mom?” he asked with amusement.
“Yes. Mommy Wolf,” he said, pointing to himself, then he pointed to Derek, “Daddy Wolf, and Baby Wolves,” he gestured out into the air, which apparently meant the rest of the pack.
Derek snorted over a laugh that was bubbling in his chest. “Who said that?” he asked incredulously.
“Oh please, Derek,” Stiles replied, but he sounded a little amused now, “don’t you know it’s all the rage in Pack Hale-Stilinski? I mean, you might be the head of the family, but everyone knows that all the real power resides in the hands of the momma.” He puffed out his chest and fisted his hands at his hips in a mock-superman pose.
Derek rolled his eyes and pretended that Stiles had not just said something else about taking over power as the Alpha. Seriously, he was lucky that no one else was around right now.
“This is a pack and maybe even a family, but we do not have those types of traditional family roles. And I am not ‘Daddy Wolf’,” he scoffed.
“You’re just pissed that everyone loves me more than they do you,” Stiles stuck his tongue out, abandoning his pose and tossing a wayward pencil at Derek’s face.
He caught it with ease before it could hit him in the nose. “I’m green with envy,” he deadpanned.
“That’s alright, I can teach you some of my tricks. They are widespread and many, but I’m sure you could catch on eventually,” Stiles laughed, eyes gleaming.
Derek studied his face, taking in the happiness that splayed through the lines at the corners of his eyes and the wrinkle of his nose as he smiled. It was a nice sight to have in front of him and it was something Derek could get used to seeing in the pack hideout more regularly. Stiles seemed to be worried more than smiling lately so it was important that he was genuinely cheerful every now and then.
“Does Jackson know that he’s being referred to as a ‘Baby Wolf’?” Derek asked, a dangerous glint in his eyes.
Stiles visibly deflated. “Derek, we just got our runaway back, I don’t understand - why are you trying to tear this family apart?” Stiles piled on as much overreaching emotion as he could muster into the last bit, clutching at Derek’s pant leg and looking thoroughly distraught.
“Okay, now it’s just getting weird,” Derek said.
Stiles released his leg and his face cleared of all previous distress as he sat up. “Yeah, you’re right, I think we should leave that alone for now. Besides, I definitely don’t have the child-bearing hips for this motherhood gig,” he said, looking down at his own waist with a smirk because he very obviously was not leaving it alone at all. Stiles jumped suddenly though and said, “Oh shit!” and Derek looked confusedly at him.
“What?”
“I didn’t tell my dad I’d be out this late. I guess I should probably...go?” Stiles looked at Derek uncertainly.
Derek frowned. “You can stay if you want, Stiles. You don’t have to leave.”
“Yeah?” Stiles asked, sounding far more surprised than he should.
Derek rolled his eyes. “Yes, this is the home of the pack, Stiles, and that includes you. When are you going to stop being surprised by that?”
“I don’t know, it just doesn’t seem to be the same for me as it does for the wolves,” he jumped off the bed and lifted his hands in front of his face in self defense. “I know - I know, it’s the same, I get it. Let me go call him.”
Stiles walked into the other room, but of course Derek could still hear him and his father’s voice on the phone perfectly fine.
“Stiles,” the Sheriff said when he picked up the phone. From what it sounded like, he was working.
“Hey Dad, sorry I didn’t call sooner. Let time get away from me.”
“Out with Scott?”
“Yeah... Scott and Isaac,” Stiles replied. Lie.
“What are you boys doing?”
“Oh y’know, just playing video games...eating pizza...watching movies. Just hanging out - the usual.” Another lie.
“Friday night and Scott isn’t out with Allison?” the Sheriff sounded skeptical.
“Well, I think Allison’s dad said something about mandatory father-daughter time and commandeered her Friday night because she’d been spending too much time with Scott.” While that could possibly have a kernel of truth to it, still a lie.
“Ah, well I can’t blame him for that. How’s Isaac doing?” he asked, concern obvious in his voice.
“Oh he’s-he’s good,” Stiles answered, apparently not certain what to say.
“He’s doing okay at Scott’s?” was apparently the real question.
“Oh, yeah. Yeah of course. I mean, Ms. McCall... well, she’s Ms. McCall - Isaac couldn’t ask for a better foster parent, really. He really likes it there and he and Scott are getting along really well.” A little too well on Isaac’s part, apparently, Derek thought with amusement.
“Good, I’m glad. It was a great thing for her to take him in like that. She’s a good woman,” the Sheriff said and there was definitely an interesting tone in his voice that Derek noticed and Stiles probably didn’t recognize at all.
“Yeah, she’s great,” he replied, sounding clueless.
“Well you boys don’t get into any trouble, alright? I’ll know if you do.” Derek could have sworn he heard him tapping his name badge through the phone.
“Hmm thanks for the reassurance of your belief in my character. It’s very refreshing,” Stiles said sarcastically.
“Just know that I’m always watching you,” the Sheriff said and Derek snorted.
“Oh awesome, Big Brother and everything - that’s just great, Dad. Not creepy at all. I think I’m going to go before I get even more weirded out by this conversation.”
“Uh huh. Have fun. Love you, son.”
“Love you too, creepy father-o-mine,” Stiles said and hung up his phone.
When Stiles walked back into Derek’s room, Derek asked, “Does it bother you?”
“Huh?” Stiles looked confused.
“Having to lie to him so much.”
He shrugged and tried to look nonchalant. If he was phased by Derek having known what transpired during his phone conversion, he didn't show it. "It is what it is. He is better off not knowing, so if lying to him is what keeps him from knowing, then so be it. At least I can tell him the truth about who I am with - mostly. He knows who my friends are and that is a step in the right direction."
Derek considered that. He was basically the link in the chain that made everything fall apart - the black sheep no one could talk about. Sometimes it was unfortunate that no one knew about him, but other times he remembered that it was for the best that Stiles' father didn't know that Derek was in his life (or the other teens' lives, for that matter). On top of his 'person of interest' status, it would be odd for him to be hanging out with a bunch of teenagers, so keeping it on the down-low was the best thing for it. "I'm glad you have such a great relationship with him. It's a good thing, Stiles." He tried not to look wistful as he said it.
The teen nodded. "Yeah-yeah it is," he replied, smiling wide. "Now what team sport were you thinking of subjecting them to?" He plopped back on the bed, reclining his head on Derek’s legs and pillowing his hands behind his neck, smirking over at the werewolf.
“I’m thinking baseball,” Derek replied, eying Stiles with a bit of amusement.
“Baseball,” the teenager parroted, rolling it around on his tongue. “I think I like the sound of that, actually. I would be pretty awesome at it.”
“You’re not playing,” Derek said immediately.
“But there are only five of them! They’ll need us!”
“There are six of us,” Derek corrected, amused by the fact that Stiles forgot about him.
“Right, but that gives you three people per team? How’s that enough for a baseball team?”
“It’s enough for werewolves, Stiles.”
“God, I hate werewolves sometimes.”
☋ month one ☋
“Well, this is exciting, isn’t it?” Peter said as they made their way back toward the pack hideout. Derek was still tense after seeing the Alpha pack symbol on the Hale house and he kept glancing over at Isaac, worried that he’d be suddenly snatched right from his side. Wherever Erica and Boyd might be, the chances that they wouldn’t run into the Alpha pack were slim. The chances that they would survive that run-in were slimmer still.
He scowled at his uncle. “It’s a regular circus act,” he responded dryly.
He saw Peter look over at Isaac and roll his eyes. “He’s quite the Debbie Downer, isn’t he? No wonder half his pack abandoned him. Oh wait, that was over half now, wasn’t it? Scott...didn’t see that one coming, did you, Derek?”
“Would you shut up?” Derek growled.
“It was kind of a brilliant plan though, when you think about it. I’m a bit surprised that a dimwit like Scott was actually able to pull that one off. I guess it just goes to show you that anyone can surprise you these days, right Derek?” He was fishing but Derek wasn’t biting. There was no way that Peter had changed and if he thought that Derek was stupid enough to fall for it, he was as much of a dumbass as Scott.
Isaac decided to fill the silence that Derek let linger. “So what is Gerard going to turn into? A kanima?”
“Doubtful,” Peter replied. “Kanimas are created because of problems created in one’s past. And while Gerard might have those issues, the Mountain Ash has added a whole other level of fucked up. We’ll probably be dealing with something we haven’t seen before. The good doctor has effectively created a new species.” Peter couldn’t have sounded more excited about that if he had started skipping down the trail they were walking, the bastard.
“That doesn’t sound good...” Isaac offered.
“It’s not,” Derek said. “That’s why we have to find him and kill him,” he said simply.
“Of course. The Derek answer to everything. Find, maim, kill. Just like you wanted to do with Jackson...”
Derek wheeled around on Peter, eyes raging with anger. “Don’t you fucking start with me, Peter. I saw you back there - you were practically salivating at the chance to kill him! After all that bullshit you spat at me about trying to save him, you were the one that moved at the first chance you saw to kill him - so don’t even fucking give me that.”
Peter just shrugged. “I was doing what was necessary - and there’s nothing wrong with taking delight in the things that I do. Not everyone goes through life negative and sour like you, Derek. Things worked out fine, though - you even got a new baby werewolf to raise so you should be ecstatic, right? You’re three down and two up!”
Derek’s eyes narrowed so far they were practically slits, but he didn’t say anything.
“That Jackson - he’s definitely going to be a handful though. Right, Isaac?”
“Uhh...” Isaac stumbled out, looking over at Derek for confirmation about what he was supposed to do in this situation.
“You’re going to need all the help you can get to handle that one. You don’t realize it, Derek, but Jackson’s got quite a bit of the same personality as you do, so you’re going to be grating each other from day one. There’s no way you’re going to know how to deal with that kind of personality. You’ll need someone like me around to show you-”
“No,” Derek said simply, cutting over him.
“You haven’t even-”
“No,” Derek said again.
“Derek, you need me in your pack,” Peter said, more roughly this time and he sounded a little less sing-songy than before.
“He wants to be in our pack?” Isaac asked incredulously. “Didn’t he try to kill all of you?”
“Yes,” Derek replied to Isaac and then he turned to Peter, “You’re not going to be in my pack, Peter. You murdered Laura, tried to get Scott to kill all his friends, you attacked Lydia and brain-fucked her - I’m not letting you be in this pack.”
Peter looked at him for a long moment before turning to Isaac. “Do you really think that he cares about your well-being? You know he doesn’t trust you and he’s never going to. He expects you to trust everything he says, but won’t ever give the same in return. You’re going to just follow him blindly into oblivion?”
Isaac looked uncertainly between Derek and Peter. After a long moment he replied, “He didn’t try to murder me or my family. He didn’t ask me to murder my friends or my family, either.”
Derek was surprised by the surge of fulfilment he felt in his chest from Isaac’s words. He’d never had anyone talk about him like that - to say that they’d rather be with him, even if it was just because he was better than a skeevy murderer like his uncle.
“I’m willing to let you stay, if you remain useful to me, but I’m not letting you in my pack. Those are my terms - take them or leave them.” Derek knew that the opening was still too wide and that Peter was going to use it to his full advantage, but he would rather have Peter close to him where he could keep an eye on him than have him running amok where he had no idea what he was up to. Some would tell him it was stupid, but it was definitely smarter to keep this enemy close to him than to set him free to his own devices.
Peter acted like he was considering it, but Derek knew what his answer was going to be. “Alright, nephew, you drive a hard bargain, but I’ll accept your supercilious terms, but only because I want us to be a family again and if this is the only way you are going to allow it, then I am going to just have to accept that.” Peter reached out his hand like he was going to touch Derek’s shoulder and Derek backed off immediately.
“Don’t touch me,” he said scornfully and walked away from Peter, Isaac in tow.
☊ present day ☊
Chris and Deaton had requested a meeting with Derek to talk to him about something so he was waiting for their arrival at the old Hale house; he chose it rather than the pack hideout just in case wayward ears happened to overhear what they would be discussing. They hadn’t met since Gerard had first gone missing, which could really only bring him to a couple of conclusions, only one of which made the most logical sense.
He waited in the living room with arms crossed over his chest, uncertain if he considered this good news or bad news. Gerard showing his face again meant trouble, but if they could get him taken care of and have one less problem to worry about, Derek would be more than relieved.
The hunter and veterinarian entered the house looking solemn but determined and Derek hoped that was a good sign. "So, what's this about?" he asked for the sake of formality.
Chris spread a map out on the nearby table and waved Derek over to it. It was of the northwestern United States and marks had been made all over it that Derek didn’t necessarily understand. He was about to ask when Chris began to explain. “We’ve been tracking Gerard as best we could since his disappearance nine months ago, as you well know. Things were looking fairly quiet and we weren’t certain that we were going to find him at all - though we knew he wasn’t dead - but then we began to hear some news stories come in from Yreka,” Chris tapped on the town that was north from Beacon Hills, hitting close to Oregon’s southern border, “about two and a half months ago that sounded promising. A number of unexplained deaths were happening within the same town, all near the general vicinity of the Klamath National Forest, which would be the perfect hideout for someone like Gerard who was probably shifting into something unexplainable and needed good shelter more often than not - so we decided to check it out.”
“And not to tell anyone else about it,” Derek said with an audible growl, glaring at the location on the map. Gerard had run fairly far; apparently he hadn’t wanted them to stumble across him - or to stumble across any of them during any of his unfortunate transformations. But mostly Derek was not happy that all of this information was being given to him almost three months after the fact.
“We didn’t find that it was pertinent for your pack to be informed just yet,” Deaton said, speaking for the first time in his ever-calm manner.
Derek rolled his eyes. “Of course you didn’t. It’s not like he is a threat to everyone here.”
“He might be, but he’s still my father, my responsibility and it is still my decision what we do with him when the time comes,” Chris replied, the annoyance sitting just at the edge of his voice as he very carefully tried to keep it at bay.
“Scott made him my responsibility too when he decided that I was going to be the one who bit him and help turn him into whatever freak of nature he and Deaton created,” Derek said sourly, still obviously unhappy about their secret plan. Which had not turned out quite as well as they had hoped either - he didn’t have to remind either of them though, they’d been told that already. “I know he’s your father, Argent, but you don’t just get to go on secret missions and not let the rest of us know that you’ve found the bastard. That’s bullshit. My pack has the right to know about this.”
“Your pack is half of the reason that he was here in the first place, Hale. Maybe if you hadn’t gone around biting every teenager that could wal-”
“Alright boys,” Deaton interjected with a calm voice, placing a hand on Chris’ shoulder, “how about we compare our dick sizes later and get back to the matter at hand? Besides, we all know that I’d win at that contest anyhow.” He was smirking, and that unnatural part alone was enough to get Derek to let it go and never ever go down that road again if it meant that he didn’t have to see that creepy smile on Deaton’s face again.
“...Right,” Chris said, when it was clear Derek was not going to say a damn thing after that bit. “So, we found him. Or we assume we did. We don’t know what he is though. It’s not anything that the Argent family has ever seen before and Deaton isn’t certain about it either.”
“Well that’s just fucking won-” Derek began, his temper rising.
“That’s not all,” Chris cut over him, which made Derek growl but he let Chris say his piece. “We believe that Gerard is coming back now. Once we left Yreka we think that Gerard noticed our presence and has decided to come back to Beacon Hills again. During our stay he was beginning to gain more control over his transformations, so it was only a matter of time before he gained enough control that it would be safe enough to travel south again.”
“You gotta be fucking kidding me! How could you two just go on a fucking Gerard hunt and not tell any of us? And then get him on your scent and have him trekking right back toward us? This is fucking ridiculous!”
“Let’s not get worked up about the things we can’t change, Derek, and worry more about the things that we can,” Deaton said.
“Which is what, exactly?” Derek asked sarcastically, turning toward him.
“Figuring out what Gerard is and how we can stop him before he hurts anyone else, for starters,” Deaton responded mollifyingly.
“The pack has to be told about this,” Derek said flatly. He was not going to let his pack wait around to be slaughtered like a line of sitting ducks.
“It’s not particularly prudent to inform your pack right now, Derek,” Deaton said and apparently he saw the anger rising in the werewolf’s face because he continued rather quickly, “that is not to say that we do not want you to inform a select member of the pack, however.”
He rolled his eyes. “Scott?”
“While Scott has helped us in the past, he isn’t the one that we had in mind. He’s also a little too hot-headed when it comes to Gerard - when we take Allison into consideration. He wouldn’t be a wise choice.”
“Then who-” Derek began, but it didn’t take him long to answer the question for himself after he’d begun to ask it. If it wasn’t Scott that they were after, then there was really only one other person it could be. “No,” Derek said immediately, not giving it any thought whatsoever.
“Your concern for Stiles’ well-being is admirable, Derek, but he is not quite as fragile is you might think. And whatever your reservations, he is the best suited for this; we need him,” Deaton pressed and Derek felt himself getting frustrated again.
“I said ‘no.’ You’re not pressuring him into something like this again, Deaton. You’re not using that bullshit excuse that ‘he’s the only one who can’ because he’s not and you know it! You’re not putting him into danger like that again!” He knew what this was about - the fucking Mountain Ash. Scott and Deaton had used pills laced with Mountain Ash to poison Gerard and whatever it had done to twist him into the shapeshifter he was, they were going to try to use Stiles to see if he could somehow control it or stop it or kill it or something. Derek was not going to let that happen. Boyd and Erica had been one thing - the danger hadn’t been quite as great. But this - this was beyond anything anyone understood the repercussions of and he wasn’t letting Deaton use Stiles as his witchdoctor guinea pig just to see if it would actually turn out any results. He wouldn’t allow it.
“The danger might be great, but it is technically Stiles’ decision whether he wants to partake in the possibility of it or not,” Deaton said coolly.
“I am his Alpha, it is my decision to make!” Derek replied hotly, but he knew what Deaton’s reply was going to be before he even made it. He wanted to protect his pack, but he couldn’t make those decisions for them.
“It is your duty as his Alpha to tell him his options and allow him to make his own decisions. You are perfectly aware of that, Derek. I know you want to protect him - that you want to protect your entire pack because it is thriving now more than ever - but Stiles is a brilliant young man and that intelligence and intuition is something that we desperately need if we are going to stand a chance in figuring out what Gerard is and stopping him. Please don’t make this harder for everyone by being irrational.”
Derek remained stubborn. “I’m not telling him.”
“Would you rather that we tell him?” Chris asked, a bit petulant. He softened a bit, though, and added, “Allison could tell him...”
“Fuck! Fine! Godddamnit, Deaton, don’t go creating anymore unnatural creatures while we deal with the Alpha pack and Gerard, okay? Don’t you think we have enough?” he said, acting like a damn child, because truthfully he was pissed and he just wanted to say something and it was all he could come up with.
“Right. I think we’ll leave you to it, Derek. Don’t wait too long to talk to Stiles about this. We don’t know how much time we have before Gerard gets here, but we’ll keep an eye out for him until you do.”
Derek sighed and nodded. “Thanks,” he said in a defeated tone and he did mean it, but he also realized just how much more difficult things were going to get now.
Continue to Part Three