Liam had not really spared any thought as to what had happened to Theo when his dead sister dragged him into the ground. He had dusted his hands off, called it a win and moved on. Not only had Theo manipulated him, but he had placed everyone that Liam had cared about in harm's way time and time again. Also, he had had much more pleasant things to think about, like the soft sounds Hayden made when he kissed her neck.

But then they needed Theo, and he brought him back. Against his better instincts he had confronted his alpha and fought for Theo, convincing Scott not to kill him. They needed information from him and even though there was probably another way to get Theo to talk, Liam broke the sword that could imprison him again, overwhelmed by the stink of fear and panic that had swirled around the other boy.

The relief in his eyes as the sword shattered and he took a shaky breath pulled at Liam. It was then that he started to wonder.

Theo had been a kid when the Dread Doctors got their hands on him. They had twisted him, experimented on him, manipulated him. Perhaps he had merely been a product of his environment. He waived this idea with Hayden.

'He was just pure evil. Like calls to like,' she smirked. And she had forgotten about it moments later. But he hadn't been able to shake it off that easily.

When they fought the Ghost Riders, Theo had kept his promise to give them information. He had saved Liam by pushing him in the elevator and shutting him in, taking on the Riders all by himself. Somehow, he had survived that and appeared just in time, his shirt ripped to shreds and looking bruised and battered. Again, he took on the Ghost Rider to give Liam a chance to get the horse and ride away. Why was he protecting Liam all of a sudden? Had he just been grateful to Liam for not sending him back into the ground?

With the Ghost Riders defeated and Hayden gone, Liam had a lot of spare time on his hands. He started to collect information, sorting and collating it in his mind, building a clear picture of Theo and who he really was.

Pre-underground Theo had been a manipulative and calculating jerk, caring only about himself and his wish for power. But when Liam looked back at it now, Theo had really just been looking for control, a way to break free from the Dread Doctors by being stronger than them, stronger than anyone else. He had been scared.

On his return he was still scared, but somewhere along the line he had decided that Liam was someone he needed to protect. Even though he was snarky and a coward, he was there when it counted, eyes flashing and claws extended as he put his life on the line for Liam's sake.

Walking early one morning Liam hears a loud tapping noise and a groan. The ignition of a car starts up and Theo is pulling out onto the street in his SUV, rubbing sleep from his eyes. Liam frowns, looking after him. He continues his walk, his ears picking up the low voice of the police officer on his two-way.

'Moved the boy in the SUV on again, that's the third time this week,' he says.

This only serves to pique his interest even more. Why wasn't Theo living at home with his parents?

'Hey Scott, what happened to Theo's parents?' Liam asks the next day, seemingly out of the blue.

'He didn't have any,' Scott says with a frown. 'I think he was paying someone to pretend to be his parents. That's what Stiles said anyway.' He waves at Liam and wanders off, and Liam mentally adds another entry.

Theo didn't have parents, or a home to live in. His only living relative, his sister, was dead, or something, and now he was living out of his car. Homeless. It didn't sit right, making his insides squirm with a flutter of pity.

Being seventeen years old, there wasn't really a great deal he could do about giving Theo somewhere to live. If he told her what was happening, his mum would let Theo use their spare room, but he thought that the older boy would probably be too proud to accept.

What could he do to convince him?

Mason was the only one to notice how preoccupied he was.

"Hey man, what's going on?" He asked, slipping onto the bench next to Liam, who had been staring off into space, brooding.

"Nothing," he said with a weary sigh.

"Sure," Mason said, "that is the sigh of nothing. I recognise it clearly."

Liam fiddled with his phone, not looking at his friend. More and more lately he had been feeling useless. Scott had finally left for college, Stiles had left again for the FBI, Lydia was off studying something that was way above Liam's head, and the rest of the pack had drifted off to newer and better things as well. He was already feeling the pressure of being in charge. Even if he had felt nothing but hatred for Theo, helping him was Liam's responsibility. And he felt a great deal more than that.

"Liam," Mason prodded. "I can't smell your emotions, but I know when something is wrong. Tell me what it is. Maybe I can help."

"I just-" Liam said, then stopping with a sigh as he tried to piece his thoughts together, "it's Theo."

"Theo? What about him?" Mason asked, frowning.

"Did you know he was living out of his car?" Liam said, finally turning to look at Mason.

"No, are you serious?" Mason sputtered, shock written clearly on his features. "Scott didn't find him somewhere to live?"

"I don't think Scott knows. I asked him about Theo's parents and he said that were fake," Liam said, biting his lip. "I feel like I need to do something. He's a dick, but he helped us out so much and no one deserves to live like that, especially not someone…"

"Someone…?" Mason prompted.

Someone I like, Liam thought.

"Someone in my pack," he said instead. Mason nodded, but his eyes pierced into Liam's soul, searching for the truth. Liam averted his eyes, not quite ready to admit that something had been growing in his chest for the other boy, something warm, something terrifying.

"What are you going to do?" Mason asked eventually.

"I don't know. I don't think my mum would mind if he stayed with us, but I feel like he would shoot that down," Liam explained.

"Hmm," Mason frowned. "Maybe if you started out really slow."

"What do you mean?" Liam asked.

"Like, invite him to hang out with us more, get him used to being around. Then you can ask him when he feels a bit more comfortable with us," Mason explained.

Liam thought about it. They only really saw Theo during a crisis. It was the main reason that no one had noticed that he was homeless in the first place. Maybe hanging out with him a little more often wouldn't be such a bad idea.

"That sounds like a good idea," he said after awhile. "We should hang out more with him anyway, he is in the pack after all."

"Exactly," Mason agreed. "Call him now. Invite him to hang out with us after school."

"What- now?" Liam said, his mouth gaping open.

"Yeah, why not? You want to help, and no time like the present," Mason said, smiling.

Liam shrugged but pulled his phone out of his pocket. He scrolled down to Theo's name in his contact list and pressed it. It rang three times before Theo picked up.

"Hey, baby wolf, what's wrong?" Theo answered.

"Don't call me that," Liam growled, clenching his hand around the phone. He caught Mason's gaze, who was looking at him with a hint of disapproval. Liam sighed. "Sorry, nothing's wrong. Just wondering if you were free this afternoon."

There was a long pause.

"So, just to clarify, no one is dying, you just want to know if I have plans?" Theo asked, sounding amused.

"Yeah," Liam said, rolling his eyes at Mason. "Mason and I are gonna hang out, maybe play some Halo and grab a pizza. Want to join us?"

"Uh, sure," Theo said. "Why not?"

"Cool, see you later then," Liam said, feeling very awkward.

"Bye," Theo said, immediately hanging up the phone.

"See, you did it, Liam," Mason said, throwing his arms wide, a big grin on his face.

"I guess I did," Liam replied. He shook his head, a wry smile dancing on his lips.

"Step one in Operation Theo is complete," Mason joked.

"We're not calling it that," Liam argued.