Author's Note: I've been wanting to write something Laura-centric with a side of young!Derek for a while now, so here it is! Fic title comes from Rise Against's "Prayer of the Refugee". I'd love to hear comments/reviews/crits if you've got the time! C: xx
I'll tell you stories of a better time,
In a place that we once knew.
Before we packed our bags
And left all this behind us in the dust,
We had a place that we could call home,
And a life no one could touch.
. o o o .
/February 2005 – Beacon Hills
"You ok, Lau?"
"Hmm?" Laura raised her head and rubbed her eyes.
"You look kind of pale." Taylor continued, a concerned expression on her face.
"I – I don't know. I felt all dizzy all of a sudden."
"Told you not to skip lunch!" Megan giggled. "Were you with Aaron again?"
"Maybe." Laura grinned, trying to block out the ache she could feel behind her eyes. "He wants to take me to his parent's beach house for spring break."
"You think your parents will let you go?" Taylor arched an eyebrow. Laura shrugged easily and leant back in her chair, ignoring the angry glare the teacher was sending their way: what exactly was the point of health class anyway? It wasn't like she could catch any of the diseases Ms Hodgson was ranting on about. Before she could answer Taylor's question, the public address system binged.
"Derek Hale, please report to the principal's office." Came the announcement; Taylor and Megan both turned to look at Laura, who rolled her eyes.
"What's your brother done now?"
"I have no idea." Laura huffed. "He's been so weird recently. You know what my mom asked me last night? She asked if I think he's doing drugs."
"Think he has?"
"God no! He's too much of a loser. You know he threatened to 'tell on me' when he caught me smoking a joint?" Laura rolled her eyes as the public address system binged again. "Bet that'll be one of Derek's loser friends getting called in now."
"Laura Hale, please report to the principal's office."
"Ugh! I'm going to kill him!" Laura complained, getting to her feet and grabbing her purse from under her desk. "Save me a seat in Chemistry if I'm not back, yeah?"
Laura sauntered down the wide, empty corridor, spinning her bangle around her wrist while she pondered all the things Derek could have done that would require her to be called to the principal's office as well. As she started up the stairs, the same light headed feeling she'd experienced in class washed over her again. She grabbed hold of the banister to steady herself and was shocked to taste the coppery tang of blood in her mouth. She ran her tongue over the teeth and was horrified when she realised her fangs had started to elongate. She felt a little spark of panic as she concentrated on returning her teeth to their normal state; she couldn't remember the last time she'd lost control of her shift. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to relax before jogging up the remaining steps and along the corridor to the office to see Derek slouched in one of the uncomfortable chairs outside. Laura pulled a face when she noticed that he was wearing the My Chemical Romance t-shirt their parents had bought him for Christmas; she seriously hated that t-shirt and despite telling Derek numerous times that she thought it made him look like an emo wrist cutter, he kept wearing the stupid thing.
"What have you done, loser? Why am I getting called up here?" Laura demanded as she came to halt in front of him.
"I haven't done anything." Derek mumbled, looking down at his sneakers. "I just got called out of biology and they won't tell me anything, just that they need to speak to both of us. They're not even talking in there." He added, jerking his head towards the door. "I tried listening in on them."
Laura made a disgusted noise in her throat and sat down two seats away from Derek. She pulled her cell phone from her bag and was in the middle of texting Aaron when the door to the office opened and the secretary was ushering them both inside.
"Laura, Derek, want to take a seat?" Principal Willis asked, gesturing to the empty chairs in front of his desk. He was wearing a kindly smile on his face which seemed a little juxtaposed from Laura's last encounter with him a week prior. Apparently being head cheerleader and making straight A's didn't automatically absolve you from skipping class to hang out with your boyfriend.
"Send them in please, Janice."
"Send who in?" Laura bristled, glancing over at Derek. "What's going on?"
"Laura, these are deputies Peters and Stilinski. They, uh, need to speak with the two of you." Principal Willis told her; Laura twisted in her chair to glare at the two police officers stepping into the room. "I'll give you a minute then, shall I?" Principal Willis asked, looking over Laura and Derek's heads at the police officers. Laura heard his heart rate increase and tried to force down the panicky feeling she could feel building up inside her chest.
"Hi kids, I'm Maggie." Deputy Peters gave a wide smile that didn't quite reach her eyes as she perched awkwardly on the edge of Principal Willis' desk. Laura screwed up her nose, deciding straight away that she didn't like Maggie, who smelled too strongly of cheap perfume and wore too much make up. The other deputy, Stilinski, stood behind them, his hands behind his back and a melancholy expression on his face.
"I'm 18, I'm not a kid." She snapped. "What's going on? Why are you here?"
"Laura, I'm sorry to have to tell you this but there's, well, there's been an accident."
"Accident?" Derek looked up, his eyes darting from Laura to Maggie.
"There's been a fire. At your house." Maggie replied.
"But our parents are OK, right?" Laura asked, hearing the desperation in her own voice. She saw Maggie glance over at her partner, Stilinski, heard the sigh he gave before he stepped round to stand beside Maggie. "Right?"
"Laura, they didn't make it." He said gently, reaching out and laying a hand on her shoulder. "They're gone."
"No! No they can't be!" Laura pushed him away roughly. "You're lying!"
"I'm sorry. I know how hard this is to hear."
"No you don't." Laura snapped. "How could you?"
"Laura..."
"What about everyone else? Our grandmom?" She could feel the tears streaming down her face, vaguely aware that Derek was still sitting in his chair, staring fixedly ahead.
"There was only one survivor. Your uncle, Peter. He's been taken to Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital; he's suffered seriously burns and smoke inhalation. We don't know if he's going to make it yet."
"But how? What happened?"
"We don't know yet. The fire department need to carry out an investigation."
"Laura, we need to talk about where you'll be staying." Maggie interjected suddenly. "Do you have a friend you can stay with tonight?"
"What? Yeah, there's someone we can stay with. My friend's parents will let us stay."
"Just you Laura; Derek's only 16, CPS will be finding him accommodation."
"Finding him accommodation?" Laura mimicked angrily. "He's my brother. He's coming with me, right Derek?" She looked over at him, panicking when she saw a flash of blue in his eyes. "You can't just take him away!"
"We don't want to, Laura." Maggie replied. "But we've got no choice. I'm sorry."
"No. No, I won't let you take him. He's coming with me. I'm 18, I'm old enough to look after him." She wiped her eyes roughly with the back of her hand, wishing that Derek would react in some way instead of just staring blankly at the floor.
"Do you want us to call one of your friends to the office?" Maggie asked.
"Why aren't you listening to me? Derek is coming with me."
"It's not forever, Laura." Stilinski added. "There's a group home for teenagers we'll be taking him to, just until things are settled."
Things are settled, Laura thought to herself, realising that the deputy obviously meant fire department investigations and life insurance policies and God, was she going to be responsible for making funeral arrangements for everyone? Paying Peter's hospital bills? Who was the alpha now if their dad was dead?
"I can't do this!" She cried, getting to her feet and rushing for the door. "I can't!" Stilinski grabbed her before she could leave the office, gently pushing her back down into her chair and keeping his hand on her shoulder to prevent her from getting up again. Laura bit back a growl; she knew she could easily tear the man in half if she wanted to.
"I don't want to go to a group home." Derek whispered, speaking for the first time since they'd entered the office.
"See! I told you, he's coming with me." Laura crowed.
"I don't want to go with you either." Derek snapped, glancing at Laura, his eyes bright blue. She scowled at him, shaking her head and hoping he'd realise he was about to give them away to the police officers. "I want to go home."
"Derek, you can't go home." Maggie told him, her smile slipping off her face. "There's a social worker on her way here to speak with you. She'll take you to the group home."
"I think I'm going to be sick." Laura muttered, twisting out of Stilinski's grasp and running from the office, her boots squeaking against the tiled floor as she ran towards the parking lot. She could hear foot steps behind her but didn't look back, didn't care to see who was following her, knowing that she could outrun whoever it was. She dropped her keys twice before she was unable to unlock the car door and fell into the driver's seat, staring out of the window in a daze. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the double doors opening and quickly started the car, speeding out of the parking lot and away from the school.
. o o o .
She lost track of how long she spent driving around, taking turns at random while trying to fight back the tears that kept running down her face. She glanced at the road she was driving down and realised that she was heading towards her house; correction, her brain helpfully supplied, where the house used to be and pulled over to the side of the road and turned off the engine.
Stopping the car meant Laura had nothing to focus on anymore and the thought that she was never going to see her parents again hit her like a sledgehammer. She slumped over the wheel, her shoulders shaking violently as she cried. Turning her head to one side, she looked longingly at the woods outside the car; the urge to shift and run through the woods was overwhelming, as though running for long enough would change anything. She sat up abruptly; the more she thought about shifting, the more it occurred to her that she and Derek were without an alpha now the pack was gone. A horrible realisation gripped her suddenly as she remembered the light headed feeling she'd experienced in class earlier, before her whole world had come crashing down around her. She grabbed at the rear view mirror, her stomach churning with nerves and angled it so she could see her own eyes. Taking a deep breath, she let herself begin to shift, tears streaming down her cheeks as her hazel eyes turned a brilliant red instead of their usual blue.
"No!" She twisted the mirror away from her and slammed her hands against the centre of the steering wheel, hunching over and letting the huge, wracking sobs shake her body once more. I'm an alpha? She thought to herself, tasting bile in the back of her throat. I'm too young to be an alpha! Dad's supposed to take care of us, not me!
It was dark by the time she looked up, her eyes puffy and sore from all the tears. She scrubbed at her cheeks with her sleeve and reached for her purse, pulling out her cell phone to check the time. It was a little after six o clock, and to her horror, she saw that she had thirty four missed calls and nearly as many text messages on her phone. She dialled her voicemail, listening to various messages from Megan and Taylor that started off curious about why she hadn't come back in to class, then one from Taylor that sounded more anxious, asking what the hell was going on and 'why did your brother just get taken out of school by the cops'. Laura's stomach flipped over when she realised she was going to have to tell Derek she was the alpha now, wondering how he'd take it. Another message started playing, this time from Megan, in tears having apparently spoken with her mother who'd informed her about what had happened, begging Laura to phone her and telling her she was welcome to stay with Megan and her parents for as long as she needed. Laura felt fresh tears pricking at her aching eyes, and a tiny part of her brain marvelled at the fact that she still had any tears left to cry; she didn't want to stay with Megan, she wanted to go home to her own house, to her own bedroom.
She listened to more messages as she cried, one from someone who introduced themselves as Eunice Liu and stated that she was a social worker and was with Derek and that she would be taking him to the group home shortly and could Laura please contact her. This was followed by another message from Eunice Liu telling her the address of the place they were taking Derek and asking for Laura to contact her immediately. Her phone beeped to signal the end of the messages and she threw it down on the passenger seat, feeling nauseated when she realised Aaron hadn't left her any messages. Her parents were dead and her boyfriend couldn't be bothered to even leave her a voicemail? She grabbed for the phone again, scrolling through the numerous text messages she'd received, similar in their sentiment to the voicemails. She finally saw one from Aaron, sent twenty minutes ago and opened it, her hands shaking as she read it; "Babe, just heard. I'm so sorry. Call me."
I'm so sorry, call me? She thought angrily, throwing her phone aside again, not caring when it clattered to the floor of the passenger foot well. Really, Aaron, that's what you're going with? Bastard.
She started the car again, wanting nothing more than to drive to Megan's house and crawl into her friend's bed and cry when she realised she needed to go and make sure Derek was OK. The overwhelming urge to know that Derek was safe confused her; it didn't feel like the normal "he's my little brother, I need to look out for him", but more like an intense, aching sense of duty; the duty of an alpha to a beta. She cut the engine, struggling out of the car and over to the tree line where she promptly threw up. She knelt down in the long grass and hunched over, taking deep breaths to try and calm the uncontrollable shaking. When she finally felt as though she had regained her composure, she got back in the car and groped around for her cell phone, dialling her voicemail so she could listen to Eunice Liu's message again, scrawling down the address she gave on the inside front cover of her notebook.
Keeping her eyes firmly averted from the woods beside the car, Laura pulled a wide u turn and headed back towards town.
. o o o .
The group home was an ugly, low building in a rundown neighbourhood that Laura had never been to before. As she got out of her car, she was convinced she could smell the stench of misery and despondence on the air. She locked the car, testing the door handle before walking towards the building, her jacket hugged tightly around her, as though to protect her from the chill in the air that she couldn't feel.
After arguing with a bored looking security guard, she was buzzed into the building and shown along a short corridor to a bedroom by a dumpy, tired looking woman. Laura watched with disinterest as the woman knocked on the door. When there was no response, she shrugged and pushed it open, ushering Laura inside.
"Maybe you'll be able to get some sense out of him, hon." The woman said quietly, nodding towards Derek. "Won't say a damn word to any of us."
"Maybe that's because our family were killed this morning." Laura snapped, glaring at the woman until she retreated down the corridor. She pushed the door closed and frowned at Derek, who was sitting on the bed, his knees hugged tightly against his chest.
"Derek?" Laura asked, sitting down at the end of the bed. Derek lifted his head and glared at her, his eyes still bright blue. "Derek, stop it! You can't shift, not in here."
"Can't stop it." Derek ground out, resting his forehead on his knees.
"You need to stop. Right now!"
"What's the point?"
"Seriously? What's the point? There's hunters in town! Who the fuck do you think did that to our house? That wasn't an accident!" Laura hissed. "You think they won't find you if you shift in here? That they won't hunt you down and kill you?"
"Don't care."
"Well I do! God, Derek, you're such a selfish little bastard sometimes! You think I want to lose you too?"
Derek said nothing, just sat scowling down at the cheap bedcovers. Laura frowned at him; despite everything that had happened, she found herself wanted to reach over and smack him until he reacted. As she watched him, she caught the smell of blood in the air, a bright coppery tang in the musty room. She knelt up, leaning closer to Derek and grabbed his wrists, pulling his arms towards her.
"Why do you smell of blood? Were you hurt?"
"Get off." Derek hissed, snatching his arms out of her grasp.
She growled, the noise seeming overly loud in the silent room. When Derek finally looked up at her, she let her eyes flash red for a moment, thinking that would shock Derek into saying or doing something.
"You're an alpha." Derek muttered flatly. "Everyone else is...is gone and you're my alpha now?"
"You think I want to be? I'm too young to deal with this, with you. I don't want to be your alpha anymore than you want me to be."
"So go away then."
"Derek, I can't just leave you here." Laura started to cry again. "Please."
Derek hunched up further, his claws extending as he gripped his legs tightly against his chest.
"Go away." He hissed, his words slurred as his teeth started to elongate.
"Derek..." Laura reached out, meaning to lay her hand on his arm but he twisted violently out of reach.
"GO. AWAY." Derek growled, finally losing any semblance of control, his facial features contorting as he snarled at her. Laura glanced from the door and back to Derek; she could hear anxious footsteps in the corridor outside and got to her feet, standing between Derek and the door. As the doorknob started to turn, she flung herself at Derek, wrapping her arms tightly around his shoulders; the surprise of her actions apparently shocked him enough that he fell silent just as the woman who'd shown Laura up before stepped into the room.
"Is everything OK in here? I thought I heard...something."
"Everything's fine. My brother's just upset." Laura replied icily. "So could you please go away and give us some privacy?" She added when the woman didn't look convinced, narrowing her eyes and glaring at them suspiciously. After what felt like an eternity the woman left, leaving the door ajar.
"Let go of me." Derek muttered, pushing weakly at Laura's arms.
"Fine. Fine, you sit there and behave like you're the only one that's allowed to be upset about...about this." Laura snapped as Derek growled at her again. "Go on, shift, I dare you. See what happens. You stupid, spoiled little brat. God, I hate you so much sometimes!"
She got to her feet and grabbed for her purse, refusing to look at Derek; she didn't even bother to wipe away the fresh tears coursing down her cheeks.
"...my fault." Derek murmured, burying his head in his arms.
"What?" Laura asked, turning around and finally looking at Derek. "What did you say?"
Derek didn't reply, but hunched over further making it patently obvious that he had no intentions of saying anything else.
. o o o .
It was after nine when she finally pulled up outside Megan's house; she looked up at the porch, feeling rooted to the spot. On her drive over from the group home she had relished the thought of being able to huddle up in Megan's room and have her friend look after her the same way she had done when Megan's grandmother had passed away earlier in the year. However, staring up at the house in front of her, the reality of having to go inside and talk to Megan and her parents about everything was too overwhelming. She remained in the car, gripping the wheel tightly and staring straight ahead until Megan's mother, Hazel, came out of the house, cautiously pulling the door open and coaxed her out.
"Come on sweetie, I've made up the guest room for you." Hazel said softly as she led Laura towards the house, her arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders. "You don't have to stay in there if you don't want to, but it's there for you."
Laura nodded dumbly as they entered the house, looking up to see Megan standing hesitantly by the stairs, biting at her bottom lip.
"Lau..." Megan started, closing the gap between them. Before she could say anything else, Laura fell into her outstretched arms, sobbing uncontrollably as she buried her face against Megan's shoulder. The last thing she remembered was Megan sinking onto the bottom step, pulling her down into a tight hug and stroking her hair, dimly aware that Megan was crying silently as well, her tears soaking in Laura's dark hair and plastering it against her forehead.