This is a rewrite of Sweet Revenge, a fic I posted previously here. I've changed the plot quite a bit.
I don't own Teen Wolf.
XXX
Laura Hale set her backpack onto a chair and looked around the room. It was big and airy, with plenty of light spilling in from the tall windows. The desks sat in neat rows and there were rows of books were stacked neatly along the shelves. Several corkboards dotted the walls, waiting class projects and the whiteboard at the front was clean and crisp, just waiting for her name. It was the perfect classroom and Laura couldn't wait to start her career here.
Laura was excited, there was no denying it. Finally, like her brother, she was getting a chance to move on with her life after the tragedy that happened five years ago. Laura had been attending college at the time; her brother was in his senior year of high school when they lost everything. Laura was home visiting for the summer vacation, and it was one of those sticky days where all you want to do is lie on the forest floor and gaze at the canopy of trees above you. Derek had just broken up with his girlfriend, who was also Laura's best friend, and the two of them had slipped out the back door and into the woods to the old tree house they'd built as kids to talk about the breakup. They had missed desert but Linda had passed them several cookies each as they pretended to get 'five minutes of air.'
It was the smell of smoke that had brought them crashing back home. Their home was burning, their family trapped screaming inside. They watched in horror as their Uncle had smashed an upstairs window and Aunt Alice had jumped out, closely followed by her brother Peter. He landed right on top of her, his skin burning. She broke his fall, and the impact killed her.
Laura shook her head to dispel the bad memories and watched the kids move about the corridor making their way to various home rooms. She didn't have a home class to take care of just yet, that came after a few years of experience. She waited until the corridors were clear at nine am then she made her way to the office to get a folder with notes detailing each of her classes for the week. She had only been offered the job late on Friday afternoon so she hadn't had the time to prepare for her classes the way the other teachers had, but she'd been waiting for this all summer so she was she was more than ready.
Taking a seat back at her desk she looked over the morning class lists. Her first class would be a group of seniors, followed by a class full of sophomores. She made her way around the room getting ready for the seniors as they spilled in through the doors, laughing and chatting among themselves, some most looking miserable at the prospect of another year of school. Laura hoped to make them at least enjoy English class so she clapped her hands and set her hip on the edge of the desk.
'Ok everybody settle down.' She called, trying her best to hide her smile. 'And welcome to my class.'
XXX
Lunch was a hurried affair, where Laura got chatting to a few new colleagues and lost track of time, so she didn't get a chance to look at her class list. All she knew was it was a new group of freshman students. She rushed into the room with a big smile.
'Good afternoon. Did everybody have a good lunch?' She asked not expecting a response. She dropped her bag under the desk and grabbed the folder with the class list. Around her the chatter continued. The kids were excited about finally being in high school and she couldn't blame them, she remembered that feeling. She still had the feeling but as a teacher rather than a student. Straightening her back she opened the folder and looked at the first name.
The world around her froze. The noise stopped. The folder and the sheets of paper inside slipped out of her fingers and fell to the floor. She could feel the blood pumping through her veins; she could feel her heart rate increasing. She could hear a pin drop. A seat scraped back and someone moved towards her, slightly heeled shoes on the floor, coming closer. She looked down at the young girl who was gathering up the folders and papers. She stood up, trying to put them in some sort of order before she handed them back. Laura looked into a pretty face framed with dark hair and bright eager eyes.
'Thank you…' She paused.
'Allison.' The girl smiled. 'Allison Argent.'
'Of course Allison.' Laura said swallowing hard and looking around the room. 'Well, thank you for that, now take a seat please and we'll get on with class.'
XXX
The dry heat caught in the back of Derek's throat, and he gasped trying to suppress a cough. Derek hated Afghanistan, hated the hot acrid desert and its boiling sunshine. Most of the inhabitants were innocent folks trying to get by in peace, but that handful that caused problem after problem deserved a special place on Derek's hell list, and that was a long and specific list.
Right now he didn't have time to dwell on his list because he was putting all of his considerable senses into action as he lay in his spot by the road waiting. He had to make slow careful movements to get a sip of water from his canteen least he be spotted, by a hidden sniper. He was sure that they were the only souls in a two mile radius, he easily counted nineteen heartbeats. His own made twenty.
Derek lay and watched the sun move through the sky for forty minutes before he heard movement coming towards him, approximately two miles away, the range of his hearing in this quiet desert. That gave him a waiting time of approximately twenty minutes, depending on the ground they covered. Their pace seemed quick if their footsteps were anything to go by, and the sound of their voices carrying. He concentrated and picked up two extra heartbeats. Two men they could handle.
He signalled the corporal lying a few feet from him. Two men, two clicks heading from the west. The corporal frowned but passed the information down the line. Derek waited, tense and poised, using the telescope on his gun to watch the men coming towards them. They were carrying weapons, black gun straps across their white tunics. They were chatting animatedly but Derek could see them pay attention to their surroundings, clever eyes born in these lands looking for signs of danger and disturbance. They reminded him of his own childhood and teenage years, playing in the forest with his family, training to hunt and stalk, to fight and survive. He closed his eyes for a second, pushing the memoires away. Now wasn't the time for nostalgia. They would have to act fast, but they would need to be patient.
The wolf inside him wanted to pounce, to tear these two apart in his eagerness to survive, instinct kicking in low in Derek's gut, but killing wasn't the business of the marine until he was fired upon. This was a snatch and grab mission. They wanted information, and prisoners to interrogate. As the men got closer Derek was amused to find the wolf retreating, it had been several days since these men washed and Derek's sensitive nose picked up traces of semen and sweat. The wolf reclined to the back of his mind curled up and left the humans to their human business, not bothered by these silly games any longer.
When the men were level with the corporal who lay a few feet behind Derek he jumped to his feet, and his men followed suit. Suddenly the two men that they had been waiting for were surrounded by twenty U.S. Marines, all wielding weapons. They had drawn their own guns despite the noise and shouting of the soldiers around them to drop their weapons. Eventually they did, falling to their knees with hands in the air. Derek smirked, no matter what bounties their gods promised human nature still longed to live and breathe for another minute.
XXX
The camp was a bustle of activity as Derek and the men returned with the two prisoners. They walked with heads bowed and hands behind their back as they had been instructed to do, but Derek knew their keen eyes were taking in the scene around them. Derek didn't care, he was delighted, it was a good mission, no one had got hurt and he made it back in time for dinner.
After delivering the prisoners to the intelligence officers he made his way to the camp canteen eater for something to fill his hollow legs with. There were several choices but he didn't care what he ate as long as it was full of meat. He sat alone on the corner of a table, mopping the sauce of his second helping with slightly stale bread and gulping ice cool water.
With a full belly Derek longed to have a sleep so he headed to his rest tent. His men were already inside playing poker or fighting over titty magazines. Some read books and letters while others gazed at pictures of loved ones from home. Derek collapsed on the narrow green cot, barely wide enough for his shoulders, and picked up the post sitting on the pillow beside his head. It was Laura's familiar handwriting on a letter tied to a box full of goodies from home. He ignored the box and tore open the small cream envelope.
Laura had started a new job in a high school in a small town in Kansas State. She spoke about some of the teachers and students and wrote other nonsense. In the middle of the letter however, was a line that piqued his interest. "I have found a way of getting revenge. Never mind cold, I'll have this revenge red roaring hot."
Derek thought about that cryptic line for a long time. He opened the care package and shared the sweet treats out among his men before lying back and staring at the green ceiling of the tent. His only conclusion was the revenge was on that bitch Argent for the slaughter of his family. Derek wondered at Laura's change of direction. It was her who forbade him revenge, and as his Alpha he was forced to respect her wishes. Now she was seeking revenge herself. He smiled to himself. Laura could be vicious and twisted when she wanted, but there was a soft side too his sister too. He wondered what the revenge would be.
He replied that night while most of the men around him dozed. He made sure to stick the line "Our mother would be proud of you, she always did love a good revenge story."
In the morning Derek went out with his unit to patrol like he'd been doing for the last five months. He was in a good mood; he only had three months left in this god forsaken desert.