When Meredith Hale was eleven years old, her life was irrevocably changed, and most definitely not for the better.

She had been so excited to be pulled out of school early; left all her classmates jealous that she left at eleven instead of three, like them. Sure, she'd been confused, but she didn't question it; maybe her mother had scheduled a dentist appointment and forgotten to mention it. It didn't happen often, but she could be forgetful like that. When she saw that Laura was there, flanked by police officers, Derek lurking behind her, well that just made the confusion rise to an all time high.

The officers led the three siblings into the middle school principal's office, the woman herself standing in a corner with her hands folded neatly in front of her. She looked sad; a tiny crease between her eyebrows and the slightest of frowns gave it away. Meredith found herself frowning too. She turned questioning eyes to Laura, the oldest person she knew in the room, sure that she would have the answers. Even the cops were glancing at her sister, like she had all the answers.

After Laura finally got the words out, Merry (a terrible family nickname that came from her Uncle Peter saying Meredith was an awful name suited only for old ladies), sobbed and cried and screamed for her daddy. Her family couldn't be dead - not everyone, not Cora who was still nine and dumb and not Aunt Helen, who was gonna have a baby in five months, and definitely not her daddy, the bravest man she knew. Laura held her all the way back to - to the place she once called home. Derek was tense in the driver's seat of Laura's pick up; there was one cop car behind them and one in front.

They stayed in Beacon Hills long enough for the Hale Mansion to stop smoldering and for their relatives to be placed at rest. And then Laura, eyes red with Alpha power, took her siblings and ran. One sleepy little Californian town was traded for another; the Hales, once a strong, proud werewolf clan, had dwindled to two wolves and their painfully normal sister.

Derek went from being a snarky, cocky teenager who, while rebellious, would listen to his Alpha, to a serious, dour-faced man full of sharp edges and hurtful words. Always questioning, Derek was; he hadn't wanted to leave Beacon Hills without getting revenge, and he most certainly hadn't wanted to settle down within a day's drive of the place. So he took off the month after he finished high school; the ink on his diploma had still been damp. Merry was never too sure why he didn't stick around; she figured he couldn't handle being in one place. Most of her werewolf relatives hadn't been too fond of being stationary, and she figured it had to be a wolf thing.

So she and Laura grew up together. Laura ditched her college plans and got work as a secretary in a law office; it wasn't the greatest job, but it was enough to let two girls live comfortable lives, especially when added to the money Laura (as the eldest offspring) received from the insurance providers. Meredith was jumpy for six straight months; she refused to leave the house, didn't want to let her siblings out of her sight. Every shadow was a hunter who had followed them to finish the job. She was forced to repeat a year, much to Laura's displeasure. Eventually, she got her shit together. Went to school, made friends and got a job; joining the track team helped her outrun her issues. It only helped when she started looking into alternative methods of protection.

Now here she is, sitting in their living room, approximately five hundred miles from Beacon Hills, surrounded by the strongest wards she could muster, and still that place is ruining her life. It's not the first time Laura's left her alone; there have been plenty of weekend jaunts to burn off some excess wolfy energy. Then again, there hadn't been spirals popping up all over the place they once called home. This was an investigation, plain and simple.

It's almost eight o'clock on Sunday when her hope that this was all nothing really starts waning. Merry can feel it, just knows, that Laura's not coming home. Not tonight, not tomorrow, not ever. The knock comes at around midnight to confirm her fears.

Unsurprisingly, Derek's there, with a familiar guilty shadow in his blue-green eyes. He comes in, shrugs off the leather coat that's almost more part of him than his flesh and blood. Takes a seat, steeples his hands under his chin. Meredith takes a seat across from him and does the same.

"Laura's off the grid. She wasn't at the checkpoint last night and hasn't shown up since."

The information doesn't surprise her, not in the slightest. She sighs, and gets up to make coffee. Obviously sleep isn't in the cards tonight. It's quiet for a few minutes, as she mechanically fills the coffee pot. She's reaching for two ceramic mugs when he speaks again.

"I'm going to look for her. Which means - I'm going home." here her brother cuts his eyes to level a careful look at her, "Permanently."

Her hands shake around the mugs. "Is that a good idea? If sh- If she's gone, Der, then that just proves what we've always known. Beacon Hills is deadly for Hales."

"I'm not just walking away from this, Merry! Not again, not when it's down to you and me." Derek takes a deep, calming breath. "You have to come with me."

Meredith turns around so fast her hair gives her a serious case of whiplash in retaliation. It takes a lot, almost more than she has, to not lob the cups in her hand at his utterly stupid face. Three deep breaths she thinks, trying to calm down. She might not wolf out when her ire rises, but an angry Hale is still nothing to laugh at.

"I know you've never liked Bayview, Derek. But I have a life here. Nobody knows me, knows what happened. Kids at school don't look sideways at me. If I go back - no, if we," because she's still trying to convince him this is a bad idea, "go back, there's all that to look forward to. Not to mention the crazy amount of danger that inherently comes with Beacon Hills like some warped package deal." Merry crosses her arms, coffee forgotten, and sets her jaw. Derek thinks she's never looked more like Laura in her life. "Do what you feel you have to, Der. I'm not going, and you can't make me."

Her brother is still sitting on the couch, looking so out of place against the buttery yellow cushions and sea green walls. He's never been comfortable here, not when he was seventeen and not now at twenty three. The more she watches, the odder the situation seems. It's not like him to sit and listen patiently. She hadn't been watching too closely, but he hadn't been bouncing his knee or flashing supernaturally-glowing eyes in anger. Her suspicions grow.

"It wasn't a question, Meredith." Derek finally says, voice so soft, so unlike him. Then he's moving, almost too fast for her average sight. There's a brief moment of pain when he delivers a swift knock to the back of her head.

"Son of a . . . " and then Merry's out.

Kidnapping is not his first choice. He'd much rather his thick-headed little sister come quietly. But it's not in her nature, to go unquestioningly with him anymore. Hasn't really been her since he left them behind five years ago. No amount of stilted holidays and late birthday cards could make that up.

Derek heaves a sigh and scrubs a hand over his face, rough fingertips catching on his stubble. Then he turns to the first door on the left in the hallway just past the kitchen. It's his old room, the one with navy walls that had been turned into storage upon his departure. He grabs two suitcases and a duffle, and then goes into the room across the hall.

XO

and we're back! i hope this is acceptable; some aspects have changed, some have stayed the same. i think the only thing that's changed about the oc is her name and some aspects of her personality. so ellie is now meredith. i tried to make it different from the original, and i think? i did that? but? lord who knows. so yes! read, review, tell me where i could stand to improve and what's alright!

disclaimer: teen wolf is not mine, nor is the town of bayview, california. meredith hale, however, is.