Author's Note: I do not own Teen Wolf or its characters. This is set in an alternate universe where everyone (for the most part) lives.
Little Goblins Ten
Sometimes Derek wonders how he gets himself into these things. However, this time he knows. In fact, he volunteered. Between the fact that Halloween is one of his favorite holidays and the fact that he adored his nieces and nephews, it seems sort of logical that Derek volunteered to take the kids trick or treating this year so their parents can attend the Halloween party being thrown by Lydia Martin-Whittemore. Which left Derek with a gaggle of werewolf and human children between the ages of nine and three to manage.
Laura's brood was the largest. His older sister and her husband, Jordan, had gotten an early start on increasing the pack once they had gotten married. Liam and Talia were the oldest of the pack kids at eight. The twins were both werewolves, and had almost gotten to the point where they felt too cool for trick or treating with the rest of the family. True to form, the two of them had once again chosen matching costumes with Talia as the Black Widow and Liam as Hawkeye. Their younger sister, Elisha, was six. She was the quietest of her siblings and more than a bit shy. Ellie was also in a princess phase, though she was very particular about her princesses. That was why she was dressed up as Princess Leia, complete with blaster. Neil was the baby of the family. He was only four and was completely adorable dressed up as a sheriff's deputy like his dad. He was also the only human of the lot, but that seemed to have only made his siblings all the more protective of him.
Then there was Erica and Boyd's trio. Lianne was Ellie's same age as well as her best friend. The two girls were pretty much inseparable. So Derek wasn't at all surprised to find that Lianne had decided to dress up as a Rebel pilot to accompany Ellie's Princess Leia. Her two younger brothers, Raleigh and Malcolm, had also gone with a sci-fi theme, but a different movie, deciding to be Jaeger pilots. The boys were Irish twins, with Raleigh being almost five and Malcolm being just turned four. They were probably Derek's biggest handful too, being completely full of energy. Malcolm was a werewolf like his older sister, but Raleigh was human, not that it seemed to matter. In fact, Raleigh was often the ringleader when it came to mischief.
Lastly there was the newest edition to the pack. Cora and Isaac's daughter, Mairead, was only three, and this was her first year going trick or treating with the pack instead of her parents. Mairead had been dressed up as a little black cat. She looked absolutely adorable and she was quite happy perch on Derek's hip while everyone else ran down the street. Derek himself had gone the easy route for a costume. He'd just worn normal clothes and let his face transform to his beta shift. It might look like fancy make-up, but it was easy as breathing for Derek.
What was more difficult was riding herd on the group as they raced from one house to the next. With the exception of Neil and Mairead, the children were bound and determined to acquire as much candy as they could possibly carry. Derek didn't envy their parents the task of rationing out the candy after the holiday. He was booked to work for the next week or so and therefore was unavailable for babysitting.
As usual, Beacon Hills had gone all out for the holiday. His little group had only finished two blocks so far, but their bags were already sagging with candy. Liam and Raleigh had drawn out a detailed plan of just which houses to hit. Derek was actually pretty impressed. The two boys had approached the evening like Eisenhower with D-Day. Of course, their penmanship and drawing skill might not quite bit up to scratch, but Derek could still get a clear sense of where they were supposed to go.
They had set out from Laura's house and done a quite circuit of that block before moving on in towards the center of town.
"All right," Derek said as they regrouped at the end of the block. "Where to next?"
Liam consulted his map. "We need to head over to Peabody Street where the sheriff lives. I heard he was handing out full sized candy bars."
Derek nodded as he took Neil's hand with his free one. "Okay then. Does everyone have their buddies?"
There was some eye rolling at that, but all of the kids held up joined hands. Derek wasn't taking an chances. He was dead if something happened to anyone of the kids. He'd be facing several angry werewolves, including his Alpha. And despite their grumbling, the kids didn't seem to mind all that much. Liam and Talia led the way to their next destination with the others following behind them, and Derek bringing up the rear with the littlest two.
He almost didn't recognize Sheriff Stilinski's home. Someone had gone far above and beyond the call of duty when decorating it. Cobwebs hung everywhere. Bats dangled from the tree in the yard, and there was also an owl perched in its branches. A wheel barrow parked near the path to the front door was full of dirt and bones. And the porch was covered in jack-o-lanterns of all sizes. There had to be at least a dozen of them. All carved with a myriad of designs, some spooky and some more whimsical. Derek was pretty sure that one of the pumpkins was carved with protective runes that would keep anyone will ill will from approaching the house. That didn't exactly surprise Derek. He'd known through his brother-in-law that the sheriff was aware of the supernatural.
Liam and Talia traded a look with one another and then led the group up the walkway. Mairead buried her face in Derek's shoulder and Neil was clutching his hand tightly. Once the older kids were circled around the door, Talia rapped loudly on the door. It creaked open to reveal a tall man dressed like an old west sheriff.
"Trick or treat!" The familiar chorus rang out.
Sheriff Stilinski smiled. "All right, let's see who we have here."
He started handing out king sized Reese's peanut butter cups. "I recognize Black Widow and Hawkeye of course, and the Jaeger pilots. Your highness, I'm honored that you and one of your brave pilots has taken time from the Rebellion to honor us with your presence. Who else do we have here?"
Derek gently urged Neil forward. "It's okay."
The sheriff crouched down so he was about the same height as Neil. "I think I know this fellow. You're Deputy Hale, aren't you?"
Neil nodded shyly.
"Would you like a candy bar, deputy?"
Neil nodded again and held out his bag. The sheriff smiled and dropped the candy bar inside.
"Thank you, sir."
"You're welcome, deputy." He turned his attention to Mairead who still had her face buried in Derek's neck. "And who's this?"
Derek smiled. "This is Mairead. She's a little shy tonight."
The Sheriff just smiled as he rose to his feet and slipped a candy bar into her bag. "That's understandable."
Derek looked at the group. "What do you say?"
"Thank you!"
The sheriff grinned. "You all have a good night. Stay safe."
The little group continued on their way. It was a good street. Sheriff Stilinski wasn't the only one on the block handing out full sized candy bars. The kids made quite a haul. Derek was actually a little surprised that weren't more people out. He'd only spotted one other group of kids on the opposite side of the street, but that was it. It was a little odd, but Derek just figured that everyone else was getting a later start this year. His group had started a little early since some of his charges had eight o'clock bedtimes.
They were huddled under a large oak tree at the end of the block while Liam and Raleigh consulted their map on where to go next. Derek's head shot up moments before something hit him from behind. Derek pressed Mairead into Talia's arms as he whirled around letting his claws extend. It was too close for him to see well, so Derek just lashed out. He connected with something, and the creature fell back a little.
"Get behind me and stay out of the way," Derek growled.
He had to trust that Talia and Liam to take the of the other while Derek concentrated on their attacker. He didn't recognize the hunched over woman with stringy hair. She was clearly something supernatural, but nothing that he had ever encountered before either. But she had attacked him, and Derek wasn't going to let her harm the pups. Unfortunately for Derek, the thing was stronger than a werewolf and didn't seem to have a weak point. It was all he could do to keep her away from the children. And Derek didn't know how much longer he could keep this up.
Then from out of nowhere there was a blaze of light, and the thing was driven back. Derek blinked as there was another flash and the smell of ozone. The thing dropped to the ground and didn't get up, though there was a burning smell rising from the body. Derek looked up to see who had rescued him.
It was a young man dressed at a Jedi knight. His hands glowed with a warm golden light that also made the tattoos on his skin glow. Clustered behind him were five children. Two little girls were dressed up as Batman and Robin, with fluffy tutus in the proper colors on top of their leggings. Clutching Batman's hand was an even younger little girl dressed as a Ravenclaw student. There was also a scowling boy of about six dressed as Indiana Jones, and another girl, this one dressed as a Pokémon trainer.
The other man smiled at him. "Are you all right?"
Derek nodded. "Yes. Thank you."
"Not a problem. I'm Stiles Stilinski, McCall Pack emissary."
"Derek Hale."
Stiles' smile widen further. "Dude. I've been looking forward to meeting you now that I'm back in Beacon Hills. Cora says you've got made language skills and a collection of Celtic lore."
Derek had the feeling that this was the academic librarian friend Cora had been trying to set him up with for the past month. She kept saying that since Derek translated old books and her friend collected them, they would be perfect for one another.
"Uncle Stiles," Batman piped up. "Can we go back to trick or treating now? We're wasting time."
Derek had the feeling that his own group had similar sentiments. Stiles arched an eyebrow at him.
"What do you say we combine forces? We were just about to head over to Shady Lane."
"Yes!" Liam interrupted them. "They're supposed to have the best candy. Can we please, Uncle Derek?"
Derek just shrugged. "Sure."
"Let me just text my dad so he can have someone come take care of the remains."
The rest of the evening went on without a hitch. Derek found it was nice to have another adult around for the trick or treating rounds. The kids seemed to get one without a problem, but Derek was a little bit concerned with the way some of the girls were plotting together. Derek could look away for a moment and the next thing he'd know they'd be running the world.
He had also learned that Batman and Robin were Amelie and Tori McCall, Alpha McCall's daughters. Derek had only been back in town about six months, and he hadn't met anyone from the McCall pack other than their Alpha. Indy and the Ravenclaw were James and Rhiannon Whittemore, and the Pokémon trainer was Airi Mahealani. By the end of an hour, even the oldest of the children were flagging and Derek and Stiles were deep in discussion of comparative mythology.
"So," Stiles grinned at him. "I have to drop these guys off at Lydia's for the rest of their slumber party, but then I'm free for the night. What about you?"
Derek sighed. "I'm on babysitting duty until tomorrow at Laura's."
Stiles' brow furrowed. "Would you mind some company?"
"You don't mind spending the rest of your evening with children?"
"Nah." Stiles shrugged. "I'd just be spending it watching movies on my own. I'll drop by in half an hour. Should I bring food?"
"Sure. You know Laura's address?"
"Yep."
So Derek got to spend the next half hour wrangling children and getting them into bed. Thankfully, just about everyone was exhausted enough not to give him too much trouble. There were some complaints about teeth brushing and the restriction of no candy until their parents got home, but he managed to get them all into bed. Derek's reward for that was Chinese take out shared with Stiles as they half watched Clue and debated sources for warding rituals. It was quite cozy, and he caught Stiles watching him fondly more than once.
"So," Stiles said as Wadsworth explained who the murderer was on the screen, "second date this Friday? No kids this time?"
Derek smiled. "Sounds good to me."
It looked like Derek had picked up a treat of his own this Halloween.
