A/N: this fic does use a lot of time jumps and action cuts. It's not fully developed enough to have anything except what I considered the heart of the story, so keep that in mind at the line breaks!
"It took us awhile... but we did manage to track down a sister on your dad's side," Sheriff Stilinski was telling him. Isaac blinked in confusion, staring at the sheriff in disbelief. A sister? That wasn't right. He'd never known about any family at all besides his long dead grandparents. As far as he'd known, his dad was an only child. "Now, we've already contacted her and she said she was coming to meet you immediately. I understand you've been signed over to the custody of Derek Hale for now... Of course this does supercede that, so you will be returned to a family member."
"Who?" he asked, tugging at his scarf around his neck. It was the only word he could really struggle to get out for now. This was bad timing, with everything going on now. The Alpha pack... Erica and Boyd missing... He couldn't see things going worse. Now mysterious family members that he'd never heard of? That wasn't good. And if this sister was anything like his dad... He'd be better off with Derek. He wrapped his arms around himself and shivered, despite the warm principal's office. This was such bad timing. What if she moved him away from Beacon Hills? Sixteen was a long ways away from eighteen, when he could stay with his pack without any adult's say-so.
"Her name is Sally Jackson. As I understand it, she has a son your age." Sheriff Stilinski glanced at his watch. "She's flying in tonight, we're expecting her around six. If you wait at the station, she'll pick you up. You can either come with me now and wait for her, or have your guardian bring you later."
Isaac blinked. "Uh... I have lacrosse practice," he said, already knowing he wasn't going.
"That's fine." Sheriff Stilinski gripped his shoulder in a fatherly sort of way. "See you at six, Isaac."
"That's good, Isaac," Derek said, clapping him on the back. "I'm happy for you. Why are you so worked up?"
Isaac blinked at him in confusion. "Why—because they're from New York, that's why. What if they try and move me out there? Or freak out about me being a werewolf?"
"Or what if they're like your dad, you mean?" Derek asked, cutting to the heart of the matter. Isaac fell silent. "Trust me, the police aren't going to sign you over without some background checks. I wouldn't sweat it."
Isaac sat in the back seat of a rental car Ms. Jackson was driving, her teenage son riding shot gun. They'd awkwardly been introduced and shook hands before she suggested they return to his house. His house, Isaac had uncomfortably explained, had been empty for months now. He didn't live there, not since his father died.
She was a pleasant enough woman, entirely unflappable when she heard this. "Well, we'll just have to make a fire tonight," she'd said. "It'll be a bit chilly, but we'll make do."
"Also, it might be a little destroyed," he'd muttered, recalling Scott's uncomfortable explanation of how he'd fought the kanima in his kitchen and smashed it up pretty bad. At the time he'd hardly been sad. Lately, nothing but bad memories came from that place.
Isaac still had the key, on a chain around his neck. When they pulled up, he went to the door first to unlock it and froze on the step. Ms. Jackson was parking the car, but his cousin, Percy, came up behind him. "You okay, dude?" Percy asked, putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
"Fine," Isaac said, gritting his teeth and forcing the key into the lock, gripping it tightly to keep his hand from shaking. The lock clicked and he let the door swing inward. Percy was silent as Isaac took a step into his old house and flicked the light switch. Of course the power didn't come on. No one had paid the bill in months.
"Okay. That kinda sucks," Percy said, following him in. "Got any candles?"
"Maybe," Isaac said, shrugging. "Probably."
"Where have you been staying, anyway? Obviously not here," Percy laughed, blowing dust off the end table and dropping his backpack next to it.
"My friend's got a place in town. He's been my guardian lately, so I stay there." Isaac thought fondly of the hot water heater and electricity in Derek's warehouse hangout.
"That's pretty sweet. Back in New York, Mom and I have this great apartment," Percy said casually. "We just moved there a few years ago—before then, we had a really nasty place with my step-dad, but he's gone now."
"He passed away?"
"More like..." Isaac glanced over at Percy, a funny note in his voice. "Vanished mysteriously in the middle of the night?" he said, smiling. "Haven't heard from him since." That was a lie, Isaac noted. He wondered what happened. "Anyway, think we could find some candles?"
Isaac tried to remember where they kept the candles. Did they even have candles? "There's probably some in the..." His gaze fell on the basement door and he locked up. Percy followed his gaze and bounded like a puppy for the door, rattling the knob for a second. He turned back to Isaac and raised his hands in defeat.
"I... I got it," Isaac said, stepping past Percy and forcing the door, feeling the lock snap under his sharp turn of the knob. The knob remained on, but the door popped open. "It sticks sometimes," he lied. The truth was, after the kanima had come into his house, he'd told Scott to lock the door up down there. No one was going in there if he had any say. Except now he was opening it up to this stranger. "After you," he forced himself to say, trying to smile. It didn't come out that way, but it was probably dark enough that Percy couldn't tell.
Percy tromped down the stairs. "Geez, it's dark," he complained at the bottom. "Let's see... I've got a flashlight app on my phone." A moment later, a faint white light reached Isaac at the top of the stairs.
Get in the basement, Isaac, he thought he heard whispered in his ear. Isaac steeled himself and started the first stair. Get in the freezer. Do you want to see me angry?
Instincts telling him to bolt and throw the door shut again, Isaac took another step down.
"Wow, what's with the chains on the freezer? Did you take a bolt cutter to these or what?" Percy called up. "I'm not seeing any candles... wait, what's on this shelf?" Percy started back up the stairs a minute later, a big box of candles in his hand. "And a box of matches," he said, grinning. "Score!" He found Isaac clinging to the wall for dear life, pale white. "You alright?" he asked, his smile melting off his face.
"Yeah," Isaac told him sharply, turning away from him and moving to the first floor in one swift bound. Two steps down and he was cowering like a little kid again. He wasn't getting locked anywhere anymore.
"You're breathing really hard," Percy said, refusing to drop it. "Asthma attack? Do you have an inhaler anywhere?"
Isaac pushed Percy aside roughly and staggered into the kitchen. "Leave it alone, Percy," he snarled, slamming his hands down on the counter. In the kitchen window, he could see his yellow eyes flashing back at him. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. "It's... nothing," Isaac said, turning back to his cousin, who was now watching him with a mixture of confusion and wariness.
"Got it," Percy said slowly. In his hand he was nervously playing with a ballpoint pen.
The front door swung open and Ms. Jackson stood in the frame, clutching a bag of groceries. "Percy, give me a hand, would you?"
"Sure, Mom," Percy said easily, taking the bag out of her hands. "Aw, crap. What are we going to do with the ice cream?"
"Even if there's no power, we can fill the freezer with ice and keep things cool," Ms. Jackson said, turning to the fridge with a determined look in her eyes. She really was one of those people who made the best of everything, wasn't she? "Percy, why don't you take the car and run out and get some?"
"Is that a good idea?" Percy asked, and Isaac could immediately sense that Percy wasn't comfortable with Isaac. He wondered if he'd seen the eyes, or if it had just been him getting shoved by Isaac. Tall guy like Percy—probably wasn't used to getting pushed around. Newsflash, cousin. He wasn't the biggest dude in Beacon Hills, not by a long shot. "I mean, me driving the rental car and all?"
"You'll be careful. No horse hooves on the hood and I think we'll be okay," Ms. Jackson said, pushing the keys into his hand and steering him out the door. "I'll give you twenty bucks, and you can keep the change. Deal?"
"But—" Percy started to say as Ms. Jackson closed the door on him.
She smiled, turning back to Isaac. "I hope you two can get along," she said anxiously. "I understand this must be a big change for you."
Isaac ducked his head. "I just... I didn't even know that I had an aunt."
Her face pinched a little. "And I didn't know I had a nephew. I hadn't heard from your father since I graduated high school. We were never close. After your grandparents died, I tried to get in contact, but... He moved out of New York. I never found him again."
"So... what's going to happen?" Isaac asked, a bit nervously. Was she planning on whisking him back to the East coast already? Would they fly out in the morning before he had a chance to say goodbye?
She looked at him with the sort of reassuring maternal gaze that Isaac hadn't seen for a long time and Isaac relaxed a little. Percy was lucky, having her as a mother. "Well, of course we'd be glad to have you in New York. Percy could show you around the city, and it might be a good change for you to get away. Of course, I understand you might not want to leave. I'd have to say... It's up to you."
"You mean... I can stay in Beacon Hills, if I want?" Isaac's heart beat faster and he scanned Ms. Jackson for any signs of deception. But this was better than anything he could have hoped for.
"At the very least, we can stay for the rest of the year," she said. "I don't know how much I can promise. And you'll have to put up with some visits back to New York." Isaac's eyes fell on her engagement ring and nearly felt guilty about wanting to stay. Nearly. "And after this year... we'll see."
"You really mean it?" Isaac asked, too hopeful to have his hopes dashed now.
"Yes, I mean it," Ms. Jackson assured him. "I'll call in the morning and see about getting some of the utilities turned back on. We'll make do tonight. Now, help me find some candle sticks, or we'll likely burn down the house tonight."
Percy took his sweet time coming home—in fact, Isaac had already retreated into his old room for the night. But he could hear Ms. Jackson and him talking in the kitchen, just down the hallway. "You took your sweet time, Perseus," Ms. Jackson said, her voice with a note of warning in it. "Everything alright?"
"I got the ice," Percy said.
"Thank you, dear. Now tell me what happened."
"Some kind of animal on the road. Well, maybe an animal. I didn't get a great look. Anyway, I didn't hit it, so the car's fine, but... uh, I think it was wearing a leather jacket?" Derek, Isaac immediately assumed. Shit. His cousin had already spotted their local werewolf. Or had Derek come and spotted Percy? Whatever it was, it spelled trouble.
Ms. Jackson let out a long breath. "You're tired, honey. Your eyes are playing tricks on you. We're in a perfectly normal small town, and we're going to stay for awhile."
"Well, how long is awhile?" Percy asked, sounding a little on edge still. From seeing a werewolf. This was going to be a great explanation. Estranged family members, please don't freak out, but... during the full moon, I uncontrollably murder people.
Ms. Jackson, in a very quiet voice, replied, "A year."
"A year?" Percy exploded.
"At least," she added.
"Mom, you can't do this to me!" Percy cried. "What about my friends? I was finally supposed to have a normal year with Annabeth and my normal friends. And what if something goes wrong? You know something always goes wrong at a new school. Mrs. Dodds, the gym class disaster, setting the band room on fire during orientation—ringing any bells? Because I've been on a pretty bad streak since, uh, kindergarten." Despite his curiosity about whatever messed up story that was, Isaac couldn't stop to wonder. He was thinking too hard, praying Ms. Jackson wouldn't relent and say they could go back to New York.
She made soothing sounds. "It's better now. You can handle yourself. We're better. And we have to do this. For Isaac."
"Don't make me pull the first born son card," Percy pleaded, but Isaac could tell he was losing some momentum.
"You're still allowed to go to camp in the summer," she promised.
"And we're going back to New York for every break during the school year including three day weekends and snow days?" Percy asked quickly.
Ms. Jackson laughed. "Deal."
"Deal," Percy agreed. "Oh, and while I was at the gas station... Found these."
"Blue jelly beans!" Ms. Jackson exclaimed, sounding delighted. "They sell them in blue only bags?"
"Uh-huh," Percy said, sounding incredibly pleased with himself. "So are we going to eat that blueberry ice cream or just let it melt?"
"You're Isaac's cousin?" Boyd asked, stretching out a hand to the new guy.
"Percy works, but yeah, that's me," Percy said, shaking his hand. "What's up, man?"
"It's tight you're hanging around for Isaac," Boyd said. "Me and his boys appreciate it."
Percy shrugged, but Isaac didn't miss the slight clenching of his teeth. "Hey, no problem. I can tell we'll get along, right?"
"You trying out for lacrosse?"
That earned another shrug. Was that Percy's trademark? Isaac had yet to decide. "I'm a swimmer at heart," he admitted, smiling at some private joke. "I've never played lacrosse."
"It's not until the spring. Cross country season is fall. And swimming is winter."
Percy hesitated for a moment. "Does it actually snow here?" he asked. That got them to laugh and exchange looks.
"I forgot you're from New York. You're funny, man." Boyd grinned at him, which was strange to see. It wasn't until it happened that Isaac realized how little he saw Boyd smile.
His cousin didn't drop his quizzical expression. "So does it?"
Isaac opened the front door to his house and followed the sounds of the TV into the living room. A trashy reality show was blaring, but the couch's occupant wasn't watching—no, Percy was asleep. Again. He had to sleep twelve hours a day, it seemed. At first, Percy had told him it was a jet lag thing, which wasn't unreasonable. There was a time difference from east to west coast—although not a big one. Still, it didn't quite add up. Especially after a week passed and Isaac was still finding Percy passed out whenever Aunt Sally sent him to collect him for dinner or when he got home from cross country(a sport Percy had decided he didn't want to try out for and instead was training for swimming after school. If these workouts were intense, they had to be short. Like clockwork, Isaac would arrive home after cross country to find his cousin fully dry and sound asleep on the sofa).
He clicked off the TV. Percy stirred and grunted. "I was watching that," he mumbled, wiping off the drool from his cheek.
"Have a nice nap?" Isaac asked, albeit a bit sarcastically.
"Huh? Oh, yeah," Percy said, sitting upright and running a hand through his hair. Isaac realized he was still wearing his sweat pants, a wind breaker, and sneakers. "Well, the pool was closed for cleaning, so I jogged home. And then I passed right out, I guess." He sniffed the inside of his jacket and pulled a face. "Dibs on the shower first?"
"It's ten miles from here to the school," Isaac told him, raising an eyebrow. "You could have used the car."
Percy shrugged—and Isaac had decided the shrugging was a chronic thing with him—and said, "I thought you'd want it after practice. Speaking of, how'd it go?"
Isaac thought of the cross country practice with the alpha twins staying out of his and Scott's way for now. But it was only a matter of time before that delicate situation bubbled over. "Fine," he said, clenching a fist.
Percy yawned and stretched. "Cool," he replied. "So Mom is down at the station and said not to wait up. They're sorting out some legal guardian nonsense... We're on our own for dinner tonight. What do you want to eat?"
"Actually, I'll pass," Isaac said, realizing an opportunity to go out like this without making excuses to Aunt Sally, who was for some reason good at recognizing when he made up fake stories(dealing with Percy? The kid didn't seem to lie to his mom that much). "I think I'll go out with some friends."
To his relief, Percy didn't argue and looked almost pleased. "Sweet. I'll order pizza and have the house to myself. Not to boot you, but I promised I'd IM my girlfriend and I miss her like crazy. A couple of friends, actually." Percy frowned and started counting on his fingers.
"Don't strain yourself," Isaac said, smirking a little as Percy mumbled three and held up a fourth finger.
"What?" Percy asked.
"Nothing. I'll be back by one, probably."
"What do I say when Mom asks where you are?" he asked.
It was too bad Aunt Sally didn't take as kindly to all night absences and unannounced coming and goings—and above all, missing dinner. That was another thing he missed about living at Derek's. "That I'm studying with Scott," Isaac said.
"Until one in the morning."
"Right."
Half the time, Percy seemed a lot smarter than he acted. The way he just knew when Isaac was pulling one over on him... It drove him crazy. "I'll keep her off your case. Have fun," Percy added, giving him a wicked grin. "Be safe."
Isaac was shiveringly cold and the only thing he wanted was a long, hot shower. His little ice bath had been pretty miserable and left his lips blue and trembling. But despite his freezing body, he could hear voices in the kitchen from through the door.
Percy... and someone else. Someone he didn't recognize. A guy, by the sounds of it.
"It's late. My cousin should be back soon," Percy was saying. Who did Percy know in Beacon Hills that didn't know him by name? The town was small enough that almost everyone knew everyone. "And you should be getting back to camp. It's, what, three in the morning there?"
"I've got business in San Francisco," the other guy said. "Checking some... things out." Isaac paused to calculate that out. Beacon Hills was about two hundred miles from San Francisco. There was no car parked in the driveway.
"What things?" Percy asked. When the other guy didn't respond for a moment, Percy added, "You can trust me, Nico. You know I always have your back."
Isaac held his breath, not wanting to miss whatever Percy's friend said next. "I know," Nico said, letting out a sigh. "It's just... not on this, okay? It's big. And not time yet."
"Not time yet in a scary prophetic way, or not time yet in a surprise Christmas present for me to celebrate my exile to California? Because I am banking on the latter."
That got a harsh laugh from Nico. Isaac had heard his voice before, he felt. But no, he realized, his voice only reminded Isaac of the loudness of the warehouse just after The Girl had restarted his heart with the jumper cables and the hollow feeling he'd had as he rejoined the living, like something important had been left behind. To say the least, Nico's laugh wasn't pretty. "Unfortunately, the former. But I promise you'll find out when it's time. For now, you shouldn't worry so much. I didn't come here to bring you bad news."
"That's right, you came here for the free food and a place to crash. Just don't let my cousin see you, okay? Of course you know Mom loves you. Isaac... I don't even know what to make of him half the time."
Nico sniffed. "Yeah, okay. Oh, and I'm supposed to ask if you'll be back in New York for the holidays."
He could practically hear the grin in Percy's voice. "Oh, yeah. Too far away, I say. I can't wait. My city! I can't help but keep hoping something will go terribly wrong at Beacon Hills like every other school and they'll kick me out so Mom has no choice but to take us back."
"Don't go looking for trouble, Percy."
"Looking for it? Did I start the dodgeball game from the underworld? Did I ask for my math teacher to try and kill me? Did that cheerleader blow up the band room and blame it on me? And remember when I came to your school for one day and things went totally bonkers with Annabeth?" Percy was getting heated now, but Isaac on the other hand was freezing cold. He decided to drop the eavesdropping and go in. He pushed on the door and it creaked softly as he entered.
"Sh—I heard the door," Nico hushed Percy's rant.
"Go downstairs," Percy breathed. Both of them were soft enough that Isaac shouldn't have been able to hear them. "I'll let you know when the coast is clear."
"Percy?" Isaac called, as if he didn't know he was sitting in the kitchen with a stranger. He closed the door and locked it, kicking off his shoes. Honestly, he didn't give a crap about whether or not Percy had friends over. More like... ticked that Percy was doing it so sneakily. When Isaac came into the kitchen, Percy was eating leftover blue pancakes and working on his math homework, scratching his head in bleary eyed confusion as if he'd been there all night.
Percy looked up and for a moment Isaac could almost believe he'd been staring at that page for hours, trying to finish his pre-calc assignment. "Oh, hey, Isaac," he said, rubbing at an eye and yawning—Percy was tired? Why wasn't Isaac surprised? "How'd your night go? You look... cold. Why are your pants soaking wet?"
Isaac didn't have a lie prepared, so instead he said, "I don't want to talk about it."
To his cousin's credit, he just nodded seriously. "You hitting the hay?" he asked, obviously hoping Isaac would clear out for the night. How his cousin had vanished so silently...
"I'll shower, then go to bed. You should, too."
Percy shrugged(the habit was starting to get on Isaac's nerves). "It's not a school night. I love sleeping in."
When Isaac got out of the shower and was significantly warmer, he could still hear the two of them talking. "And this has been the only weird thing you've seen the whole time?"
"Just the wolf in a leather jacket, yeah."
"Not even a whiff of anything else?"
"It's the weirdest."
"No kidding. Everyone else is reporting sightings like crazy. And especially for you..." A pause. "Don't go after this, Percy. If it's big enough to scare off other creatures, you should leave well enough alone."
With a jolt, Isaac realized for the first time that maybe Percy wasn't just a normal kid from New York. Talking about creatures—no, talking about when he saw Derek—like it was no big deal... It occurred to him that he really didn't know anything about Percy. And from now on, would do well enough to leave him alone.
"Gotta go. I'm meeting a girl."
"You dog."
"Don't be gross. She's a half sister."
"Oh, so she's downstairs, if you catch my drift? What's her name?"
A pause. "Hazel."
"Don't be a stranger. My door is open any time."
"...provided your normal cousin is out of the house."
Percy laughed. "Whatever. Normal people are the new weird for us, don't you know?"
"Stay safe, Percy," Nico said seriously.
Percy slowed to a halt by the forest creek and put his hands on his knees, breathing hard. Maybe he'd gotten a little lost. He should have stayed on the trail. Nothing like 20/20 hindsight. Should he try and retrace his steps or keep going in the hopes of finding the path? If he'd thought it would be worth using a cell phone and bringing anything in the area down on him, he would have called Isaac for help. Then again...
It wasn't that Isaac was mean or anything. But his cousin also wasn't going to be his best friend any time soon, he sensed. It was the snarky comments he sometimes made, the way he watched Percy with a guarded face, and the way he gave Percy chills every time he turned his back that told him to draw his sword and put his back against a wall. But that, he chided himself, was paranoia about not seeing a single monster since they arrived in Beacon Hills. Which was decidedly odd, considering he was a child of the Big Three and normally was stabbing monsters left and right.
Behind him, a branch cracked. Percy swung around, grabbing Riptide out of his pocket quickly. Standing on top of the hill above him was one of the many people he'd been introduced to since his arrival that he hadn't spoken to since. What was her name again? Alexis? Ally? No, it was Allison. She looked like she was out for a walk. And she was giving him a look like he was the strangest person alive. "Gonna write on me?" she asked.
Percy glanced at his hand and realized how it looked, clutching Riptide like it was a weapon. Well, it was a weapon. Right now, though... it was a ballpoint pen. "Oh. No, you just spooked me," he said, grinning in embarrassment. He pocketed the pen and shifted to a less threatened looking position. "Allison, right?" he checked, seeing if he'd remembered right.
"Uh, yeah," she said, still looking at him strangely.
"Oh—I'm Percy. Isaac's cousin?" he reminded her, assuming she'd forgotten. That got a laugh out of her, and she finally dropped the weird expression.
"Yeah, I know who you are," she said. "What are you doing out here?"
Percy tossed a hopeless look around the woods. "I was going for a run. But I seem to have gotten lost. Please tell me you know how to get back to the path."
"It's not too far," she said. "Do you want me to walk you there?"
Allison stretched down a hand and helped him up the embankment. "Thanks," Percy said, brushing himself off. "I'm glad I remembered your name."
"To tell the truth, I was pretty surprised to see anyone else. This is where I come when I want to be alone," she admitted to him. Maybe that explained the weird looks. Percy didn't really know what to make of her.
"Sorry to invade on your space," he said. "Believe me, I wasn't planning on it. I've been wandering around the woods for about an hour now, figuring I'm going to die in here after it gets dark." Ahead of them, Percy could see a beaten trail. "Alright!" He ran ahead a few steps and suddenly found himself flying into the air, dangling by one foot. "What the—"
Allison sighed. "Are you okay? This forest has plenty of traps in it, unfortunately. Mostly just snares. Nothing lethal. Let me get you down," she said, stepping toward the tree that apparently was keeping him tangled up. Percy struggled to sit up and get his hands to the string around his jeans, where it was cutting off circulation to his foot. Behind them, something snapped in the trees and was accompanied by a low growl. "Who's there?" she called out, whipping around.
"Allison," Percy said through gritted teeth, reaching for Riptide, "why don't you get me down quick and we can face the scary noise together?" But she was stepping away from him and closer to sounds, which were getting louder, and Percy was thinking he was about to watch the mortal get chewed on by some scary monster.
A/N: Hey! So this story is probably going to keep this choppy sort of cutting away focus that I have now. It's set during s3 of Teen Wolf and will reference activities from there but I'm not an author to retype the tv show script for you. The plot here is set before HoO, although will lead up to events there.
Liked the story? Disliked the story? Please leave me constructive criticism in the reviews! I'm always trying to improve :)