Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers or Teen Wolf.
A/N: For reasons, I decided to watch Teen Wolf, and I marathoned all everything over a single weekend. Then I watched Insatiable and spent two days trying to figure out how to fix it. Then I spent five writing this chapter in stages. I kept emailing my friend all these ideas I had, and that's why things are the way they are.
This is my first Teen Wolf story, and my first Mega Force story.
Justin is based off my Rainbow Brotherhood universe (where he is a bitter, lonely man dealing with far too many issues.) (Edited for a few hunt the typo issues. Very minor. Don't be surprised if you can't spot anything different.)
Victory was assured, another of the enemy's plots foiled, and Troy was getting special entertainment in Jake's newest attempt to impress Gia. He smiled to himself as he watched them, they reminded him of…
Noah stumbled into him, and they both crashed onto the sidewalk knocking the memory out of his thoughts. "Geez," Troy wheezed, because there were some things you couldn't be prepared for, and he really didn't need to trigger another panic attack today.
"Sorry," Noah said, "I'm sorry, are you okay?" He rolled off Troy and scrambled to his feet.
Troy shook his head and picked himself back up, "I just bumped a bruise," he said. "I wasn't expecting it."
"That's the first time I've ever seen you react to pain," Emma said, falling in on his other side.
Troy shook his head, "I've had experience with pain." He caught Emma's horrified expression and shook his head, "Not like that, Emma. I played lacrosse at my old school. It's like football with hockey sticks when things get rough." He touched his elbow with a fond smile. The scar probably wasn't visible under the shirt, but he had scored the winning goal with one hand covered in blood, hidden by a red jersey until it ran over his fingers.
"Lacrosse?" Jake scoffed, "That's not a real sport."
Troy spun around and gripped Jake's arm tightly. Something in the back of his mind was screaming, but the words came out, in perfect imitation of his best friend's sneer. "Just because your team's shit and probably should be disbanded doesn't mean you have any clue what the game's really about. You play a game that's all about kicking a ball."
Hurt flashed in Jake's eyes and Troy caught himself, "I am so sorry," he said, letting go of Jake's arm. "I shouldn't have said that." He took a deep breath, "My old school was crazy for lacrosse. We were all state for four years, actually. Coach almost cried when my parents decided to move."
"You never did say why you moved," Gia said.
Troy hesitated, remembering all the strange and sometimes wonderful things he'd seen back ho- in his old town. He also remembered the bad. The number of times he'd seen blood and cleaned wounds, and the times his own blood had been spilt. He remembered the number of casual and not so casual comments about the fragility of human skin, and the laughter that followed yet another punch.
"Where are you from anyways?" Jake said, "We fight for the world every day and sometimes I feel like I don't really know you."
"I'm from Beacon Hills," Troy said, startled out of his thoughts. "It's further inland, in the heart of a huge nature preserve."
"Sounds nice," Emma said.
"It could be nice," Troy replied. He looked up and frowned. There were to motorcycles parked on the side of the road at a gas station. The riders were nowhere in sight, but Troy still felt a nagging sense of familiarity.
"What?" Gia asked.
"I've seen those bikes…" Troy began, looking at the gas station itself.
It was like one of his night terrors. From their blond hair to combat boots with leather in between, Troy had never wanted to see the identical nightmares from the Alpha Pack ever again. "Troy," Gia said.
He was breathing to fast, his mind flashing through memories he buried until dark, and the night terrors began.
"Troy Burrows," one of the twins says.
Something in him snapped and Troy could breathe again. He looked down at his red shirt, reminded that he was no longer a half-trained student, an easy target for the monsters. He turned to Gia, knowing he can trust her best to do what was necessary. "Stay here," he said. "Keep them here. Don't interfere until I signal."
"Right," Gia said after a moment of studying him. He wondered what she saw in his face, but knew it didn't matter now.
Troy turned and started for the twins, keeping his hands steady and ignoring the heavy thumps of his heart. The twins would know he was afraid, but Troy knew that would come in handy soon enough. "You've got a lot of nerve coming here," he told them.
"Scott sent us," one of the twins said, holding up his hands. "We don't want any trouble."
Troy stared at him, baffled and amused. "What, no white flag?"
"We just need to give you something, from Scott. It's important," the other twin said.
"And you expect me to believe you after last time?" Troy replied as he shifted slightly. He was going to get a small revenge today, no matter what.
"We're just here to give you a letter," the other twin said. "Danny said that your parents were censoring your mail?"
"Something like that," Troy said even as he stalked closer. "There's just one problem." He was close enough.
"What's that?" The first twin asked, looking nervous.
Troy punched him solidly in the gut then spun to land a right hook on the other twin before finishing with a roundhouse kick to the first twin. When the twins were on the ground and staring up at him in shock. Troy knelt down and held out his hand, "Letter?"
One of the twins drew the letter out of his jacket and handed it over with a shaking hand.
"You're not," the other began.
"Like you?" Troy asked as he tucked the letter away. He wasn't going to chance that his teammates had decided to come closer after that little display. "There's not a chance I could be like you. I also still don't believe you."
"Look, call Scott," one of the twins said, "Read the note and call Scott. He'll tell you if it's true or not."
Troy stared at the twins for a long moment, "I just might," he said. "You two need to get what you need and leave. Harwood County is a you-free zone." He shuddered, suddenly picturing one of their enemies getting their hands on the twins. While he didn't mind picturing the sort of tortures the twins deserved, he knew that if it really happened, he'd try to help them get away. Under his breath, which he knew they would hear, he murmured, "Nothing but humans should be here. It could be very bad." If Scott or the Pack showed up, then he'd know if he could trust the twins.
"We will," one of the twins said as he began to carefully pick himself up.
"Tell Scott the next time he needs to send a Twilight Bark, he should send someone else," Troy said, "anyone else." He paused for a moment, "Except Peter Hale." Actually, He wouldn't mind seeing that creepy bastard go a few rounds with the Warstar Empire. It might actually be educational.
"No one else could have come," the other twin said. "Not right now."
"Excuse me," an older voice said, "but you three need to move on."
Troy turned to find a city cop watching them. "Yes sir," he said simply. "I'm just leaving." He turned back to the twins, "Tell Danny I said hi, and I swear to God if you hurt him, I have no problem getting a just revenge."
"I won't," one of the twins replied firmly.
"Look, I get why you left," the other one said, "why your parents took you away, but Troy, we might need you."
"You aren't the only ones," Troy muttered and turned around, "Thanks for the letter," he called over his shoulder.
Gia and the others were still standing on the sidewalk, when Troy reached them, Emma hugged him tightly. Troy wrapped an arm around his friend, closing his eyes letting the teasing sent of gardenias soothe him.
"You look terrible," Jake said. Troy risked a peek, but Jake looked concerned. It was probably the first time Troy had seen that look pointed at him. Jake usually saved his more advanced emoting for Gia or Noah.
"Get me out of here," Troy said.
Emma gripped his hand and pulled him away from the gas station. They were far enough away that he could barely hear it when the twins finally got around to starting their bikes.
"What was that all about?" Noah asked.
Troy glanced over his shoulder, "Those two were involved in some of the worst days of my life," he said quietly. "It's partly their fault my parents decided they had to move out of Beacon Hills, not to mention they were involved in the death of one of my friends."
"And they're walking around free?" Jake said, "Shouldn't they be in jail?"
"You'd have to take that up with someone else," Troy said harshly, remembering the look on their faces when he'd woken up that day. "I think they ought to be locked up with the key melted down and remade."
"Are you sure you're ok?" Emma asked as she slid her arm through his. "You looked really shaken when you saw them."
Troy bit his lip and stared ahead of them for a long moment. "Part of the reason they got off easy after everything is because they're only sixteen," he said. "Their parents aren't in the picture and haven't been for a long time. They went through group and foster homes until they got tired of being separated. Then they ran away. I think they were like eleven. They were lured into, into a gang and that's when the trouble started, I guess. They left that gang for this other group, and what little I know is that they were loyal out of a sense of debt to the one who got them out of their gang, and intimidation."
"That sounds awful," Emma whispered.
"If they hadn't come to Beacon Hills," Troy muttered. Then he took another deep breath, "They came because the leader wanting something from this guy named Derek Hale, and I'll tell you Derek Hale's story at some point, but not today. I don't know what they wanted, but I know part of their plan was to go through some of Derek's friends who were still in high school. They wanted these two, Scott McCall and his best friend Stiles."
"Stiles?" Jake asked.
"Don't ask," Troy said, rolling his eyes. "Scott had this whole clique, with Stiles, Alison, and Lydia, and they mixed it up with Derek's friends, Isaac, Boyd, and Erica. Then there was Danny and I. Before this whole thing started, our other best friend Jackson had been in some trouble, which dragged Danny and me, although mostly me, into their drama as outliers. His dad moved Jackson to London after all of that, before this thing went down. The twins, being sixteen, were enrolled into the high school to get close to Scott. They picked two people to target as being possibly part of their group. They picked Lydia and Danny. I guess they thought Danny was the easier target for Ethan than me, I don't know."
"Why would they go for Danny?" Noah asked.
"Because he's gay," Troy said with a shrug. "Most everybody knows that, it's like the top ten things you learn on your first day. Me being bi is barely a blip on most people's radar for the most part. The kink in their plan was me, because Danny and I have been flirting for years and we were kind of talking about trying for more. That is, before the twins knocked me out and dragged me off to get me out of the way so that they could get to Danny."
"They kidnapped you?" Gia said.
"I think that was actually Ennis and Kali, but I know it was their suggestion," Troy said after a long moment. "I just know that they had me captive in a room with a chemical toilet for weeks. I could hear things sometimes. They didn't seem to use where I was as anything more that a part time base, but what I heard." He stopped walking and looked down at Emma's arm, still entwined with his own. It was enough to anchor him. A second hand on his arm was Gia, who gave him a reassuring smile. "They kept talking about killing me," he said finally. "That they needed me so that they could kill me later. There were screams too." He shuddered, "I have nightmares about it, and night terrors."
"That's awful," Emma breathed.
"That's why I don't trust the twins," Troy said. "I'm not sure what their full sentence was, but as long as they keep their nose clean until they're twenty-one, they're on probation. They were coerced into doing what they did."
"They won with that kind of excuse?" Jake said.
"Duke what's his face killed one of their own, a guy named Ennis. No one's sure why. He supposedly has a kill list of people, family and friends, associates, random people. It goes back a dozen years and all over the West Coast." Troy replied with a shrug.
"What happened to the rest of the group?" Noah asked.
"Kali is dead," Troy said, "as well as Ennis, but Duke whatever his name is vanished. Sometimes I wish I was brave enough to ask Derek if he'll ever bother us again, but I didn't." He looked at his team, his friends and mustered up a smile, "And that's why my parents moved from Beacon Hills to Harwood County. I don't know if we'll have a lot of time at the mall if we don't really get moving."
They hurried down the road together and after a few minutes of thinking about Beacon Hills, Troy glanced up at his friends. He was startled to realize that Emma was still walking on his left with their arms linked, and Gia was walking on his right like she did it every day. Noah had moved to the front of the group, setting the pace and leading, while Jake trailed behind them silently. He'd seen his friends back in Beacon Hills walk this way, protecting him, Styles, Lydia, or Alison or even when one of the others had needed it; it shifted something in him and he could feel himself relaxing. It wasn't quite the same feeling as his friends, his Pack back in Beacon Hills, but the potential was definitely there.
They did reach Ernie's with time to spare and after they ordered, Troy remembered the letter the twins had given him. He pulled it out and stared at the plain white envelope. "So why did they bring that anyways?" Jake asked.
"My parents think I'll heal from what happen if I avoid reminders of it," Troy said. "They've banned me from contacting anyone from Beacon Hills. You've all noticed I don't carry a cell phone, and that's part of it. I mean, I still have ways to contact them, I send Danny a post card twice a week if nothing else, but my parents want me to start fresh. They made it very clear right before we left that they don't want my friends to try to contact me for a while so that I can, quote unquote, recover from my ordeal. My dad is a computer programmer and a bit of a hacker, I'm not surprised if he checks my email for signs of contact."
"That's wrong," Jake said, "I couldn't imagine if my mom made me cut off all contact to Noah."
"I couldn't either," Noah said. He looked down, but Jake reached over and squeezed his arm.
"They couldn't do it," Emma said as she leaned into Gia. "There's not a chance."
"Which is why I send Danny post cards," Troy replied. "We hadn't figured out how he could write me back, though." He opened the envelope and pulled out two pieces of paper. "Whatever went down, it must have been really bad for them to send this." The first piece Troy looked at only had lines of neatly typed letters and numbers.
"That's a code," Noah said, pushing his glasses up and leaning over for a closer look.
"Yup," Troy replied. "And I know the key." He turned to the second, a letter.
Troy
I'm sorry that you have to hear this in this way, and I'm sorry that the twins were my only choice in sending you this letter. The enclosed paper has the full story, but the short version is that what we went through had consequences. I hate that your parents took you from us, but at the same time, I am glad you weren't here for this.
There's something you need to know; Allison Argent died last week. As I said, all the details are on the other page, but I will say that she died for what she believed were the right reasons, and she was at peace when she went.
The Sherriff is releasing Allison to Mr. Argent and the funeral will be on Saturday. We'd really appreciate it if you would come. If you come, you should know that the trouble isn't quite over; we still need to deal with the events leading up to Allison's death. We'll do what we can to keep you out of it if that's what you want.
Scott McCall
Troy must have read the letter four times before he became aware of anything else, and even then, it was Jake waving his hand in his face. "What?" Tory asked.
"You're white as a ghost," Emma said, "what's wrong."
Troy dropped the letter like he'd been burned and shoved it at Gia. She looked at him for a long moment then took the letter and began to read it. Troy buried his face in his hands, shoulders shaking as he fought to keep from crying. He liked Allison as a friend. Unlike Scott and Isaac, while he could admit Allison was beautiful, he'd more admired her skill as a fighter. He'd known her from school at first, they'd worked on a math workshop together, and sometimes he'd be caught in Hurricane Lydia, and had spent time with Allison in social events.
Then the club had happened, and he'd learned one of his best friends could literally turn into a mutant killer lizard. After that, Allison and her dad had trained him off and on in their fighting skills. Mr. Argent, and Gerard had both made some comments about teaching him to become a hunter but Troy had been noncommittal. Stopping the Kanima had been one thing, but he didn't want to think about hunting two kids he'd played lacrosse with at school.
When the Kanima was stopped, and Jackson left for London, and Allison and her dad for Paris, Troy had kept practicing. He didn't want to be a Hunter; he wanted to help save people, like stopping the Kanima.
Derek had offered him the bite, and Troy had honestly considered it. After he'd seen the trouble Scott went through with his mom and he knew his own parents would have been worse, Troy had told Derek if the offer were open when he was of age, he would consider it.
"Troy?" Emma said as she shook his arm.
"I'm going," Troy said, looking at his team.
"Troy, you can't," Gia began.
"I am going," Troy interrupted her.
"Listen to me," Gia said, "you can't go alone. Beacon Hills is two hours away; we can drive there and back in a day, easily."
"You can't," Troy said. "I'm going to be sneaking out as it is."
"Then we'll all sneak out," Jake said, "but you can't go back there alone. Not when you're clearly not over what happened."
Troy stared at his friends and wondered at how he'd gotten so lucky, twice.
"All right," Maya said as she came out of the Moran's house. "Everybody got everything?"
Troy slid his duffle into the back of the SUV and tried to look relaxed, if not happy, "I'm set," he said.
Maya opened the driver's side door. "Then let's get this show on the road."
"Have fun," his mom said. "Don't give Maya any trouble, Troy."
"I won't," Troy said, he glanced over his shoulder to see Noah and Jake scrambling into the SUV while Emma watched them. "I promise Mom."
"I remember the last time," his mom said, trailing off with a little wince.
"No offense, Mrs. Burrows," Maya said, "but I'm doing this to get a tan and we're wasting sunlight."
His mom laughed, "All right Maya, and feel free to call me Karen, all of you." She pulled Troy into a hug, "I'm glad you made friends," she whispered in his ear.
"Me too," Troy replied. He freed himself from the hug and hurried to join the others in the SUV. He found himself in the front passenger seat, with Gia and Emma in the middle and Jake and Noah in the very back.
Maya glanced up, "Seat belts on everyone. We're not leaving until everyone's buckled up."
Troy fastened his seat belt as the SUV roared to life. They pulled out under his mom's watchful eye and then they were gone. Troy watched out the window as they headed for the highway. He turned to Maya, "Thank you for doing this, Maya."
"Troy, you're the only person I know who would use a trip to a water park to cover a trip to a funeral," Maya said. "Between that and the fact that I get to see Remy just makes my day."
"It's not just any funeral," Troy said, "its Allison. Of all the people I've lost in the past two years, she's one of the ones that affected all of us. I mean, yeah, I was friends with Erica and Boyd, but Allison is Allison. She linked Scott and Stiles to Jackson, Danny, and I through her friendship with Jackson and Lydia. Isaac's crush on her made the link to Derek, Boyd, and Erica. There are other ties and new ties if the twins are involved, but Allison was important."
Troy stared out the window, wondering how the dynamics were changing. Scott and Stiles had each other, they had always had that, but with Jackson and Troy gone, Danny was alone. He had other friends, and the lacrosse team, but none of them had been there when Danny had freaked out about being gay, or knew why he had the scar shaped like an arrow, or why there was a strip of skin on the small of his back that never tanned. With Jackson and Troy gone, Danny would welcome the attention from the gay twin. And Derek would be alone, since Isaac had joined Scott's pack. In fact, Troy would lay odds that Isaac's allegiance had switched around the first time Scott's eyes had turned red. That meant Derek would be spending his time with Cora and Peter, and Troy wasn't sure that was wise because Cora had been a prisoner of war and Peter was a sociopath or something worse.
He became aware of Maya speaking, "I'm sorry," he said, turning to her, "I was lost in thought."
Maya smiled at him, "It's okay," she said. "I was just asking about your friends, they seem pretty scattered."
"Well, Scott, Stiles, Danny, Jackson, and I played lacrosse together," Troy said. "Danny and I have been best friends since we were toddlers, and Jackson joined us when we were about ten. There was a summer lacrosse camp and we were a part of a team with some kids from out of town. Scott and Stiles were benchwarmers, but everyone knows Stiles. He has ADHD and I'm pretty sure he's addicted to Adderall, but don't quote me on that. He's very loud and very much a spazz, but he has genius level intelligence I think. If you know Stiles, you know Scott. They're like brothers. Jackson dated Lydia and she tolerates the rest of us, mostly."
"She tolerates you?" Emma asked, leaning up a bit.
"Well," Troy said slowly, "it's become something of an open secret that if Stiles is a genius, then Lydia is smarter than him. She just doesn't admit it; she likes to put up a front that all that's important to her is shopping and boys. I think the disconnect is that she's so smart that we all seem slower than Christmas. She's getting better about it, but if you meet her, don't take her personally."
"What about the others? You mentioned a Derek?" Gia said.
"Derek Hale," Troy agreed, "he's the outlier to the equation. He's twenty-four and he's kind of a mentor and kind of a royal douche, and he once spent several weeks wanted for murder. His only family is his sister Cora and his uncle Peter. He's another one to be careful about. Nobody likes Peter, or trusts him. He's very creepy on a good day. I don't think he's got the balls to go to the funeral, Mister Argent would probably kill him on principle."
"How did you end up hanging out with a twenty-four year old?" Maya asked.
"I think Derek asks himself that every day," Troy replied, "usually several times a day." He sorted through his options before going with, "It was sophomore year that it started. Derek came back to Beacon Hill, Scott made first line, and there was a killer on the loose. I don't know the full story, but something happened and Derek started hanging around to keep an eye on Scott and Styles. I think it was because they knew something about the killer and Derek wanted to know what since the first victim was his sister Laura. Well, Derek ran into Jackson a few times looking for Scott, who was chasing after Allison like a dog with a bone. Jackson thought Derek was creepy, but he got obsessed over the guy after getting slammed into a couple of lockers. Me and Danny though Jackson was crazy to go after him, but Jackson does what Jackson does, and that put us on the edge of that."
"But that doesn't," Jake began.
"That's when things changed," Troy interrupted him, "Jackson was acting weird, Scott was mad at the world, and especially Derek. Stiles was taking more Adderall than usual, and douche bag number three dumped Danny. I dragged Danny out to a club and we were attacked, well, the whole club was." He clenched a fist for a moment, "Someone released a hallucinogen in the air and then started stabbing people with a weird paralyzing agent. I know it was a human, but at the time, I thought it was a giant, mutant lizard. Danny got hit, but not me. I might have been, but the bartender came flying over the bar with a baseball bat and a leather jacket and drove the thing off."
And hadn't that been one of the weirdest sights ever. Justin had put the lid of a trashcan around his neck to protect that spot, wrapped a leather jacket around on fist and gripped his bat like it was so much more. He'd held the thing off a few people for a while and then it had run off again. Troy had followed Justin, and they had both seen the Kanima become Jackson. Scott and Stiles hadn't noticed them, but Derek had.
Derek had offered them both the bite, but Troy had turned him down. His parents would never have tolerated some of the shit Scott and Jackson had pulled, he'd had been on house arrest on his way to military school within a week. He had told Derek that when he turned eighteen, or if there was a true emergency, that he would seriously reconsidered.
Justin had apparently had a long conversation with Scott and the other Betas before saying yes to Derek.
Sometimes Troy wondered how different life would have been if Justin Stewart had not leaped over the bar to attack the giant lizard. He knew that at least one death had been prevented by Justin's presence, and there might have been more he wasn't aware of.
"What happened after that?" Maya asked.
"Well, Derek finally made a friend his age," Troy said, "the man's name is Justin and he does something with computers. He's got money, but you wouldn't know it to see him. He says he's moderately wealthy, but Isaac told me he owns the most expensive car in the world, and the most expensive suit. I've seen the suit, but not the car. Isaac is a kid Derek took under his wing. His dad was abusive, and after he died, Derek sort of mentored Isaac. Then Justin got in the picture and made some phone calls and suddenly Isaac is his foster son."
"Must be nice to know a rich guy," Jake said.
"You say that now," Troy replied trying to hide his grin, "you can be around the next time his experiments go haywire." Another hidden scar, on his hip, from a lucky graze. He'd nearly lost something far more important. "Justin's a mechatronic specialist. I wish I had my phone, it's awesome."
"You still don't have your cell back?" Jake asked.
Troy pulled out the cheap touch screen, "I got this one, yeah." He said. "Special circumstances, do not call anyone, blah, blah, blah. No, back in Beacon Hills, I've got a Blue Mountain cell phone. I left it with Justin to keep it safe." He had left so much behind, clothes his parents didn't approve of that he bought anyways, pictures of the Pack, the electronics that he would never bring in the house because his parents would confiscate them. He'd only managed the phone because it was protected.
"What's Blue Mountain?" Emma asked.
"Only the most advanced cell phone around," Maya said, "you've got one? I heard they cost more than the revenue of a mid-sized country."
"The owner built it for me," Troy replied casually. "Derek and Justin live in his condo complex so we run into each other on occasion. I left it with Justin when we moved because my parents have a thing about gifts." He twisted to look at the others, "Don't spend more than five dollars on a gift unless you're prepared to store it for me. They will take it back to the store and pay you for whatever it is. Burrows do not Borrow after all. You have been warned."
"Your parents are weird," Jake told him.
"I'm also not joking," Troy said. He turned back around with a sigh. His mom had the obsessive need to present him with the best presents, the most expensive. He thought it was to make up for the fact that his dad was just as happy to ignore him than to enjoy spending time with him. But that was a thing when your wife decided that if you couldn't get her pregnant than she'd find her own way, and a sperm bank was slightly more respectable than an actual affair.
As he stared out the window, Troy could hear his Rangers talking amongst themselves and he smiled. They weren't sure what all they should believe about what was going on, and that was okay. Troy told them as much of the truth as he was able to without having to fear for his life. Stiles was the only human he knew that seemed to like getting Derek to threaten him on a regular basis. When Troy got caught up with Derek's side of the pack, he tended to keep his head down and his reaction to things like Peter as minor as possible. The three times Derek had been angry at Troy had been enough. Although Troy did maintain that Derek getting mad that Troy needed to use a bathroom was just on this side of ridiculous.
After a few more minutes of staring out the window at the trees flashing by the highway, Troy's eyes slid closed and the gentle murmurs of his Pack, his team, followed him into his dreams.
He stood on a battlefield, surrounded by monsters and Rangers. He couldn't see the Mega Force Rangers, but when he ducked a particularly persistent monster, he saw the Blue Turbo Ranger. "This is a mess," Turbo shouted at him.
"I know," Troy shouted back. "We need to regroup."
"I don't think we have time."
"…Time."
Troy jerked upright, gasping. "Whoa," Gia said.
Troy stared at Gia in the driver's seat, "What…" he began.
"We dropped Maya off about an hour and a half ago," Emma said from behind them. "You were sleeping so we decided not to wake you. Is everything all right?"
"Yeah," Troy said, settling back into his seat. "I was just having a weird dream."
"Well, Beacon Hills is less than three miles away," Gia said, "we'll be there in plenty of time."
"Right," Troy said, looking out the window.
The road was winding through the preserve, and Troy wondered if the Pack was out there training. His hand twitched for the window controls, but he stopped himself before he could open the window and listen for them. The road turned a curve.
"What the…" Gia said.
The Beacon Hills city limits sign was now visible, and it had been vandalized by three infinity symbols. Troy clenched his fists as they drove by. "What was that?" Noah asked.
"Trouble," Troy said shortly. "We'll be staying out of it."
"But," Jake said.
"We'll stay out of it as much as we can. We don't need to get involved with the shit that goes down in Beacon Hills. We've got our own battles to fight." Troy said firmly. He gestured to Gia, "Pull over there, please."
"Why?" Gia asked.
"Just please pull over," Troy said.
Gia pulled into a small rest stop and Troy slid out of the car. The woods sounded like they always did, full of the bustling of a thousand woodlands creatures. He took a deep breath and felt his chest loosen as the smells of his life surrounded him. He could hear his teammates piling out of the van but he didn't turn to look at them.
Further down, there would be the turn off used by Stiles and Scott on the night before their sophomore year. The night that Beacon Hills felt the return of its werewolf pack.
"Troy," Gia began.
"May I finish the drive in?" Troy asked, "I know where we're going."
Gia hesitated, and then tossed him the keys. "Don't tell my sister."
"Wouldn't dream of it," Troy replied, maybe there was something in the air of Beacon Hills that inspired kids to do things they shouldn't. He'd have bet money on Gia never handing over the keys.
The sound of a siren and a sheriff's car pulling in front of the SUV killed Troy's small smile. "I got this," he told the others and strolled forward. He kept his face neutral as Sheriff Stilinski slid out of the car. "Sheriff," he said.
"Mister Burrows," the Sheriff replied. "It's been a while."
"It's a shame that these are the circumstances I came back under," Troy replied.
"Indeed," the Sheriff said. He looked over Troy's shoulder, "May I ask why you stopped here?"
Troy couldn't help the smile that appeared, "Chinese Fire Drill, Sheriff. Just stretching our legs."
"There's no red light." The sheriff said, looking around for a moment.
"The last time there was a red light you threatened to treat us to a night in a holding cell to respect the need to drive safely." Troy replied, crossing his arms.
"Ah," the sheriff said, "it's nice to know you remember. Are you planning to head to Danny's house?"
"His parents are out of town," Troy said, "and I needed a place to change."
"Actually they came back this morning, their trip was cut short," the sheriff said. He smiled a little at Troy, "Go stop by my place and change. Stiles will be there to let you in."
"Thank you," Troy said.
"We all deserve a chance to mourn," the sheriff replied.
Troy nodded and glanced at his shoulder to find the team had come closer. "These are my friends," he said, "from Harwood County. Gia, Emma, Jake, and Noah. Guys, this is the Sheriff of Beacon Hills, Mister Stilinski."
"Morning guys," the sheriff said. "My son Stiles, and probably his friend Scott will be waiting at the house. I'm sure things will be fine." He turned and headed for his car.
"We'll see you at the funeral?" Troy called.
"Absolutely," the sheriff replied.
Troy turned to the team, "We should go. Unfortunately we can't go to Danny's now."
"Why not?" Gia asked.
"Mrs. M would be on the phone to my mother five minutes after we walked through the door to tell her we made it here safe," Troy replied. "We lived around the corner from each other and Mrs. M was a stickler for calling to announce a safe arrival."
"Mrs. M?" Jake said as they all climbed into the SUV.
"I can't pronounce Danny's last name," Troy replied. "I gave up years ago. It's like Stiles, the Sheriff's kid. Nobody knows his real name, so we all call him Stiles. He made it up himself, way back when. He liked the idea of being a link between the straight and narrow road and the wild fields, because that's what it felt like for him back when he started taking meds." He pulled away from the rest stop and rolled down the window. Justin's sensors would have picked them up, so he began to hum Man in the Mirror. Anyone listening would know who was coming in.
"Are you humming Michael Jackson?" Jake demanded suddenly.
Sometimes, Troy loved his team like he did his pack.
Scott was standing outside Stiles' house when they got there, looking lost as he watched them pull in. Troy turned to his friends, "Give me a minute, okay?"
"Sure," Gia said, "we'll get our stuff. Do you need your duffle?"
"No," Troy replied, "that's for later." He slid out of the car and hurried over to Scott. The last time he'd seen the Alpha, Scott had been new to his power and nervous about everyone handling the change in leadership. The man and he was a man, who pulled him into a hug, was more than that. Troy let his head rest against Scott's temple, content for the moment to enjoy the hug. Then he looked at Scott like a Red Ranger would.
He could see how damaged Scott was, the bruises in his soul from loosing Allison, from nearly losing Stiles, and the bruises that hadn't fully healed from before, from Erica, and the Alpha Pack. He could also see the healing and the strength that was being built out of his grief. Troy thought it meant that Scott would be the type of Alpha that Talia would have counted as a friend, the man Deucalion should have been.
"I'm sorry," Troy murmured. He was sorry, for Allison, and Scott fighting to become a good Alpha, and what they'd gone through, and that he couldn't have been there.
"Who are your friends?" Scott asked instead.
Troy glanced over his shoulder at the four teens huddled around the back end of the SUV. "Family," he replied, "teammates. Not Pack, but close."
"They wouldn't let you come alone?" Scott said.
"There wasn't a chance of it," Troy agreed.
"Then maybe they are worthy of you," Scott murmured as he stepped around Troy to approach the group.
Troy shook his head, because that right there was what worried him. Allison had been important to Scott for the entire time he'd been a werewolf, with her gone, he wasn't sure what would happen in Scott's head. Then he trotted after the Alpha, falling in step just a little behind him as they got to the driveway. "Everyone," he said, making sure he had their attention, "This is Scott. Scott, these are Gia, Noah, Emma, and Jake."
"I'm sorry for your loss," Emma offered after a moment of silence.
"Thank you," Scott said quietly.
"We need to get changed," Troy said, he glanced over at Scott nervously. "Mr. Argent won't mind will he?"
Scott shook his head, "They can't be there for the burial, but the church service will be fine."
"All right then," Troy said.
There was a grumbling roar of an engine, and then a Lamborghini pulled up in front of the house, followed by two far too familiar motorcycles. "Aw shit," Jake said, "is that…"
"The twins," Troy said with a resigned sigh. "I'm not going to punch either of them this time."
"So you will round house kick them?" Gia asked.
Troy caught Scott's look and he shrugged, "It's a bit hard to get over the whole being kidnapped thing. It was cathartic."
"That is a sweet ride though," Jake commented.
"Among other things," the driver said as he slid out of the car and studied them over the roof of the car. "Troy, bringing home strays?"
Troy laughed, "Not strays, Justin. Not this group."
"I agree," Justin said as he pulled a suit bag out of the car, "they're a bit too colorful to be strays."
"Hey Isaac," Troy said as the younger teen slid out of the car, "you holding up okay?"
Isaac stared at Troy for a moment before shaking his head, tears falling from his eyes as he did so.
Troy had noticed Isaac long before werewolves became a thing. From the first time he'd seen the kid, he'd been reminded of a kicked puppy. After the bite, for the first time he'd seen Isaac look almost happy. If werewolves could look like a real wolf, then Isaac would have been wagging his tail right after he got the bite. Now, that kicked puppy look was back, and Troy hated that it had reappeared.
"It's okay," Justin said, pulling Isaac into a one arm hug. "It's okay." He urged Isaac to move away from the car as the twins came up the drive.
"We weren't introduced last time," one of the twins said. "I'm Aiden, and this is my brother Ethan."
"Jake," Jake replied shortly, "this is Noah, Emma, and Gia."
"Guys, this is Justin and Isaac," Troy added. "Justin's that bartender I told you about." He hesitated a moment, "he also taught me some of the karate I know."
"It's good to meet you," Noah said.
Justin eyed him up and down for a moment, "Same to you," he said finally. "We need to get changed."
"Right," Scott said, "Stiles is fighting his tie, and Lydia's doing her makeup." He glanced at Troy, "Jackson's here too. Flew out especially."
"Great," Troy said, he glanced at his friends, then back to the house, and back to his friends again. Then he turned, "I'll see you inside," he called over his shoulder before jogging across the lawn to let himself into the house.
Jackson was standing in the living room, dressed in his suit with a little smile on his face. Troy grinned, "How's London treating you, by the way?"
"I hated it," Jackson replied, "I'm at Cambridge now."
"College man," Troy said with a laugh. "How's that going for you?"
"Well enough," Jackson said. "I'm making it happen."
"That's great," Troy said, he glanced over his shoulder, "Look, I brought some friends with me. Or rather, it was easier for us to car pool than to let them stalk me. You'll like them, I think. Although Jake and Gia, well, they remind me of some people we know."
"Together?" Jackson asked amused.
"Nope," Troy shook his head, "Jake's got a massive crush on her, but Gia's not interested."
"I definitely know who that sounds like," Jackson agreed.
"It's definitely entertaining," Troy said.
The door swung open and the teens turned to find everybody coming in, with the addition of Derek and Peter to the mix. "You forgot this," Justin said, holding out a dress bag.
"Sorry," Troy said as he took it.
"It's all right," Justin replied as he adjusted his tie. "Hi Jackson, good to see you again."
"You too," Jackson replied.
"This is Aiden and Ethan," Justin added.
"So I've heard," Jackson said softly.
"That was a fun phone call," Troy said with a slight smirk.
"My roommate didn't think so," Jackson said. "He moved out the next day." He was grinning a bit though, so Troy thought he wasn't that mad about it.
"Bathroom's free," Stiles called as he bounded down the stairs, "hey Troy! Hi Troy's friends. Ladies, Lydia is up stairs with hair and makeup tools if you need them."
"Stiles," Troy said with a slight smile, "my friends are Jake, Emma, Noah, and Gia. This is Stiles."
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Stiles said.
"How much Adderall have you had today?" Troy countered.
Derek growled.
"It's not my fault Adderall affects my opinion of him," Troy said. "Did you introduce yourself even, or did you just grunt?"
"He grunted," Justin said. "He's monosyllabic like that."
"Troy," Peter said, "it's good to see you again. It's been a while."
"Not long enough," Troy replied dryly.
"Indeed," Peter replied, "this is an interesting group however. You could have been- well, you've lost your chance anyways." He looked at Scott for a long moment, "I doubt Scott would do it, even if you were gagging for it."
The feel of his fist impacting with Peter's face was wonderful. Watching as Peter's head snapped back and his nose crunched eased something inside himself.
Hands grabbed him before Troy could make another move, and he looked, surprised to find Jake and Gia pulling him away from Peter. "Is this a thing for you?" Jake asked, "Like, are you incapable of greeting people without punching them if you don't like them?"
Troy shrugged his arms free of their hold. "Only the ones that deserve it. Right Peter?"
"I can't imagine what I could have done to you," Peter said.
"Oh I'm a giver, and a sharer," Troy said. "I share my friends' enemies, and I give them the smack downs they deserve."
"Smack down later," Scott said, stepping between them, "get ready now. We are not going to be late."
Mister Argent was standing in the middle of the church steps as people filed inside. "You'll have to sit in the back," Troy told them. "I'll be with the others, it's a thing."
"We'll be fine," Gia said. "I'll keep them in line."
"Let's go," Jake said, "you've only said this five times already. Scott told us, Stiles told us, and Derek grunted, which I think meant the same thing."
"Sorry," Troy muttered.
They headed up the steps and Troy angled over to where Mister Argent was standing, "Mister Argent," he said quietly.
"Troy," Argent replied. "Derek told me you were here." He glanced over Troy's shoulder, "With friends."
"Sorry," Troy said. "They would have stalked me either way. This way saved gas and the environment." He winced, because it was clear that being back in Beacon Hills pretty much killed all of the self-control he'd developed from dealing with Derek.
Argent shook his head slightly, "Go on," he said.
Troy gestured to his friends and hurried into the church. "What was that?" Gia hissed.
"Sorry," Troy replied, "that wasn't supposed to happen."
Jackson came up beside them, "Troy's always been like that. You didn't know?"
"I've learned to control myself a bit," Troy replied. "We'll meet you guys later," he added over his shoulder."
The Pack was sitting across the chapel from another group of somber people. Jackson leaned over, "Argents," he murmured.
"Lovely," Troy said.
They looked at the Hunters, who watched them suspiciously, as they slid into the Pack's pew.
As they settled, music began to fill the room. Troy swallowed as the song became clear. Allison had put If I Die Young on her playlists every chance she got. It was a strangely appropriate song for her funeral.
Troy leaned into Jackson, enjoying the feeling of being with his best friend and his pack. He missed having his teammates close, but when Jackson leaned back into him, he enjoyed the warmth and camaraderie as a foil against the preacher's words.
It helped him keep from crying as people spoke about Allison who didn't know anything about her. They only knew the outside of Allison. None of them knew what Allison was like when she pinned her hair up and picked up her bow. None of them knew the Allison who stood up to werewolves and Kanima as if they were just belligerent drunks in a dirty bar.
Finally, the public portion of the funeral was over.
Troy saw his friends pile into the SUV, as they would follow them to the cemetery to pick them up afterwards. He also had little doubt that at least Jake would take the time to change back into everyday clothes.
He put his team out of his mind as he followed Scott and Stiles into Stiles's Jeep, trusting Gia to keep things in line. She was a good second.
"So," Stiles said as they drove, "how did you meet those guys?"
Troy hesitated, "It was weird. We were all volunteered for a community thing and we just clicked. It was a lot like hanging out with you guys. No effort involved or anything."
"They seem like they're pretty tight, and they're protective of you," Scott said.
"Well, Jake and Noah have been best friends since forever, and Gia and Emma are dating, so yeah there's that. It's not easy or anything, but it's good. Except for Jake's rather persistent crush on Gia, that's mostly entertainment."
"Doesn't he know they're dating?" Scott asked, "I knew when they got out of the SUV."
"We're not exactly sure," Troy replied. "It's not like they're hiding it or anything. Noah says that Jake isn't as oblivious as he acts, but he won't say anything to him."
"So why don't you?" Stiles asked.
"Gia asked me not to," Troy said, "she thinks that Jake will realize that his crush is based on a fantasy and not a real person and back off. I'm sure that she'll tell Jake something if it gets too far, Gia's not the sort to let other people force her to do something."
"Sounds like a couple of girls I know," Stiles said.
They pulled up to the cemetery and Troy sighed, "I don't want to go back."
Scott turned, "Don't worry, maybe in a few weeks we'll come see you."
"No!" Troy yelped. "No, don't."
"Why not?" Scott asked.
"It's not safe," Troy said, "didn't you hear, there are Power Rangers in Harwood County. It's bad enough that I have to live there. I don't want to have to worry about you guys too."
"Then we'll meet up again," Scott said. "We're not going to leave you alone after all. What your parents are doing…"
"Don't," Troy said. "I don't have that long to suffer through, and I've got an idea on how to make it shorter. I'll have to talk to Justin first. Is he mad at someone? I haven't seen him drive the Roadster since he got into it with Coach last year."
"That was awesome though," Stiles said, "the world's most expensive car and the world's most expensive suit, just to intimidate the world's most obsessive coach."
They scrambled out of the jeep and headed off to join the others. "Everything all right?" Peter asked.
"Gossip," Troy replied, "gotta start hurricanes somehow."
"You mean the butterfly effect? Don't you need butterflies for that one?" Peter retorted.
"I could just punch you again," Troy muttered, knowing Peter would hear him.
They gathered around the casket, watching each other carefully. "Scott," Justin said.
"They won't do anything," Scott replied. "They're like us. They don't want to be found. They're just watching today."
"What?" Troy asked.
"Rival pack," Isaac said. "They've been circling around for a while, but they haven't exactly contacted us. Beyond taking a few shots at the twins."
"Shots?" Troy said.
"With wolfsbane bullets," Isaac replied.
"Boys," Scott said. "Now is not the time."
Troy looked up and found Boyd slipping into the group with a nod to Troy. He looked a lot better than the last Troy had seen him, when he'd been healing from the battle with the twins and Kali, when they had tried to make Derek kill Boyd.
"We're here to say farewell to a friend," Derek said. "She was a warrior."
"She was Pack," Scott said.
"She gave her life for me," Isaac said brokenly.
"She fought to protect people," Boyd said.
"She was a good friend," Lydia murmured.
"She was a teacher," Troy whispered.
"We will never forget her," Argent said. "Her name and her story will be shared for so long as we breathe. Her legacy will live on in each of us."
"She is loved. She is honored. She is remembered." Stiles said.
A howl echoed out of the forest. They turned to stare as a group of people exited the woods dressed in fatigues. "What's going on?" Stiles asked.
"They're being rude," Scott replied as his eyes turned red and he stepped forward.
Troy glanced over his shoulder to the parking lot where his friends were waiting, "Scott," he said carefully.
One member of the other group roared.
"Shit," Troy said as Scott roared back. He blinked, "Are those Alphas."
"Yup," Isaac said.
"Another Alpha Pack?" Troy asked.
"Yup," Isaac said.
"What do you want?" Scott called as the group approached.
"We want the Alphas," the leader, a woman, called back.
"There's only one Alpha here," Scott said.
"No, we want them," she pointed at the twins and Peter.
"What for?" Scott asked.
"For forcing innocents to become werewolves," the woman replied. "They deserve to die."
"No," Scott said. "You won't touch my pack."
"Peter Hale turned you against your will, and you call him pack?" One of the men said.
"I don't like him, and I don't really trust him," Scott said, "but he's a part of this pack, and no one touches my pack. Peter Hale and Aiden and Ethan are mine."
"You don't even know their name."
"Legally it's Stewart these days," Justin offered casually. "And I kind of object to people threatening my legal wards, and I've got a lot of money to make those objections very painful."
"They deserve to die," the woman said. "You have until the full moon to hand them over. Then we'll go through your pack one by one until we get them."
"You know, Deucalion thought he could do that," Derek said. "We're still here though."
"Four former Alphas," one of the others said, "what the hell kind of pack are you?"
"The kind that is based on being friends and trusting each other. We don't need to be Alphas to be strong." Scott replied coldly.
"We became Alphas because the Alphas that turned us forced the change and we fought back," the woman said. "That change is an abomination. Now, we make sure Alphas who force the change can't do it too someone else."
"That does not make you judge, jury, and executioner to Alphas because you can," Troy said, stepping past the others. He slipped past Scott, "You destroy packs because of an arbitrary decision. You break families, you tear apart lives. You hurt people in your quest for vengeance. You don't know anything about this pack, you just think it's your God-given right to destroy it."
"You're just a human," the woman said. "You don't know anything."
"I'm a lot more than that," Troy said, smirking. "Maybe one day, you'll know exactly who I am." He turned on his heel and stalked through the group. "Maybe when you know, you'll be better for it."
Troy could feel his senses flaring up as he turned his back on an enemy, but he could also tell they were leaving. He was just passing the coffin when Scott grabbed his arm, "Are you crazy?" Scott demanded.
"Not yet," Troy said. "I'm still working on it." He glanced over his shoulder to where the Alpha Pack had disappeared. "They need to get a reality check, Scott, and I need to get ready to get on the road."
"If this comes down to a fight, you won't be here," Scott said.
"Maybe I will," Troy said. "I'm getting less and less enamored of Harwood County every day." He looked up at his team, "At the moment, there are only four reasons keeping me there." He paused, studying his team. Noah was sitting in the front passenger seat, reading something, Emma had her camera out and was taking pictures of some of the older headstones while Gia trailed after her. "Oh crap," Troy said. "How is this my life?"
He freed his arm from Scott's grasp and ran for the van, "Gia, Emma!" He called as he ran, "Noah!" They were waiting when he got there. "Where's Jake?"
I'm sorry! I needed Allison's funeral to be my catalyst for the rest of the story. I saved Boyd because Justin's presence changed things. Justin is a werewolf, amongst other things, and nobody knows he's actually a werewolf. Justin's presence has changed any number of things.
Also, I apologize if people seem OOC, I was caught up between the somber nature of the day and my overwhelming sarcasm as inspired by my job. (I hate my job. A lot.) I'm hoping as I get further along, I'll get better at characterizations.
Also, the Nogitsune is still roaming around. Which means Aiden didn't die yet and can be saved.