[AN]
The Pack mark is something I flirted with before, I got the idea for them sneaking of to get them from
Possessiveness, Miscommunication and Jealousy by Moonbeam (luvsbitca)Check it out.
Omega.
[/AN]
Chapter 2 – It's all in the Planning:
Derek sleepily rolled over to cuddle with Damion, instead of finding the warmth and touch of his mate; he found the empty spot in the bed. Half groaning, half growling he opened one eye and blearily looked for him. Not seeing him he pushed himself up onto his elbows and looked around the room, while listening for that oh so familiar heart beat.
Nothing, not in the room, en suite, or the upper lair, Derek snarled in frustration and swung his legs out of the bed and looked at the alarm clock. He blinked at it and then glared at it when he read two thirty. "Geez... We've only been in bed for an hour and he's out and prowling again." Sighing to himself, Derek then stood up and headed to the under lair knowing that was where his errant mate would be.
Having gotten the elevator and riding it to the under lair, Derek mused on recent events. Ever since the earthquake and the book had been decoded, Damion hadn't gotten a full night sleep. It wasn't showing yet, but the frayed at the edges sign were there and the others had noticed them as well. The tone sounded telling him he had arrived and the doors parted.
The lights were in night mode throwing the place into shadows, except for the cloister room, though that was lit with odd rainbows of refracted light. Derek strode towards it having deciding to have it out with his mate. He stopped at the arch and looked towards the central Orrery where a black crystal had formed around Excalibur and the Night sword, there stroking it with his right hand while massaging his right shoulder was Damion.
"What the hell are you playing at, we were only in bed an hour and you're up again, and you haven't slept a full night for over a week." Derek exclaimed, grabbing him by the left shoulder.
Damion turned and Derek saw the dark circles were more pronounced. "Hmm, sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. I just couldn't sleep, and my shoulder was aching. Then I felt drawn to my Locus. I think it's ready." He absently stroked the crystal again. The crystal had formed as a spire around the six foot half sphere that the swords had been on. It reached upwards like a stalagmite towards the spheres above it, with strands that spilled over the edge and onto the floor.
"Why is your shoulder still giving you trouble, you haven't told me about that? What's wrong?" Derek voice was thick with concen almost masking his words as he asked as he moved to Damion's side. He touched the shoulder and felt a heat in it that was higher than normal.
"There are still fragments of the cold iron in the bone. I thought Melissa had gotten it all. The serum Lydia made counteracted the effects, I've been using it in small doses since then." Damion told him his head turned slightly away so he wouldn't look into Derek's eyes.
Derek grabbed Damion's arms and twisted him to look Derek in the eyes. "What the hell! Why didn't you tell us, or get help, or do something!" He did growl then with a panicked edge. "Why didn't you tell me?"
Damion laid a hand against Derek's cheek. "There isn't much that can be done, the only way to remove it would be to remove the bone or a large part of it and that won't heal like a broken bone. Even if it did the likelihood of it working right would be low, and it would knacker my wing. My only hope was to wait and see if my Locus would reform correctly, if it did, then I have a hope of burning the contaminant out of me, turn it into something non reactive."
"You should have still told me, I'm you mate, you've been suffering this without telling anyone." There was anger in Derek's words.
"I'm sorry, there was so much going on, and you needed me to be there for you, I couldn't add to everything that was going on." Damion turned his head away as he said it not wanting to see Derek's eyes when he told him the next part. "If it didn't work, or the locus wouldn't work, then I would have told you. It would mean that my powers would be shortening my life span."
"That's the reason you tell us so we can be there to support you! Dumb Ass!" Now Derek was more exasperated than mad. "Can't Lydia or Stiles do this?"
Damion shook his head. "No, this is self transmutation, it's requires an intimate knowledge of the workings of the host, and levels of skill and accuracy they haven't gotten to yet. When I re-bond with my Locus, I have to act then and that point to funnel the energies at the problem. If not it will start to catalyse again. This is why you can't treat your own wound if you get stuck with the stuff most time. It's like leaving a house and bolting it from the inside, takes a lot of practice."
"Can I help?" Derek asked, taking Damion's hand.
Damion shook his head. "No with the removal, but stay with me? My Locus is ready, hopefully in a usable state, that was the risk that the joining wouldn't work, and I wouldn't be able to master a new one because of the contaminant." Where Derek nodded, Damion turned to the Crystal again, and Derek saw that shoulder in the refracted light, it had a scar, not from the healing of it, but something under it.
"Of course." Derek replied, standing with his mate.
Damion went to place his hand on the crystal then stopped and looked at Derek. "I'm sorry; I'm still not used to telling someone everything, or not trying to protect everyone. I guess I'm still learning. Damion then placed a hand onto the crystal and called to his Locus, it wasn't using magic, but connecting to the focus of his magic, the cold iron twitched but wasn't activated fully. He felt a stirring under the crystal surface, like electricity from the Locus, it called back to him and answered. "It feels different, a stronger link, a more powerful feel, like its whole." He said to Derek as he communed with it, he dropped his hand from the surface, and purple static played over the spot for a few seconds.
"Is it whole, will it work?" Derek asked.
Damion nodded. "Yeah, it should." He replied. "Better take a step back." He said as he looked at Derek, and gave him a smile, telling him in that look that he loved Derek no matter what.
Derek nodded returning that look and took a step backwards. "Ok, good luck."
"Thanks Wolfie." Damion replied and took a breath. Then raising both hands he plunged them forward and onto the crystal, the surface rippled and he plunged then further into the crystal. There was a screeching noise, like glass on glass, as he plunged in. The crystal began to buck and shake and then the spheres above then on the Orrery started to spin and orbit around the central shaft. They picked up speed and became like a blur above the two forming a disk with speed they were moving, the room started to tremble.
Without warning black lightning rained down from the almost golden disk above them and struck the crystal mass, playing over the surface and Damion. Then when Derek thought the Crystal would shatter, it began to liquefy. It was almost like ice melting, but instead of flowing down, it flowed up and joined the golden disk adding rings of purple, red and black to the swirling gold ring.
Damion was standing stock still as this went on, and slowly the mass disappeared from in front of him. Derek frowned at the sight that was appearing because instead of one sword there were still two, one black with red glyphs, and one black with silver and gold glyphs.
As the mass of crystal that was draining upwards over the blades lessened and then finally stopped Derek moved to see the swords better, hoping as he did that it has joined properly for the sake of his mate. Above them the Orrery slowed rapidly, then at a reduced pace, almost like a turbine or a jet spinning down. They returned to their more sedate pace, and Derek noted that now they had lines and glyphs highlighted in the purple, red and black that had come out of the Crystal.
In front of Damion were two swords hanging in the air, Derek recognised them both, though Excalibur was black in colour instead of silver. The difference was in the hilts of both swords, where they had once been handles for the swords, they were now two gauntlets or bracer constructs. The swords were mounted to the solid half of the circle and opposite two flaps which were open. The Night sword gauntlet was done in black with red highlights and a tribal style red wolf, the Excalibur gauntlet was black with gold and silver and had a tribal style dragon. On the inside of both gauntlets there were several spikes.
"Did it work, there are two of them?" Derek asked.
Damion nodded and blew out in relief. "I think it did. I think it formed a dual Locus. I've... I've never heard of something like this, but then again, I don't think what was tried with mine has ever been done before." He moved slightly. "Ok, I have no idea what's going to happen here but don't, you know, touch me till the light show dies down."
Derek nodded, though he wasn't in favour of the rather sketchy instructions. "Oh-kay..."
Holding out his arms to the blades, Damion willed the blades to join with him. The black and red one twitched then floated horizontal in front of Damion's left arm, after a second or two the black and gold did likewise but in front of the right. "Well... Allons-Y'" Damion said more to himself, and then pressed his forearms, with the underside upwards, into the gauntlets.
Nothing happened for a second then the both snapped shut and Damion hissed in pain as the spikes penetrated. Then the air was lit again but this time from the twin glowing blades. Then from an inner light that was coming from Damion's right shoulder. As Derek looked, he realised that the bone itself was glowing, what looked like white hot. The light grew brighter, and pooled around the lower end of the bone. Finally a trickle of blood followed by a sliver of copper excised from the scar that was on Damion's back.
The light faded away and Derek grabbed a rag from a table and carefully removed the sliver. "You ok?" He asked with concern heavy in his voice.
Damion nodded, leaning on the half sphere. "Yeah, I ended up turning it into copper. There were a lot of free radicals in the area that had to be removed as well, so I needed to get them all into a cohesive unit. Copper was the most inert thing I could get it to in that area of the periodic table."
Derek placed a hand on Damion's left shoulder then smacked him on the back of the head. Damion yelped and as he rubbed his head, carefully because of the sword, turned and gave Derek a hurt look. "What was that for?" He asked.
Derek shook his head. "That's for not telling me what was happening, I thought it was weird that your shoulder was still hurting, but I thought it just needed time. What would have happened if we got into a situation that needed magic, or only your skill set could have gotten us out of and you couldn't because you were incapacitated by your shoulder? You put everyone in risk, and... It hurt that you didn't tell me."
The final part stung Damion the most and his head dropped and he scuffed his foot, acting more like one of the teen wolves upstairs that a twenty five hundred year old. "I am sorry; I just didn't want to add to what you were dealing with."
Derek pulled Damion into a hug. "So about your Locus, it's going to be hard to do anything with two blades coming out the top."
Damion half smiled and said. "Well this is just one mode, I've been learning about it as it's bonded with me." He held up the swords and with a snap of either arm, both blades retracted leaving the gauntlets. "This is them retracted." He flicked them out again. "This is them both extended, obviously. Finally this is them separated." With a final twist of his arms, both blade move round to the underside then slid forward showing the normal hilts. They slid into Damion's hands and he was able to wield them like normal swords. He handed Derek Excalibur and Derek nodded at seeing how the blade could be separated out and Damion still retained part of the Locus, he handed the sword back.
"Can you still conceal it, you know inside you?" Derek asked.
Damion nodded. "Should be, I still have the magical enchantments set up for that." He joined the bladed and retracted them. Then concentrating he started to draw the gauntlets into their sealed forms, they flowed into a compact red gem just above the upper side of the wrist. Then the Gems sank into the skin. Damion nodded at that, then double over and gasped. Derek was at his side and looking for any injury. He almost recoiled when he saw the Dragon tattoo that was normally hidden at the original bound location of the Locus crystal, was moving.
"What the Hell is that!" Derek asked in a worried voice.
Damion gasped again. "The magic, the concealment charm is splitting; it's changing to cover the new locations." He hissed in pain. "Smarts a bit really."
Derek shook his head at that and watched on in concern. The Dragon now seemed to be chasing its tale, the skin rippled as it did so, the creature picked up speed and roared silently. Then suddenly it started to pull against itself, like it was trying to tear itself apart. The head swung from side to side as it writhed on Damion's chest. Then it tore itself into two, one looked like a smaller version of the tribal style Dragon, the other was a tribal style Wolf. As Derek watched the two beasts moved, the Dragon to the right, the Wolf to the left and it moved around the mate mark. Both creatures moved down the arms until they came to rest down the upper forearms, the forward claws and paws of the beasts where the Gems were resting. The tribal fire tattoo the Damion had on his left arm had moved and altered to fit around the wolf, now appearing like the tail of the Wolf was this plume of fire.
Damion slumped and Derek grabbed him to support him. "I think I could sleep now." He told Derek, trying to be funny, but just missing the mark.
Derek shook his head. "Fine, let's get you to bed, but were not done talking about this."
Damion nodded, and sighed. "The one time you want to talk about stuff..." He yelped again when he got another hand of the back of his head for that. "Hey invalid here!" He exclaimed and Derek just shook his head.
The pair walked from the under lair, Derek supporting his mate, and grumbling about Spell Wolves needing to learn to share.
..oo00OO00oo..
The next morning and the general chaos that was the breakfast table was a welcome to both the Alpha pair, it felt like home again, even Stan and Melissa were joining them on one of the rare occasions when their shifts had them both off at the same time.
"Jacks, pass the rolls." Stiles asked as he reached for the butter.
"Only if you give me the butter after." Jackson replied snagging a couple of rolls for himself.
Stiles nodded and then said. "Sure, you want the Jam as well?"
"Nah. I'm going to make bacon rolls." Jackson said as he shook his head.
"Ohhh that sounds really good..." Stiles commented and eyed up the pile of bacon on the table.
Stan was looking at the pack demolish breakfast with something akin to shock. "Stiles, how much food are you going to pack away?" He finally asked, and Melissa snorted at the question.
Stiles gave his father a hurt look as he got more bacon for his rolls. "I'm a growing Werewolf pops, it takes a lot of carbs to keep me going."
Stan shook his head and sighed. "As long as you don't turn into a Werepiggy..." He admonished, and Stiles looked down at his waist self consciously.
Derek grinned and said. "Don't worry Stan; this is normal for teenage Werewolves. They burn through everything so fast just now. We used to go through what would be a normal families month shopping in a week. My mom used to go to three different supermarkets so that it wouldn't look to weird, that and the big Kostko's where it looked like she was running a restaurant, which really she was when you think about it." He sort of got lost in the memory and didn't see the others stop and exchange swift glances at Derek sharing a moment about his family with them. Thankfully by the time he zoned back in, the others had resumed the eating.
Stan shook his head. "It's a good thing he has you guys to help him." Stan said nodding at Stiles. "If I was footing the bill alone, I think he would be foraging in the woods."
"DAD!" Stiles exclaimed, embarrassed by the implications.
Melissa nodded. "I know what you mean, my budget was seriously out of whack for three months, as I was feeding a Werewolf and didn't know about it." She said with a look at Scott, who blushed at keeping her in the dark for so long.
"Mom! I said I was sorry about that." He whined to her with a hurt puppy look on his face.
"I know honey, and I mostly forgive you. The rest we'll work on with chores at the house." She said with a serious expression, but then ruffled his hair and winked to let him know she was kidding.
"So what's with the new tattoos?" Danny asked Damion after taking a drink of Oj.
Damion looked down at his forearms, then back to Danny and said. "Hmm, oh yeah, I was able to reconnect to my Locus last night, it's now a dual wield form, and the sealed version is two gems that are contained in the wrists area. The tattoos are from the magic I use to hide them, the Dragon that was on my chest split into two. One is a Wolf and the other a Dragon. It's less conspicuous so I'm not hiding the tattoo's" Over the top of his coffee, Derek gave Damion a meaningful look and Damion shot another apologetic one back to him, again apologising for keeping Derek in the dark.
"They look cool. So you now have access to Excalibur?" Stiles asked joining that conversation and looking at the tattoos.
Damion nodded. "Yeah, both are accessible again, strangely they form a dual Locus which I've never heard about, so that's something I want to check into."
Stiles stopped open mouthed when he heard about the Locus, then said. "Wow that is so cool."
Lydia tapped a finger on her lips as she thought about it. "If you think about it, it's not that farfetched to see that both had an independent form for so long that it retained that as its base state. Re-joining then wouldn't require them to have a physical connection, only an etheric channel to allow them to channel energy between them and you."
Stiles was looking at Lydia as she spoke with a frown of concentration. "True a binary state shouldn't change your ability to focus through them; in fact it may even have a resonance effect, like an intensifying wave guide. You could end up with a power boost if you channel the energy right."
Lydia paused then said. "You might be right Stiles, it would be dependent on the energy conservation rates, and the synch dynamic of the resultant wave forms. This could be fascinating to explore, pity we can't use it for extra credit."
The rest of the table were trying to keep up with then three of them as they discussed the possibilities that could come from the new state of Damion's Locus. It went beyond most of them, Danny and Allison having enough Physics to get the principal. Sam couldn't believe what he was hearing, he mused on it as he ate his toast realising that the weird stuff aside they were having normal breakfast conversations, they weren't snarling and dominating each other or other weird animal behaviour like he would have expected. What sealed that thought for him was when Damion looked over at Jackson and Scott who were both making serious 'Hmm' faces as they pretended to understand what was going on and Damion threw bread rolls at the pair, who caught them with a smile and both reached for more sausage to put on the rolls.
"Pups..." Damion said with a shake of his head.
Melissa laughed at the pair, and then Lydia's comment reminded her. "School is still starting on Monday, there was a message on the answer phone at home, and the other parents got in contact with me as well, they had messages as well. Looks like they building came out without a hitch, and most people have returned home from the shelter that was in the gym."
Derek looked at the Pups as they all groaned at that. "Did you check your stuff to make sure you have everything that you need?" From the lack of responses Derek took that as collective no. "Ok let me rephrase that, you will check the state of your stuff before Lacrosse practice today so that we can get any missing things."
Damion took a sip from his coffee and said. "If you need stationary, there should be stuff in the Library."
Allison shook her head. "It's out of folders and notepads." Then shrugged at the mutinous glares she got from the boys, though Scott's glare lasted about a fifth as long as the others.
Damion frowned. "What happened to all the notepads, there were plenty in there before Summer?" He asked.
Stiles shrugged. "There have been lots of things that needed notes taking."
Jackson added after swallowing the last bite of his roll. "Besides you burnt the last one."
Derek pinched the bridge of his nose seeing where this was going to go and Damion responded. "I did?"
Stiles nodded this time. "Yeah, when you had your stare down with Grampy Argent, then you never checked to see if there were any left."
Damion pinched the bridge of his nose now, as Stan and Melissa both started chuckling at this. "So let me get this straight, we were on our last pad, and because I burned it and never checked, it's my fault were out. That's what we're saying here."
Stiles, Jackson and Scott all nodded at that. Melissa put a hand on Damion's shoulder. "Welcome to the world of Teen logic. All the scheming and conniving of an Adult, the impulse control of toddlers..." She looked at the table. "Well the boys anyway." Allison and Lydia preened at the comment while the boys pouted at the implications.
Sam shook his head. 'One big, weird family.' He thought to himself.
Derek sighed. "Fine, after Lacrosse we'll hit the Mall and get what's needed. Make sure that you have it written down what you need, I don't want to be in and out of shops all afternoon." Looking over at Stan and Melissa, one who was off to work, and the other off to bed, he added."Is it like this all the time?" When both nodded, he groaned at the implications.
Damion chuckled, and then looked at Scott. "Did you get that software for your Laptop?"
Scott thought about it. "The stuff for my Dyslexia, Umm, no. I kind of got side tracked with world ending stuff and work and training... Sorry."
Melissa sighed at that, and then looked over at Damion. "Would you get it while you're out? I don't want him falling behind at the start of the year. I would rather he kept up the B's."
Damion nodded with a half smile. "I think we all want that, so yeah, not a problem."
Derek looked at the clock. "Right, Lacrosse gear and lists of school stuff ready to go in forty five minutes." The Pups nodded and started to clear the table.
"I bet they're on time for him..." Damion added darkly, to which Melissa and Stan just laughed.
..oo00OO00oo..
The silver SUV's pulled into the parking structure and as soon as they stopped the Pack spilled out.
Stiles carried on his conversation from the ride. "... really, I mean is the Alpha babysitting service still needed? They have Peter now and we did kill... well Jackson smooshed Black." Jackson nodded acknowledging the point. "It's going to take them time to do the stuff their doing, so were in a lull. As long as we take care, and don't get into any situations that are trappish, we should be okay."
Derek glared at Stiles, who returned it with a questioning look. "We are not taking any risks at the moment. As much as I hate being in a mall, we need to make sure nothing happens. Places like School and practice are more controlled so we don't need to be there, as long as you take precautions. Places like this are to open to abuse, we've all seen that they can control people, imagine if you're in the mall and all the shoppers turn on you and kill you, or capture you again." Stiles groaned and Scott scuffed his shoe on the ground as Derek made his last point. "Don't groan, we know it wasn't anyone's fault but it happened, until we can get decent intel on what they are going to do, or if they have agents on the ground here then we take all the precautions we can. Once we've checked out the stores, then you can spread out in that area, it's not like we're asking you to hold hands like preschoolers." He was using his Alpha tone so they knew that this was a point that wasn't going to be argued with.
Stiles relented at that. "Ok. I'll give you that, but can we get some food before we start, I'm fading over here." Derek groaned as the other Pups agreed with that sentiment.
One trip to the food court and they were all sitting round two tables pushed together.
Damion asked them. "So what are we all here to get?"
Scott frowned as he thought. "I need a new backpack, and some stationary stuff, and the report writing assistance software and the presentation one that the school recommended. Oh those abridged guides for the set texts that we're going to get."
Stiles shovelled in some more curly fries then spoke over his mouthful. "I should get those abridged thingies, might help when I lose my focus. Some stationary is the only other thing, that's about it for me. Oh a new calculator, I melted my last one"
Jackson looked up from is pizza with interest. "Maybe I should get those guide things; it would save having to read the books."
Damion put his faces in his hands and shook his head. "Their meant to help assist with the learning, not replace the books themselves Jacks, you should read them, you'll get more out of it, I promise you."
Derek frowned at Jackson. "No shortcuts, you read the books, no excuse for anything else." He said very much the Alpha.
Jackson didn't seem convinced of that, but he let the subject drop. "Well I'm out for a new bag as well, and some kit for P.E. Surprisingly really, I seem to have enough new clothes." He looked at Lydia and raised an eyebrow.
Derek caught that and growled at Lydia. "Yeah I need to get more black T-shirts, my last lot seems to have disappeared and been replaced with polo shirts and primary coloured ones."
Lydia shrugged noncommittally at that, Scott looked up from his burger and looked at Lydia opened mouth, then down at the T-shirt he was wearing. "I didn't recognise this T-shirt this morning; I thought I was being dense... Have you been slipping new stuff into everyone's closet?"He asked her, still shocked by the revelation.
Lydia sighed the sigh of the unappreciated. "We are the dominate pack in the area, we have a certain image to put over, while I can't change what you like to wear, yet, I can at least ensure that it is of a certain quality and colour that works with your skin tones, you Scott seem to like the skater look, while not overly fashionable, it can be done correctly. Stiles is just a disaster when it comes to style, so it can only help to have some decent items in there somewhere."
Stiles looked hurt and gave her the sad puppy look. "I used to love you, know that, now I just know you're evil."
Lydia smiled at that, and then carried on. "Damion, Danny, Allison and Jackson all have decent taste and look good, so it's just refreshing their closets. Derek on the other hand has the type of complexion that gets mostly washed out by dark colours, which is the only thing that he wears." Danny and Jackson preened at the compliment, Damion and Allison just smiled and looked on amused at the conversation.
Derek growled. "I do not look washed out, I like dark colours it's easier to hide stains and blood when you don't want to be noticed. Leave my closet alone, I've had to borrow T-shirts from Damion, Danny and Scott. Not something I want to have to repeat. Am. I. Clear?" His eyes flashed red as he glared at Lydia.
Lydia shrugged again. "Fine if you don't want to at least look presentable. I mean apart from the tux, you don't even own a decent suit, or dress trousers, or a shirt."
Derek tensed as he answered her. "I don't have anything to wear a suit too, or need dress trousers."
Damion added thoughtfully to the conversation. "Actually she has a point. I don't think I've seen you in anything apart from the Tux, just the same things."
Derek turned to his mate and growled. "That's not helping!"
Jackson snorted. "You should be setting a good example for Scott and Stiles, I mean where the Alpha leads the Pack will follow, and we should represent for all the Wolves."
Scott and Stiles huffed at that comment and Scott threw a fry at Jackson who caught it and ate it with a mock salute.
Danny added. "It does you good to get smart sometimes, and while your look it really cool Derek, some changes to it might not be bad."
Derek frowned at the pressure, he wondered if other Alpha's had to put up with this. "Fine."
Damion smiled, and Lydia high fived Allison. Damion said. "Let's have a look while the others are getting their stuff. I think Lydia was wrong in her choice of pallet for you, it's more a winter pallet, but we can work with that. Also it's not washing out your skin tone, its more accenting it."
Lydia looked carefully at Derek, then to Damion. "Your right, I did summer, he's a winter."
Jackson was shaking his head and chuckling looked at Damion and said. "You are so stereotype when you talk like that."
Damion shrugged. "Let's put it down to my X-Why not put it over there chromosome." He said with a grin.
Derek mumbled to himself."Can't believe I got talked into that..."
Damion put a hand on his mate's leg. "Think of it this way, a shopping trip with me and it will forestall any further Lydia-fication of your clothes, that and we'll get you more black things."
Derek huffed but nodded at that.
..oo00OO00oo..
The Pack moved to the Concourse after finishing their lunch. Damion, Lydia and Stiles did a second casting on the stores and mall to see if there were any new magic or etheric sources of energy present. While it came back all clear, it did raise an eyebrow when someone came out of a bathroom stall.
"Ok, we're all clear." Derek said he got the nod from Damion. "The rules are as follows, minimum grouping of three people, no risks and no chances. You want to try something on, you all go. Don't stray from the others, and definitely no talking to strangers, Stiles that means you." Stiles squawked in protest at that. "Damion and I are going to the men's section in Macy's and then to the coffee place. You have three hours and stick to the concourse. Meet back here." Derek laid down the rules and got nods of agreement.
Damion chuckled. "Yeah, I'm keeping his time in public to a minimum, especially after he started growling at other customers."
It was Derek's turn to protest that. "They got to close to us." He said flatly.
Damion shook his head. "They were on the escalator. Anyway, Allison, here is the credit card, the pin is oh four five oh. No going nuts with it, please."
Allison took the card and nodding said. "I'll make sure we don't come back with a pile of games."
Damion smiled. "That's all I ask." Turning to Derek he said. "Right you, suits are that way." He pointed in a direction and with a protesting Derek in tow headed off.
When they were out of ear shot the Pups got together in a huddle. Scott looked at the others. "Are we still all set to do this?"
Jackson nodded. "I am, but your mom forbid you to get one remember."
Scott shrugged. "I know, but I'm seventeen so it's not like I'm that far off from eighteen."
Stiles snorted derisively at that logic. "Yeah in like eleven months. That aside I'm in for it, we need this, I know we all have the Pack link, but I think we all need something to physically to remind us of how much we've all survived and how much were there for each other, a family. It just makes sense to me."
Danny put his arm around his mate. "I agree with Stiles, we have a symbol of how much we mean to our mates, now I want something that says how much we mean to each other."
Allison nodded. "Danny said it best; we are a family despite not being blood related. I want something that says that, something that says I trust all of you more than I trust my own blood."
Lydia, who had the lesser connection to the others not being a Wolf, put her hands in Jackson's and Allison's hands. "I want something that will remind me I am family with you guys. I want it so that it helps ground me and gives me something to anchor myself."
Stiles grinned at all of them. "In that case we're going, and we'll need these." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a number of laminated ids. He then handed them out and the others looked shocked at them.
"Dude, these are driving licenses, and they look like the real thing, how?" Scott asked looking worriedly at his friend. The others were looking at Stiles somewhat opened mouthed.
Stiles shrugged and gave them his mischievous smile. "Let's just say that my dad shouldn't leave me alone in the Laminated ID printing room with access to the PC and a pre-created custom background."
Jackson looked at his. "You could have made me twenty one." He said with a slight pout.
Stiles shook his head. "Nu-uh. These are for getting the tattoo's, not getting into night clubs, when we get caught; I want a lighter sentence so a year isn't too much to add on. After all we are going to get caught at some point and then there will be consequences. Hopefully they won't realise where I made these, or you'll be visiting me behind bars after my dad locks me up... or would he use the pound instead?" Stiles tapped his lip with the ID as he thought about it.
"So which parlour are we going to use?" Jackson asked.
Scott looked to Stiles, and again Stiles had it all planned out. "There is a parlour on the lower floor of the mall over in the west wing, I checked it out and it has all its health certificates, and it has been cited a couple of times for underage tattoo's, but it was never prosecuted... Well my dad left me alone in his office with his PC and his password was so easy to work out he might as well have left it logged in."
Scott fist bumped with Stiles. "Bro, you always did like to research stuff out." He told him, then to the rest of the group. "Ok do we know where were getting it? I'm thinking left shoulder."
Jackson nodded. "Right shoulder for me."
Danny tapped his left shoulder. "Left."
Allison looked at Lydia. "We both talked about it, and I think Lydia and I are going for the small of the back."
Lydia nodded. "Yeah, small of the back for me.
Stiles looked glazed over. "That is so hot!" Then danced out the way as Danny mock swung at him. "I'm going for the Right shoulder, and that actually works out, male mates, and brothers will have it on opposite shoulders, and the ladies will have it in a sexy matching place."
Danny put his arm over Stiles shoulder and put him in a head lock. "Just remember your mine." He told him with a grin which Stiles returned with a kiss when he got out of the head lock.
Scott shook his head at the pair. "Ok twenty minutes we get what we need from here, and meet at the check out on the basement floor of Sears, that's next to the books and stationary so less likely to run into the others. Stiles and Lydia you to be ready to do your scans, the rest of us are on watch. We may be doing this but were going to be safe doing it.
..oo00OO00oo..
Derek groaned as Damion pulled him into Macy's. "I. Do. Not. Need. More. Clothes."
Damion just looked at his and raised an eyebrow in a 'really?' expression. "Your closet is on the rather sparse side, I mean you have clothes, but there isn't much change in their or potential for a change."
"I like what I wear!" Derek exclaimed.
Damion sighed. "I'm not saying you don't or that you don't look good in it, but some variety is a good thing. Ok, I go mostly around in t-shirt and jeans most of the time, but I do have other stuff as well. Let me get you a few things, a couple of suits and some shirts, maybe a causal outfit or two, you may never wear them but you have the option of doing it."
Derek looked at the puppy dog eyes he was getting of his mate and relented. "Right, fine... Just... just nothing bright." He said with a sigh of resignation.
Damion led Derek to the suit department and while Derek stood there like a depressed mannequin, Damion got various styles of suit's and shirts. He finally settled on two Hugo Boss suits the Derek had to admit looked good, one an Aamon/Hago in a soft black, and the other Admin/Hewin that seemed to drink the light in from around it, he got two of each. To go with these he got several shirts in black, red and dark grey, some plain and others with subtle patterns woven into them, then a selection of ties in various dark colours including a blood red that Derek really like and a satin black. To complete the various outfits Damion added several waistcoats, some patterned in blacks and reds, other just plain black that when Derek tried it one with the Admin/Hewin it made him stand taller and feel, well powerful.
Damion saw him almost posturing in the suit and when he smiled Derek saw it and gave him a half smile back. "Told you, you would look good in them." Damion told him.
Derek nodded. "Ok, I'll give you that."
Soon the shopping trip for a couple of things, turned into a full on makeover. Derek let Damion have his way and found he liked the stuff that was getting chosen, it kept to his dark and brooding motif, as Stiles had called it, but they all made him look good in them. More t-shirts some in blacks, dark reds and dark greys, and several pairs of dark jeans were added. When they found a replacement jacket that was so similar to the one Derek wore it could have been made at the same place, that was added too, what Damion didn't tell him was that he got ten more of the same one ordered as well as they had a habit of ending up holed by something.
The most out there outfit for Derek was a pair of dress black pinstripe slacks, a black shirt with red wolves on it, a red and black waistcoat and a black velvet jacket. "I feel like I should have a cigarette or a pip and one of those little hats." He complained to Damion.
"Give it a chance, this is something more casual and stylish for going out on the town, I do want to go out some times with you, you know." Damion replied as he brushed the shoulders of the jacket.
Derek looked into the mirror again and agreed that it did give him some of what his father would call panache. "Ok, we'll go out more, I take the hint." He told Damion with a smile.
All in all it hadn't been to tortuous for Derek and he now had clothes that would stop Lydia from decimating his closet every few months with some ghastly clothes that he would never wear. A brief stop in the underwear department and a final trip to the shoe department for dress shoes, some more trainers and boots rounded the shopping trip out.
When the final total was given to them by the assistant that became attached to them when it became evident it was a complete makeover, Derek nearly had a fit at the high four figure total, almost a five figures. "That's too much!" He exclaimed.
Damion sighed and handed over a credit card, and a business card with the address to ship the clothes too. "Think of it as an early Halloween present. Ok, please let me do this." He added a more puppy dog eyes to the end to seal the deal.
Derek growled. "I will have to kill Scott for teaching that move. Fine, let's just get it and go for coffee, I think I need something after this." He caught the sales assistant smiling at the exchange and a glare and small growl managed to wipe the expression of their face.
Damion shook his head as he completed the sale. "We have ten minutes before we need to meet the others, so just enough time to get some caffeine into you."
Once more Derek let himself be led to the coffee shop while the sales assistant was carefully packing the clothes for shipping and thinking of the sales commission he was getting.
..oo00OO00oo..
As they headed back to the rendezvous point the Pups were wincing ever so slightly as their new tattoos were still in the process of healing for most of them, and beginning to heal in Lydia's case.
"Whoever said tattoos didn't hurt getting them needs to be dragged out into the street and given an all over body tattoo." Stiles complained wincing as the dressing caught on his sleeve again.
Jackson shrugged and winced. "It won't be for too long. Well for most of us." He added giving a sympathetic look at Lydia.
Lydia shrugged. "I was going to get one, one day anyway, so I can cross that of my bucket list."
Scott tried to buoy the mood. "I think they look smart, and they came out really well. Some are really sexy." He said then swooped in to peck Allison on the cheek.
Stiles made a gagging noise. "Will you to save it please, its so lovey dovey."
Jackson leaned over and with a grin said. "Yeah it's almost as bad as you and Danny."
Stiles squawked at that, and Danny leaned over to kiss him on the cheek and said. "I think it's sweet when we do it."
Jackson snorted. "Like eating Cotton Candy for every meal, anyway. "
As they got closer to the meeting spot they saw the Alpha's sitting drinking from Starbucks venti cups, they both looked at the Pups as they approached in unison. Danny smiled in a forced way and softly said. "This is never going to work."
Stiles grinned almost manically. "Sure it will just smile and look like you own the place."
Jackson almost missed a step and frowned at Stiles. "That makes no sense."
Scott plastered an innocent smile on his face and whispered out the side of his mouth. "Leave it."
Derek looked at the pups with their shopping bags, and then at Damion and said with absolute certainty. "They've done something bad."
Damion nodded and kept looking at the Pups. "They have the expression that they left a present somewhere and are hoping you don't find it."
Derek nodded, and then sniffed as the Pups drew up to them. "Why do I smell blood and ink?"
The pups all looked at each other, and then Lydia said. "Probably from the tattoo parlour they have on the basement floor."
Damion nodded, not buying it. "Sure it drifted up this way almost following your trail as it created a slip stream and drew it from the other end of the mall."
Stiles nodded almost manically. "That's it, freak weather conditions causing microclimates and drawing strange odours with us, who would have thought it, that crazy Global Warming?"
Derek looked at Damion again and Damion back to Derek, Derek said. "Let's see them."
Then Damion held out a hand. "And hand them over..."
Stiles tried to look shocked and put upon as the other started to fish in their pockets. "See what? Hand over what? All these accusation, like you don't trust us or something."
Derek looked him square in the eye as Scott held out his hand with the fake ID. "We don't, not when you all look like you crapped on the carpet and are trying to hide it."
Stiles sighed and dropped his head in defeat, especially as more hands were held out and Damion collected more ID's. "Lovely mental image by the way, I can't get the picture of Jackson dumping on the carpet out my head now."
Jackson exclaimed. "Hey!" Then shoved Stiles hitting the tattoo and Stiles hissed.
Damion was looking through the ID's as Stiles handed his over finally. "Very good, the police ID printer was it?" When Stiles nodded, Damion sighed.
Derek growled. "Dumb asses the lot of you. Let's see it, come on."
One by one the Pups unvalued the tattoos and Derek was torn between feelings of being honoured and wanting to bash their heads together. All of them were displaying his families mark, the triskelion, all of them were saying that they were his and each other's family.
Damion groaned as they showed them the tattoos under the dressing. "I applaud the sentiment guys, but your parents are going to kill me when I tell them. Especially your mother, Scott."
Scott winced at the thought. "We kind of got the idea really when we saw the one you got."
Stiles nodded. "Yeah, I had read about Pack marks, that each pack had a symbol that was used. It was a sign of honour among members to choose to wear it, and it was a symbol of pack unity. We all thought that especially after everything and with all that was to come then, well, you know we wanted to show it, the being a family thing."
Damion groaned again. "Melissa is really going to kill me when she hears that."
Derek shushed him. "Guys you are right, it is a sign of honouring your pack to get one, and while I wished you had waited till you were all legally able to get one. I am... I can't help but think my Family would be more than honoured, they would be proud to have each and every one of you as part of their pack and family." As he said it, the others could see a wetness in his eyes, but no one made any comment on that.
Damion looked torn between wanting to kill and hug the pups so settled on starting a group hug that everyone got involved with, even Derek. From his side, Damion was heard to say. "We still have to tell your parents." To which the Pups just groaned.
..oo00OO00oo..
Melissa was not long up; she checked the clock on the night stand and calculated that the Pack should be returning shortly. Getting showered and dressed she headed downstairs to start pulling things out of the fridge to make a Pack sized meal. Looking at the contents she decided Italian would be the easiest thing to do and the Pups could pig out on the pasta and fill themselves up.
Getting the ingredients for bolognaise, she started cooking in a pans big enough for a restaurant, she browned up the mince and onions that could feed a platoon. As she did she heard the door go and she called out. "Making dinner, need a hand." What was strange that the normal about of noise that went with the Pack suddenly stopped. She frowned and wondered what had happened.
As they trooped through to the Kitchen she could see that all the Pups were wearing the same hangdog expression that she associated with Scott when he had news he didn't want to share. "Ok... Spill it."
There was the usual sort of hemming and hawing and then Derek and Damion stepped around the Pups and Damion took a breath but before he could say anything Scott spoke up. "I know you didn't want us to get tattoos. But we wanted to get them to show that we are a real family and that we are a pack, and Derek and Damion didn't know about this, so don't blame them it was out idea. I didn't do it to hurt you, but with everything that has happened and everything that has the potential to happen we didn't think we could wait till we were eighteen, the scary thing is that we might not make it to eighteen." Scott drew in a breath having not stopped to breath during his explanation and then he cringed as he waited for the explosion.
Derek nodded in a way that said he was glad that Scott had owned this.
Melissa stood there for a minute then turned back to the stove to stir the pots. Finally she said. "Let me see them."
The Pups all exchanged glances, then they got to work removing the dressings, only Lydia's now looked like it had healing to do. They faced the tattoos so that Melissa would see them when she turned around.
Slowly Melissa put the spoon down, and then turned to face them. What greeted her was better than she had feared. The triskelion was about two inches in diameter, it had a black border and each one had colours twisted around each other in the core of it that was done in a celtic knot patter. Scott and Allison had red and gold, Danny and Stiles had green and amber, Jackson and Lydia had gold, silver.
Damion spoke up at this point. "I can remove them magically..."
Melissa held up her hand and shook her head. "I wish that Scott had spoken to me first about this, but he made his choice, so I won't ask you to remove his. The other parents may feel differently when we talk about this. We will however be having many, many conversations about this, mark my words."
Scott looked both relived and petrified at the prospects.
"Right let's get dinner made. Then I think you all need to have conversations with your parents. Scott, we will have out first... chat." Melissa told them, and the Pups exchanged looks like they were heading towards their own executions and being asked to hold the gallows rope.
In the following commotion Stiles whispered to Damion, out of Melissa's hearing. "I thought you would mention the ID's."
Damion looked like he was considering it, and the others shot him looks as they picked up on what was being discussed. "I won't bring it up, and Derek will not say anything either unless it gets brought up. However you ever make these or there like again, and I will. You'll be in enough trouble for now.
Stiles nodded in thanks, and got back to making the Garlic bread.