A Life worth Living

Chapter 2


"Your t-shirt needs to be removed, may I?" Harry questioned, glancing briefly at Stiles who was deeply ensnared in his mobile phone.

Derek nodded once, curtly, the t-shirt which was now utterly ruined, soiled with blood and sweat that even magic probably couldn't get out completely was carefully removed. Harry's lips twitched at Stiles gaping, however, briefly it was. He could see the appeal in the desire to do so, the werewolf was seriously ripped, but it definitely wasn't appropriate, and so he refused to let his eyes linger for even a moment.

"Stiles, come here, you might as well learn something seen as you're here," Harry commanded, gesturing with his index finger, then pointing next to him, Harry removed one of the flowers, setting it into a bowl before setting fire to it - using a lighter - he wasn't stupid enough to reveal his magic to a stranger, not due to whether he could be trusted to keep the secret or not since all supernatural creatures that were rational (not feral) instinctively knew to keep the supernatural hidden. No, he just didn't know whether he was a bad guy or not, and if he was, then Harry wanted all and every advantage conceivable. Despite his dark brooding demeanour he didn't believe he was one of the bad ones, but the same could have been said for Peter Pettigrew. Look how that had worked out. He had torn the life of five people apart. His mother, father, Sirius, Remus and of course him.

"It has to be set fire to, once its done scoop it up, now this bits painful, you ready?" Harry asked.

"Get on with it," Derek snarled, getting defensive at the care he was receiving, he wasn't used to it, with the obvious exception of his family, his sister.

"If this is your normal demeanour you should adjust it accordingly," Harry stated as he poured the contents of the dish into his hand. "Help is being freely offered to you, not everyone has the good fortune to have that help."

Stiles hid a grin behind his phone as he watched Derek closely, he knew how it felt. Harry didn't get angry, he'd never seen him that way. If he got disappointed or anything close to anger he was able to completely destroy you with words, not with sarcasm like he did, but just making you feel like an utter dickhead. Harry's method was much more affective than his dads and that was saying something, and he'd felt it a few times over the years.

Derek wasn't so easily broken; he merely flashed his teeth and eyes at Harry.

"Is this the part where I'm supposed to run away or be intimidated?" Harry questioned as calmly as you please. Barely able to suppress the laugh he wanted to let loose at the growl of anger Derek let out after his words. "You're like an impudent pup,"

Derek scowled before looking away; if he'd had the strength he would have been more intimidating he assured himself mentally, just before he regurgitated an alarming about of black goo.

"Brace yourself," Harry said, they couldn't delay any longer, his tone as always quiet and confident. Once he had made sure that Stiles was watching, he showed him the contents in his hand before stiffening his spine and pressing the burnt down Wolfsbane into the glowing open wound. The scream that he let out was excruciating and covered the sound of Scott entering the house, or would have if Harry didn't have every ward convincible on his property and the surroundings.

"WOW! THAT…WAS…AWESOME!" Stiles exclaimed, watching as the wound began to heal, the red lines that were leading to his heart disappearing slowly. He sobered up at the sight of Harry's arched brow, and then asked Derek, "Are you okay?"

"Well, except for the agonizing pain," Derek muttered dryly.

"Well I'm guessing sarcasm is a good sign of health," Stiles said, relaxing now that the danger had passed, he could only imagine how he would have been if he hadn't thought to contact Harry. Considering how close it had been…would Scott have been too late?

"You'd know," Harry told Stiles in amusement.

"That's Harry?" Scott asked Stiles completely forgetting to whisper as would be polite when you were talking about someone who was right in front of you.

"Yes," Stiles nodded with a grin on his face, realizing his best friend hadn't seen Harry before. "Harry this is Scott McCall, my best bro!"

"But I thought he was old!" Scott protested, "Like old man, old!"

Harry choked on his chortles, "Do I even want to know what you've been saying about me that gave that impression?" he was twenty-eight-years-old thank you very much.

"Now we've saved your life you're going to leave us alone, you got that? If you don't I'm going to go to Allison's dad and tell him everything-," Scott told Derek his tone angry and bitter.

"You're going to trust them? You think they can help you?" Derek stared straight at Scott as he spoke; all three of them had seemed to forget about Harry being there.

Harry was watching the scene in front of him feeling curious and caution was there really a kid actually threatening to reveal the supernatural world? If he did that he was as good as dead, and everyone would be made to forget his entire existence. Then he saw the eyes flashing gold, hmm, a young werewolf, he must be missing something surely he wasn't stupid enough to reveal a world he was part of?

"Well why not? They're a lot freaking nicer than you are!" Scott protested vehemently.

A bitter smile twisted across Harry's face, what a naïve little fool, it was the 'kind' ones you actually wanted to keep a look out for. He had learned that the hard way, during his younger years, probably younger than this teenager was.

Derek's own eyes flashed, "I can show you how nice they are,"

"Don't put that back on, especially if you're going to be in public, as dark as the fabric is, you can see blood on it." Harry told Derek - he still didn't know his name - "Give me a minute," and with that Harry left the room, off to find something for the guy to wear.

A few moments later Harry returned with a long sleeved vest in white, the tags were still attached, he knew werewolves were very territorial and wouldn't like to wear other peoples' things unless they had absolutely no choice or if they were pack.

"Stiles, we need to talk, come by this weekend," Harry told the teenager; he had to tell him about his spark, keeping it hidden was just asking for trouble. It was already Friday right now, which gave him tomorrow morning to get out the books relevant to what Stiles was and come up with a way for the teenager to understand…especially one who had literally only just came upon the supernatural world.

"Aren't you coming?" Stiles questioned, he was curious about what Derek meant by 'showing them how nice they were' he had a feeling he wouldn't like it either way but when did that stop him?

"Fine, but we use my car," Harry told them, "I've told you, I'm not getting into that jeep until you let me get it fixed for you."

"Fine," Stiles agreed, "But don't talk bad about Roscoe!"

"It's held together with duck tape," Harry said dryly, but he said nothing further, for he knew just how much that jeep meant to the teenager. With that the four of them went down to the garage, the teenagers almost wet themselves with excitement at the sight of all the cars and motorbikes lined up in Harry's garage. Harry moved to the side to grab the green and black Chevrolet Camaro keys. It was mostly green with two black stripes down the front of the bonnet. You could tell it was his favourite make, since Harry had three Chevrolet Camero's, a black one - exactly like Derek's - the green and black one and a white one with black stripes and neon lights his favourite thing about that car was the fact the car doors opened upwards. What could only be agreed though was that they were all extremely fast sport cars.

Pressing down on the keys to open the door, the teenagers all but dived into the car, complaining when they had to sit at the back. Harry wasn't about to sit in the back of his own car, bad enough he was actually letting someone else drive him - it was like being a passenger on his own broomstick - he was grateful at least that the guy realized the trust he was being given. Either that or he was just outright surprised to be given the keys full stop.

Twenty minutes later they were outside Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital.

"Derek why are we here?" Scott demanded, as he followed Derek through the long term care facility until they entered a room, that housed a man, sitting facing the window, he didn't even react to their entrance.

Derek didn't answer Scott.

"Your brother?" Harry asked his tone soft reading the notes at the bottom of the bed, his name was Peter Hale. He was twenty-six years old.

"My Uncle, Peter Hale," Derek said.

"Is he - like you, a werewolf?" Scott asked.

"He was. Now he's barely even human. Six years ago, my sister and I were at school, and our house caught fire. Eleven people trapped inside. He was the only survivor." Derek revealed.

"So - what makes you so sure they set the fire?" Scott asked.

"Cause they were the only ones that knew about us," Derek told him.

Harry glanced pensively at Derek; there was more to that story than he let on.

"Well, then - They had a reason," Scott stated determinedly.

"You…are…a callous…fuck…kid, you're disgusting," Harry said with a grimace, "He told you eleven people died in a fire and you say they had a reason…how would you have reacted if someone said they must have had a reason if it were your family?" it made his stomach turn just how disgusting teenagers could be.

Scott flinched at the condemnation from Harry, looking to Stiles with his puppy look as if he expected his best friend to back him up. Stiles wouldn't even look at him, quite honestly he hadn't thought of it that way until Harry said something.

"What are you doing here? How did you get in?" the nurse demanded defensively.

"We were just leaving," Derek told her with his usual broody look in place.

"She didn't know who you were, and she doesn't act like she's new otherwise she wouldn't have been quite so defensive." Harry uttered, closing his eyes in dread, "Please tell me he's not been without pack for six years."

Derek didn't reply he just looked away, shame crawling up his throat.

"You just left him there? Let him become an Omega? Not only is he pack he's family…that is not how either act." Harry was feeling quite sick, it was little wonder he preferred being in a coma than to emerge, having lost eleven members of his own pack and been abandoned by those who had survived the fire, him and his sister. "The feeling of losing his family then the snapping of the pack bonds…honestly, you would have been more merciful if you had killed him and ended his suffering." six years of being alone, touch-starved, not scent marked by a pack, bloody hell, if he ever did come out…he would be insane, he would give a whole new meaning of a feral Omega. He was so confused, how could family do that? What exactly had happened that they would willingly abandon their pack mate?

"Don't worry, he does that all the time," Stiles explained when Harry realized that Derek was gone. Scott trudged alongside Stiles, his eyes firmly planted on the ground, too lost in his own ruminating that he didn't even listen in on the conversation between Harry and Derek.

Scott might not have, but Peter Hale most certainly had and his eyes flared red briefly.

"Come on, let's get back to mine so you can get your truck and head home," Harry said, glancing in the most likely direction that Derek had taken feeling slightly apologetic.


Later that night, Harry visited the burnt remains of the Hale house having read everything he could get his hands on - including all the police reports having magic at his disposal was extremely handy in these situations. So he wasn't surprised by the sight in front of him, just extremely solemn and sad, what had happened to that family was a tragedy, nobody deserved that to happen to them. Once he had read everything he'd called Stiles to find out where he could get Derek, he shouldn't have said anything without knowing all the details, finding out he'd been fifteen years old had made his gut tighten.

Harry stood at the porch plastic tub full of food clutched in his left hand, "May I come in? And yes I know you're there, first floor," he added just to prove that he did know where Derek was. To him it was actually the ground floor, American's did things differently and he was already used to the language difference. "I won't invade your home without permission," he gave his word, waiting patiently to see if the guy would give his permission.

Harry could honestly he was surprised when the red door swung open.

"What do you want?" Derek asked an ever present scowl on his face.

"To talk, if you're going to teenagers for help, you obviously don't have anyone else to talk to at the moment," Harry answered, handing over the large Tupperware container to the suspicious werewolf, "That is if you can let up your scowl for more than a few seconds, don't get me wrong I can understand why," he had just lost his sister, basically the only one he had left after the devastating fire had wiped out his family and caused his Uncles comatose state.

"How would you understand?" Derek scowled.

"Everyone feels like that, when something so devastating happens they feel alone, that nobody could possibly understand, but you're right, I can't fully understand what you went through, but do not delude yourself into thinking that you're the only one in the world who's had their entire family ripped from them and had something worse happen years later." Harry stated, the house hadn't been emptied, there were still furniture all over the place, burnt for sure but still there nonetheless, it was almost as if it hadn't been touched for six years. There was obviously no gas supply still coming in, it would have been shut off, probably the water supply as well. He was living in a derelict building. "Eat, looks like you could use it." it didn't take long for Harry to find the little den Derek was using to sleep in.

Derek did eat the food after making sure it was not poisoned, he realized as he ate the mostly meat based meal that A. Harry knew werewolves well, there was no traces chemicals in the food, and B. he was a great cook he hadn't tasted anything like it before in his life.

"It's my godson's favourite," Harry commented as he claimed a spot on the floor.

Derek grunted in reply, having some manners at least, as he consumed the meat - deer as a matter of fact -based stew.

"You have hunters after you, don't you?" Harry questioned gazing at Derek after the food was done.

"They're after the Alpha," Derek corrected him, "I suspect they think I will lead them to him, that I know who it is." not sure why he was revealing the information. He didn't inform Harry about Kate's vendetta or the fact she would - and had tried - to kill him.

He'd never admit it, but he just didn't want to be alone anymore. It was torture. It was perhaps why he had been so eager to get away from Harry's earlier condemnation; he was just getting a taste of what Peter had been through for six years, all encompassing silence, packless and utterly helpless. He was so desperate not to end up an Omega that he'd try and help a teenager who had gotten him arrested.

"So you elect to hide in the most obvious place they will think of?" Harry asked, brows furrowed. "If you hadn't just come to a stranger for help, I would have said you have a death wish."

"I'll find somewhere else," Derek replied, he knew he had to, that his home was no longer safe - it was indeed one of the first places the hunters would look, that Kate would look for him. He couldn't risk it, even if it was a convenient place to stay where he could hunt for the Alpha without too much trouble of being seen.

"I'm guessing it's not going to be a hotel?" summarized Harry; those places were utterly disgusting for a werewolf. Their sensitive noses hated so many scents where they slept, and couldn't feel safe.

"They'll know, they have access to all sort of databases," Derek explained grimly, his stomach full and sated. "I'm not going to make myself a walking target." they would just wait for him to emerge or return. Argent had already threatened him as it was.

"You probably won't accept it, but my home is open to you if you need it, it's warded to the nines, nothing comes and goes without me knowing it." Harry offered it wasn't as if Teddy was home anyway, and even if he was, he suspected Teddy would be extremely hyped to meet Derek, another werewolf even if they were different types of were. That is if Derek allowed himself to grieve for his loss, which Harry suspected he hadn't done yet.

"You're a druid?" Derek asked surprised, inhaling sharply, "Are you an Emissary for a pack?" it would explain how he knew so much. He couldn't smell anything on him, and if he was in regular contact with an alpha of a pack, he would smell of him even just a tad.

With magic, it was no surprise Derek couldn't smell anything on him.

"No, and no," Harry replied with a soft smile, "Stick around and you might figure it out," he said almost teasingly. "You know where I live, if you can't get past the wards, just wait, I'll lower them for you." only Teddy and Stiles had been added to the wards actually, and even then, it was only on his say so, he had a tripping ward that would let him know Stiles was near before he reached the wards, he didn't want Stiles to suddenly feel the need to return home when he came to visit after all, now did he?

Teddy had regretfully just returned to Hogwarts, he wouldn't be back for three months, during Easter in April.


If you don't want Teddy in the story then it's easily rectified by him staying with his grandmother...he will be at school for the majority of it and YES I have both kinds of Werewolves on the go :D it's going to be fun to write...especially Derek's reaction ;) and yes I'm sorry I know Derek's probably totally out of character...and he would never accept Harry's help and Peter is a shite in the series but I think thats what makes him so fun even though at the end of the day he seems to be just a jealous man wanting what others have...honestly you'd think it was difficult to find an alpha the way Peter went on! Hadn't he learned that just because you were an alpha didn't make you indestructible? and yes this will all be put into the story at one point or another LOL hmm at what point do you reckon Derek is desperate enough that he would go to Harry? hmmm R&R please

MERRY CHRISTMAS!