Sorry it's been a while since I last posted, my muse had been rather focused on another fic at the moment, but I'm forcing her back to this one. I hope it's alright.

Unlike the other chapter titles, this one isn't an episode title, but rather the title of one of the Dark Angel tie-in novels.

Before the Dawn

They were just gathering their things, or more precisely the dead family's things, ready to move out, when the sound of approaching engines caused them all to freeze. With his heart racing, Stiles hurried to the window, where Alec was still standing guard. Stiles peered through the small gap in the curtain and felt his stomach drop.

Making their way up the dirt drive were at least four ancient looking trucks that seemed like something out of a forties movie. Stiles shot Alec a nervous look and the man waved his hand, signalling for everyone to grab the stuff and hurry out the back door.

Despite his desire to hesitate and find out what was happening, he stepped away from the window and rushed through to the kitchen. Pausing only long enough to lift Case off the counter, the kid wrapping his arms securely around Stiles neck, then he snagged his backpack off the chair, and ran for the door. Alec was there, waving everyone through while his eyes remained locked on the door at the front.

Holding Case close, he followed the others as they headed for the thick woods beyond the barn. He glanced back only once to check that Alec was there, before focusing on getting to cover.

If they'd have been human, there was no way they could have made it in time, but thankfully they weren't. Crashing into the huge snow covered undergrowth, Stiles stopped, breathing heavily and turned to watch the house, the curiosity he'd felt when he'd seen the trucks too strong to ignore any longer. He crouched down and used his enhanced eyesight to watch as three men came crashing out through the back door, guns in hand. His chest tightened as he caught sight of a Sheriff's uniform, reminding him of his father.

"Come on." Alec ordered, tugging at Stiles jacket collar, but Stiles couldn't leave. Something kept him fixed to the spot, confused by the men's arrival.

Logic told him that it was just the local Sheriff checking in on the family, especially if something had happened. His gut however was saying something different. If it were just a check in, then why not come with deputies? Why bring what looked to be a posse gathered at the local bar? – And why was there a strong scent of gasoline on the air. No, there was something else going on here and Stiles' natural curiosity had to know what.

The three men that had stepped onto the back porch began to wave their torches around, and Stiles held his breath.

"There." One of the men yelled, pointing to the tracks in the snow.

"Come on Stiles." Alec snapped furiously, yanking once again on the back of his jacket, demanding he stand.

Stiles heart leapt into his throat and he scrambled to his feet, turning to retreat further into the dark of the woods, but before he could, a loud yell came from the barn and he turned back in time to see a young man in familiar bluish-grey sweats, exploding out of the red building.

Both he and Alec stopped, watching as what they assumed was an X6 took down the three men. Stiles looked up at Alec as he stepped forward, revealing their position. "Hey!" he called in a low voice that he knew only the teenager would hear, then waved him closer.

The guy hesitated for a long few seconds, looking back at the house, before finally breaking into a high speed run. He crashed through the trees a few seconds later, almost slamming into Stiles on the way.

"Sorry." He apologised breathlessly, looking directly at Stiles, face flushed and lip curling.

Narrowing his eyes at the other teenager, Stiles gritted his teeth, his ever present Spidey sense humming in the back of his mind.

"Come on." Alec grunted, shoving the stranger forward, then grabbing Stiles arm and doing the same to him.

The others hadn't gotten far. They stopped as they heard Stiles, Case, Alec and the newcomer coming up behind them. Eyes widening as they took in the new arrival.

"Hey." Malia huffed, nodding to the young man. "Who's that?"

"That's a good question." Stiles gritted out, moving away from his fellow teenager and over to his friends.

The stranger looked between them all, sending them a soft smile. "I'm Theo." He introduced himself. "I guess you escaped too."

Stiles handed Case off to Kira without argument. The pair having bonded over the past few hours at the house. Then he stepped forward. "How'd you get out?"

Theo stared at him, his smile faltering, "I was in the medical wing when the lights went out." He stated, as if that was enough of an explanation.

"And?" Malia pressed, stepping up next to Stiles and crossing her arms defensively.

"He's one of you." Alec interrupted, looking tiredly between the teenagers, "You remember the commotion this morning." He added, meeting Stiles eyes meaningfully. "It was him."

Stiles frowned, looking from Alec to Theo. His instincts where still on high alert, even as the guy pulled up his shirt, revealing the bandage and the bruises.

"I was lucky they didn't kill me. – But I had to try."

Stiles glanced at Malia, who seemed to be buying the strangers story. And why wouldn't she? After all, Alec was stood there vouching for him. He had injuries. – And Stiles himself had heard the fight, and the gunshot. – Yet somehow, his instincts were still yelling that the guy was off.

"We can't stand around here all day." Alec snapped tersely, they'll probably send out a search party.

"Or worse, contact Manticore." Theo added.

As much as Stiles wanted to argue, not to mention how he wanted to interrogate Theo some more, he knew he was right, and like hell were they getting captured again because of his stupid paranoia. Turning away from Theo, he shifted his bag on his shoulder.

Before they could get moving though, the scent of burning reached them and they all twisted around to stare back the way they came. Looking up, the night sky began to burn orange, and Stiles frowned.

"Is that the house?" Kira asked quietly. "Why would they burn it?"

"Maybe it's some kind of weird custom?" Liam muttered.

"No." Stiles shook his head, "They're burning it to hide the evidence."

"What?" Malia frowned, "Why?"

"Obviously because they don't want anyone to know they're the ones that killed them." Theo stated, and Stiles stared at him, eyes searching. The guy met his gaze for an intense moment, before Stiles tore his eyes away and turned.

"Let's go." Alec ordered, waving his weapon at them. "I'll take the rear."

_(*_*)_

An especially cold gust of wind blew past Stiles ears and he shivered, drawing his shoulders up closer to them to help fed off the icy chill. His fingers felt just as cold around the straps of the backpack, despite the too-small gloves he was wearing. He wondered just how cold it actually was, if he was shivering through the layers of ill-fitting clothing, considering his usual regulated temperature.

He didn't run hot the way Derek did, he simply had a higher tolerance for extreme heat and cold, meaning it would have to be seriously cold – or hot – for him to even feel it. And man, was he feeling it.

The thought of Derek's hotness brought a sense of warmth to his body, and he allowed his mind to linger on his boyfriend as he trekked through the snow. They'd only shared a bed once, but boy had it been awesome. He could still remember the way the Alpha's hot skin had felt beneath his palm. The solid weight of Derek's body pinning him to the mattress as they rutted together like desperate teenagers. – Okay, he was a desperate teenager, but Derek wasn't, and the fact that he could make him behave like one, well it was one hell of an ego boost.

Stiles licked at his cold chapped lips while conjuring the memory of Derek's rough, unshaven jaw. He loved the way the short hairs had both tugged and tickled the skin of his lips. When the wind swept past his ears again, he could almost hear Derek's throaty moan while they rocked against one another, driving each other closer to the edge.

"Penny for them." An unfamiliar voice huffed, ripping him from the comforting memory.

"What?" Stiles snapped, turning sharply to find who was invading his personal time. He exhaled a frustrated grunt when he saw Theo watching him, lip curling at the corner.

"You seemed to be enjoying it, whatever it was." Theo said, tone soft and teasing. If Stiles didn't know better, he might almost think the guy was flirting with him. "Care to share?" Theo added with a laugh.

Glaring at the guy, Stiles gritted his teeth. "No." He snapped, furious at the mere idea of sharing Derek with anyone. Least of all this jerk. "I was thinking about my boyfriend." He added firmly, just to be sure the newcomer knew he was spoken for.

"Oh." Theo hummed, lifting an inquisitive brow while his eyes travelled over Stiles. Which seemed ridiculous, not only was he wrapped up like a damn Eskimo, but they'd only met two hours ago. "Lucky boyfriend."

Stiles rolled his eyes and exhaled an irritated sigh before speeding up, leaving the guy behind. He squeezed himself in-between Malia and Kira as they marched through the snow, Case clinging to Kira's neck as he rested his head against her shoulder, eyes closed.

"Making friends?" Malia huffed humorously, looking back over her shoulder.

"Hardly." Stiles gritted out, shoving his shaking hands in the pockets of the thick winter jacket he'd borrowed, correction, stolen.

"He's not bad looking." Malia commented in a not at all quiet voice.

When Stiles' head snapped around to stare at her in horror, he recognised the look printed on her face. He'd seen it enough over the years, though rarely aimed at him. – Until Derek.

"You think so?" Kira asked quietly, glancing over her shoulder, then to Malia, before dropping her gaze back to the snow.

That was a look Stiles knew too. "He ain't all that. You wait till you see Derek." He grinned, elbowing Kira and shooting her a wink. "Besides. I don't trust him."

Both girls stared at him, equally intrigued, "Why?" they asked in unison.

Stiles exhaled, pressing his lips together. They wouldn't understand, just as Scott never did.

"Yeah, Stiles, why?" He heard Theo call from behind.

Twisting around, Stiles scowled at the guy, narrowing his eyes. "Because trustworthy people don't eavesdrop on other people's private conversations." He snapped, "Among other things." He muttered, sending the girls an apologetic looked before marching off ahead of them, needing to put as much distance between him and the jerk as he could.

_(*_*)_

"Can you smell that?" Liam asked as the sky began to bleed a pale violet, dawn drawing in on them. His nose wrinkled at the strong scent of gasoline on the wind.

They all drew to a halt, looking in the direction of a fading orange glow through the trees. "We'll go around." Alec said, moving to head off to their right.

Frowning, Stiles eyes searched the tree line, "Don't you think we should investigate?"

Alec shot him a disbelieving look. "What?"

"It could be something serious?"

"It could be Manticore." Liam said, tone fearful, "Maybe their trying to smoke us out."

Looking at the younger teen, Stiles shook his head reassuringly, "It's too small and faint. They'd would have set fire to the whole forest if that were their plan." He said, waving at the darkness that surrounded them.

"Manticore or not, we keep moving." Alec said firmly, jerking his head in the direction he was determined to go.

Stiles looked pleadingly to the others, even letting his gaze settle on Theo for half a second, but no-one seemed willing to indulge his curious nature and risk it being a trap. Stiles shoulders slumped in defeat until Joshua spoke.

The man stood straight, his back rigid, head tilted up at the sky in an all too familiar way, and Stiles heart skipped with a mix of caution and hope. "Joshua?" Stiles asked, moving towards the werewolf, "What you got for me, big guy?"

Joshua looked down at him with a baffled stare, then shot a look to Alec, "Blood."

"Blood?" Kira gasped, looking in the direction of the fire.

Nodding, Joshua elaborated, "I can't hear voices," He stated to a very displeased Alec, "just blood, fire and gasoline."

"Come on, Alec." Stiles pleaded again, practically bounding on the spot, "Aren't you at least curious?"

Alex shook his head, tightening his fingers around his weapon, "Not in the least."

"Fine. You guys go on," Stiles grumbled, moving over to hand Case to Kira, who'd only given him up ten minutes ago, "I'll catch you up." He told them, heading for the fading light.

He was stopped in his tracks by Theo, "Don't be stupid." He snapped.

"Excuse me?" Stiles straightened defensively, fingers curling at his side.

"Even if it is…something, what can you do?" Theo reasoned, sounding concerned, though Stiles doubted it was genuine.

"Someone could be hurt!" Stiles argued forcibly, stepping past the man, or at least he attempted to, only Theo quickly blocked him again, getting up in his face.

"He just said," Theo gritted out, jerking a hand in the direction of Joshua, "he can't hear anything."

Stiles narrowed his eyes at the guy's tone when referring to the werewolf, gritting his teeth, "Joshua said he couldn't hear voices, doesn't mean there isn't someone out there. They could be unconscious, or dying."

"So?" Theo shrugged, dismissively.

"So?" Stiles gaped, eyes wide, "So, I'm going to help, because my dad raised me to help people when they're in trouble." With that, Stiles shouldered angrily past the other teenager.

Theo's hand snapped out, gripping Stiles arm and shoving him back into the nearest tree. "I won't let you endanger the rest of us!" he growled.

"You won't let me?" Stiles seethed, driving his fist into Theo's stomach, before delivering a left hook to the jerks jaw, sending the man stumbling back.

Before Stiles could walk away however, the guy was on him again, yanking him violently back by his jacket. Stiles landed hard on his ass in the snow, while Theo moved to stand over him.

Breathing heavily, Stiles feigned defeat, letting his body relax as if surrendering. A smirk curled the corner of Theo's lips and he sighed, "Sorry man, but…"

He didn't get to finish his insincere apology however, because Stiles moved quickly, delivering a firm kick to the guy's stomach, before driving another into his knee, then he swept Theo's legs out from under him. The second the asshole landed on his back, Stiles drove the heel of his booted foot into the guys jaw. Hard enough they all heard the bone crack.

Blood seeped into the snow as Stiles scrabbled to his feet, face flushed. "Anyone else want to stop me?" he demanded, straightening his clothes. When no-one else said anything, he stomped off into the woods.

His body was humming with adrenaline, heart pounding almost out of his chest, but at least he wasn't feeling the cold anymore. As he walked, he determinedly refused to acknowledge that Alec and Theo were possibly right, and this was a very stupid idea. Because for Stiles, self-preservation, more often than not, gave way to blind curiosity. And when it did, it generally tended to end with him in a whole heap of crap, and fighting for his life.

But on rare occasions, it led to something incredible. – Like a sexy werewolf boyfriend.

_(*_*)_

Stiles gasped when he stepped out of the trees to find the front half of a plane. It wasn't that huge, but was certainly large enough to be torn in two as it crashed. Tears pooled in his eyes as he glanced around, stomach twisting at the sight of scattered bodies, and flaming pieces. The strong scent of burnt flesh had him quickly turning away from the scene to empty what little he'd eaten all over the ground, his trembling hand pressed to his stomach.

He was still doubled over when he heard Malia gasp, "Oh my god."

Looking up, he watched the same horror spread over the others faces. Kira whimpered brokenly, turning her body to shield Case from the scene. Spitting the acid taste out of his mouth, Stiles straightened and took a deep breath, a tear rolling down his cheek.

A/N: Haven't not seen past season 4, I have no idea what kind of person Theo is, I'm working solely off small scenes I've seen on Tumblr, so if he's completely out of character, I'm sorry.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, sorry it's so short. As always, feedback is greatly appreciated.