Author's Note: I know I haven't touched this in a while, jobs been nuts. Alright moving right along then. I own nothing.

7. Transformation

Stiles stood stock still for nearly a full minute before she lunged around the pool and into her mother's arms. Sobs coursed through her as she held on. She was just like Stiles remembered her being before she got sick.

"My sweet baby girl, it's so good to see you." Stiles looked up and smiled through her tears. Then a frown slipped across her face and her eyes widened slightly.

"Wait. Did I die!?" Her mother laughed as Stiles sat back slightly, never really pulling away from her mother.

"No baby girl. You're not dead. I would be much more upset if you were. You're far too young to die." Stiles' frown grew.

"Then where are we?" There was no doubt anywhere in her mind that this was her mother. She smelled the same, like rosemary and sage and fresh bread. Her smile was the same, the way she brushed Stiles hair behind her ear was the same. This was Stiles' mother.

"My sweet Mieczyslaw, we're in the space between worlds." Stiles frowned. "It's sort of like a visiting area between life and death, but only certain people, special people, can access it and only once." Stiles frowned.

"If that's true then why now? Why not sooner?" Stiles was so confused but she wasn't scared. She trusted her mother.

"Because you didn't need me before, you are doing so well. You and your father are doing so well." Stiles scoffed and looked down at her feet. Her mother gently tilted her head back up.

"I'm serious Mieczyslaw, with everything you've been though you're doing so well. But it's time you know everything. So much more is coming. Your pack will need you." Stiles frowned.

"I'm not Pack." Her mother laughed.

"If you cant see that every wolf in the Hale pack looks up to you your father didn't teach you enough about paying attention to your surroundings. You're the reason Erica and Boyd stayed. They were leaving that night, you trying to defend them against Gerard, you being you convinced them to stay. Not for Derek but for you. Why do you think they come to you?" Stiles stared at her mother who ran a hand through her hair.

"Sweetie you are the heart of the Hale pack weather they've realized it or not. But you need to be able to defend yourself. You need to know the truth." Stiles stared at her mother.

Derek dropped Scott like a hot rock staring at Sheriff Stilinski. The one person who they had all desperately tried to keep out of this mess at Stiles' request was now looking at him with no surprise at the glowing eyes, the claws, the fangs. Isaac stepped forwards.

"I'm sorry Derek, he saw Jackson shift. He saw me shift I didn't know what else to do." Isaac was holding something familiar. Derek stepped past the Sheriff and took the hoodie out of Isaac's hands.

"Was there any sign of her?" Isaac shook his head.

"No I think Lydia was a dead end, maybe a distraction."

"I think you're right. There's more happening here than meets the eye." A voice spoke from the shadows, all the wolves present whirled. Alan Deaton had pushed aside the branches of the trees a small bag on his back and gloves on his hands. The Sheriff stepped forwards sighing.

"Are you a werewolf too?" Deaton's mouth turned up slightly at the corner.

"No, I'm a veterinarian." The Sheriff sighed.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Derek stepped forwards.

"It means he's on our side. Can you help us find Stiles?" The name felt different on his tongue, not so unusual anymore. He hadn't been able to pronounce her name when they were kids together, she'd told them, the Hale pack, his mother's Hale pack, to call her Stiles. He remembered that. He remembered her now and that shook him, he wasn't sure how he could ever have forgotten her. How she'd changed when her mother got sick. She stopped coming over to the house after that. She was barely seven years old and starting her training… He didn't remember what that meant though. Deaton looked him up and down.

"Yes I can help you. How much do you remember?" The Sheriff cleared his throat.

"I'm still waiting for an explanation to all this. I can wait on the whole werewolves are real thing until we find my daughter but why is Stiles even involved in all this?" Scott stepped forwards looking guilty.

"That would be my fault. That night you found Stiles in the woods looking for Laura Hale's body, I was there too. That was the night I got bit." Deaton shook his head at Scott.

"I'm afraid this goes farther back than that Scott. Derek remembers." The vet turned to the Sheriff. "What do you remember about Talia Hale?" John Stilinski paused for a moment and the wolves all saw it at once. The ground around the Sheriff's feet spiderwebbed with purple light for a moment before one of the threads flickered and shattered. The light faded and the Sheriff, apparently not having noticed the lightshow under his feet, spoke.

"She and Claudia were friends." Erica frowned having stepped forwards from her hiding spot.

"Claudia?" The Sheriff frowned, looking pained so Scott answered.

"Stiles' mom." The Sheriff nodded.

"They'd been friends for years. I didn't know her very well but Claudia used to go over to her house all the time. Laura Hale used to babysit Stiles." Scott stared at him like he'd grown a second head and then turned to Deaton.

"What's going on? I remember that. I remember Laura Hale being at Stile's house when we were little and I dragged my mom there to meet my friend." Deaton nodded.

"Of course you do." Scott frowned.

"Why didn't I remember that before, like when I found half of Laura in the preserve!?" Deaton pointed down at the slightly scorched earth that still had the spiderwebbed pattern around the Sheriff's feet.

"That little light show we witnessed, that was a spell breaking. It's been splintering ever since the night at the rave when Stiles accessed her spark for the first time." Derek nodded.

"Maybe even before that. Peter knew… knows, who she is. That's why he didn't bite her that night you were bitten Scott. And why he asked when he had the chance and respected her decision when she said no. It might be the reason she said no. Because she was starting to realize what she is." Deaton nodded and Scott and the Sheriff looked between the two, confusion heavy in the air.

"What the hell do you two mean?" The Sheriff asked, Scott, Isaac and Erica nodding.

"Your daughter isn't a werewolf. She can never be a werewolf. But that doesn't mean she isn't powerful. She gets it from her mother's side." Deaton said like it would explain everything. Before anyone could ask what the hell he meant Boyd returned from scouting ahead he ignored Isaac, Deaton and the Sheriff, running up to Derek instead.

"Derek I found her!"

Peter had given up on the book. He'd tried to put out the candles he'd lit for the ritual but they simply relit themselves no matter what he did. SO he sat staring at Stiles, still immobile in the chair. The pool of silver had twisted and twirled around her to the point that he could barely see her anymore. The scent of fae magic hung heavy in the air. It smelled like lightning and rain and fire and clean fresh air and freshly turned earth. He knew Boyd had found the cabin but he had decided not to do anything about it. He wasn't leaving now, he had to know what she was. Had to see how this played out.

Lydia was hearing things again. Jackson was holding her when she heard a voice speaking but not to her. It was a voice she didn't recognize but the one that responded was definitely Stiles. Lydia stopped clutching her hands over her ears instead she listened. They were talking about a past Stiles didn't remember. Stiles called her mom. Lydia closed her eyes and saw them sitting in front of a pool of silver mercury, silver trees grew around them, gold leaves hanging from their branches.

"I had to take the memories away. You had no one to help you with your training. If you remembered your powers you would eventually lose control. The Hale pack agreed that it was safest for you, for everyone to forget what you could do." Stiles nodded.

"But how, the Spark comes from you doesn't it?" Her mother nodded. Lydia had never met Stiles' mother. She was very pretty, pale like Stiles with freckles and moles on her skin just like her daughter.

"My grandfather, your great grandfather, wasn't human. He was of the fae. A fairy of sorts. My mother got her powers from him, I got mine from her, you got yours from me. It's time you remember everything, time you have access to your powers. You will need them for what is coming." Stiles frowned.

"You keep saying that, for what is coming, what does that mean?" Her mother cupped her cheek.

"You will find out soon. I promise you will but you must promise me you will be careful." Stiles nodded.

"I promise." Her mother smiled.

"Good girl. I love you, but I don't want to see you or your father here with me for many years yet." Stiles teared up and hugged her mother.

"I don't want you to go." Her mother ran a hand through her hair as Stiles sobbed into her robes and Lydia opened her eyes letting the image of Stiles and her mother fade, she didn't want to intrude on that moment. Jackson was brushing tears off her face.

"Lydia are you alright?" Lydia shook her head.

"No, we need to get to Stiles. Please. She needs us. All of us." Jackson paused for a moment, looking slightly confused but he nodded.

"Alright." He helped her out of the vet's office where Deaton had left them not so long ago.

"I don't know where she is." Jackson said starting his porche.

"I do." Lydia said and began directing him towards the preserve.

Derek kicked down the door to the cabin and had to throw his arms up to block the bright light that was flooding the room. When he was able to focus again he spotted Peter sitting outside a circle of light. His uncle glanced over at him and waved slightly before going back to watching the swirling glowing liquid. Derek growled at him.

"What did you do!" Peter shrugged.

"You know at this point I have no idea. I tried to help a member of your pack realize her potential but it sort of backfired. I think. I'm not sure." Deaton glanced around Peter and frowned at the book behind him.

"You thought she was a druid?" Peter nodded. The Sheriff stepped through the door shielding his eyes, this light show he could see apparently.

"Where the hell is my daughter?" Peter gestured to the large swirling glowing mass of silver that seemed to be rapidly changing colors, from silver to a pale purple, the color Derek associated with Claudia's magic.

Stiles looked around the grove as her father's voice echoed around her.

"Dad?" Claudia's smile became melancholy. She held her daughter close for another moment before reaching around her and laying a hand on the well, it flashed momentarily purple before it began to overflow the silver liquid flowing over the well and disappearing into the ground around it. Then she turned her attention back to Stiles. She could tell that the memories were rushing back to her daughter by the tears in her eyes. She held her close for another moment before standing and pulling Stiles to her feet as well.

"You need to go back now Mieczyslaw." Claudia opened her hand and a purple flower sprouted into existence. She tucked it behind her daughter's ear and kissed her on her forehead. A purple spiderweb of light exploded there, her final spell shattering completely, the barrier she'd placed around her daughter's powers coming undone as the spark inside her flared up into a flame.

"Be wise with this power Mieczyslaw. I will see you again someday, and I'll be watching over you until then. I love you. Be happy." Stiles tried to reach out to her mother one last time but the darkness had closed in again and she felt herself falling. She was barely aware of strong arms catching her before she could hit the ground.

The Pack watched astounded as the purple spiderwebbed around the now still and solid orb of silver and it shattered revealing Stiles floating three feet above the ground. She was no longer wearing her practice gear, instead a simple white gown flowed around her, lined with swirling silver. A purple flower rested behind her ear. She let out a breath and began to fall. Derek lunged, just managing to catch her before she would have hit the floor. She was breathing but she wasn't awake. Deaton leaned over them and spoke.

"We need to get her back to the clinic." Jackson cleared his throat in the doorway.

"We can use the porche." Lydia was glaring at Peter who was still sitting on the floor in silence.