Thanks for the reviews everyone!

Here's a nice long chappy...I think it's 1000 words longer than usual... =)

Disclaimer: Don't own Teen Wolf or anyone in it. If I did, I'd be busy having way too much fun doing other stuff. ^_~


Bonded by Fate

Chapter 7

Derek finally worked up the nerve and decided on an acceptable approach to talk to Jackson. Looking outside, he saw that it was almost sundown. As he grabbed his keys, his phone rang. Derek grudgingly looked at it. It was Scott again. He had thought that he had satisfied Scott's incessant questions and demands. Derek debated letting it go to voice mail, but decided against it and answered. He regretted it immediately.

"What the hell did you do to Allison's mom?!" Scott shouted without preamble.

Shit. Derek had wondered when that unfortunate development would rear its ugly head. "You're welcome for saving your life, Scott," he replied dryly.

Scott huffed, "Allison just called me and she was totally freaked out. She said someone had attacked her mom the night of the rave and that it was a werewolf. And the only werewolves who saw her that night were me and you, Derek. And it sure as hell wasn't me who bit her. What the hell happened?"

"Calm down Scott. She was trying to kill you and when I went to save you, she wouldn't let me take you without a fight. And during that, I accidentally bit her," Derek explained calmly as if he were talking about the weather instead of biting the mother of the girl Scott loved.

"Are you crazy?! You accidentally bit her? How does that even happen?" Scott asked incredulously.

"Easy, you idiot," Derek retorted, having run out of patience. "When we fight, we rely on our senses and instincts and even if we don't really want to, sometimes, our instincts want us to use our bite as a weapon. Especially alphas. You were in danger. It was life or death and it just happened. There's nothing we can do about it except move forward."

"Move forward? That's all you have to say?" Scott didn't understand why Derek was behaving so nonchalantly. "Don't you realize that Allison might turn on us? And of course the Argents are gonna come down full force for sure."

Derek sighed, "You mean you're afraid Allison will turn on you. Don't you remember me telling you more than once that it wouldn't have worked between you two anyway? And we've always had to deal with hunters. It's not the first time one of them has been bitten. They chose to hunt us so they'll have to live with any repercussions."

"How can you say that?" Scott asked. "We have to do something. We have to help her."

"How can you say that Scott?" Derek countered. "Why do you always have to save everyone? I get you wanting to save Jackson since he didn't have control of what he had been doing and never actively tried to kill you, but Allison's mom did. And she probably wouldn't have had any regrets about it had she succeeded."

"She was – she was just trying to – to do what she thought best for…for Allison…" Scott finished with a sputter. "I can still worry for Allison's sake, ok? I'm gonna go over there to check it out."

"Don't even think about it!" Derek ordered. "Do you know what they'll do to you if they see you? Hello? Scott!" But Scott had already hung up.

Groaning, Derek rushed out to his car trying to decide if he should go find Jackson as he had planned, or go to the Argents in case Scott needed help.

As if there actually was a choice, Derek thought to himself. Scott should know the danger he would be in and would be stupid if he actually went to the Argents. But then again, they were after Derek and might not necessarily hurt Scott, especially since Allison must still care about him. Jackson on the other hand did need him.

Derek dialed Stiles' number and when Stiles answered told him, "Scott is going to the Argents and you know that is a really bad idea. You need to call him right now and talk him out of it."

"I cannot believe that you bit Allison's mom," came Stiles' response.

"Really? I tell you Scott's in danger and that's what you say? Just call him and convince him not to go. And if he insists on being an idiot and going, you need to get your ass over there because at this point, you're the only one out of all of us that they might actually have an issue with hurting," Derek said quickly.

"But if the guns come out, wouldn't it be better for him if you were there too?" Stiles asked.

"I'm the one they'll really be after. If I show up, they're likely to shoot first and ask questions later. Besides, I have to take care of something. Just do it Stiles." Derek hung up before Stiles could respond, shifted his car into gear and sped to Jackson's house.


Jackson had been alternating between pacing around his room and flopping on his bed for hours as he tried to think of how to broach the subject with his parents. His head was hurting and his hands were clammy from all the nervous anticipation.

Finally he decided that the direct approach might be the best. If he asked outright, his parents might not have time to hide any reactions or come up with lies. Especially where his father was concerned, being one of the best lawyers in the county.

Since they told him about Matt's death, neither of them had left the house. It was now or never. Taking a deep breath, Jackson steeled his nerves and left his room.


Jackson was upstairs when Derek pulled up to the house. Derek could hear him moving around and he was clearly agitated and nervous about something. The Whittemores were both downstairs and Derek debated between ringing the doorbell and asking to speak with Jackson, or calling him and asking him to come out, or simply letting himself in via Jackson's bedroom window.

The choice was taken from him as he heard Jackson rapidly descend the stairs and head towards the back of the house. Crouching down, Derek walked around to the side of the house and caught a glimpse of Jackson approaching his parents before ducking under the window sill.

He heard Jackson toss something on the kitchen counter and tell them, "I know the truth about my birth parents. How they died and more importantly, who they were."

Derek's breath caught in his throat. He had been right, but he still had a hard time believing what he was hearing. So were the Whittemores, it seemed.

After a pause, Mrs. Whittemore responded first, "What do you mean? You know that they gave you up for adoption. It was a closed adoption and we didn't even meet them."

Hearing the trembling and uncertainty in her voice, Derek knew she was lying and so did Jackson.

"I only knew what you told me back then. And now I know that what you told me were lies. So stop lying to me!" Jackson shouted as he slammed his palms on a counter top.

After another pause, Mr. Whittemore asked calmly, "Alright, what is it exactly that you think you know son?" He was going into lawyer mode, walls coming down so he can work out the situation and do damage control.

Knowing it was probably a bad idea, but unable to stop himself, Derek crept across the grass and crouched under the shadow of a tree so he could watch what was unfolding in the house between Jackson and his adoptive parents.

"What do I know? I know everything! I know that my father was a Hale and they died in a car accident and that my real relatives never even knew I existed. Why? What was the point?" Jackson had tried to stay firm but his voice cracked at the last, betraying his true feelings.

"Sweetheart, I don't know where you got that idea from but –," Mrs. Whittemore started to deny it, but then Jackson picked up a large enveloped and dumped the contents onto the counter.

"This is where I got the idea from. And it's not an idea, it's the truth. Newspaper articles, insurance reports, a birth certificate, adoption papers," Jackson said angrily, picking up pieces of paper as he called them out. Then his face crumbled for a second and biting his quivering lip, he fought to keep his composure but couldn't stop a single tear from escaping his eye.

Derek realized that his own lower lip was trembling slightly. He felt guilty that he was invading their privacy, especially knowing how utterly embarrassed Jackson would be if he knew Derek was watching, but he couldn't force himself to leave. And he wanted desperately to look at those papers Jackson had in his hands.

"Where did you get those? You did not have permission to go into the safe," Mr. Whittemore said.

"I figured I should take them before you got rid of them or hid them somewhere else," Jackson said. "Just tell me the truth, please," he pleaded.

"Tell him David. He has the right to know," Mrs. Whittemore looked at him with tears welling up in her own eyes.

With a sigh, Mr. Whittemore relented, "Alright. It's true. Your birth parents didn't give you up. And yes, your biological father's last name was Hale."

Jackson fell forward a bit, Derek wasn't sure if it was relief at finally hearing the truth or something else. Then Jackson straightened and said, "I want to know everything."

Nodding slowly, his father started to reveal a past that had been buried for over a decade. "Jacob Hale, Jake, was my best friend growing up. Janice, your biological mother, moved here from Colorado during our senior year in high school. It was love at first sight and they got engaged right after graduation. Jake's father disapproved of Jan and refused to give them his blessing. Jake had always had a difficult relationship with his father. He was very demanding and they never really got along. So they left town. We were barely able to keep in touch; they seemed to be always on the move and the internet wasn't exactly around back then."

"A few years later, after I married your mom, they just showed up at our door one night with you," he continued. "I didn't even know they had a child, and they asked us to watch you, said that they were in trouble and I was the only one Jake would trust."

"Wait, what do you mean in trouble? Like the police?" Jackson asked, confused.

The same question echoed through Derek's head followed by another. 'Why would uncle Jake trust the Whittemores over his own family?' He wondered, unconsciously moving closer to the window.

"No," Mr. Whittemore replied. "They returned to Beacon Hills to warn Jake's family. They said that someone was after them or looking for something from them and that they weren't safe."

"Safe?" Jackson interrupted. "Safe from what?"

"I don't know," his father answered. "I don't know, but whatever it was, they were terrified. I understood that Jake had to warn his family, but we tried convincing Jan to stay with us, with you, but they said that 'they' knew about her, but not you."

"'They?' 'They' who?" Jackson asked, even knowing what the answer would be.

The reply was the same, "I don't know, but they couldn't take the chance that whoever was after them would find out about you. They also asked if we would take care of you, raise you, in case anything ever happened to them and even provided the necessary legal paperwork. And their one stipulation was that no matter what happened, we were to never let the Hales know about you and to keep you safe. It was as if they thought of everything and was anticipating that –"

SNAP! Derek heard the twig break as if it were as loud as thunder roaring through a stormy night. He looked up and saw Jackson looking straight at him, face completely blanched. Then Jackson turned and ran out of the kitchen.

"Honey, what's wrong?" Mrs. Whittemore called after him. Derek thanked whatever greater power was out there that Jackson's parents didn't see him.

"Fuck!" Derek hissed. He was so enthralled by the reveal that he didn't even notice he had been moving. He took off towards the front of the house just in time to see Jackson run out the door. "Jackson! We need to talk –"

"What the hell are you doing here?! What did you hear?!" Jackson shouted, shoving at him. Derek could hear his heart racing.

Derek grabbed Jackson's arm. "Look, I already knew about you and I –"

"You knew? You…you…knew… Oh God," Jackson gasped. "I – I can't – I have to get out of here." Jackson tried to pull away.

Derek tightened his grip. "Wait, look I know and I don't care about any –"

Jackson pushed Derek away before he could finish and got in his car; taking off before Derek could react.

"Aghhh… Fuck!" Derek groaned, clenching his fists. He jumped in his car and took off after Jackson but slowed after a few blocks. Maybe he should let Jackson calm down a bit and try calling him later to arrange a meeting. He turned his car towards the woods; he could use some calming down too.

After driving around for about a half hour, his phone rang again. Pulling it out, he saw that it was Scott…again. "What?!" Derek ground out. "If you're in some kind of deep shit with the Argents because you were stupid enough to go there, you are on your own. I'm busy with –"

"Jackson! It's about Jackson!" Scott interrupted. "You're gonna be glad I went to the Argents. I think… Anyway, you won't believe what I just found out."

Hearing Jackson's name, Derek stopped his car and gave Scott his undivided attention, "What about Jackson?"

"Are you sitting down? You should sit down," Scott suggested anxiously.

"I'm sitting!" Derek shouted impatiently.

"Ok, I was gonna go to Allison's room, but then Gerard told Allison's dad to gather all their guys. He wanted them to go out and look for Jackson, but not to approach him, just to call back if someone found him," Scott said.

While that was a bit disturbing, Derek didn't find the news extremely urgent. "What's your point? So they're looking for him, I'm sure they're looking for me and you and any other werewolf."

"That's not it. After their goons leave Gerard tells Allison's dad something. And I don't know how he found out and how it was even kept secret for so long, but it's really bad. Although I guess there's a silver lining," Scott babbled.

"What the fuck?! Get to the point!" Derek snapped.

"He said that he found out Jackson's really a Hale!" Scott exclaimed.

Silence…Derek couldn't believe it. He could hear Scott anxiously calling his name asking if Derek heard him. "How…how did they find out?" Derek managed to ask.

"He didn't say, but this changes things right?" Scott asked. "I mean, Jackson's related to you. I'm not sure how, but –"

"He's my cousin," Derek said quietly. "I already knew."

"What?" Scott exhaled. "Seriously? Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because it wasn't your business," Derek retorted. He takes a deep breath. "Look, I didn't know how to deal with it and wanted to talk to Jackson first." He turned his car around and headed back towards town. It was probably a good idea to find Jackson sooner rather than later.

"Yeah, I get it," Scott empathized. "So are you ok with… Hang on, I think I hear Gerard on the phone."

"You're still there?" Derek asked.

"Yeah," Scott replied. "I figured it would be better to hang around in case they found Jackson. I'm with Stiles a block away from the house."

"You're with Stiles? I'm surprised he hasn't butted in with his babbling yet," Derek smirked.

"Uh, I think he's still stunned by everything," Scott said distractedly, listening intently to Gerard's conversation. "Wait. Derek, Jackson's at the cemetery. Why's he at the cemetery? Shit! The Argents are loading up to go after him!"

"Fuck!" Derek hit the gas all the way and told Scott, "Go there now! And call Erica and tell her to get there with the guys right away!" Speeding towards the cemetery, Derek prayed that he got there before the Argents did.


"Derek knows. He knows. How did he find out? Had he known all along?" The thoughts blurred through Jackson's mind as he drove aimlessly. Why was Derek at his house tonight? It didn't matter, because Derek didn't care. Jackson was shocked when he saw Derek outside and he didn't know what to think, but he should have known. He had thought as much. And then Derek confirmed it. He didn't care that Jackson was related to him.

"I know and I don't care." The words lanced through Jackson and he could hear Derek saying it over and over and over. He had taken off as soon as he heard the words. He didn't know why it hurt so much. It shouldn't because it wasn't as if they got along in the first place.

Jackson slammed on the brakes, bringing the car to a screeching halt. He had been so distracted by his inner turmoil that he didn't even realize where he had been going until he arrived at the cemetery gates. It was then that he remembered from one of the articles that his parents were buried in the Hale family plot. He must have wanted to come here subconsciously ever since. Except he had no idea where the Hale family plot was.

Shaking, he got out of the car. It was just past dusk and night was quickly approaching. He opened the front hood, remembering that he had an emergency kit in there. As he pulled out the flashlight, he also saw the nearly full bottle of vodka lying on its side.

It had been weeks since Jackson had a drink. Even though he had been freaking out inside and had desperately wanted to, he had refrained because he didn't want to chance getting drunk and passing out and turning into that thing. But at that moment, he didn't care anymore. He was utterly alone and Derek didn't care. At least if he passed out and turned in the cemetery, all the people in the vicinity were already dead. Letting out a sardonic laugh, he grabbed the bottle and took a long swig.

With the familiar feel of alcohol burning its way through him, he headed inside.


Derek arrived at the cemetery and spotted Jackson's car parked haphazardly near the gate. There wasn't anyone else around. It occurred to Derek that as macabre as it was, it actually seemed natural and this would be the place where Jackson would go. After all, this is where his parents were.

Turning the car around, Derek drove around to the back, just in case the Argents showed up. Getting out of the car, he easily leaped over the wall and ran towards his family plot. When he arrived, Jackson was nowhere in sight.

"What the hell? Where is he?" Derek muttered under his breath.

Realizing that Jackson probably had no idea where his parents were actually buried, Derek took a deep breath and concentrated, picking up every sound in the cemetery. Zeroing in on Jackson's voice, he took off running.

"Where are you? Please tell me where you are," Derek could hear Jackson pleading in a slurred voice. "Please! I just want to see you."

As Derek reached Jackson, he could see Jackson had been crying. And he was clearly drunk, stumbling around, leaning over random headstones with a nearly empty bottle of booze in his hand.

"Jackson," Derek called out.

Hearing his voice, Jackson spun around, almost tripping over. "What 'r you doin' here?"

"I came to find you," Derek replied. "Come on, we have to get out of here. Now."

"No! Not goin' anywhere with you. I wanna see 'em. I wanna see…" Jackson stumbled, falling over, and Derek rushed over, hauling him up.

"We don't have time for that. The Argents are coming here now and we need to go! Come on!" Derek started dragging Jackson back to his car.

Unfortunately, Jackson was a lot stronger than he remembered and dragged his heels, refusing to go. "Leave me alone," he slurred. "You wanna go? Go! You dun care about me anyway and I dun need you. I wanna see 'em..."

Cursing, Derek whirled to face him. "If I didn't care, do you think I'd be here trying to save your pathetic ass?!" As soon as he said it, Derek regretted his words. It definitely wouldn't help the situation. "Look, I promise, I will come back with you another time. Ok? But it's not safe now. Jackson, are you listening to me?"

But Jackson wasn't looking at him and seemed distracted by something behind Derek. "Hey...I think I kno' 'em…"

Just then a shot rang out and Jackson crumpled to the ground.


Please don't hurt me! ::Runs away and hides:: At least they got to talk, ne? =P

It took me really long to work out how to write the scene where Jackson talks to his parents and Derek overhears them. I wanted to have both POV's, but it didn't seem possible without being repetitive or going back and forth every other paragraph, so I went with Derek's POV and getting him to sense the emotions etc coming from Jackson and the Whittemores. Hope I conveyed it enough…

Reviews would be greatly appreciated. =)