kay, so the italics are gonna be like flashbacks. It's a reaaaalllly important part of the story, and if it confuses you, please say something and i'll try my best to explain it, yeah?
Outfits are on my profile, polyvore link is right thereee, also tumblr link and I MADE A PLAYLIST, the link is also on my profile, and i'll be making another one that you guys hopefully will like.
BIG THANKS TO MONKEYGONETOHEAVEN I LOVE YOU, OKAY!?

ALSO MEL(GUEST): sometimes it takes a while for me to update bc I'm in school rn and i'm in a sport and it takes a lot of my writing time, and i'm so sorry to disappoint, but i don't update as often as i wish i did. During the summer, though…(; also thank you! i wish i could PM you so we could talk more D;

Chapter 11

Time by Hans Zimmer

"Daddy, I wanna go see Laura!"

Adelaide's small feet stomped as she fixed her dad with a glare. Her strawberry blonde curls framed her face and her long lashes skimmed her chubby cheeks every time she blinked.

"Sweetheart, Laura's in school right now, we'll go in a bit, okay?"

"No, I wanna go now."

"Adelaide…" he groaned. His hands ran over his face as he stared into the eyes identical to his own. Her lip was trembling and her eyes were wide and innocent. "No, no, no. Don't do that." he whined as tears gathered in her eyes. "Don't fall for it, Richard. You can do it-" but just one look at her precious face, he crumbled. "Okay! Okay, we'll go."

Her tears receded, her lips pulled back into a happy grin that had her dimples showing. She ran towards him with an excited squeal, her small arms reaching out to hug his legs. "Thank you, daddy. I love you."

A smile lit his features, warmth surging through his veins, love filling his heart, he reached down and pulled her too him, kissing her forehead delicately. "I love you too, baby."

Adelaide didn't know what it was. She didn't know what the emotion setting fire to her body was.

She didn't know what made her dig her nails so far into her own palm that they drew blood. Her jaw was clenched, her teeth grinding angrily and her body still as a board.

"Hey, hon."

He only smiled in return, choosing to ignore the glare that could kill thousands and set them all on fire. He ignored the clenching fists and walked right into the house, carefully avoiding Adelaide's shoulder.

Adelaide just stood there, staring at the empty space behind the threshold. Air replaced the place of her father, the wind blew again and she still stood there with her eyes empty and her mind reeling.

"Adelaide."

Her head snapped up at the sound of her fathers' voice. His eyes stared right at her, and she shivered. Because their eyes were the same, and if their eyes were the same, what else? What else could be the same other then their physical appearance, other than their steel blue eyes. How alike were they?

She took a deep breath, "I don't know why you're here, but I…-" she stopped. The anger was gone. It disappeared and now all that was left was…nothing. She didn't want to think, she didn't want to feel. So for the time being, she would ignore his presence and tell Stiles to leave, "You can use one of the guest bedrooms."

And she walked away.

The dark road was illuminated by a desolate streetlamp. The moon was floating proudly in the sky, the wind was shifting between the leaves sitting on the trees that surrounded the roads of Beacon Hills.

People had retired into the safety of their homes, hiding from the sinister night and the monsters that lurked. The street was abandoned, lost in its own darkness, no cars drove by and dared disrupt the screaming silence.

All but one.

A charcoal colored Camaro sped down the road, bright headlights breaking through the darkness and roaring engine filling the silence. A man with colbat blue eyes sat behind the wheel, his free arm sticking out of the window as the other worked with the steering wheel. His chiseled jaw was clenched, his eyes were hard as he pressed harder on the gas.

"Damnit, Derek." he mumbled angrily.

His car halted in front of an abandoned warehouse. The ebony sky loomed over it, the stars glaring and the moon glittering.

Expensive leather shoes stepped onto the cracking cement, slacks swayed with the movement as he stepped out of the car fully. His hands went to fix his suit jacket, his mouth set into a thin line and his eyes sharp as a knife.

His sensitive ears caught a masculine grunt and the sound of clothing dragging against cement. He walked purposefully towards the sound, shoes clicking harshly against the hardened floor until he stopped in front of another man withering in pain. He crouched down and looked into the pained eyes of Derek Hale.

Shivering and panting, he lay against the cold stone wall. "R-Richard-"

Said man reached out and touched Derek's arm, gripping tightly and watching as black matter slithered up his veins. "What the fuck happened?"

Derek slumped against the wall, temporary relief flooded him. "The Argents."

Richard's lip curled back into a vicious snarl. "Fucking bastards." His hand reached carefully for Derek, winding beneath his armpits to help him up. Shifting all of Derek's weight onto him, he took them to his car. "Did you see who it was?"

"I was too busy getting shot to pay attention."

Richard rolled his eyes, thumping the back of Derek's head, ignoring his yelp, "Don't get smart with me, I'm still your uncle."

His eyes wandered occasionally towards Derek's shaking form, his eyebrows drawn into a frown. He hated seeing him in pain, he hated that Derek was put in this situation again. A situation where he had to run for his life when he should be enjoying his life, acting like normal people his age. He didn't deserve the life that's been handed to him.

Looking at Richard from the corner of his eye, Derek asked, "Why are you back?"

Lips set into a thin line, his voice droned out, "My only niece dies, my daughter comes back for suspicious reasons, my nephew seeks revenge on the new Alpha, and the mongrels that killed my family are within a 5 mile radius of the only family I have left, and you're asking my why I'm back?" His knuckles strained against his skin as he clutched onto the wheel to the point of nearly breaking. Fire coiled in his gut as he thought about his family being exposed to the danger that came along with the Argents again. He could feel the urge to rip them apart crawling just beneath his skin.

"So, what? You want to protect them? Us? Beacon Hills? My sister died and your daughter found her body. The hunters are back, and we're Hales. Adelaide and Lydia? They're Hales to, and sooner or later it's going to catch up to them, just like it did with us."

A cloud of rage looms in Derek's words. Every word he said was laced darkness and honesty, though heartbreaking and tragic, they held a truth to them that could never be taken away.

Richard bit his lip, the trees engulfed them as they enter the forest. A sinister darkness crawled above them. His voice deep, a growl deep in his chest merging with his words. Malice coiled tightly in the air.

"And I'll kill anyone who tries to hurt them."

"Tata, I really want cookies."

"Sorry, kiddo, your dad said no more sugar for you."

Adelaide ran to her aunt, her giggles sounding in the kitchen like chiming bells on a christmas morning. Her big, baby blues were glinting as they blinked up at Talia with faux innocence, "Daddy doesn't have to know."

Talia Hale looked down at the girl with hidden amusement. Her exotic features were light with happiness. "You little devil." Her arms circle around Adelaide's form, picking her up and setting her on the counter as Adelaide watches with her lips quirked up into a satisfied grin. "Fine. I'll give you one, but…" Talia holds up a finger, and with a quirk of her immaculate eyebrows, she points back towards the dining room. "You have to go out into the dining room and set up the table so we can all eat dinner soon, yes?"

Adelaide's small hands grip at her aunts cheeks, "Thank you, Tata!" she lands a kiss on Talia's chin and jumps off the counter, running to the dining room with the excitement only a young girl like her could possess.

"What's up, little one?"

Peter Hale sauntered into the the dining room as Adelaide climbed on top of the chairs to set the plates. Her unruly curls moving from side to side as she jumped off.

Adelaide scowled as Peter pinched her chubby cheeks, stomping her foot and jutting her chin out, "I'm not little."

He ruffled her hair, ignoring her squeal of protest. "You're definitely little, sweetie." He grabbed her and set her on his hip, her laugh echoing in the house, loud and ridiculous, yet beautiful and delicate. "Alright, little one, let's go to the basement. The family's down there playing games."

Hours later everyone but Adelaide's father was in the basement. The adults watching fondly as the kids played roughly, playful growls emitting from their small mouths.

Adelaide had Cora in a lock her father taught her. Her hands positioned in a way that wouldn't allow Cora to escape, her eyes shining and her laughs joining in with the growls. "I got yo-!"

She stopped.

Her hold loosened and Cora got out of it, pouncing on the smaller girl with a mocking smile on her face.

Adelaide was still, her body didn't react, her colbat eyes were blank and staring straight through Cora.

"Addy?"

Cora jumped off of Adelaide, her big doe eyes wide and scared.

Adelaide stood quietly, her hands shaking and her lips trembling as she clutched at her constricting chest.

"Daddy!" she screamed, but he wasn't there.

"Adelaide, baby, what's wrong?" Talia caressed the young girl's head, concern filling her being, pouring into her touch.

Adelaide didn't know what it was at the time, she still didn't know, but she felt something. A stabbing pain, right through her chest. Her stomach was clenching as fear coiled deep in her stomach. The air was swirling with red and orange fumes; mocking and dangerous.

Suddenly, glass was shattering and people were screaming. Real fire engulfed them

"DADDY!"

Adelaide went the rest of her night, and the morning, ignoring her father. She ignored the plea in his eyes, the twitch of his hand when he tried to reach for her. She ignored the clench of his jaw when she refused him time and time again. She ignore him because he ignored her for 6 years.

Her father suddenly cared. Or, at least he pretended to. It was all fake; the quiet desperation, the hurt, the love. It was all a delusion. A fake swirl of emotion that made her want to hurt him because Richard Hale was a cold hearted bastard and he didn't care. He never did.

Adelaide wanted to say she didn't care either, she wanted to say that she didn't feel the pressure on her chest or the pinch in her stomach. She wanted to say she didn't care, but she couldn't because everything was still there. In that little box she kept locked and stored. There was a crack in the box, a crack big enough to let her hear the snakes hidden in it. Slithering and hissing, threatening and dangerous.

She wanted to scream. She wanted to kick and punch and sob, she wanted to rip her fathers' eyes out and hurt him in a way that couldn't be reversed. She wanted to break him like he broke her, but she didn't because she couldn't.

Because anger was still an emotion, and anger meant she cared. And in the end, caring would destroy her.

"Miss Martin, am I boring you?"

Her head snapped up, ponytail slapping against her face roughly as her eyes connected with Mr. Harris'. Her hands were clasped together, nails digging into the skin of her palms subconsciously. Eyes wide and her mind blank, she responded with quietly with no emotion.

"No."

Her eyes fluttered against her cheeks as she looked down at the crescent moon indents on her palms left by her fingernails. She could feel eyes burning into the side of her face, and turned to meet the whiskey colored eyes of Stiles. "What?" she whispered harshly.

His eyes were unfocused, but he jumped in surprise when he realized she'd caught him. Her jaw worked angrily, she bit the inside of her lip as he sat there and stared at her like she wasn't from this world.

"S-sorry…it's just-you haven't insulted me in 30 minutes."

Adelaide blinked, surprise etched into her expression as Stiles looked down at her with pursed lips and curious eyes.

He was genuinely surprised, and the though made her lips turn up just slightly. "What? You miss my beautiful voice already?"

He recoiled and scoffed, rolling his eyes, "Me? Miss Adelaide Martin's, resident she-devil, voice? Please, in fact, I was actually hoping this would be a permanent thing."

"You can definitely get over that, Stilinski."

"Whatever, Martin."

And for a second, the tiniest smile appeared on her face.

"Lydia!"

Adelaide's convers slapped against the linoleum floors of BHHS. She was speed walking in hopes of catching up to her twin sister, who was crowded by people she didn't even want to know the names of.

"Fucking shit, Lyd." her pace quickened and she shoved the people away from her as she stepped up to Lydia. She grabbed her arm tightly, but not tight enough to actually hurt her.

"We need to talk."

Her eyes were like the ocean, deep and mesmerizing, her mouth moving quickly as she looked down at her twin, "Now"

Lydia followed after her with furrowed eyebrows. "What going on, Ads?"

Adelaide stopped by the stairs, her body tense. Her hair was up in a messy, braided pony, usually bright eyes were dull and tired. Her mouth was pulled down into a permanent frown.

"Dad's back."

The sentence was short and unforgiving. A deafening silence followed straight after.

"I'm sorry, did you just say what I think you just said?" Lydia's green eyes were wide as she struggled to process the words. It took a lot for Lydia Martin to be surprised, but that was definitely enough.

"Yeah, I know. He just…-showed up out of freaking nowhere."

Lydia flipped her hair away from her face, eyebrows drawing down into a frown that looked misplaced on her usually grinning face.

Adelaide's eyes flitted up to meet hers, "I don't want him here, Lydia. And I know that you don't either, but…-I can't, we can't, do anything about it. He won't leave."

And for once, Lydia saw just a glimpse of emotion in Adelaide's eyes, but it was gone as soon as it appeared.

"We'll just have to deal with his presence, then."

They didn't notice Derek Hale listening from just behind the walls.

**Flames flickered against their skin, smoke slithered into their lungs, it burned their eyes. The flames were high and angry, snapping at them.

"CORA! OLIVIA!"

Talia was shouting, she was screaming for her children, her family, her pack, at the top of her lungs. Her eyes were red, searching and pleading. The flames licked at her skin, burning and blistering.

Adelaide cried out as a piece of wood fell against her arm, burning through the delicate skin easily as she withered away from the flaming beam. The heated floor was burning through her clothes, the skin beneath her shirt reddening. Her cries for help were unheard, her nails digging into the floor as she struggled to stand.

Something bubbled inside her chest. It sizzled just beneath her skin, and stabbed straight through her chest. Panic seized her body, licking and biting at her soul as she struggled for a breath.

She whimpered and crawled away from the fallen beam.

"Adelaide!"

Adelaide's eyes fluttered open. She was blinded by brightness, her hand coming up to shield her face only to have something hold it back. Her eyes eventually adjusted and she looked around to see machines and wires connected to her small body. Patches of skin were hidden beneath gauze and medicine. She tried to sit up, but instead yelped when a stabbing pain bloomed in her abdomen.

"She's awake!"

Suddenly, there were people running towards her, people she didn't know with white lab coats and stethoscopes wrapped around their necks. Once again, she tried to sit up, but the pain held her back.

"It's okay, sweetie, you're okay. I just have to check a few things, alright?"

A woman with a kind smile and warm eyes stepped out of the herd of doctors. Instead of a white lab coat and an analytical expression she wore bright scrubs and a reassuring presence. Her dark curls and chocolate eyes reminded her of Tata.

"Where's daddy?"

"I'm right here, baby."

Her pale, chapped lips quirked to the side as she heard her father's voice. He ordered the weird people with the white lab coats to go away and took her small hand in his. She ignored the big thing on her index finger and chose to look up at him instead.

"Daddy, where am I?"

He looked up at her. Her face was bruised, her body was covered to hide the burns that would thankfully heal and leave no scars. All except for the one on her abdomen. He felt a familiar sting in his eyes as he clutched onto her hand just a little tighter to reassure himself that she was there.

His daughter was alive.

But the others' weren't.

"You're in the hospital, baby."

His words were choked, but she only furrowed her eyebrows and looked up at him with wide, innocent eyes. He wished she could keep that innocence, he wished that she wouldn't remember, that she wouldn't feel the crippling pain that would eventually come along.

"Why?"

She didn't remember, the doctors said that would happen, but it would come back soon. He knew it would, and he knew it would destroy her.

His thumb caressed her palm lightly, he bit his lip and looked back up at his daughter. His voice cracked, "There was an accident."

Her hand suddenly clutched onto his tightly. Her eyes wide and fearful, lips trembling lightly. "Did I get a boo-boo?" It was a childish question, but he knew. He knew she felt the pain in her abdomen and he knew she was starting to remember. He knew by the way her breathing picked up.

"Yeah, baby, you got a boo-boo."

"Daddy?" Her voice sounded so small, so broken, so vulnerable.

"Yeah, baby?"

He bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. He tried not to think about his dead family, his wounded daughter, about his nephew and his niece. He wanted everything to go back to normal, he wanted to go back and save them.

A lone tear slipped down his face.

Her small hand, shaky and bruised, wiped the tear away.

"Why are you crying?"

A broken sob escaped his lips and he brought her hand to his lips.

"I'm so sorry."

He could hear it again. The rise in her heartbeat. The monitors were beeping loudly, her breathing was escalating.

"D-daddy, where's Tata? I want Tata."

Adelaide's eyes were scanning every inch of the room, she could feel herself trembling in her father's hold, she could hear his broken sobs and she could feel the heat of the fire as the memories slowly engulfed her.

"Addy-"

His voice was so sad.

"I want Tata!"

Fire flickered in her mind, screams echoed in her eyes, smoke burned her nose.

Her breathing picked up and she felt a pressure right on her chest. "Tata!" she tried to breathe but she couldn't even think properly.

Fire.

Screams.

Smoke.

The pressure increased, it felt like someone was stabbing and pushing at the same time. The knife was digging further into her heart.

"Adelaide, calm down…DOCTORS!"

Everything was blurring together, her eyes were watering and the stabbing in her chest only got worse and worse.

She struggled for a breath as Cora's fearful eyes and desperate cries echoed in her mind.

Hands were at her sides, gripping and pulling her down to the bed as she tried to sit up in a panic.

But she couldn't see them, she could only see the flames as they got closer to her. She could only feel the heat against her body and the crippling fear that came with it.

"Let me use your phone."

"What…-why!?

"Stiles! Just give me the damn phone."

Derek sat in the seat, wheezing and sweating. The pain trickled up his arm like pins an needles. He knew it was only a matter of time before the poison reached his heart and killed him completely. His veins were protruding from his arm, slithering down towards the bullet wound like snakes. With each movement he made the ache in his arm turned into a blazing fire, burning through his veins until that was all he could feel.

Stiles reluctantly handed the phone to Derek, his eyes rolling as the werewolf struggled to even press the buttons.

"Richard, I need your help."

His arm shook with the effort as he held it up to his ear, he'd never felt so weak in his entire life. A pulse of pain sent waves into his head.

Derek moaned into the phone, the pain reverberating through his body as his arm moved. "Meet me at the animal clinic." he finished before hanging up and tossing the phone towards Stiles.

"Who's Richard?"

Derek looked down at his pulsating arm, veins dark and wound bloody before looking back up at Stiles with hard eyes.

"Someone who can help."

"Whoever thought it was a good idea to leave the door to the clinic open while it clearly says 'Closed' is a fucking idiot."

Richard Hale walked into the room, leather boots clicking against the stone floor of the animal clinic. His eyebrows were pulled down into a frown, his electric eyes scanning every nook and cranny of the small space. "Quite ironic that you picked the animal clinic." His eyes lifted to meet those of Derek Hale, sympathy coloring his features. "You look like shit."

"Wh-what? Who the hell are you?"

Honey colored eyes stared at the man with eyes so familiar with disbelief, but he took the words back as soon as they came out because the glare that was aimed towards Stiles nearly killed him.

Stiles didn't know who it was, but he knew that he was dangerous as soon as he came in. His presence reminded him of Derek, only worse. There was an aura that surrounded him, dark and twisted that made the hairs on the back of his neck rise. His eyes were a brilliant blue, calculating and sharp, like they were ready for a fight.

"I'm Richard Hale, who the hell are you?"

"Stiles." Derek called out in hopes that the hyperactive teenager would stop his interrogation and do something useful.

"There's more of you!?"

"STILES!"

Derek's skin was a ghastly white, pasty and sweaty. The rancid scent of death wafted stung Richard's nose as Derek moved closer with his lip pulled down into a painful grimace.

Richard rolled his eyes as Derek fumbled around the room, looking for anything to relieve his pain. He walked towards the panting werewolf, his arm latching onto the wound tightly.

Ignoring the pained growl that escaped Derek's lips or the disgusted grimace that colored Stiles' face, he drew some of the pain out from Derek's wound, ignoring the poison that traveled up his arm before disappearing completely.

Stiles watched in sick awe as his veins darkened and protruded, slithering up his skin like snakes.

"What the…-what was that!?"

His question was left unanswered as the chaos erupted once again. Derek was pulling off his shirt in a panic, his arm was protesting wildly, the pain burning him, but the piece of cloth was rubbing against his skin in a way that felt his skin crawl. It was as soon as he allowed himself a peaceful moment when a harsh blare startled his over sensitive ears.

He glared at Stiles over the ringing in his ears, but the boy ignored him and looked down at his phone with confusion written across his face.

"Does Nordic Blue Monkshood mean anything to you?"

"It's a rare form of wolfsbane-" Derek struggled for a breath of air. "He needs to bring me the bullet."

The pain was slowly returning, he knew the relief would only last a few minutes, but those few minutes were like heaven on earth.

Richard turned and faced the wall, his jaw clenched tightly as his hands clutched onto the wood, cursing the Argents. His whole life, all they'd done was torture werewolves and try to kill them all despite their little code of honor that was hardly ever executed. They were just killers with whispers of broken promises. They'd proved that the day they set fire to his family.

"Why?"

"Because he'll die without it."

Adelaide's eyes were dark and calculating, studying the words carefully as she struggled to put it all together. Her pencil tapped rapidly against the spine of her math textbook. She chewed her lip, her eyes moving swiftly to the harsh gaze Alex was giving her.

"What?"

Alex looked down, a crease forming in between his eyebrows as he frowned, "You're distracted."

"Yeah, you keep staring at me, of course I'm distracted." She snapped without meaning too, but she didn't take it back. She was splitting at the seams, her mind was reeling and her heart was dropping with each minute that passed. Alex wasn't the one distracting her, in fact, it was far from that. It was the suspenseful silence that echoed in her house, waiting for the man she wanted out to come and ruin her life some more. It was the fact that she was sitting on her bed, doing homework with her best friend while her father was back in Beacon Hills.

The fact was just so surreal; she had never imagined he would come back home, no not home. Not for him, not anymore.

"You've been staring at the same problem for the last 10 minutes, Adelaide, what's wrong?"

She chewed at her lip as her eyes landed on his expectant and worried expression. "Nothing's wrong…-just tired. I haven't been sleeping very much lately." It wasn't a lie. Nightmares had been plaguing her sleep, darkening the skin beneath her eyes and ebbing at the corners of her mind.

"Maybe I should leave…-you need to sleep, Ads."

She latched onto his wrist in a moment of panic. She didn't want him to leave, she didn't want to be left alone in the house if her father was going to be there too. It was cowardly and she was being evasive, but she didn't want to face the issue at hand. Lydia wouldn't be back until later on, and until then she would be alone if Alex left. "Don't." she nearly yelled.

"Adelaide?"

Alex stared harder, his eyes raking over her entire form as she sat there, tense.

She snatched her hand back and bit her lip, "No…-yeah, you're right. I just need some rest."

"Adelaide, are you sure you're okay?"

She was okay, or maybe she wasn't, she wasn't quite sure. She didn't want to be alone, but she didn't want to…hell, she didn't know what she wanted. So instead she just gave him a reassuring grin.

"Of course I'm okay, I just need some sleep. I'll talk to you tomorrow, okay?"

She stood and walked him to the front door of her house after packing up their things. "Okay, well…-" he hugged her tightly, her body molding against his perfectly. His heartbeat was reassuring in her eyes as she pressed her ear closer to it. "I love you."

Her bottom lip was sucked into her mouth as she let him go. A false grin overtook her face as she pushed him across the threshold.

"Don't be such a sap."

He chuckled low in his chest before walking away, turning only to say, "Get some sleep!"

Derek pulled Stiles towards him by the collar of his shirt, his eyes glaring and his nostrils flared like a bull ready to attack. His lips pulled back into a snarl, "CALL SCOTT!"

He looked down at the metal table, his chest heaving as his body tried and failed to heal itself. Instinct was telling him to shift, to run to his pack and let them heal him, but he couldn't. They were dead.

His stomach churned violently, a violent tremor crawled just beneath his skin, his lips parted as he felt something struggle to climb out of his throat. He could taste the blood as it leaked into his mouth, dribbling down his chin before he leaned across the table. Black blood stained the pure white floor as it spewed out of his mouth.

"Shit."

Richard placed a soothing hand on the sick werewolf's back, silently siphoning some of the pain away.

"Holy god…-What the hell is that?"

Richard glared at the insolent teenage boy, his icy eyes shooting daggers at him as his lip lifted into a snarl to reveal his sharpened canines. "Listen here, you little shit, you're going to call your friend now, I don't care if he's out fucking the little Argent bitch, my nephew is dying and I swear to all that is fucking holy, I will kill that ungrateful little brat if he doesn't get off his werewolf ass and get the god damn bullet to us now!" His breathing was quick and harsh, the growl in his voice forced Stiles to gulp in fear and pick the phone up to call Scott.

"That wasn't necessary."

He looked down at Derek, his eyebrows pulling down into a scowl, "It is when your life is on the line."

Once again, Derek was digging through the drawers and cabinets of Dr. Deaton's office, ignoring the pain and focusing on the task at hand. If Scott didn't come to him soon, he would have to count on his last resort.

"What are you doing?"

Stiles' curious voice sounded out as Derek found what he was looking for; a hand saw. He walked towards the table with sluggish movements, placing it down onto it and ignoring Stiles' frantic eyes. "Last resort." he mumbled through a wince. "You're gonna cut my arm off."

He made a noise of complaint, his lip curled up in disgust. "What? Why can't he do it?" He pointed at Richard, his hand reeling back at the glare that was pointed at him. The man was seriously intimidating, but he didn't see the point in a human like him doing it when there was a werewolf standing right by him that wasn't injured and probably had a higher tolerance for gore.

"Are you kidding me?" Richard stepped forward, carefully avoiding the puddle of black blood. "This is John Varvatos."

Derek's snort of amusement and Stiles' scoff made his lips tilt up into a mocking smirk. "Better hope your friend gets here on time."

When Scott did get there, Stiles' finger was hovering just above the trigger button.

"Wh-What the hell are you doing!?"

He was panting, dark eyes flitting around the entire room in a rush when they landed on the hand saw in Stiles' hand and the man with his hands and Derek's shoulders, black matter running up his veins in a steady rhythm.

"Oh, thank god." Stiles let out a sigh of relief. His body sagged and he threw the saw away from him like it was a disease. "Oh, you just prevented a lifetime of nightmares."

Derek and Richard both sighed out of relief. He really didn't want to live the rest of his life without one of his arms.

Everyone was in a panicked state, especially Scott. He was rushing to help, rushing to make sure Derek wouldn't die because as much as he may have hated him, he didn't want him to die. He wasn't really aware of anything but his deteriorating heartbeat, so he took the bullet out of his pocket and ignored the new presence completely.

"What are you gonna do with it?"

Derek clutched onto the metal table for support. A wave of dizziness hit him along with another round of pain, Richard's siphoning wasn't enough anymore, the poison was just inches from reaching his heart; he was going to die.

"I'm gonna-" he swallowed thickly, wincing and flinching as the pain reached an entirely new level. "I'm gonna-" Darkness was edging at the corners of his eyes, threatening to consume him whole; and it did.

Richard was there to catch him as he fell back, his eyes rolled into the back of his head. A wave of panic shot through him like ice.

"Derek!" Richard shouted, his hands clutched Derek's chin tightly, shaking and hoping for him to regain consciousness. "Derek, wake up!" His attempts to wake him were in vain, his eyes clouded over with a mist of rage. He looked back at the teenagers, growling as they stood there and watched with a sick awe and prominent fear. "GET THE BULLET!"

His ears reached for the thump of Derek's heartbeat, and while it was very faint, it was there and that was enough. "You better fucking wake up after this, or I swear to god…-" Richard's arm pulled back, his hand clenched into a tight fist as his eyes stayed on Derek's face and his ear tracked his heartbeat. He tuned out the screaming teenagers as they struggled to get the bullet and focused on bringing back his nephew.

A sickening crack could be heard as his fist landed on the planes of Derek's jaw, but it didn't matter because his eyes snapped open and a yelp flew out of his mouth. He was alive.

"The bullet-" Richard turned towards Scott as he held out the piece of metal. It was long, the gold shined in his eyes but the scent stung his nose. He snatched it away and put Derek on his feet, watching silently as he staggered forward, clutching at the metal lab table once again.

He pried the bullet open, wolfsbane spilling onto the counter. Ignoring the sting in his fingers, he pushed it all together, looking back at Derek as he leaned against the cabinets with his eyes closed, waiting for him. He took his lighter out and lit the wolfsbane.

The scent stung his nostrils, the flower stung his hands as he pushed it into his palm before hurrying over to Derek.

With a reassuring tilt of his lips, he pressed the burning crop into his wound.

Derek had felt pain before, he'd felt a dagger go straight through his shoulder, he'd felt the pain of a pole connecting with his head, he'd felt the pain of broken arms and broken ribs, but never had he felt the pain of curing a wolfsbane wound with actual wolfsbane.

It was like fire and ice. It trickled up his arm and ran down his spine, column by column. It spread through his veins, flaming and cooling at the same time. Needles were injected into his skin, all over his body for what felt like hours but was really just a few seconds.

A guttural scream tore just beneath the surface of his chest, reverberating through his entire being as it escaped through his mouth and merged with a growl that rumbled within him.

And then it was over.

"Be careful, hon, we don't want you to rip your stitches, okay?"

Adelaide's father had been pestering her all weekend about her stupid stitches and her stupid medicine and her stupid gauze that needed to be changed every two seconds. She wanted to go outside and be able to take care of her plants without someone flocking around her and telling her to be careful.

That someone was usually her dad, but her mom decided to show up and actually care for her for the day.

"I'm fine, mom."

Her voice was still raspy from all the smoke she'd inhaled, and every step she took hurt, but in the few days she'd been out, she learned to hide it well.

She was in therapy, then. They said she wasn't coping and that she was depressed, they gave her these small blue pills that they said would help her, but they didn't do anything. She never felt anything whenever she took them, and it didn't stop the nightmares. It didn't stop the moments where sometimes she felt like there was a pressure on her chest, and fire taking hold of her mind. They said they were called panic attacks, but she didn't care because she wanted them to go away.

The blue pills didn't take them away, all they did was make her sleepy and dull the ache in her heart while she was awake. It did nothing for her when her subconscious took over and her eyes drifted shut.

"Mom?"

Her eyes, tired and dull, wandered over to her mother. She was sitting there with a look of worry furrowing her eyebrows. She was looking down at her new flip phone, as if it would start ringing just because she willed for it to happen.

"Yes?"

It was then that Adelaide noticed that her father hadn't been there nearly the whole day. He came into her and Lydia's room to say goodbye because he was off to work, but that was really it. It was usual, the only thing that was out of place was the look of unadulterated pain that crossed his face. But even that was normal in those days.

"Where did daddy go?"

Her mother looked up with a look that held nothing. It was blank and evasive, there only to avoid. "He'll be back soon, don't worry."

Every night, her dad did this thing where he would come up for her and take her downstairs. They would stay up until midnight, or just until she fell asleep, and watch old classics. Sometimes even a few wrestling matches, or boxing matches. He would tell her everything about it.

She could remember the excitement in his voice as he talked about the general rules and the basic moves. He even taught her.

So when she went to bed that night, she waited for her dad to come up and take her down so they could escape their reality for just a few seconds. She waited 2 hours before darkness lulled her to sleep and the nightmares took hold of her.

The next morning, she asked her mom again.

"Did daddy come back yet?"

She only looked at her with the same look. Nothing.

Always nothing.

"He'll be back soon, don't worry."

It was 4 years later, after waiting every night at the seat by her window, that she realized.

He was never coming back.

HI GUYS

So….what do you think? It was kinda emotional and stuff, and this isn't even the worst of it tbh…so get readyyyy. ALSO STADDY MOMENT, AMIRIGHTLADIESORGUYS? yeah, so that was wuthadhappened. uh, review? tell me what you think? seriously, i reallllyy wanna know. i'm actually super nervous about this chapter hahahaha…so pls? alsooo, you can PM me if you wanna just ask a question or anything of that sort, it'd be nice to answer your questions, i love answering your questions (;

xoxo Brii(: