DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING. Well that's not a true statement, I do own some things, like my laptop, but I don't own Teen Wolf so there is that. I'm just having fun with the characters.
Thank you to those that have selected the story as a favorite and to those following! For those that have reviewed:
RHatch89: Thank you!
OhhKellyRose: That was my feeling when I watched ep 9 too. Another reason not to open up and trust people. At least hopefully Derek still has his sister. Thanks for the feedback. It makes it easier for me to write my OC. I think it also makes it easier for people to accept her (but I could be wrong about that). Add to that I agree there are some characters we just don't see that much of so it's nice to give them some time and I like making up what happened off screen to get characters from point A to point B.
Stefani Demi: Wow, what a compliment. Thank you so much! If you do write something let me know I'd love to read it. And I'm glad you're still into the story.
Phoebe Nixon: I'm still working out another flashback that incorporates some of the changes their relationship went through as children. It'll probably be coming in a chapter or two, closer to when I tackle ep 8. Writing love scenes... not as easy as it looks but it's gratifying when you guys let me know you like them. I'm not through messing with Dolly yet though. *rubs hands evilly*
Laieanna: Sup lady! Maybe I should put a warning to have a fan handy for some of those scenes? Like I said above, I'm glad you guys enjoy them. Hopefully you all won't think I toss them in for the heck of it. I really do try to have the intimacy, if not drive the story, at least make sense at the time it happens, and not just toss it in for the heck of it. This chapter was actually supposed to be the first time they were intimate, but the circumstances felt right in chapter 9, so they got busy a little quicker, but it gave me a chance to show it from Derek's POV this time. That was fun!
Hannah: I'm glad you stumbled across it too! Thank you for the review and thanks for letting me know that you're enjoying my story. I will endeavor to keep you entertained.
A/N: And now on with the show. If you enjoy the story, if you have a question, or if you have any comments you want to share, drop me a review, I would love to hear and really enjoy hearing from you all! Also for those that saw episode 9, fear not... the darach in When History Repeats Itself will be different.
TAKES PLACE BETWEEN EP. 6 & 7
Chapter 14 – Riot Proof
An ominous day unfairly trailed a miraculous night.
It lingered in the air thick enough to cut with a steak knife. It started when Holly woke alone in her bed. Panic readily made itself her first reaction and refused to leave even after she heard Derek's voice in the other room. It set the tone of the day and dawdled, unwilling to leave as she ducked into the bathroom and took care of her morning ritual.
At least she looked refresh. In fact as she studied her reflection she couldn't remember a time in the past when she looked and felt so well rested. A feat in and of itself considering the lack of sleep she got the past week. And considering she found herself awake at seven on a Saturday morning.
Under normal circumstances, after using the bathroom, Holly would have tunneled back under the covers for another two hours. But it didn't take stepping back into the bedroom and hearing Derek still speaking on the phone for her to understand nothing about the current circumstances fell into the normal classification. It made her wonder how far she needed to twist her definition of normal for her life to return to that state. Or if it was even possible.
"Surprisingly fine," Derek stated to the person on the other end of the line.
Holly opened the dresser drawer in the bedroom and pulled out a pair of cotton shorts, tee shirt and underwear. She also pulled out a shirt she'd taken from Derek's loft. The one he let her sleep in when she spent the night. The one she'd been tossing and turning in every night for the past week.
"I already talked to Isaac. He, Boyd and Scott are heading back."
As she slipped into the clothing, she looked at the articles scattered around the room. Derek's jeans were still on the floor not far from her skirt and underwear. Upon closer investigation, her skirt turned out to be the only article of clothing she had on last night that didn't get shredded, ripped or torn.
"They did what they had to do. You all did. If I'm not upset you shouldn't be either."
Panties, bra, shirt… she picked each of them up and tossed them in the waste can in the bathroom trying and failing to keep the memory of last night from entering her head. She might as well tried to stop a semi with the force of her mind.
A shiver ran the length of her body as her mind created a phantom touch of his lips against her breasts.
"I have to go… soon," came a grumpy reply. "I'll meet you at the loft. Then I'll meet you both at the loft."
Holly entered the main room as Derek ended the call. He stood in the center of the room, dressed only in a pair of navy blue boxer briefs that left very little to the imagination. Then again she didn't need to imagine what the material covered. She experienced it first hand last night, several times, in several positioned.
"I used your phone," he held the device up and placed it on the table. "I needed to call the others. Let them know I wasn't dead."
Holly nodded, stared at him, and cursed her hormones. She knew the words that would soon find their way out of his mouth, and despite them she wanted him. Despite knowing he was about to push her away, her brain didn't want to function on a higher level. It wanted to wallow in the memory of how his calloused palms felt sliding against her skin.
"I…" she hiked a thumb over her shoulder and into the bedroom. "I have one of your shirts."
He looked surprised but also mildly relieved as he crossed the room. He stopped when he passed her. Not so much stopped as stalled, hesitated… he began to reach for her but stopped and curled the fingers into a fist instead.
"I tried to call Isaac last night but I didn't reach him. Probably good I didn't since at the time you were dying. I didn't have Cora's number."
"I programed it into your phone," he called from the bedroom.
"We have to talk."
"I have to go."
Their words came out simultaneously as Derek stepped back into the room.
"We don't have time for this now."
"You need to make time for it now."
"I killed Ennis," Derek barely stopped short of yelling. "Do you understand what that means? If I don't kill my pack and join theirs they're going to kill us. All of us. That includes you."
"So let me make sure I understand. Last week they wanted you to kill your pack and join theirs. If you refused, they would have most likely kill all of you. This week they want you to kill your pack and join theirs. If you refuse they will kill all of you." Holly sucked in a lungful of air and pressed her lips together with a faux look of concentration wrinkling her brow. "Yeah, I can see the extreme difference in that plan."
"Last week Deucalion called the shots. He was in charge. He isn't interested in you. Hurting you was based in opportunity not part of his plan. Kali will hurt you to hurt me."
"You think I don't realize that?"
"I think you don't realize how dangerous this is."
"You died last night, Derek." Holly waited and let her words sink in. Her eyes holding onto his gaze. "Don't stand there and patronize me by saying I have no idea how dangerous this is when less than twelve hours ago the only man I ever loved in my entire life died."
He stalked towards her all fluid motion and grace. Anger sliding in those beautiful green eyes as he deliberately closed the distance between them. His eyes never altered in color but she felt his wolf staring out at her.
"You have no idea what you're asking. What you're getting yourself into." He spoke in a low controlled voice that made Holly want to scramble backwards even more than his stalking across the room.
"Gotten," she corrected barely holding her ground.
He tilted his head to the side slightly. The movement reminding her of how dogs sometimes look when they're confused or uncertain.
"I'm already in your world, Derek. Ethan and Aiden go to the high school. What you think they don't know who I am? If Cora smelled you on me they have too."
"Which is why I have to stay away from you. It's the only way I know how to protect you from—"
"—Just stop it. Stop it." she yelled finally pacing away from him.
She had to put distance between them. Between him standing so close and the words that fell from his mouth Holly found herself torn between jumping into his arms and punching him in the face.
"What are you going to do, Derek? Are you going to put me up in a tower and protect me from life? Have a dragon guard against any intruders? We're not twelve anymore and it's not just my father you're trying to protect me from."
"I know that," he seethed through clenched teeth.
"Then stop trying to assume responsibility for me. Stop treating me like I don't know what going on or how dangerous this is."
"You were pulled into a world that you don't understand. Against your will you didn't ask for this."
"I did."
She'd never seen him look more stunned than in that instant.
"You're right. The night in the boiler room I got pulled into your world. But the morning after… in your loft… when you came here after everything that happened that day, I made a choice. I chose to stay. I chose you, Derek."
Holly turned to face him as he moved again. Closed the distance separating them again. But where earlier his movements were animalistic, this time he approached with caution. This time when he was close enough he cupped her face in his hands and pressed his lips against her forehead. Initially she just leaned in for the kiss, but it didn't take long for her hands to find his waist to cling to. From there she slid her palms around his back and pulled him closer. Her ear pressed against his chest.
His heartbeat called out steady and strong. She loved that sound. She would never get enough of hearing it.
"I can't take you getting hurt, because of me." He spoke softly against her hair. His arms easily moved around her shoulders to embrace her.
"Please don't shut me out, Derek. Don't push me away and say it's to protect me."
"Maybe I'm not just protecting you from them. Maybe I'm protecting you from me."
Holly broke from the embrace. She wanted to see his eyes, to watch his reaction at her next words.
"Last night before I watched you die, which by the way is the single worse experience of my life, you said you loved me."
"I remember."
"Did you mean it?"
"What do you… how could you… of course. Yes, I meant it."
"Then prove it."
"What?" he narrowed his gaze slightly.
"If you love me, then treat me like you love me. Not like a child that needs to be protected, or a one night stand. Share your life with me. All of your life."
"Holly…" he paused and pulled away from her physically and emotionally.
"If you say I don't know what I'm getting into one more time, I swear I'm going to punch you in the throat. I know what I've stepped into."
"Do you?"
"Werewolves, death, seriously dangerous shit that could get everyone killed. But if I'm going to die, I'd rather it be fighting with you. Not hiding in a gilded cage."
"I can't guarantee your safety," he whispered.
"I can't guarantee yours either, so I guess we're even."
Derek removed the distance between their lips but stalled before completing this kiss. She felt his breath pushing against her skin as he battled, debated, and finally decided as he claimed her mouth and sealed their agreement with a passionate kiss.
Cora wanted to punch someone, anyone. The who didn't matter, not when there were so many to choose from. Stiles maybe. She looked in his direction and decided against it. Something about him… he looked like he might enjoy it. Besides, there was something about him that reminded Cora of a puppy. A Saint Bernard puppy to be exact. Something in the eyes. Loyal, faithful and annoying but not worthy of being kicked or punched.
Besides Derek seemed fond him.
He pretended not to be. Mostly from what she observed he pretended to be perpetually annoyed with Stiles. Some things about her brother changed, that hadn't been one. He always seemed particularly annoyed by the people he cared about the most. Stiles might not have been pack, but Derek seemed to consider him an extended member, and thereby, under his protection.
Holly and Boyd were out of the question, she liked both of them. Anyway, Cora was pretty sure if she punched Holly, Derek would throw her threw a wall. That left Isaac and Scott, and honestly, Cora didn't know what she was debating like she didn't know which she wanted to punch. It had always been Scott.
From the moment he walked in and began speaking she wanted to punch him and the feeling only increased.
"For you to not be in Derek's pack you sure hang around like you are all the time."
Conversation stopped and everyone's eyes on her let her know the statement had been spoken out loud and not just in her head.
"What?" she pushed when everyone continued to stare at her. She hadn't really meant to say the words aloud, but now that she had, she'd own it. "Did I say something that wasn't true?"
"We commonly refer to it as helping," Stiles stated with a few of his hand gesticulations. "That's what friends do. You remember what those are?"
"Have you ever been punched in the mouth for talking too much?" her question posed in a frank tone.
Stiles stared at her, mouth open in utter surprise. Scott looked as if he were trying to determine if she were serious or joking and leaning towards serious. Derek looked amuse, though he tried to hide it.
"I don't see the connection between the sacrifices and the Alpha pack," Isaac stated. He sat on the couch with Holly, elbows resting on his thighs as he regarded the rest of the group.
"Neither do I," Cora agreed.
Stiles sighed dramatically as if he just explained the theory of relativity and no one got it.
"What about what Stiles mentioned earlier?" Boyd looked around the group. "About sacrifices being performed before a battle to help ensure vicotry?"
Derek shook his head. "It doesn't fall in line with Deucalion's plan. Why send some druid—"
"—darach," Stiles interjected.
"Whatever," Derek paused long enough to give Stiles a glare, "After Isaac and Boyd when he wants me to kill them."
"Maybe animal sacrifice is part of the ritual," Holly offered, then added a, "What?" when everyone shifted their gaze to her.
"Animal sacrifices?" Isaac repeated trying his best and failing to sound insulted.
"To cure infertility the druids would perform a ritual with mistletoe on the winter solstice that called for the sacrifice of two white bulls. It's possible whatever ritual the darach is trying to complete needs the blood of an animal, or a unique creature."
"A druid ritual that specifically calls for werewolves?" Stiles questioned not bothering to hide the skepticism in his voice.
"You can take away someone's pain by touching them, and an alpha can turn someone through a bite. I'm guessing as a sacrifice the ancient gods and goddesses would find your blood pretty yummy. Not to mention powerful."
"Regardless… people are dying," Scott stated frustrated.
"But the sacrifices haven't been completed, right?" Boyd pointed out.
Isaac seemed to mull that over. "The three virgins were completed."
"But not the werewolves," Boyd countered.
"Or the warriors," Holly added.
"What?" Cora asked after catching the exchange between Stiles and Scott.
"We think they just haven't found the third body," Scott offered. "Mr. Harris is still missing."
"And considering he headed up the ROTC program and this is Beacon Hills. Missing is presumed dead." Stiles added.
"Adrian?"
Cora turned with everyone else to regard Holly again.
"You guys do realize I work at the school, right? I know who Adrian Harris." she questioned with an elevated eyebrow. "It's also ironic that he may have been a sacrifice."
"Ironic how?" Derek questioned.
"He's the one that turned me onto researching my maternal ancestry."
Boyd regarded Holly with a frown. "Why would your maternal ancestry be related to what's going on?"
"I don't know yet."
"Maybe it has something to do with the spontaneous healing?" Scott seemed to puzzle the thought aloud.
Isaac sat up, abruptly interested. "What spontaneous healing?"
Derek didn't ask or say anything, but Cora, and everyone else watched as he closed the distance separating him from Holly. He didn't ask, he didn't say a word as he lifted her hair from her neck and nudged her head forward.
"What?" Stiles asked looking from one to the other curiously. "What'd I miss?"
"I healed," Holly explained.
"Healed what?" Isaac asked.
"Healed like one of us," Scott offered.
Isaac looked to Holly, then over at Derek he stayed behind Holly with his arms folded and a smolderingly angry expression on his face. "How is that… is that even possible?"
"Since it happened I'm going to go on a limb and say yes. And to answer the follow up, no, nothing like this has ever happened before."
"You didn't think this was something you should have mentioned?"
"That would have involved breaking radio silence."
Cora glanced from Derek to Holly, though she quickly looked away as Isaac shifted on the couch slightly, Boyd found the floor suddenly interesting, and Scott and Stiles exchanged looks of confusion.
"How?" Derek managed to speak without growling, but Cora assumed it was because he only said one word.
"I don't know. Deaton didn't know either."
Lips pressed tightly together, Derek dropped his arms to his side and stalked towards the large window. Cora wondered which bothered him more; that Holly hadn't told him, or that Deaton and apparently Scott knew.
"We've spent nearly two hours talking about this thing and all we've learned is the name for an evil druid is darach," Cora stated pointedly trying to keep the annoyance out of her voice.
She didn't have anything to do, or anywhere else she needed to be, but she could have thought of better ways to waste her Saturday night.
"We learned it's not a very successful darach," Isaac added.
"Which means that he, she, or it is going to become a very desperate darach," Holly chimed in, though she mostly watched Derek's rigid back.
Stiles' face took on a pensive expression, hands gesticulating wildly. "Am I the only one thinking desperate and darach shouldn't be in the same sentence?"
"Derek," Scott stated in that earnest tone that made Cora want to punch him in the face… again. "Innocent people are dying. We need to find this and stop it."
"I can't solve every supernatural issue that comes through Beacon Hills."
"We need to prioritize," Holly stated.
Cora watched Holly continue to study Derek as if she were trying to read his body language before splitting her attention between Scott and Stiles.
Derek scoffed, "Until Deucalion is dealt with, he is my priority."
Stiles sighed dramatically. Isaac and Boyd exchanged a look before Boyd's eyes drifted to her. He looked worried. Of course it could be argued that Boyd always looked worried but something about the way he looked at her was different. When he cast his gaze to Derek's back and back to her eyes she understood the expression. She also understood she needed to be as worried as Boyd. Her brother was gearing up to do something stupid and martyr like that would likely result in his death. Only next time it might be more permanent.
"Don't you care that innocent people are dying?"
Cora rolled her eyes at Scott's statement. "Innocent people die every day. We're werewolves, not superheros. It's not our job to save humanity from itself."
"A darach isn't exactly humanity attacking humanity," Stiles pointed out.
"My pack comes first."
That Derek spoke in a steady even tone that unnerved Cora, and from the looks of it, everyone else in the room more than if he shouted and lost his temper. The calm before the storm. He turned and didn't so much as glare at the others but stare them down. Cora felt it, the weight and the power behind his stare. An Alpha stare. From the reaction of the others, everyone in the room felt it. Even the non-werewolves had the good sense to look away in a subtle declaration of submission. Every one but Scott.
Scott alone held Derek's gaze the longest. He even shifted his weight as if he were going to square off with him. She felt everyone in the room tense and hold their breath. And just as surely felt everyone in the room sigh relief when Scott backed down and turned his focus to Stiles. Satisfied with the outcome, Derek took the spiral stairs to the open upstairs loft.
All eyes watched the Alpha ascend the stairs until he disappeared from sight. Cora shifted her attention to Scott. Once upon a time she might have agreed with him. Once upon a time when she read comic books and dreamed of growing up to save people like Wonder Woman. But things changed and she had to grow up. She wondered how much it would take before Scott realized he couldn't save the world
Everyone sat there in their own private thoughts. It was Holly that spoke first.
"He's right," she stated.
"You agree with him?" Scott looked dumbfounded and for some reason slightly betrayed.
"The imminent danger for Derek right now it Deucalion. And you're the one that came in here saying Kali is basically head hunting."
"But more people are going to die."
"I know that. We all know that. Derek knows it too, but he can't focus on random people he doesn't know. He knows Cora, and Isaac, and Boyd, and Peter. And until Deucalion and his merry band of psychos are dealt with it's not if they'll die, it's when will they die. That's where his head's at."
Scott shook his head still frowning.
"So where's supposed to do nothing?" Stiles questioned. "And continue to let a darach run amuck in Beacon Hills. That sounds like a whole lot of sitting around on the sideline."
"Look, just speaking as an outsider, you three," Holly gestured to Cora, Boyd and Isaac, "Need to back your Alpha, which may mean kicking him in the balls when he tries that pushing you away crap again."
Cora smirked at that. She was remembering more and more why she liked Holly when she was a little girl.
"Scott, you're a werewolf, which means your attention is best served focusing on the Alpha pack as well and leave the darach to me and Stiles."
"Me and Stiles?" Stiles repeated. "As in you and me going up against a mystical being that likes to sacrifice people via overkill?"
Holly smirked. "They're not mystical. They're just people that have learned to harness the energy of nature."
"That sounds so much better," Stiles replied in his typical biting sarcastic tone.
"Would you prefer the Alphas with their claws and teeth and pain of rending flesh?" Cora gave him a pointed look.
"To being turned into a mouse? Maybe."
"Druids can't turn you into a mouse, Stiles," Holly stated slightly amused. "Not unless they're really old and have made a deal with some dark ancient god."
Cora grinned at that and glanced in Boyd's direction. Holly could have been joking, she could have been serious, but the look on Stiles' face made it worth either option.
Holly stood and slipped Derek's fleece jacket on over her tank top.
"Those are just suggestions, or course."
She watched as Holly disappear up the same steps Derek took. She didn't need Holly to remind her where and what her focus needed to be, all she had to do was look at Boyd. Remember the three months in the vault. Remember the night Kali killed Erica.
Erica had to know what the end results would be when she charged Kali. She had to know there would be no way she would beat an Alpha. She had to know there would be only one outcome.
Suicide by Alpha.
Cora shifted her gaze momentarily to Scott and felt the urge to punch rising. She didn't like Scott and she damn sure didn't trust him. Why should she when Derek's alternate plan to attack Deucalion hinged on Scott sneaking around and setting up secret meetings? To make matters worse he dragged Isaac into the meeting as well. If Derek hadn't been there, Scott and Isaac would be dead or in the equivalent of another vault in another secret location.
Standing, Cora grabbed her jacket. "I'm going to get something to eat."
She knew without looking over her shoulder, Boyd was behind her.
Everyone thought Scott was the second coming.
If he got her brother killed, she'd pull his heart out herself.
Derek's fingers curled around the roof top's ledge as his gaze spread over the city lights of Beacon Hills. Sometimes, when he stood on the roof and looked over the city he felt like he stared into a fish tank. That the lights belonged to various bioluminescent creatures, not vehicles. Normally the ebb and flow helped calm him.
Not tonight.
Tonight even after staring at the traffic patterns for a good fifteen minutes his muscles remained coiled and bunched.
"You think wearing my jacket will keep me from being mad at you?" Derek raised his voice enough for Holly to hear it when she opened the door and stepped onto the roof.
"No, but I think it'll keep me warm."
Without turning to face her, he listened to Holly's approach. Felt the softness of her body mold against his back. The heat from her touch as she wrapped her arms around his chest. Derek desperately tried to cling to his anger even as he felt it slip through his fingers.
"You should have told me."
He tasted the hypocrisy of his words. Demanding that she tell him everything when he has told her absolutely nothing. He wondered if the bond had been responsible for her healing. Could it be possible for it to respond that way in humans when it didn't always provide that ability to bonded werewolves?
"You're the one who initiated radio silence, Derek. Only to resurface damn near dead. Only to die and comeback some time later. When exactly was I supposed to tell you?"
Derek turned and reached for Holly as soon as he felt the warmth of her body leave his back. He didn't let her get more than a step before he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close again. Her back now against his chest.
"I'm sorry," he murmured softly.
"For?"
"Shutting you out," he paused and buried his nose into her hair. "But I didn't do it to be cruel."
"I know."
"Is that why you agreed with what I said?"
Holly craned her neck so she could look into his eyes and so he could see the creases his words created between her eyebrows.
"I agreed because you're right. You're biggest threat right now is Deucalion and Kali. But Scott and Stiles are right too. The police aren't equipped to handle a darach."
"You think you are?"
He felt her shrug against his chest. "I think knowing the supernatural is real gives me an advantage."
"What if you get hurt?"
"It wouldn't be the first time."
"I don't mean emotionally."
"When I was released from the hospital I joined the Peace Corp. Our branch leader was a former Marine and when he learned our unit was being sent to Somali he trained us in some fighting skills."
Derek inhaled deeply and pulled the core of Holly's scents into his lung. Smelling her had a calming effect on him he never experienced before, even when they were kids. But calming wasn't the only effect she had on him. And the other could be much more dangerous, at least for her.
The longer she stayed with him, the longer they stayed together the more his scent would cover her body and vice versa until their scents would blend and create something different. Something joined. Something that would identify to any wolf with a nose they were together, mated… bonded.
Derek needed to pull away. There were things he needed to tell her. Thing he needed to confess. An accident he needed to explain. He should have been talking, not spreading his fingers across her stomach while his other hand caressed her throat and tipped her head back. His lips found hers already open and inviting. Her tongue flicked playfully against his as she slipped it inside his mouth.
She tried to turn but he grabbed onto her hips and locked her body against his. He needed to stop, repeating the command in his head but it wasn't the one leading his actions. He pushed his fingers past the barrier of her waistband until he touched liquid gold. The slightest trace of his thumb eliciting a moan from her lips.
"Derek wait," Holly panted. She wrapped her fingers around his wrist and withdrew his hand.
"They're gone."
"They're… how do you know that?"
"Their heartbeats."
Heartbeats.
The pause had been the break his brain needed to take control of his actions, and despite his arms' singular desire to remain locked around her body he released her. Looking at the back of her neck helped solidify his resolve. She hadn't just healed, she healed like a werewolf. No scar remained to mark the sight of Deucalion's claws. The punctures closed and left behind perfect, unblemished flesh.
"Do you trust me?"
"Yes."
He offered the barest of smiles and raised his hand. He held it out towards her, just as he had done the morning he found her in the school's basement. A silent invitation. She didn't hesitate as long as she had then, though she alternated her gaze between the hand and his eyes several times before she fitted her palm into his.
He didn't want to believe Peter was right, but he couldn't ignore the signs.
She trusted him now. But would she continue to trust him if she learned what he suspected from someone else? Would it matter that he wanted to understand it better himself before he told her? Or would his lie by omission be too much to see around?
Dealing with the kanima and Scott taught Derek just how valuable and fragile trust could be. And once broken, how it could take so very long to heal. His lack of trust in Scott bit him hard in the ass and the wound still hadn't healed. He knew Scott wanted to trust him, but he was equally aware he still didn't. Not completely. If he did, Scott would have told him about the meeting with Deucalion.
He couldn't let the same thing happen with Holly. He couldn't let her lack of trust turn into lack of confiding in him. He couldn't have the words do you trust me come out of his mouth and have anything other than yes come out of hers.