Thank you all so much for the support and comments, they really mean the world to me. It is so good to see new reviewers and it is great to see the old friends still showing their support. This chapter is sort of a change of pace, and honestly it totally got away from me so far as tone and length. It started as more or less filler to get Sophia back but it became a study in the relationships and Chris Argent. He just really wanted to talk a lot! BTW in my world, Chris actually thinks the word 'touching' in italics because it is said through gritted teeth even in his mind, Haha! I actually split this in half because there are several more relationships to touch on but, at nearly 6000 words already, I figured it was time to stop and edit. Okay, I hope you all enjoy, and please, please review!
Chapter 55
Deciding that speed was more important than stealth, Derek split the group into cars—Isaac, Stiles and Erica in the Camaro, Lydia, Scott, Allison and himself in an SUV and Laura and Boyd with his girls in another. Boyd and Laura were taking the girls to a safe location until they had Sophia back and Nathan was dead, then they would deal with the next step. The rest of them were taking the quickest, most direct route to Beacon Hills.
Derek had no idea what returning to Beacon Hills was going to mean for him or his family and he certainly didn't know what having his children back in Beacon Hills was going to mean for anyone either. All he knew was that it was going to lead to big changes and he had never been good with change; the mere thought of returning to the place where he had lost so much left a sick pit in his stomach. Sighing as he closed the back door to his sister's SUV after putting his sleeping daughters in the back, he pressed his forehead against the glass for a moment, getting one last look at his girls and hating himself for being relieved that they were safe. "Stop it your getting forehead prints all over my glass," Laura snarked, playfully punching his arm. Scoffing he looked to his sister, grateful for her attempt to lighten the mood. Giving her brother a soft smile she pulls him into a hug and whispers, "You focus on the fight ahead and on keeping everyone alive, I will take care of your kids."
Squeezing her hand he kissed her forehead before nodding to Boyd and climbing into his own car. Looking in the rearview he watch as Scott stoically tried to calm Allison—who was a quivering sobbing mess—down. Looking to his right he saw his wife, now nearly catatonic, staring blankly out of the passenger window. Cranking the SUV, he signaled Stiles and Laura to move out, they had a long night ahead of them yet.
The ride back to Beacon Hills was going to take about five hours, but he already knew that they were going to be some of the longest of his life. Driving into the darkness, the normally rambunctious pack was silent. That silence weighing on them like a shroud as they all mourned the threat to Scott and Allison's family—to all of their family—in the absence of little Sophia. Over the past year and a half they had all come to love each, but more than that, they were intrinsically linked to one another in a way that transcended blood and time. They all felt that if any of them was lost, then none of them could survive.
Looking to his right again worry crept even further into his bones as he saw the continued blank look on Lydia's face which was swollen and starting to bruise from her fight with the Alpha. She was never this still, even in her sleep she moved. He knew the events of tonight were weighing heavy on her mind and he worried about the long term impact it would have. He had murdered his uncle last year in an attempt to protect everyone else and, if he were honest, in an attempt to protect the Hale legacy—to claim what was his—but he knew the pain and guilt that the act had carried for him. Tonight Lydia had killed an Alpha to protect the pack, but Derek didn't know how that was going to settle with her. She was tough and determined, but she wasn't a killer, not in the way that Allison was or even Stiles had proven himself to be. He was worried that this would change her and he was worried about what the stress was doing to their baby. Sighing again, Derek reached over and took her hand, after moment she responded by squeezing it gently, letting him know that she was in there somewhere. Offering her a soft smile he focused back on the road, speeding and hoping against hope that there were no overeager cops out here tonight.
To say that Chris Argent was surprised when he picked up his phone at nearly midnight on the full moon to hear Derek Hale on the other end would be an understatement. When Derek asked for help, Chris nearly laughed thinking that it had to be a dream, however when Derek told him that the Alpha pack had kidnapped his granddaughter and was heading to Beacon Hills, well that changed his perspective of the situation. While Chris was still having a hard time processing the actions of his father in regards to the Hale pack and his little sister, he was trying to make his peace with the choices that Allison had made, including her choice to have a child with a werewolf. The father in him wanted to murder Scott McCall for touching his daughter (he could not bring himself to think the word sex in the same discussion as his little girl), the hunter in him wanted to kill Scott McCall for being a werewolf who dared touch his daughter.
However he knew that Scott had never broken the code (although Chris did try to justify 'touching his daughter' as a violation for a while) and more than that he knew how much his daughter loved the boy and how much that boy loved his daughter. And that was the rub because no matter how much he hated Scott for knocking up his seventeen year old daughter and for taking her away from him, he knew that Scott genuinely loved Allison and that he would kill or die to make sure she was safe and happy. So in the end, Chris was going to have to learn to accept Allison's choices because the only alternative was to lose her completely and that was truly the worst fate that Chris could think of. And it could be worse—at least she wasn't being touched by Derek Hale.
Now, standing in the woods surrounding the shell of the Hale house—a home that was destroyed by his sister—waiting for the remaining Alpha pack to show up with his granddaughter Chris was left only with his thoughts. His granddaughter, the thought brought a smile to his face as he ran his fingers over the picture of Allison and the newborn that Melissa had given him when she stopped by to tell him that his daughter had given birth. Sophia, they had called her Sophia the thought brought a gentle smile to the hunter's face. The picture was a candid shot of Allison holding Sophia just after her birth. Allison was sweaty and obviously exhausted but she was absolutely glowing. It was as if her skin was lit from the inside as she smiled down at her daughter- his daughter's daughter—that was an idea he really having a really hard time processing.
The sound of gravel crunching under tires brought Chris out of his revelry; the Alpha pack had arrived and his focus was completely on executing this mission—get Allison's child to safety and kill as many wolves as possible and honestly, he could use the fight. After Derek's call, Chris had mobilized all of the local hunters and given them the rundown on the plan. He had the house surrounded and he had agents inside the house as well as a visual and sound surveillance system. The hunters had occupied it long enough that the scent shouldn't set off the wolves to soon and once they were inside and he had visual confirmation that his granddaughter was alive and out of the line of fire, he would give the command to move in. The orders were shoot to kill and his task was to retrieve the baby. As two vans pulled into the space that once was the Hale front year, Chris felt the adrenaline surge through him like the crackle of electricity.
A tall wolf, eyes glowing red, exited the front van first, a squalling bundle in his arms. Looking around he scented the air and Chris held his breath in hopes that the scent cover technology they were using combined with the natural smells of the woods would be enough to leave the wolves blind to the hunters. Watching the lead wolf—that must be Nathan Hale—he thought, signal behind him and several other follow him out of both of the vans the pack quickly mounted the broken stairs. Once they were all inside, Chris could hear the lead wolf giving orders through the bugs they had planted in the house months ago so that he would know if the Hale pack returned after Allison disappeared.
"Spread out and find it, it could be anywhere in this ruble," he shouted over the screams of the baby—of Sophia, his granddaughter, Sophia was crying, Sophia was scared.
His thoughts were interrupted when Nathan put the infant down on a burned couch, "Jesus, does that brat ever shut up!" He growled, moving away from her to join the search. It was then that Chris gave the signal to move in, "Remember," he whispered through the coms, "kill on sight."
They had stopped for gas and so everyone could use the restroom and grabs a cup of coffee. Lydia had pulled herself together enough to persuade Allison, who had become eerily silent, to go with her to the bathroom. Once the dirty white door shut behind them, Allison locked eyes with Lydia and broke down once more. Guiding her friend to the sink, Lydia coaxed her sit on the old radiator beside the sink while Lydia used the paper towels and a few wipes she had in her purse to clean the blood spatter off of the brunettes face and arms. As she gently wiped her down, Allison looked up at her with big, sad eyes, "God, you probably think I am the worst mother ever."
"What?" Lydia looked honestly confused, the most emotion she had show the whole ride, "Allison why would I ever think that. You fought like hell tonight for your little girl, just like you have from the moment you found out she was inside of you. Every choice, every sacrifice, every fight has been for her; to keep her safe. My God Allison, you went toe to toe with three Alphas by yourself tonight in order to protect her,"
"Yeah, but I didn't, I didn't protect her Lydia. That fucking psycho still has my baby and I don't even know if she is alive," Allison's voice broke, "And you know what I keep thinking?"
Lydia shook her head, knowing that Allison just needed to get this out, "I just keep thinking that she is hungry." She raised her hand to wipe a tear, smearing more blood on her face and hand, "My boobs are leaking and they hurt so bad, and I just keep thinking that they hurt because Sophia was supposed to eat over two hours ago and she is somewhere, hungry and scared and she just don't know why I won't come and feed her. " Allison's words are lost to a sob at that point and Lydia just pulls her into a hug, knowing that she has no words to fix this hurt.
"Allison, your little girl knows you love her and as soon as we get her back, you are going to show her how much you love her okay," Allison nods, trying to pull herself together. Lydia finishes cleaning her up quickly and they rejoin the caravan by the gas pumps. Giving her brother a solemn hug, she climbs back into the SUV, looking at Derek she says, "This son of a bitch dies before we leave Beacon Hills."
Taking her hand, Derek kisses her knuckles before nodding. As they all pull out of the gas station, the need to get to Beacon Hills is redoubled.
Making his way through the battle, Chris got off a couple of good shots, solid wounds but no kill shots on his way to the couch in the center of what once was the Hale living room. Giving a moments glance at the spot in front of the fireplace where his baby sister had bled to death with her throat ripped out, he moved on to the screaming, squirming bundle that Nathan has dropped there only moments before. Looking down he was pulled into the most amazing little face he had ever seen.
A shock of thick dark curls framed a face that he could on assume was normally olive as now it was a fiery red and damp from crying. Her eyes were screwed closed as she wailed and her little fist were punching the air in anger—telling him that she had her mother's temper. Sliding his free arm under her, he lifted her gently and turned to leave. It was too his great surprise that when he turned her found all of Alphas that were not dead, were now paralyzed as were a few of his men and the Kanima was standing in the middle of the carnage. Sinking back into the room a bit, Chris curled the baby further into his body and raised his right arm, still holding a .50 caliber handgun full of wolf's bane bullets and leveled it at the monster.
Amazingly the Kanima held his hands up and slowly shifted back into the teenage boy who had met as a friend of his daughter, "Dude, lower you weapon, we are on the same side," the now naked teen snarked as he moved forward to take the squalling infant. As Jackson reached for the baby, Chris took a step back instinctively not wanting to hand his granddaughter over to the monster that had just incapacitated three of his men and four Alpha werewolves. Sighing, Jackson looked Chris in the eye, "I know that you are not a trusting soul, I get it, but right now she is traumatized and starving and she doesn't know you, so just hand her to me and call Allison and let her know you have her, I am sure she is crazy with worry by now."
"You are a monster," Chris states, "You have killed,"
Jackson cut him off, "Yeah well your hands aren't exactly clean either now are they. I only ever killed under the control of someone else, which is a hell of a lot more than I can say for you or anyone in your family so get off your fucking high horse and hand me the baby before I have to take her."
"Like to see you try," Chris growled, handing the child to Jackson reluctantly. Shame and guilt roll over him as the baby snuggles against the boy as he tucks her against his chest and she actually calms down a little bit. Seeing the look on the other man's face, Jackson is uncharacteristically kind in adding, "she is scared and she knows me, that is why she calmed down, now please either call Allison or Derek or give me a phone and let me do it." Nodding, Chris moves a few steps away, never letting his eyes leave Jackson and Sophia, and dials Derek's number.
About an hour after the gas station and still 45 minutes outside of Beacon Hills, the tense silence in the car is broken by the sound of Derek's phone ringing. Everyone jumps for a second and then stares at the phone as if they all imagined the sound only to have it confirmed with a second ring, quickly hitting the green answer button Derek says, "Chris?"
"Yeah, um, I found her, she is safe. Your um, your lizard is here too,"
Quirking his eyebrow, Derek questions, "Jackson?"
"Yeah," Chris answers gruffly.
"Good, where are you, we are about 45 minute west of town."
"I am at the old Hale house- um, your old house—but don't come here, it is not secure and we need to move, I will text you an address that is on your route, you may beat us there. It is safe and we will meet you there."
"You want me to meet you at a hunter safe house?" The unease is clear in Derek's voice, but one look in the review at Scott and Allison's hopeful eyes and he knows that he is going to a damn hunter safe house.
"Your reptilian assassin is with me so we are just going to have to trust each other a little bit for the sake of my granddaughter." With that, Chris hangs up and marches out to his truck, knowing that Jackson is following as he climbs into the driver's seat and sends the text message before rummaging around behind the seat to find a pair of sweatpants to toss at the boy holding his granddaughter.
Derek quickly forwards the message to Stiles and speeds up to take the next left. Looking in the review, he knows that Scott heard the whole conversation but he relays the information anyway, "Your dad has Sophia, she is safe," Allison's gasp of relief followed by a sob are all it takes to break the tension, "We are meeting them at a safe house, Jackson is with them now."
"Oh thank God," Scott and Allison kind of melt into one another's arms, both in tears. The next twenty minutes are quick and soon both cars are pulling into the safe house and Derek has made a call to his sister and told her to keep the girls away for the night because while he and Chris Argent may be working together now, he is not sure about introducing Jade to her uncle just yet.
Pulling up to a two story house that was large, but did not stand out in the neighborhood that it was in, Derek shut off the car as everyone else jumped out. Listening closely he knew that Chris and Jackson were not there yet, but Allison had already found the spare key and opened the door by the time he rounded the car and took Lydia's hand. Stiles, Isaac and Erica made their way over to the Alpha as Scott and Alison let themselves in to the house.
"So, what is going on?" Stiles asks in his usual flippant manner, understanding that the terror was over by the way Scott and Allison were acting.
"Chris and the hunters cut Nathan off and got Sophia back, Jackson is with them. They should be here any minute and then we can find out more." Nodding, Stiles took Erica's hand and led her inside, Isaac trailing behind them, his body language showing that he would not relax until everyone was under one roof. Looking to Lydia Derek opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off, "We don't bring the girls here or mention them until we know Chris' intentions."
Smiling he kissed her, "My thoughts exactly." Gripping her hand he led her into the house where both Allison and Scott were pacing and biting their nails. Their nervousness was triggering all of Isaac's panic buttons so Lydia joined him on the couch, coaxing him down onto a cushion and eventually coaxing his head into her lap as she stroked his curls, calming him with the motion the same way she did when Jade had a nightmare. Stiles and Erica sat tensely on another couch, wound together in comfort and Derek did what he does best—broods in a corner. Each of the werewolves listened intently for a car to come down the road. At 5 in the morning there were none.
The sound of a vehicle in the driveway cause everyone in the room—human and werewolf alike—to hold their breath until the door opened followed by the sound of a whimpering infant. Scott and Allison both jumped at the sound, Allison beating the beta to Jackson who readily relinquished the baby to her mother.
"Oh God, hello Sophia, oh God, my sweet girl, thank God you are okay. Thank God," Allison sobbed snuggling the baby to her chest and stroking every inch of the child, checking for injuries. Scott's fingers followed hers, welcoming his daughter back, kissing her hair and trying not to scare her. Guiding Allison to the couch where Lydia met them with a diaper bag. Kissing her brother's head she squeezes Allison's shoulder in support before making her way over to Derek in the corner.
Stripping the baby, Allison checks over every inch of her while she changes her diaper. "I think she is okay," she looks at Scott, her eyes wide and incredulous.
"Happy to be back with her mom," Jackson pipes up in an unusually supportive voice.
"Yeah," Scott nods at the other beta and presses his forehead to Allison's over the baby, "Yeah, she is perfect." A whimper from between them brings their eyes down, chuckling he adds, "Perfect and hungry."
Unable to help the giggle that erupts from her, Allison nods as she unbuttons her shirt and lifts the baby to her chest.
"O-kay, so Chris," Derek looks away from the couple to Chris nodding him into the kitchen along with the rest of the pack so that Allison could feed her baby in private. Sophia is rooting around before her mother can even get her to her breast. Latching on, she ate ravenously, obviously hungry but also very happy to be back in her mother's arms.
As Sophia fed, Allison could not stop the silent tears from rolling down her face, leaning into Scott, she released a breath, "Scott, we could have lost her. My God I couldn't have survived if we had lost her."
"I know," he whispered brokenly, "I know. She is here and she is perfect and that is all that matters. We are together and I love you so much and I just," He sighs, his emotions overwhelming his voice, "I love you and I love her and we are all safe."
Leaning back, Allison feels herself begins to relax as Sophia continues to eat, Scott running his fingers over the baby's dark hard, "Scott I honestly thought that you would hate me because I couldn't protect her from Nathan." She looks up at him through her lashes, dark eyes full of trepidation.
Chuckling he takes her face in his free hand and kisses her passionately, pulling back, she admits, "I thought you would hate me because I wasn't there to protect her."
She chuckles with him, looking down at their daughter, who was now dosing off, "Well I guess we have learned that as long as we are together all is good and to be grateful for every moment we have with her."
"Yeah," he nods, "And that Nathan is going to die." Scott said, coldness creeping into his voice. She locks eyes with him and nods before kissing him again.
Meanwhile, Chris led the others into the kitchen, opening the fridge he offers Derek a beer, grabbing one for himself after the Alpha reluctantly nodded. Observing the structure they fall into, Derek sitting at one end of the table, Stiles taking the place to his right after the pretty blonde girl kisses him before heading to the bedrooms that Chris had pointed out. The tall skinny boy, Isaac, had hastily followed her, but not before hugging Lydia, sniffing her hair before leaving. When he and Jackson had first arrived, he thought that perhaps Isaac and Lydia were an item—the Beta had been laying in her lap, one ear pressed to her obviously pregnant belly while she stroked his hair, but as she took a seat not in a chair but on Derek Hale's lap, well he was a bit confused. Resting her head on Derek's shoulder as Derek's hand came to rest unconsciously on her belly, Chris could only assume that Derek was the baby's father.
The scene triggered a memory of the confrontation that his father had with Derek several months ago and his father's assumption that Derek had claimed Lydia. Honestly Chris remembered very little about the confrontation his father was having with the Alpha, he had been too focused on processing the information about his baby sister and how his father's machinations had ruined her and then on his own daughter and the fact that she was so afraid of him that she ran away from him and his lifestyle. Looking around at this group of children and then looking through the door to his daughter curled together with Scott McCall feeding her own child, he could only shake his head—maybe he had gotten all of it wrong. Taking a long swig of his beer he was reminded of his earlier thought as he looked again at Lydia sitting there, curled into the Alpha—at least Derek Hale wasn't touch his daughter, but he sure as hell had touching someone else's daughter.
Both nursing their beers, Derek and Chris discussed the events of this very long night. "So how many where with Nathan when they entered the house?" Derek asked, all business despite the fact that he was sitting at Chris Argent's table, Lydia sitting on his knee, Stiles to his right, Jackson to the left while Erica and Isaac showered.
"6, a total of 7 including him," Chris answered.
Nodding Derek looked to Stiles, "Okay, we know that Allison dropped two and Lydia," he looked to his wife, who dropped her eyes to the ground, "Took out one more, how many can you confirm?" He asked Stiles who had been unusually quiet.
"Three more," Stiles answered while playing with the edge of the placemats.
"Okay, so that is six on our end before we left the compound," Derek totaled, "We only knew of twelve, so chances are his numbers are severely down.
Chris looked at these children in front of him and scoffed, sitting back in his chair, he took a long drink of the beer and repressed the urge to sigh, leaning forward he joined the conversation needing a distraction from the overwhelming emotion in the living room and the memories that Alison's tears were bringing back. "My daughter took out two Alphas tonight?"
"Yeah, she did." Stiles answered.
"By herself?" Chris asked, not sure if he should be proud or horrified.
Nodding Stiles explained, "Nathan knew that she was an Argent and he wanted to kill her but he was too chicken shit to do it on his own so he brought two henchmen with him. Allison dropped both of them before they could get her. Got in a knife wound on Nathan too before he grabbed her daughter as a human shield." The bitterness creeping into Stiles voice was evident.
"Wow," Chris sat back, "I don't know rather to be proud of her for her efficiency or livid that she was put in that situation," Chris' eyes settled on Derek who met him with his own cold stare.
"Why don't you go with happy that she is alive," Stiles snapped, startling everyone just a bit with his harsh tone. This was definitely not the same kid that Chris had met a few times who acted as Scott's goofy side kicked; in fact none of them seemed the same. They all carried a weariness in their eyes now that no one their age should. Anger swelled in Chris that they had been through so much, but he had no where to place the blame.
"Okay," Lydia spoke up, her voice tired as she ran her hand down Derek's neck, "I think that we all could use a shower and some sleep. Erica and Isaac are probably done by now and I for one am ready for both so, let's reconvene a little later in the morning." Taking his wife's lead, Derek nodded and he and Stiles both stood, Jackson excusing himself to the room he had been assigned to share with Isaac.
After grabbing their bags from the cars and making their way to their rooms everyone was wiped out. Derek made his way to his room, hearing Lydia in the bathroom but no shower running, he listened closely, after a moment he heard Lydia's sobs. Opening the door he sees her on the floor beside the tub, her shirt in one hand, the other griping the tub. Lowering himself to his knees, he lifts her chin, "Baby, what's wrong?"
Looking up, her greens eyes fill with water and she uses her hand on the tub to stand, her belly now in Derek's face so that he can see the dried blood still covering her skin. Dropping his head, he presses a kiss to her tight flesh, "How are you doing with all of this Lydia?"
Looking at him, her lip quivers a moment before the tears start to pour. "Derek I killed someone. I know logically that I killed someone who was going to rape and kill me and my son before he probably found the girls and killed them too," her breathing hitched as she continued, "I know all of that but I just can't get over the fact that, I killed him. He was alive and then he wasn't and it is my fault and that is never going to change. Derek he was an Alpha and he has a pack, maybe he had a family and what if there are children out there who want their Daddy to come home and he isn't," her sobs continued as he pulled her to his chest. Once she finally calmed down a little he pulled back.
"Lydia, I don't know what to say to make you feel better because all of that could be true, but you need to remember that he made a decision to join Nathan and to attack the council compound and to attack you. Lydia you are a pregnant teenager and he went after you because he thought that you were an easy target. He would have killed you, and from the sound of it, he would have made your last moments hell before he did. I hate that you had to do what you did because of the pain that it is causing you now, but I don't regret that the fight ended the way that it did because I can't worry about his family. He made his decisions and they lead him there and so you had to make the decision that you had to in order to protect your family. Our little boy is alive because of you, I am alive because of you, because baby, if you would have died tonight, I would have died right along with and were would that have left our girls or our pack?"
Kissing her head as he stood he stripped his clothes off as well as striping the rest of her's off and started the shower. Leading her in, he washed her hair and body gently, scrubbing the blood and the guilt of the night away, repressing a growl each time he spotted a new bruise on her pale skin. She had a large contusion that looked painful on her back, just to the right of her spine and well as a menagerie of smaller purple splotches to match the one on her face. Running his hands over her belly again he rejoiced when he felt the baby shift—relieved that he was okay.
Quickly washing and rinsing himself, Derek turned the shower off and wrapped both of them in a clean towel. Leading her to their room, Derek guides her to the bed and then grabs one of his t-shirt and a pair of sweats. Throwing the pants on, he walks over to the bed and dresses Lydia in his t-shirt, which even at six months pregnant is too big for her. As he begins to dry her hair, Lydia grabs his wrist, "Thank you," she kisses him.
Laying back, Lydia snuggles down under the covers. Returning the towels to the bathroom and turning out the lights, Derek stops by the window, watching as the dawn starts to break before crawling into bed with his wife. Wrapping his arms around her, he breaths in her scent, allowing it relax him enough to fall asleep in the hunter's home. As sleep claims him, he is grateful to whatever deities exists that his family is whole again after the last twelve hours.
