Chapter Twenty-Two: Just Another Monday
Author's Note: This story is complete and I will be trying to upload all the remaining chapters in the next couple days/weeks, it is complete on AO3 under the same Author's Name and Series Name. Check it out. Love ya bunches!
When Stiles got the call about Isaac and his now deceased dad and learned that the Kanima was Jackson despite some of the evidence to the contrary, he sent Erica home with the promise that they would get in touch with her as soon as they got Derek through the Peter situation and apparently get Isaac in the know about werewolves and the pack, hunters and everything other in Beacon Hills.
She shrugged and told him not to be to long since she never knew when the next seizure would strike and then she would be hospitalized which was unavoidable and an animal attack in the hospital was pretty much going to be impossible to achieve. Stiles nodded and sent her off with a hug. Allison and Lydia went home since it was getting late and they all had to go to school the next day and Stiles thought it was strange that this shit kept happening on school nights which was less than convenient. Allison gripped Stiles's hand, "Call me as soon as you know how Derek is doing with all this."
"And Scott?" Stiles asked, curious about what she would say.
"I hope he comes out of the paralysis with a little less stupid in his head," she responded and Lydia snickered as they both headed out the door. Boyd stood next to him, a hand on Stiles's shoulder.
"We should go see him," Stiles whispered thinking about the face Derek made and the moment his knees hit the carpet when he heard about Peter and now he'd ended up turning someone to save them. Stiles knew all about Paige, he knew what that would be like for Derek to accept. "This has been a stupidly long and hard day and he shouldn't be alone."
Boyd nodded and Stiles went to grab his shoes and his jacket, while Boyd slipped Echo into her work vest and Stiles motioned Echo to jump into the cab while Boyd got in on the passenger side. When she was settled in the back, Stiles got into the driver's seat and started the jeep. The drive to the hospital was made in silence, Stiles didn't even turn on the radio since he felt the need to think and not be distracted by whatever the radio deemed for listeners this time of evening.
They arrived and parked next to his dad's cruiser in the lot and walked inside, once again listening to the comfort click-clack of Echo's claws, the squeak of his shoes and the steady heavy pressure of Boyd's heavy hiking boots. Stiles thought absently that he needed to cut Echo's toenails soon, they were probably getting too long. Her old trainer had given him a set of clippers, so it would be something Echo recognized but due to her training and calm demeanor Stiles didn't think it was going to be a big deal. He'd done a lot of research about those kinds of things when his dad and Dr. Marcus started talking about him getting a therapy dog.
"Stiles?" his dad called out and Stiles walked towards him, letting the Sheriff hug him for a minute.
"What's going on here?"
The sheriff pulled him away from the waiting room where a couple of other people were waiting, "Derek ended up following the Kanima which we told you on the phone. Scott is healing quickly from the Kanima venom and Isaac is doing well. Derek is with him. Melissa and I are working to get Isaac placed with her and Scott since Isaac doesn't have anyone else and he's going to need some help before the full moon."
Stiles looked around, "And Peter?"
"Here in the morgue."
"Has Derek gone to see him?" Stiles asked.
His dad shook his head, "There is no need for him to identify the body. We all know its him and after the day he's had today, Derek doesn't need to add that to the end of it."
Stiles nodded, "I need to see him."
His dad gripped his shoulder gently before he led Stiles down the hall and into one of the rooms where Derek was sitting next to Isaac on the bed. Isaac was sleeping, his chest wrapped tightly and his skin an ashen grey. Stiles walked over and pressed a hand to Derek's shoulder who jumped a little. Stiles wondered how tired Derek really was if he didn't know Stiles was coming into the room.
"Stiles, you should be getting ready for school tomorrow, despite the hell that has happened today, we have to keep our normal routines."
Stiles leaned down and wrapped an arm around Derek's shoulder and gave him a quick squeeze. "I needed to make sure you weren't alone."
"It's Jackson," Derek whispered, sounding broken.
Stiles nodded into Derek's neck and squeezed him a little more, "None of us could have known. I was sure we saw it that night and Jackson was with you."
"It can't be Jackson, not really. I mean, he's a werewolf. We've seen him turn into a werewolf. How could he be both? The histories we found said that the Kanima wouldn't be a werewolf until the issues that made them feel so lost was rectified."
Stiles moved to sit in a vacant chair letting his hand run down Derek's arm and squeezed his hand, "Well I'm sure it has something to do with his parents, because they died and he doesn't feel really a part of because of that. This is why he'd had such a hard time shifting. Look at tonight, he ran when he was struggling; maybe the struggle is between the wolf who wants a pack and the Master who demands death and servitude from the Kanima. Maybe its because in the past the Kanima never had an alpha who cared. We just don't know enough about it, until this happened and Alpha Ito sent you the information it was just a myth much like werewolves."
Derek nodded but didn't look up from his hands. Stiles looked down and noticed the little flecks of blood still clinging to the alpha's nail beds. Stiles reached out again and took Derek's hand, squeezing a little to share some much-needed comfort.
"We have to find him, stop him from hurting anyone else," Derek said.
"We will."
"We have to tell him, he doesn't even know he's doing it."
"I know," Stiles whispered then he looked over his shoulder at Isaac, "It looks like we are going to have a busy couple of weeks."
Derek nodded and looked back at Isaac in the bed, "I turned him without consent. I promised myself that would never happen."
Stiles frowned, "You're not like your Uncle and this isn't like Paige. He was dying, Scott asked you to do it. This is Scott's new bud and though I kinda want to push him into the pool for making Scott leaving our bromance so easy, I won't. Even though I hate him and his stupid scarf fetish and ugh."
Derek smirked a little then frowned, "You know that he was getting beat up… by his dad?"
Stiles faltered his stomach clenching in shame for what he said, "Oh, no, I didn't know that. What the hell! Just punch me or something, dude seriously!"
Isaac moaned and they both fell silent and watched as he twitched and moved on the bed but didn't wake. Stiles sighed and turned back to Derek just as someone knocked on the door and they both turned to see Scott standing just outside the door waiting for an invitation.
"Scott! We were just talking about how Derek totally saved your new bestie and how I kind of hate him for being your new best friend."
Scott nodded and tapped his ear, a quick and silent reminder that Scott could hear more than Stiles could due to the werewolf thing. "Derek, I just wanted to say thank you, I know you didn't want to do what you did out there. I haven't given you a single reason in the past couple of months to do me any favors but you did and yeah—thank you."
Derek nodded and turned back to Isaac. "I can't promise to protect any of them," he whispered. "This might all be for nothing, so don't thank me yet."
"What do you mean?" Scott asked and for once he didn't seem like he was about to hiss or spit at the born werewolf.
"If you were at all involved with the Pack, you would know already Scott but there are more hunters in town, and they are clearly here to declare war on us and its not going to matter whether you are in the Hale Pack or not," Stiles snapped then took a deep breath, noticing the judgmental brow on Derek to which he rolled his eyes. This day sucked for more than just Derek, it hadn't been more than a couple hours since Scott told Stiles that they weren't friends—again. "And now we are going to have to deal with the Kanima and whoever is controlling him and Derek just lost his last living family member."
Scott frowned, "What? Peter?"
"He died in Eichen House today, I don't even know yet what happened to him. It's possible that the hunters somehow killed him despite where he was being held."
"God man," Scott whispered and much to Stiles's surprise his used-to-be best friend sounded genuinely sad for Derek, "I didn't know any of that. I'm so sorry for your loss."
"Not going to turn me in for his death now, are you?" Derek asked with a snort. Stiles startled and looked at his Alpha then back at Scott who was looking down shamefaced, or at least Stiles assumed that's what he was doing, sometimes Stiles wished he had the senses of a werewolf even if he didn't actually want to be one.
Scott was about to speak when Isaac coughed and jerked awake on the bed behind them. Derek moved closer to the bed, pressing a hand against the teen's neck as Stiles moved out of his way and Scott moved over to the other side of the bed.
"Wha h'pp'n?" he mumbled.
"Well, you were attacked by a creature and you are about to get a quick run through of the supernatural things in this town and how you are still alive," Stiles said and Derek kicked his shin lightly and he winced. "Sorry."
"You're werewolves," Isaac muttered with a move that might have been a shrug if he wasn't healing from a chest injury. Derek glared at Scott just barely stopping the growl that was building in his throat.
"I didn't say anything," Scott hissed back, immediately upset with the wordless accusation.
"I grew up in Beacon Hills, I'm not stupid and I have been watching Scott on the field for weeks, even months. I can Google just as easily as Stilinski and I didn't talk about it in the hallways like they did more than once. I listen to people, it's what I do."
Stiles rolled his eyes, somehow not at all surprised that Scott wouldn't be able to keep a lid on his wolfy abilities when he was on the field. Though he couldn't deny the 'talking in hallways' accusation, Scott and Stiles did that more than once in the beginning and Isaac is under the radar enough that he could have easily overheard them at some point, he can honestly say he didn't really notice Isaac's existence until he befriended Scott. Stiles hadn't been to a lacrosse practice in weeks so he didn't know the exstent of what supernatural abilities he might have been showing off to everyone else.
"Plus, I saw Scott's eyes flash and I'm pretty sure I saw claws the first time he realized that I was being hurt by my dad which is sweet but a bit stupid. I think someone told him about the bruises. Scott did the best he could to shield me but my dad was just getting worse and Scott didn't have time to always be watching out for me. This was always going to end in death, either his or mine. Or both." He paused for a moment and started coughing a little, "Did you turn me? I read about that."
Derek nodded and Stiles watched as the black veins seeped up his arms again. "You were dying and I'd already failed your dad, Scott asked me to but I'm sorry that you weren't given the right to say yes or no. To know all the details about this world. You are going to need the low down on pack and werewolves, no matter what you've read."
Stiles snorted, "Yeah there is a ton of bad information out there about wolves. Don't ask about knots or things like that?"
Derek thunked Stiles's shoulder and he whined at the nudge, "Not to mention the hunters," the alpha continued while Derek continued to pull pain out of Isaac who was starting to look more and more lucid. That was a pretty powerful ability werewolves had, even if it didn't heal anything.
Isaac huffed a laugh, "I don't care about hunters or whatever else you are going to tell me, as long as I don't have to be alone. And I don't have to go back in the freezer."
"Freezer?" Stiles and Derek asked in unison.
Scott leaned over and touched Isaac's arm ignoring their question, "My mom and I are trying to get you placed with us. The rest of it, we'll have to see."
Stiles looked at Scott, "What do you mean, 'we'll have to see'? Scott don't start this again, we were having such a good time. Isaac, Derek is your alpha and he can help you, he's in the best position to help you, he's been teaching three other betas to control their shift and work together as a pack. Not to mention we need you as much as you need an alpha no matter what kind of stories Scott will tell you about being omega."
"We'll talk about it later," Scott snarled and Stiles looked at Derek, trying to take a cue from his alpha. Derek was staring at Isaac then looking over at Scott all with a blank stare, Stiles thought maybe this never ending day was getting to Derek more than he'd let on.
"Isaac, you are going to be out of here soon and then we are going to have to start training so you don't struggle on the full moon. Do you understand?"
Isaac nodded and closed his eyes. Scott huffed before he flopped into a nearby chair. Derek shifted and looked over at the door before any of them knew someone was there, even Scott.
"Derek, ummmm," Stiles's dad said from the door. "I need to see you for a moment."
Derek nodded and touched Stiles's shoulder on his way to the door. Stiles turned to Scott and raised a brow at his friend, "Why do you have to be like this Scottie?"
Scott looked at him, "I'm not going to let him take my other friend too, he's already gotten to you and Allison and everyone else. Isaac is my friend; he's been there for me when you weren't. I appreciate what he did for Isaac and because I asked him but that doesn't erase everything that's happened since I was turned."
Stiles snapped, pitching his voice low enough that it wouldn't bother Isaac, "I'm your friend Scott, goddammit! Your best motherfucking friend! I have been telling you for weeks now that I'm your friend and I have never stopped being your friend. I just didn't want to leave Derek in the dust. I didn't want to turn my back on either one of you but you made that choice for me!"
"WHAT!?" Derek shouted, interrupting anything else Stiles or Scott was going to say and Stiles jerked up out of the chair rushing to the door in time to see Derek run off down the hall of the hospital.
Stiles frowned, "Dad? What's going on?" he demanded as he walked quickly to his father, reaching out to grip his father's wrist gently. His dad pressed a hand to Stiles's knuckles before he pulled them both away from the open door where Scott was standing and watching them in blatant curiosity.
He pulled Stiles into a tight hug and whispered close to his ear low enough to keep the others from hearing, "Melissa was down in the morgue, making notes in Peter's file and she saw him move. I asked Derek if there was a chance of a werewolf healing from the injuries he got and there may be a chance. He's healing slowly enough that we will hopefully have enough time to figure something out. Peter coming back from the dead is going to be a little inconvenient for all of us."
"Why?" Stiles asked into the side of his dad's neck, gripping the back of the jacket he was wearing reflexively.
"Because Derek's right, with everything that's going on, you need someone who's been a werewolf for more than a minute. And if Peter's alive, then it means that Derek's not the only Hale still living."
Stiles pulled away, "What about what he did? The murders and… and me?"
"We'll have to keep an eye on him, he's not going to be a free citizen and definitely not going to be anywhere near you without me standing by with wolfsbane bullets. Before we worry about all that we need to figure out if he's actually alive or if it was some weird reflex. I figured with a werewolf, we should at least consider the possibility that he wasn't as dead as he appeared."
Stiles nodded and he turned to looked down the hall where Derek disappeared and started to follow when he dad stopped him, "No kiddo, I don't think so. You are going to go home and take Boyd with you. You both have school tomorrow; Melissa is sending Scott home too. I am not going to let you get behind in your classes."
Stiles groaned, "Daaaaadd!"
"No, go home." Then before he could do or say anything else, Boyd was there steering him towards the doors with Echo trotting along next to them. Boyd coaxed/shoved gently until Stiles was behind the wheel and Echo was in the backseat again. The beta climbed into the passenger seat and they headed back to the house in stony silence.
"This is stupid, we have to find Jackson. I need to know about Peter and Isaac and we have to make a choice about Erica especially now that Isaac's been turned not to mention that Scott is still being a tool and what the hell are we doing? Going to school tomorrow like some normal teenagers?"
Boyd turned and gave him a look that was so like Derek's eyebrow of judgement look that Stiles gave him a double take before the beta spoke, "I came here to be kind of normal and you are normal. Allison and Lydia are going to be in school, who knows about the others but is it a good idea to paint a target on our backs with abnormal behavior when we know that new hunters just came to town?"
Stiles rolled his eyes, "Look, I didn't ask for your logical reasoning so just knock it off."
Boyd huffed, amused as he waved his hands in surrender. They got back to the house, Stiles let Echo do her business in the backyard with Boyd watching their every move before they walked upstairs. He changed and got into bed, smiling when Echo hopped up and tucked herself against his back, cold nose shocking him when it touched Stiles on his lower back. Between her warmth and the knowledge that Boyd was here and the doors were locked, he settled enough to fall asleep.
Allison woke up to a group text from Derek, 'Isaac healed well. Meeting at the Stilinski's after school. Have some things to discuss.'
She sighed heavily then got up, using the bathroom for a quick shower before walking back to her room to pick her outfit for the day. Too many things happened over the weekend, she didn't know what to expect today but at least she wasn't going to be alone. Allison pulled out clothes and changed just as someone knocked on the door and she took a deep breath, realizing it wasn't her dad which is the only one that she wanted to see first thing in the morning when she didn't have the scent of pack on her anymore and everyone here smelled a little like wolsfbane and silver, scents that whispered 'fear this' and 'enemy territory' and she hated that.
"Hang on," she called out and finished fluffing her hair and checked the outfit before she pulled the door open. One of her father's cousins was standing on the other side. "Yes?"
"Allison, so I was going to head out on a routine check this evening and I figured it would be a good opportunity for you to see some other kinds of tracking and training besides your dad's way."
Allison frowned, "I actually have an appointment after school, I don't know how long it's going to be. Maybe another time?"
"You seem to be taking your social life much more seriously than you do your training, do you not understand how important this is."
"Isabella right?" Allison asked, crossing her arms defensively, willing to start standing her ground here and now with these other hunters.
She nodded.
"I am nationally ranked, almost Olympic level for archery, I am well trained and I have continued to seek outside help besides my dad so don't tell me what I think is important because you don't know me. I don't like learning from other hunters because they like to kill without consequences and some of them think that no matter what, werewolves should die. I don't agree, but that doesn't mean I don't care about my training. So no offense but you can pretty much stuff your opinion and have a good day."
With that, she closed the door on Isabella who was gaping at her. Allison rolled her eyes, grabbed her jacket and backpack, slipped into her flats as she opened the door and slipped past Isabella who was still walking away from her room and headed downstairs.
"Allison?" her mother called and she sighed before she switched direction, heading into the kitchen. "Where are you going after school?"
"I'm going to check on Isaac, his dad was killed last night and he needs friends right now," it wasn't a lie so Allison shrugged and grabbed the granola bar her mother was holding out for her, it wouldn't be enough for her werewolf metabolism but she could get something on the way to school or in the cafeteria.
"It would be in everyone's best interest if you took a bigger role in the family business, especially since your grandfather traveled so far to meet you and maybe even train you."
"If what you mean by the family business is killing werewolves wholesale, learning how to be more like Kate, I can pretty much guarantee the answer is no and I don't care what he thinks."
"Allison," she snapped and leaned in close, "In this family, being a colluder is just as bad as being one of the beasts. Especially when it comes to Gerard. He won't care that you love the boy, he won't care that Scott was turned against his will. Gerard won't care. Family is only meaningful when you can listen to the elders who are here to share with you their intel and experience."
Allison turned away, closing her eyes knowing they were flashing gold and she couldn't afford for anyone to see them. It took a moment to get the reaction under control then she opened her eyes and nodded to her mother, "Does that mean if I don't toe the line in a Gerard accepted manner, I am just as likely to die?"
Her mother sneered, "When did you get to be so argumentative."
"Maybe when I learned that my family had been lying to me my whole life about their extracurricular activities and I found out that my pseudo sister is a murderer and a rapist." She turned and started for the door even as her mother snapped at her again, trying to get her to turn around. Allison got into her car and headed to school, taking the drive time to calm down and munch on the granola bar, wishing for some of Derek's homemade pancakes or even toast. The man really was turning into an interesting alpha, all growly during training and baking them bread and whatever snacks they might need for during the day. If he'd spent the night at the hospital though, she was probably going to have to wait for alpha baked goodies until tonight or tomorrow at the earliest.
She parked the car and looked around, eyes landing on Lydia's red hair and smiled. Allison got out of the car, grabbing her bag and headed over to her best friend, leaning into her as she got close enough, "Hey, did you get the text from Derek?"
Lydia nodded, looking up from her physics book that she was looking through (one that was so far advanced that it wasn't being used in any of their classes).
"Light reading?' Allison asked.
"I was bored," Lydia said with a shrug. Allison nodded, wondering if there was a single other person in the town of Beacon Hills that read advanced physics books because she was bored. Stiles maybe? She would have to ask him later.
"I hope Derek turns Erica too, we need some more girls in this pack."
Lydia snorted lightly, somehow making it sound ladylike and like something everyone should be doing if they want to be popular and pretty. Of course it was Lydia's special ability, to make everything seem so much cooler than it really was. "You know that means that she's going to come to school here at some point."
Allison shrugged, "Probably not until next year, I don't think someone with her situation just gets up and walks out of her well-monitored life without a lot of work. So, we would have the summer to get to know her and she can be the new girl next year and I won't have to be."
Lydia gave a nod, "Being the new girl isn't so bad." She gestured over towards the lot where Matt was walking towards them and Allison forced a smile on her face.
"I so don't want to deal with him right now," Allison murmured.
"We all have our burdens to bear."
Matt was close enough to call out, "Hey Allison!" Then she scented Stiles and turned to see him fumbling out of the Jeep and Boyd followed as Echo jumped out behind her owner.
"Hey Matt, I need to talk to Stiles. Can we talk about this later?"
He frowned, "No, Allison, you have been blowing me off for almost a week now. I would like to get those pictures for the yearbook and maybe you could just have lunch with me instead of blowing me off like some snotty bitch!"
"Whoa!" Allison exclaimed, shocked. Matt had always been kind of pushy but he'd always been nice about it at the same time. This was different, this was making all the werewolf instincts inside of her rear back. Not to mention all the human ones, mostly the wolf instincts were telling Allison to rip Matt's throat out but that wasn't going to go well. "Okay, I think you should go now," Lydia said calmly as she amusingly stepped between Allison and Matt. Amusing because Allison was the preternaturally strong creature of the moon and she could take Matt out with one good hit, but that was probably why Lydia was putting herself in between them.
Stiles and Boyd rushed over but Matt wasn't leaving and he wasn't shutting up either, "You think you're so much better than everyone else, don't you Lydia? You with your Lacrosse Captain boyfriend who's also on the swim team. Did you know what they can do when they aren't being watched? Do you!"
Allison frowned at him coming around Lydia to look him in the eye which were starting to glaze, "What are you talking about, Matt?"
Stiles walked over and pressed a gentle hand to Matt's shoulder, "Hey man, why don't we go and have a minute. Maybe we can speak with someone in the office, I don't think you meant to say hurtful things to Allison but I don't think she wants to talk to you at the moment."
Matt threw off Stiles's touch and turned to him, "You don't speak for her. You're not her boyfriend! Or are you? Maybe this is the real reason you aren't the Scott and Stiles show anymore, because you stole his girlfriend!"
Stiles took a step back, taking a deep breath and staying calm despite the scent of anger and toxic sadness flowing off of him because everyone in school seemed to know Scott was an easy button to jab with him.
"Stiles didn't steal me away from anyone, he's my friend. You need to go now, Matt."
Matt spun towards Stiles suddenly, snarling in his face, "You, I couldn't deal with you before but maybe I can now!"
Stiles reared away from Matt in surprise and Boyd stepped between the two of them as Echo started growling, "I don't know what's going on here but you need to go. Now."
Matt stared up at Boyd for a moment before he spun around and walked away from the group of them.
"What the hell was all that about him not being able to deal with me?" Stiles demanded. "That was strangely concerning, right?"
"He smelled angry, actually it was more than that. It was more like incandescent rage, not that I knew what that smelled like before know but that's the feeling I got back." Allison wrinkled her nose, she didn't like the odor at all, it wasn't like she was in danger because she was surrounded by her pack and they were in school and no one would be dumb enough to attack them when they were all together. Right? It didn't change the feeling of spiders under her skin, she shook it off and held a little tighter to Lydia.
"He's evil," Stiles declared and walked away like that was the end of the conversation. As if there was a conversation at all. Allison, Lydia and Boyd shared confused and fond looks with each other before they turned to follow.
Allison rushed to catch up with Stiles and Echo and asked, "What?"
"Just you wait, we're going to find out he's evil."
"Just another day in Beacon Hills High then," Lydia stated and they all snickered in agreement before they headed to their lockers and first classes of the day, without any other run ins with Matt. As loud as he was about the profanity and possible threats, it wouldn't surprise Allison if Dr. Marcus got involved with him somehow. She was possibly a little too involved in the Hale Pack but then she was seeing half of them in sessions. Allison didn't know much about mental health and psychology but it seemed like they were all going to possibly be in trouble some day because they had the same psychologist but maybe not. She knew all of them pretty well and could help them with their relationships in and outside the pack.
Most of the morning classes passed with little drama, besides people breaking up and making up, a random pop quiz but no Matt. Allison didn't really notice what classes she shared with him so she couldn't tell if he was absent or not. They were all sitting down at lunch when Allison looked over at Stiles, "So what kind of BH shit storm do we have to deal with then?"
Stiles sighed, looking around to make sure no one was paying any attention to them which they weren't, "Well Derek was still at the hospital when I came to school this morning so I am in the dark with the rest of you. Not the fun place to hang out. All I want to do is find out the answers. I assume that Isaac is healing well enough to leave the hospital though if he does go home with Scott and Melissa, then we are going to have to fight to keep him. Erica is going to be turned, we need her but now that we know the Kanima is Jackson, we have to save him before there is any more killings."
Allison still couldn't believe that little bomb Derek dropped on all of them, Jackson had been with them and he'd been shifted as a werewolf. It didn't make any sense that he was the Kanima, the legends were that he wouldn't be able to shift into his werewolf form at all but Derek saw Jackson come from the Kanima. He didn't imagine it. She didn't know much of the specifics about what happened but she did wonder if Derek's alpha status had been able to pull him away at least a little from his Master. From what they knew the Kanima never really became a wolf until they worked out their issues and yet Jackson had and they'd all seen it.
"Guessing tonight going to be a big meeting," Allison murmured and everyone nodded.
"Has anyone seen Jackson since, you know?" Lydia asked, gesturing vaguely with her finely manicured hand.
Everyone shook their heads and Stiles sighed, "I heard that he didn't even go home, my dad has been trying to track him down under the guise of questioning about the Lahey attack because he was 'seen near the crime scene'."
"He can't hide forever," Allison returned, "This isn't that big of a town."
"The same town where I hid Derek for weeks at a time in a dilapidated train depot?" Stiles asked.
Allison shrugged, he made a good point. There did seem to be a lot of derelict buildings in Beacon Hills, which made it easier for certain supernatural elements to hide out or even just the common criminals. Especially since the Kanima apparently could mask its scent.
"Well do we think that he actually knows what's happening or is the Master person controlling him all the time now?" Allison asked. "I can't imagine Jackson just not coming to school since it matters too much to him and his image. This is where he gets to feel the more powerful."
"That's a frightening idea," Lydia said and flipped her hair back over her shoulder.
"Which part?" Stiles asked.
"Jackson is obsessed with control; can you imagine when he finds out. Jackson is going to rip into this guy or girl. Might be fun to watch though."
"Only if we can get him out of this," Stiles responded. "I mean we still don't know enough about what he knows about what the Master is making him do. According to the information we have, it seems like in the beginning maybe the kill was all about that thing that sought out murders and then after that, there was the Master."
Allison nodded, thinking back to one of the many practice matches where Jackson turned successfully and he was smiling. Jackson was a good guy when he wanted to be and he deserved to be that guy who grinned when he succeeded in shifting or when he was desperate to be hugged by Derek but didn't want anyone to know even though she could smell the want on him. Goodness, she hoped they could get him back in time.
"Hey guys," Danny said as he walked up to them effectively ending the supernatural conversation, "Have you heard from Jackson? He won't answer my texts or calls."
Stiles shrugged, saying nothing. Allison and the others followed his lead though she didn't think it was because he was 'dating' Derek. There had always been something about Stiles that was just as charismatic, "Maybe he's just ditching."
"He doesn't normally ditch alone, either with me or some girl. Neither of those things are happening, I need to know what's going on."
"We don't know man," Stiles repeated and Danny walked away annoyed and undeniably not tricked by their 'lack of knowledge'.
"He's not going to stay ignorant to this town's secrets for long," Allison predicted.
Stiles nodded, "Personally I think the ignorance is a choice for most of the people in town, especially the adults. But with Danny, Jackson is his best friend and after Isaac dropped the bomb that he already suspected about Scott and the werewolf of it all tells me that if we don't get better at keeping a lid on things, it's going to be a lot harder to hide anything or we just learn how to share the needed information with people that aren't going to go straight to the hunters."
"And we need to stay under the radar," Allison said, thinking about the crap she woke up to this morning.
Stiles reached over and took her hand, "You're going to be okay, I promise."
Allison smiled and squeezed his hand gently then to change the subject asked, "Hey so you didn't happen to bring any snacks from Derek, did you?"
Stiles snorted, "Well he wasn't at home this morning to make more but I do have this." He reached into the bag and brought out some of the muffins that Derek made before all the crap went down yesterday. Allison grabbed the bag with two muffins and groaned happily while Stiles handed out little bags to Lydia and Boyd who accepted his with a nod.
"Stiles!" someone shouted and Allison looked over to see Dr Marcus was walking towards them and she looked more nervous than she had ever seen the woman look. The woman always looked calm and collected up till now.
"Dr Marcus? What's going on?" Stiles asked, shoving away from the table and grabbing Echo's leash so they could move quickly if need be.
"Derek didn't come into the office today for his session and I know the kind of weekend you all had. I tried to call his cell but there was no answer. I need you to try and call him, I don't think him taking time away from counseling is a good idea right now."
Stiles nodded and pulled out his phone and dialed Derek's number, holding it out between them and putting it on speaker. Allison looked around but no one was paying attention to them.
The phone rang twice and went to voicemail, which was just Derek saying 'leave a message'. Stiles sighed, "Derek, call me back. For one thing we need to talk about your voicemail message. A little something is better than nothing. Ugh."
Stiles hung up and shrugged at Dr Marcus who crossed her arms, "I will see you this afternoon right Stiles?"
He nodded, "Of course, I've heard that this wouldn't really be a good time to stop going to counseling."
Allison snickered at his completely honest though somehow respectful sass and Dr Marcus rolled her eyes and pressed a hand to Stiles's shoulder, "I'll see you later then."
Stiles gave her a quick salute and Dr Marcus walked away.
"I've never seen her flustered like that," Stiles muttered as he reclaimed his chair.
"I was just thinking that," Allison responded, pointing towards Stiles with the rest of her muffin held in between her fingers. Stiles tried to steal her food but she quickly moved her hand out of reach and winked at his put-out expression. "You already had your muffins Stilinski."
Stiles winked and looked down at his phone again, "I don't like not being able to get a hold of Derek but we can't really afford to have anymore attention on us than we already have. Can you guys just keep trying him and let me know if you hear back?"
Allison nodded, the others did too because Stiles was Stiles and they would do anything to make sure that he was okay. She sent Derek a quick text since the warning bell was about a minute from ringing and Stiles was rising to make sure Echo got another bathroom break before the next class.
She hoped that Derek would let them all know that he was okay, yesterday was definitely one of those 'one thing goes wrong and so all things go wrong' and Derek shouldn't be alone.
"You want some company on the walk?" Allison asked Stiles.
"Nope, I am just going to be quick since we are running low on time," Stiles said and waved her off.
"Have fun," Lydia wiggled her fingers at Stiles before she dragged Allison towards the doors, while Boyd followed Stiles out the door. Boyd was taking this Derek is the alpha and Stiles needs to be protected way to seriously but that was probably a good thing.
"Can't we just ya-know like just blow off the rest of the day and find Derek?"
Lydia shook her head and they continued walking, Allison sighed and prepared for the pain of Mr. Harris's chemistry class.
Only a couple classes till the end of the day, she sighed.
