Author's Note: Trigger warnings for non graphic description of child murder and suicidal thoughts.

"Werewolves took you? Why? I don't understand," Scott stammered, shaking his head in confusion. Why would someone do this to their own kind? Obviously humans were known to hurt other humans, but this werewolf on werewolf specific violence was unsettling. It was one thing to fight, but drugging someone and holding them captive was different.

"They weren't really forthcoming about what they were doing, but unfortunately we found out soon enough," Derek said, looking down at Isaac again. He surprisingly hadn't passed out yet, but he was staring up with blank eyes that were a bit unnerving. "They locked us up for at least a day, maybe longer. I'm not sure how long really, since I couldn't see or hear anything. How long were we gone?"

"Two weeks," Stiles murmured, sitting cross-legged on the floor next to Scott.

"Shit. With all the wolfsbane they were dosing us with, it was impossible to keep track," Derek muttered, running his fingers absentmindedly through Isaac's hair. It seemed to be a soothing action for both of them. "They eventually let us out and put us into a bigger room together. Isaac wasn't- it had been a bit harder on him than it was for me. I guess they felt like he wasn't worth their time, so they ordered me to kill him. Of course I refused."

"Should've," Isaac whispered, but Derek just put a finger to his lips before he could keep going.

"They showed me just how much they didn't appreciate my defiance," Derek growled, flashing a dangerous smile. "The wolfsbane fucked up my healing and by the time I came to, Isaac was gone. I thought they'd killed him." Derek had to stop to collect himself, closing his eyes as he relived the horrors he'd faced.

"They threw me in a room with another werewolf. They wanted us to fight," Isaac mumbled, keeping his eyes locked on the ceiling. "I didn't want to, because I could tell he was there against his will. I wasn't even fighting back, I was just trying to stay alive. He kept coming at me and they were egging us on and I don't know what happened."

"You didn't have a choice," Derek insisted.

"I did! I could've let him kill me," Isaac gasped, biting his lip to keep it from trembling.

"You think that man would've made it much longer? No one else survived and they would've kept doing what they were doing. Who knows who they'd get next?" Derek argued.

"You don't know that! Stop feeding me lines of bullshit to try to make me feel better! I'm never going to be okay!" Isaac shouted, pushing Derek away and jumping to his feet. Scott cautiously stood too, needing to be ready for whatever moves a volatile Isaac would make.

"Isaac, calm down," Scott said, patting the air in front of his body.

"But I'm a killer, Scott," Isaac sneered. "There's no redemption for me, no changing that fact. I'm a fucking murderer."

"But it wasn't your fault, was it?" Scott asked.

"How the hell would you know?" Isaac snapped, balling his fists up at his sides. The strain on his not yet fully healed hands was splitting open the fragile skin and making blood drip down to the floor. "You're always trying to find the best in people, always searching for that silver lining. Did you ever stop to think that some people are just bad? That there is true evil out there that you can't talk your way out of? That some people can't be saved and aren't even worth the effort?"

"When it comes to the people who took you, yes. But not you," Scott said simply. He took a step forward, not willing to let Isaac retreat anymore.

"Don't," Isaac growled.

"I know you're not going to hurt me."

"You don't know! Don't be stupid."

"I'm not stupid, I just know you."

"You don't even know the worst thing I've done. You won't feel like that anymore."

"Do you really think a monster would feel the guilt you're feeling right now? That you'd be in this much pain? Because I heard your tears and your cries, but most importantly, I heard your heart. You might be able to fake everything else, but you can't fake that. You're not evil, you're hurting. Let us help you," Scott implored, holding out his hand for Isaac to take. Scott could tell all of this aggressiveness was a front to cover up Isaac's true feelings. He wanted everyone else to hate him, because he hated himself. But Scott wasn't going to do that. It had been jarring to hear Isaac had killed someone, but he'd believed all along that there had been extenuating circumstances. And Isaac's outbursts only confirmed it.

Isaac stared down at Scott's hand, fighting an internal battle whether or not to accept the gesture. Scott could tell he wanted to, but the deep-seated self-loathing was still too strong. He ignored taking the comfort and sat on the floor away from everyone else, wrapping his arms around his legs. As long as he wasn't hurting himself, Scott would give him his space.

"They only put us together when they were forcing us to do something we didn't want to do," Derek continued. "They barely gave us food and water and I wasn't planning on drinking it, but they brought Isaac in with a gun to his head and didn't give me a choice. I think they got some sick pleasure out of watching us poison ourselves."

"Should've let them," Isaac muttered again, but everyone just ignored him this time. They'd already had that discussion.

"Once the wolfsbane kicked in enough to incapacitate me, they moved me again. This time it was into a barred cage in the middle of a bigger room. There were these standing closet chest things all around, and I could hear the crying coming from inside," Derek said, looking quickly over at Isaac. "It must've been where they kept me at first, and where they were keeping everyone else now."

"Oh God," Scott murmured, thinking back to the basement of the Lahey house. These people had happened to find one of Isaac's most tender areas without even trying.

"They kept taking Isaac out to mess with him, hurting him in front of me when they knew we couldn't stop it. They were fixated on us, on Isaac."

"Why?" Stiles asked.

"They were annoyed that I was crying," Isaac spat, raking an angry hand over his tear streaked face. "They were mad they had such a weak survivor."

"That wasn't all of it, but I didn't find out until later, after…" Derek trailed off.

"After I killed the little girl."

"Stop saying that as if you had a choice!" Derek shouted.

"Stop acting as if that matters!" Isaac shot back.

"Tell me you would've done any of those things of your own free will," Derek challenged, pointing a finger at his face. "You can't, because it's bullshit!"

"Don't talk to me like you understand. All you had to do was watch."

"You know I've killed before and I'm not proud of it. You've never held that against me and I'm not going to hold this against you, so fucking accept it and deal with it. You are not going to push me away, no matter what you say or do. I am your Alpha and you are my Beta and that means we're family. We got out of this alive and we aren't going to waste this opportunity putting blame where it doesn't belong," Derek stated emphatically, pounding his fist on the floor. Everyone in the room jumped a little in surprise and Scott looked over to Isaac to see his reaction. He was crying again and looking away, trying not to let the words get through to him. He still wasn't ready to be forgiven.

"How did you guys get away?" Stiles asked, trying to get them back on topic.

"They started bringing out the other werewolves that they had hostage and tossing them in front of Isaac. They were all tied up and drugged and they wanted Isaac to murder them."

"And I did."

"No, you didn't! You were drugged too and they held you there and used your body against you!" Derek snapped. "They saved the worst for last." Isaac started to let out a steady whine, burying his face in his knees.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"I tried everything I could to break through the bars, but they were too strong. Our captors were taunting me, saying this is what we all were. That werewolves were monsters and we all went feral eventually. And Isaac was going to after he killed the little girl," Derek ground out, not bothering to wipe the tears that were rolling down his face.

"Wait, these were werewolves saying this?" Stiles asked in confusion.

"They'd been bitten without their consent and were bitter," Derek muttered, cutting his eyes over toward Scott. He knew that he'd been upset about becoming a werewolf and still felt that way occasionally, but Scott would never do anything like this. "Everyone there was a werewolf, but I was the only Alpha. They thought that showing me this would punish me for being able to create more werewolves."

"How ironic," Stiles hissed. "Trying to prove a point by becoming the monsters they claimed you were."

"What happened?" Scott whispered.

"They brought the little girl out; she was maybe five or six. Isaac had been pretty out of it after what felt like days of this, but he started screaming when he saw her. Everyone else had been an adult at least, which wasn't much comfort, but this was- it was awful," Derek choked out, shaking with rage. "I was screaming too, trying so hard to get to them. All I could do was watch."

"Please, please, I didn't mean to," Isaac sobbed, convulsively clutching at his chest and throat as he snowballed into an anguish induced panic. "I tried to kill myself instead, but I was too weak. I shouldn't be here, she should be here." Stiles couldn't hold himself back any longer, scooting over to comfort Isaac. They barely tolerated each other most of the time, but right now their petty differences didn't matter. All Stiles saw was a person in pain and he was never one to sit back and watch people hurt.

"It wasn't your fault," Stiles murmured, moving behind Isaac to hold him to his chest.

"I can still feel her blood," Isaac gasped, gripping Stiles' arm where it was wrapped around his neck. Stiles was clutching Isaac around his head, rocking him back and forth.

"They used your body against you. You're just as much of a victim as she was."

"I'm not-"

"It was a fucked up situation that you had no control over. None of the blame lies with you."

"Make it stop, just please, make it stop," Isaac begged.

"We will. We'll do it together," Stiles promised, gesturing for Scott to come over. He moved toward them, wrapping his arms around both of them so Isaac was securely in the middle. Scott looked back at Derek, letting him know with his eyes that he was welcome too. Derek hesitated for a few moments before giving in and joining them. Scott moved him so he was against Isaac in the middle, letting him and Stiles be the ones providing the comfort and protection. This is what he imagined a pack should be, helping your mates when they needed it most. And Scott and Stiles were prepared to do just that.