Two Pack II: Teen Wolf Season Four

by lordtrayus

The Nogitsune is gone, Scott and Isaac are back together, and Stiles has gone back to normal. But, rather than deal with the grief of losing Allison, Scott's pack has to contend with Derek's imprisonment, former foes of the twins trying to settle scores, and taming Malia. But worst of all is a new enemy coming to town, bringing with them an old friend who could destroy them all...

43. Episode 11: Raptor Part 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf

Two-Pack II

Fire burned inside him, he wanted to cry out in pain, in agony, the pain in his chest and guts was matched only by the pain in his heart. His friends, were they even still alive? Was he even still alive? Did they even care? Did he even care about them?

He was too hot, he was burning, he could see it, and he cried out in terrified agony as Agravaine poured his fire down his throat, Lydia's scream echoing inside his skull as he passed out, Isaac screaming for him as he did so. He was on fire, burning, it was unbearable, the pain, the agony, the ache he felt, he could feel the bonds between his friends burn and snap as his life crackled under Agravaine's fire…

He wanted to wake up, but he couldn't, it hurt too much, he was in too much pain, he heard screaming, and yelling, what was he missing? What had happened? Oh, it had happened to him hadn't it, yeah, that's right. But what was going on?

He faded in and out of consciousness, the agony overwhelming him time after time, every time he got close to the surface, battling through the pain, it returned tenfold, and he screamed silently and fell back into unconsciousness.

He had to get out, he had to wake up, he couldn't, he needed to, there was…

Wait, before, he had thought, he grunted and tossed fitfully, he needed to, wait, what had he realised, there was, that was it!

There was something else, someone else behind all this! But who was it, whoever it was, who could it be? Wait, it had to be someone, it had to a person, they had to know them. Yes, they had to know them, or at least know enough of them. Enough of them to help his friends turn on him, enough of them to break apart the pack, but who could come between them?

But what if they didn't come between them? What if it wasn't overt, what if it was subtle, so nobody would realise? What if…

Images flashed through Scott's heat seared brain as he tossed and turned in the hospital bed, hooked up to machines to keep him alive. It had started with Jackson, and then Malia, and then Stiles, but what if there was more, they'd cause damage but wouldn't destroy the pack, not unless…

Images ran through his head as though they were in fast forward. Jackson was part of the problem, as was Stiles, and even Lydia too to an extent, but things hadn't gone wrong with all of them, it had been stirred up with Jackson, but Lydia and Stiles had just exacerbated already present situations, but what if it started, what if Malia, but there wasn't anything, but that was when it had truly started, his pack disintegrating, all because…

Oh.

Of course.

HIM!

It was always him, insidious, Machiavellian, always determined to gain power, and weaponised the knowledge of who his daughter was to accelerate the disintegration of the pack, already in a decaying orbit due to the Nogitsune and losing Allison. Add that to the dogs, the Nemeton, the constant stress, Jackson, the Pombero and by extension Lydia, and then of course Stiles, then it was…it had to be…

It was him! He knew them, knew all of them, knew how much trouble his revelation would cause, that was why he'd taken so much pleasure telling Malia, and exploited everything else, everything else just played right into his hands, and not one of them had noticed, not until it was far too late. It was him, he had been behind it all, which meant…

He'd manipulated all of them, he was working with Agravaine, he was behind the whole thing, it was him all along!

It was Peter who was behind everything, messing up everything, plucking every evil string, the reason everything had gone wrong, it was Peter all along!

And now it was too late to fix anything as well, he was willing to bet Peter had been whispering in the ears of his pack for weeks, and as he realised this, his anger grew.

Peter.

Peter was behind it all, Peter was the reason his friends had abandoned him, deserted him. Peter was the reason he was now lying, dying, in a hospital bed, because he had planned it that way! He'd even said as such, he was always the Alpha, he had always been the Alpha!

PETER!
And at long last, Scott's eyes flew open, glowing a shining gold, and they flickered, becoming red briefly before fading back to gold, and he laid in bed, feeling as though his entire body was covered in acid, feeling like he'd been struck by lightning, was this what Isaac had felt like after his electrocution? But Scott's was different, his was largely internal, not external, but with a surge of effort, he used the all-consuming, tempestuous, fiery anger to steady himself, to suppress the efforts of Agravaine's fire from immolating him from within as he finally realised everything, realised how thoroughly they had all been played, how expertly they'd all been manipulated, and how much damage Peter had caused.

Peter had done this, he had been behind all of it since the very start, and he had realised far too late, how hadn't he noticed?

His mind was still abuzz, but rather than stoating around in the dark he was now filling in all the blanks that he'd been missing.

Peter hadn't been here, he hadn't known Allison had been killed. He had returned months later, more than enough time for him to make a long trip, most likely to London. Peter knew them, and due to Jackson's little temper tantrum about becoming a werewolf, and the fact that he had become the kanima, that Jackson, spoilt little Jackson, would rail at being Scott's beta. All he had to do was get Jackson back here, to Beacon Hills, then he could just put the right word in the right ear at the right time and then just sit back and watch it all go to hell. And the right time would be a combination of being poisoned by Agravaine, the stress of the constant dog attacks and realising that he was dying.

Then all Peter would have to do is just say the occasional snide comment. Jackson, crippled with fear of his impending doom, combined with his abrasive personality and not liking the fact that Scott was now his Alpha due to his self-esteem and jealousy issues, would eventually start to chafe under Scott's leadership.

As a result of the possible death of his best friend, Danny would then follow Jackson's lead, eventually, and he, unlike Jackson, just like all the others, had lost Allison, and the constant spectre of her death, and Aiden's near death, combined with the damage done by having one of their friends used against them would make his loyalty eventually crumble too. Frustration, tempered by Jackson's impending fate, would make Danny act out in ways he normally wouldn't, especially when you added in the stress and the diseased Nemeton.

Ethan, who in the long run was affected more by Aiden's near miss with death than Aiden was really, would then also start to flounder, terrified of losing his twin, of being left alone for the first time in forever. Added all together, he too would turn, and Aiden, despite his loyalty to Scott, would always side with his brother to protect him.

Son of a bitch! All it took was a couple of whispered, insidious, snide comments, and the stress of the recent months, the spectre of death hanging over the pack's heads between Allison, Stiles and Aiden, and the waves of malicious energy pouring from the corrupted Nemeton, and it had all amalgamated into a perfectly simmering pot, waiting to blow, and he had taken out half the pack, but how had he taken out the rest?

Lydia, Lydia who had lost her best friend, because she felt she didn't know how to understand her powers. She had sensed the impending death that night at Oak Creek, and had been unable to prevent it, and she felt her best friend died for her. Bitter at her lack of understanding, at how she couldn't master her powers in time to save Allison, she had grown increasingly disenchanted. Martagh's arrival had been tumultuous at the start, but it had essentially come too late to save someone she wanted to save, and she had been highly resistant to her teacher's methods. That, combined with the arrival of the Pombero, who Scott had failed to kill when they had the chance and hence gave her the chance to murder poor, defenceless Meredith, had disillusioned Lydia too, helping to turn her from him. However, upon realising what she'd been party to, she had tried to fix it, tried to build Scott back together, but by then it was too late. There was also that freaky bond between her and Peter, which likely had also played a part.

The manipulative bastard, he had gotten lucky with the arrival of the Pombero, but like with everything else, he made it suit him!

Derek, he wasn't really to blame, Scott saw that now. Whatever resentment he might have bore Scott for the implosion of his own pack, he was perfectly happy being a beta. He had just been trying to help Scott get out of the corner he was backed into but Scott, beaten down and broken by his pack's rebellion against him, had assumed the worst. What was more, he highly doubted whether or not Peter had been doing his Iago routine with Derek, Derek knew Peter well enough to know what he was up to. No, Derek wasn't to blame, and he had been trying to help but due to everything else, Scott had assumed that he too was rebelling, that he wanted to be the Alpha over him.

And then, his first salvo, which none of them had realised what it was at the time. Back when it had happened, Scott had questioned as to why Peter had taken such savage pleasure in revealing Malia's true parentage, figuring he was up to something. And now, he realised with a fresh surge of fury, he had been. Peter knew that the revelation of her true father would start to chip away at the pack's unity, already so tenuous because of all else that had happened. It had isolated Malia, and consumed with their own problems and the mental exhaustion the constant dog trouble brought them, he had just pried her further and further away from them, and when Stiles had dumped her, on top of her school troubles and the revelations about her true identity, she had been split from them and had turned back into a coyote in order to cope.

That manipulative, scumbag piece of shit had destroyed his own daughter just to get her away from Scott!

But Peter couldn't get to all of them, he hadn't been able to completely isolate Scott, just enough to weaken him to bring him to the point where Agravaine could make his move. Kira, why not Kira? Why…? Because Kira was too new, he'd avoided them largely during the Nogitsune crisis, and the fact that she had filled some of the void left by Allison's death for Lydia, and was also tied to Malia, he didn't have a chance to get to know her, to use her own insecurities against her and turn her on Scott.

The kids…the kids were also too new, and the fact that they were human meant they didn't contribute nearly as much to Scott's power as the others either. On top of that, they all said unequivocally that they didn't blame Scott for what happened to Mason, and with that gone, as they were still playing catch-up on the supernatural, they didn't know enough to know any different and hence would remain loyal to Scott through default.

That left two members of his pack, the two he was closest to.

Isaac, Peter wouldn't be able to get, for two reasons. One, he was far too loyal to Scott that he was almost blind to his faults, and always believed Scott would do the right thing and would lead them through all this. He had never lost faith in his boyfriend, who Scott mused with a slightly gratified smile, he still thought of as his hero. And secondly, the fact that the two of them were nigh inseparable (he was sure at least one person in the pack had described them as erotically co-dependent) meant Peter wouldn't have a chance, though if Camden hadn't come clean that could have been a point of contention but that had also fallen through.

Ha, the twisted scheming backstabbing murderer couldn't get them all, but Stiles, how had he gotten Stiles?

Stiles, who was dating Malia, that had been part of it, he suspected that Peter had had some hand in that somewhere along the line. Scott knew Stiles, better than Stiles knew himself at the moment, whatever else might be going on in that head of his, he would never hurt Malia. He did love her, more than he had thought possible. He wouldn't hurt her, and he felt awful for pulling away from her following the parentage revelation. Then there was Deaton's silence on the whole Grim thing, that too had contributed, but at the end of the day, it all came back to his possession. To be absorbed by a millennia old trickster spirit, made to do awful things, kill over a dozen people by extension and by proxy, that had broken something in Stiles. He hadn't been able to accept it wasn't his fault, and despite everyone's attempts to help him through it all, at the end of the day, the one person's forgiveness he needed was himself. Allison's return at Agravaine's behest certainly hadn't helped in that regard either. The damage he had done while possessed to the rest of the pack, to Aiden, to Isaac, to Scott himself, it all paled in comparison to Allison's death, which he blamed himself for, and nothing any of them did could penetrate the dark shroud he'd wrapped himself in, and then obviously the dogs had shown up and made it all worse. Enter Peter, who knew them all so well from having fought them previously, and manipulated them all in the past, and only he could poke at Stiles in such a way as to make him do the unthinkable and turn on Scott, and had turned even Stiles against him.

Except, Scott thought with a savage grin, he hadn't. Stiles had been backed into a corner, and the revelation at Eichen had done it's intended job, it had destroyed Scott. However, he knew Stiles, he'd been his best friend since that fateful day when their mothers had brought them together for a playdate and had been inseparable ever since. No possession, no murder of a loved one, nothing could change that one, irrevocable truth:

Stiles would never betray Scott.

Yet due to Peter's (admittedly very impressive) efforts, his pack had been manipulated into ripping itself apart, Peter having gotten extremely lucky, capitalising on Allison's death, Stiles' possession and the arrival of the Pombero and the Djinn, combining that with his expert knowledge of them all, of their personalities, their insecurities, and of course his insidious alliance with the damned dogs, and he had been able to do what Gerard, Deucalion, the Nogitsune and of course Peter himself the first time, had failed to do, he had ripped Scott's friends from him, leaving him isolated and unable to defend himself against a foe as strong and malevolent as Agravaine.

Damn the evil bastard was good, it was well played, well played indeed.

And now, it was time to fix the damage the deceitful, treacherous, whispering weasel had done to his pack, get the band back together, and defeat Agravaine, and more importantly Peter, once and for all.

But how did he do that, especially, he thought as he subsided into a coughing fit that set his lungs aflame, when he was dying?

It was then that he became aware of someone at the foot of his bed as he squinted through the darkness, and he growled in challenge as glowing blue eyes rose to meet his flickering golden/red ones.

"What-what are you doing here?" he rasped weakly, trying to extend his claws weakly, and Bonnie raised her hands, looking fretfully at the young, dying Alpha, and also eyeing the door worriedly.

"I'm not here to hurt you, I swear." She insisted as she brandished Scott's medical chart through the air, and Scott looked at her suspiciously.

"Really? Not here to kill me for your boss?" he demanded, his voice weak, he had to do something, he had to stop whatever she was here to do, oh, of course, his pack had abandoned him, he was alone, maybe…

No, that was the Nemeton, Agravaine and Peter talking, not him!

"No, I'm not, though it is because of him that I'm here. Stiles is worried about you, rightly so, you're dying." She told him sadly, and Scott snorted in amusement, though immediately wished he hadn't, man that hurt.

"Yeah, got that, no thanks to you," he growled, and she looked away, shamefaced, "but why do you care?" he asked, his eyes narrowed, and she looked sadly at the medica chart in her hand.

"Because I…" she began, just as the door opened, and as the person who came in was meant to be here, they turned the light on, which Bonnie hadn't.

Melissa's eyes widened in furious alarm as she saw the weredog standing at the foot of her dying son's bed and launched herself at the dog, tackling the older woman to the floor with a shriek of fury.

"ISAAC!" she screamed, and Scott's burning heart lifted a little, Isaac was here too, he was coming…

"Wait! Get off, I'm not here to hurt him! Now," Bonnie snarled in annoyance, then rolled her eyes before exerting her strength to pin Melissa to the floor, and Scott struggled to get up, to help his mother, but he couldn't, it hurt too much, but he had to save her, where was Isaac? "now, listen to me! Forget for a second that you know about Agravaine, about the supernatural. What would Scott's symptoms look like?" she begged, her teeth bared, and Melissa looked at her in confusion, but in her face, she saw the same, devastated, horrified expression that was currently on her own, the face of someone who's child was dying.

"Like-like he'd swallowed bleach." She replied nervously, while Scott tried to get up but he couldn't, the pain was too much for him, he cried out in pain, but if he concentrated, he could hear footsteps approaching, Isaac was virtually flying along the corridor to his room.

However, Bonnie wasn't paying attention, as her glowing blue eyes widened in realisation, her face horror-struck, revolted, as the truth finally dawned on her.

Agravaine had lied, he had lied to her, it had been him!

And if it had been him who had destroyed her life, it was likely him who had destroyed the lives of the others too.

That twisted, egotistical, manipulative, psychotic, perverted fucking maniac!

"Agravaine…he did it. And if he did, then he's…he killed my son!" she breathed, and looked at Scott, who had managed to prop himself up just enough to look her in the eye, and Scott felt something powerful pass between them, a silent plea was written in the tired lines of her face, and he nodded silently.

Just then the door was wrenched open and Scott's tall, blond, glowing eyed and extremely pissed off boyfriend sprang into the room with a roar, his knives flashing through the air. Bonnie screeched as his knives bit into her sides, knocking her off Melissa as he span, going right for her throat, he was going to kill her…

"Isaac!" Scott cried desperately, begging, his eyes glowing gold, and Isaac's own glowing eyes met his and he hesitated, just for a second, but it was enough for a limping Bonnie to transform into her dog form and make good her escape, drops of blood marking her escape vector as Isaac glared out the door at her, before turning and helping Melissa to her feet, who wrapped him in a hug before they both ran to Scott's side.

"Are you alright? Did she hurt you?" Isaac demanded anxiously, stroking his hand through Scott's hair, and Scott shook his head, his eyes fixed on where the weredog had disappeared through the door.

"No, she didn't." he replied, his mind mulling over what had just happened, and Isaac glowered out of the door in distaste.

"Why'd you stop me?" he asked sullenly, and Scott favoured him with a small smile.

"She doesn't deserve to die, and I don't want you to be a killer, I like your gold eyes." He teased, before giving way to a coughing fit, making both his mother and boyfriend fret, and Melissa went white with horror when Scott pulled his hand away from his mouth and saw it was covered in flecks of black blood with a sort of acidic green sheen to it.

"Scott…oh god I never imagined I would ever have to say this," Melissa said breathlessly, tearing up, but before she could go any further, Scott squeezed her hand.

"I know already mom, I know I'm dying." He told her softly, and Melissa let out a sob, and Isaac felt his throat start to choke up as he looked determinedly at anything that wasn't his dying boyfriend.

"Scott, I…" Melissa whimpered, and he looked at her steadily, looking pleadingly at her.

"It's ok mom. I know I don't have long left, I know I'm going to…" he told her, his voice breaking, and all three of them fought down sobs, and Melissa gently wrapped her son in a hug, her whole body shuddering as she did so, trying to ignore the treacherous thought that this could be the last time she ever did this running through her head.

"There has to be something we can do." Isaac pleaded quietly, and Scott allowed himself a watery smile, hearing the pleading but earnest quality in his boyfriend's voice, there was some part of him that still believed Scott could fix this.

Thankfully, Scott did have an idea, well a bit of one, he was dying, he was allowed to be a little sketchy on the details, but he knew that if he was to fix all this, he had to start where it all originally went wrong.

"Well, maybe. I'm missing something, but I don't know what it is yet, but a lot of it, I do now finally get." He told them, then started to sit up, only to be forced back into lying down by both Melissa and Isaac pressing their hands onto his chest and gently but forcefully lying him back down in bed.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Melissa demanded, bordering near hysteria, and he sent her a nettled look.

"Mom, I'm dying, I know it, you know it, we all know it. I'm sorry but I'm not going to lie here and wait for the end, not when I might be able to reverse this." He explained to her sternly, and Melissa looked at him, as though hardly daring to believe him, though she was also still terrified that if she let him out of this room, she would never see him alive again.

"You-you think you can fix it?" she asked, a tiny little trace of hope in her voice, and Scott's powers weren't so far lost that he also couldn't smell a little burst of hope from Isaac, and Scott nodded, though he did gnaw his lip thoughtfully as he did so.

"Maybe, I have ideas, I just need to sort of collate them all together, know what I mean? There's one last little bit I'm missing, but once I get that, I'm hoping I can." He insisted, and Isaac looked desperately over at Melissa, who didn't seem to be looking at her son, instead she was looking at the various machines he was hooked up to, the rhythmic beeping of each of them like the Doomsday clock for when Scott was gone, forever.

Could he really fix this?

"What's your plan?" Melissa asked after taking a deep breath, and Scott growled irritably.

"Bonnie's little visit gave me a clue, something I didn't know before. I've also figured a few other things out, but the only way we're going to stop Agravaine is together." He told her, and Isaac looked at his shoes, not looking at his Alpha.

"The-the others aren't here. I-I lost it, I threw them out. They deserved it, they're the ones who did this to you, them more than Agravaine!" he spat angrily, and Scott smiled ruefully before taking Isaac's hand and shocked by the touch, Isaac looked up at his boyfriend, who longed to nuzzle him like he usually did, but he was a little hampered by his current predicament.

"I get it. I'm angry at them too, but it wasn't just them, it also wasn't just me, I know that now," he assured them, and the little balloon of hope inside the other two filled a little more, "but we need them honey. We need everyone, the twins, Lydia, Kira, Jackson, Martagh…"

"Ask and you shall receive." Martagh said, emerging from a swirl of autumnal leaves that made Melissa leap in shock, and he looked over at the Scuffock, who was wielding a piece of paper in her hand.

"What's that? A way to heal Scott?" Melissa asked hopefully, regaining her composure, and Martagh held her shoulder, fixing her with a sad gaze.

"I am sorry Melissa, but what has happened to Scott is far beyond my ability to heal. You lad, look like shit." She told him tartly, and he snorted a little, but once again regretted it, coughing up while Isaac tried to soothe him by patting his bare back.

"Thanks. Why are you here?" he asked in confusion, and she bowed her head.

"I came to make my peace, just in case. I failed you Scott. Yes Lydia is my apprentice, but you are her Alpha, and I failed you too. I failed to realise that you were resisting your power as an Alpha, and that on top of everything else…" she said, and Isaac cocked his head at her curiously.

"Resisting his power?" he asked in confusion, and Scott nodded.

"Yeah, I think I was. I never wanted to be the Alpha, and let's face it, after everything," he admitted, and fought down a wave of corrupted thought about his failures, but that took it out of him, he started spluttering and choking again, but powered through it despite the alarm of the others, "after everything, it's a wonder I've lasted this long. But I'm not resisting it now. I am the Alpha, and it's high time people in this town learned it." He said, and his eyes glowed gold, flickered red for a few seconds, then faded back to gold, and Martagh looked at him, a proud smile developing on her face.

"There's something different about you, young Alpha. You're more…at peace with yourself, more…"

"More you." Isaac teased playfully, and Scott grinned, and nodded.

"I mean, I'm dying, I feel like I've swallowed burning lava, but…yeah. I've not been me for a while, none of us have really been ourselves for a while. And that's the issue, that's how we got into this mess. And I'm going to get us out of it, I hope. What is that then, if it isn't a magic cure?" he asked, indicating the paper in her hand, ignoring the aggravated beeping of the machines as he did so, and she favoured him with a proud twinkle in her eye before she replied.

"In some ways it is, just not for you. It's a very powerful ritual, given to me by…an interested party shall we say? She gave me this, and I've checked it thoroughly, using it, we should be able to purge the Nemeton." She explained, and Scott fought down a fresh wave of something, but weird, it wasn't panic, or fear, or despondency, it was delight.

"We can purge it? Will that help Scott?" Melissa asked anxiously, and Martagh hesitated for a second before she nodded.

"It should in some ways, he is bound to it due to his role in reactivating it after all. Agravaine is very powerful, but without the corruption of the Nemeton, it could just buy us the time we need for Scott to fix all this before Jackson and he are…you know." She admitted lamely, and Scott nodded, mulling it over inside his head, he was getting further, figuring out more and more each second, and this, this was a major break.

"Good. Martagh, that's great," he whispered, mostly to himself, and Isaac and Melissa exchanged a look as though concerned for his sanity, but he pressed on, "but do we still have the same problem that we have before, the paradox?" he asked, and she nodded, looking increasingly grim as she did so.

"Yes, and that isn't the only paradox that must now contend with. However we spin it, Hollis' days on this earth are numbered, and his fight with Agravaine won't have done him any favours. If he dies, and the curse that is held within the ring is still anchored to him, Agravaine wins by default, the curse will last in perpetuity, and will also kill you and Jackson, as nothing will have ended it. We need to change the battery for the curse, the life force powering it." She explained, and that, that was another part of the puzzle.

How did it all fit together? There was one little bit he still had to figure out, maybe two. Ok, Peter was behind all of this, he needed to be dealt with, as did his partner in crime Agravaine. Agravaine was cursed, and that curse was currently killing both Scott and Jackson. The Nemeton being corrupted was exacerbating the whole situation, which had helped Peter and Agravaine rip apart his pack. Hollis was powering the curse, but his life force was fading, and if he died before the curse was transferred, they were all screwed anyway. And lastly, Bonnie had realised that Agravaine had lied to them, and had likely killed her son. One or two more bits, that was all he needed, if he could stop them, figure them out, then he might just be able to pull this off, and save dying in a literal blaze of agonising glory.

"Ok…ok, that's…well I don't know how that's helpful, but I'll come back to it. Can you purge it?" he asked, and the Scuffock nodded.

"Yes, it should work, but I can't do it alone, I'll need Lydia, probably Braeden and Morell as well." She explained, and Scott nodded a little.

"Yeah, that's good, ok, go, do whatever you have to do to get ready, but don't go after it until I say, and definitely not until I speak to Lydia. You can recruit the other two, sure, but I need to speak to Lydia first." He explained, and Martagh allowed herself a small, proud, hopeful smile before nodding her head, and bowed respectfully before she vanished in a swirl of leaves after tapping her staff onto the floor.

"Scott? Honey?" Melissa asked, but it was like Scott had zoned out, and his mother looked at his boyfriend, lost, and worried, was the fire affecting his brain?

Scott was lost in thought, staring at the room, and then something caught his eye that jarred him out of his reverie.

"You brought my calendar here?" he asked, looking at his word of the day calendar, and Melissa shook her head, fussing over his covers.

"No, it's mine from my locker, I thought it would make the place a bit more, homey I suppose, with you…" she said, sniffing, and Scott took her hand and laid on his shoulder, nuzzling it a little as he did so.

Isaac, to give them a moment, and maybe to hide the tears in his eyes, turned and headed over to the calendar, which was on the wrong day, hell, it was actually two days behind. He flicked it over, until he was surprised by Scott's call.

"Wait, put it back!" Scott insisted, and Isaac shot him a funny look, maybe the fire was addling his brain?

"Sweetie, that was yesterday." He explained kindly, as though talking to a small child, and Scott waved his hand impatiently, ignoring the beeping machines once again.

"I know, just put it back." He told him, and Isaac rolled his eyes but acquiesced, leaving it on the day before's word of the day, invincible.

Invincible, the inability to be killed or overcome…

Unless…

Fireworks suddenly went off in Scott's head, that was it, that was it, Martagh, she was a genius, and she didn't even know it! That was one of the pieces he was missing, that was it, and with what Bonnie had said, and knowing both Peter and Agravaine, then all of it finally clicked into place.

The knowledge of how to finally defeat the Ghost Pack, acquired through weeks of losses, pyrrhic victories and dispiriting defeats finally all culminated in this moment, the knowledge of how to finally defeat Agravaine, Peter and the Owlman all in once stroke, and they were just arrogant enough that it could work…

"Yes!" Scott breathed indulgently, however the effect was rather ruined when he started to splutter and the world span around him and he crashed back into his pillows.

"SCOTT!" Melissa and Isaac cried in alarm, but as he lay there, the room spinning, he waved at them irritably, they were getting in the way, he was alright, at least for now.

"I'm fine, just a bit overexcited. I think I know how to defeat Agravaine, how to fix all of it. Mind you, Ifrit…" he admitted, damn, he'd forgotten the damn Djinn.

Melissa blushed a little, trying and failing not to look too pleased with herself.

"Actually, he's no longer a problem. We got him, Camden and Rakaisha killed him. And I took down two Berserkers as well." She explained, and both Scott and Isaac's jaw dropped as they looked at her.

"Wait, you got two Berserkers? That's awesome!" Scott bleated weakly, he knew his mom was amazing, a badass, but to take down two of the nastiest beasties they'd ever encountered herself, boy that was impressive!

She shrugged, looking rather proud of herself.

"Yeah, well, I got one, and the other just blew up, but yeah. Anyway. The Djinn is dead." She told him in conclusion, smiling a little, and Scott grinned.

Yes, the Pombero was gone, so was Ifrit, leaving only Agravaine and his pack, the Owlman and of course, Peter. And now, he thought he had an idea of how to finally defeat them all, once and for all.

"You were saying?" Isaac asked worriedly, helping him sit up, fretting as he did so as he stroked his boyfriend's back as Melissa held her son's hand.

"I think I know how to stop Agravaine. But to do it, we need everyone, including Stiles." He said, and Isaac smiled a little, and reached into his pocket, pulling out the note Stiles had left there during the battle at Eichen.

"Funny you should say that, he left this in my pocket at Eichen, but I didn't find it until earlier, I'm sorry," he mumbled, and Scott kissed his boyfriend's hand soothingly as he read the note, a massive grin on his face as he did so.

"Wait, he wrote a note? What's it say?" Melissa demanded, if Stiles had truly gone rogue he wouldn't be leaving Scott a note, which meant he hadn't gone rogue, which meant that she was now very relieved and very angry, she was going to kill the hyperactive little spaz for all the stress and worry he'd caused!

"What I always knew," Scott assured her, grinning broadly, "that no matter else was going on with him, Stiles would never betray me. And now, I think I know how to fix all this, starting with where it went wrong. Mom, I need to get out of here." He insisted, and distracted from imagining how big a shoe she was going to insert in a certain orifice on her first adopted son, she turned and looked at her son in alarm.

"What? Scott, no, these machines are…" she protested, and he cocked his head at her, fixing her with a puppy dog look.

"Mom, these machines are only delaying the inevitable. The only way I can reverse it is if you help me. Please mom, the others, everyone, will die if I don't stop him. And I think I can." He pleaded, and as she turned away, desperate to avoid thinking about it, Isaac gently tilted Scott's head to his own, and Scott saw that his boyfriend looked miserable.

"But Scott, the pack's over, it broke, your Alpha power broke, and then I finished it off when I threw them all out, I'm sorry, I was so angry with them, I…" he whispered tearfully, and Scott shook his head, kissing the hand that Isaac still had on his cheek.

"No, we're not. We're down, we're beaten yeah, but we're not finished yet. Not by a long shot. I'm the Alpha," he said with a new certainty that Isaac had never heard before, and he was shocked to discover that the little demonstration of this new and developing confidence of his boyfriend was having an interesting effect on his own body, "and I know how to fix this, but I can't do it in here. Please mom!" he begged, turning his attention back to her, and Melissa sighed wearily, though as she turned to look at her son, there was a very proud smile on her face.

"When everything seems lost, a leader still has one thing left to give: hope. Your grandma taught me that once, so did your father, actually…not that he's a great leader, or a great anything really," she mused sardonically, and Scott grinned a little, "ok. If I bust you out of here, promise you're not going to drop dead as soon as you leave the door?" she joked, though the effect was rather ruined when her voice wavered with tears, and Scott grinned a little.

"I promise mom. I can't do this without you, I need your help, I need everyone's help. But one way or another, it ends tonight, I promise." He told her earnestly, and Isaac and Melissa exchanged a last, frightened look, but as she looked at the look of love and utter trust that her second adopted son was giving her son, she too felt that maybe, just maybe, her boy might be able to pull this off.

"What do we need to do?" she asked, suddenly all business, and Scott grinned, knowing he had won.

"Well, once we get me out of here, we start fixing this, all of this, where it first went wrong, with my pack disintegrating around my ears and me being powerless to stop it. So first, we talk to Stiles, find out what he knows, then…" he pondered, wondering just where to start putting his pack back together, "then we find Malia." He decided, a rising sense of certainty developing within him as he did so.

"Sweetie, we don't know where she is." Isaac pointed out, and Scott shook his head.

"We've been traipsing all over the place, trying to find a scent of her, that hasn't worked. I think I know where she is, it's where we should have looked to begin with. Mom, I need your help too. If we find Malia, we need to tell her dad everything, it isn't fair to him to keep him in the dark about this anymore. Will you help?" he asked, and while she looked disgruntled at the job, she did nod.

"Fine, but if you find Malia…" she warned, and Scott smiled.

"We will find Malia, and I think she'll agree anyway. Then, we find the others, and put the band back together." He told them confidently, before he looked up at Isaac.

"What?" Isaac asked nervously, fairly sure he wasn't going to like whatever he was about to ask, and Scott looked up at him with his puppy dog eyes.

"Come with me?" he whispered softly, and Isaac smiled sadly before nodding.

"Anything, you know that. And like hell am I letting you out of my sight." He warned, and Melissa nodded grimly.

"Good. Alright, you two are taking the car," she told them, passing the keys over to Isaac, "and I'll take the bike." She told them, sounding a little anxious at the thought, though she did look slightly apprehensive about going on it.

"Mom, you can't drive it, you've never even ridden it." Scott pointed out, and she blushed a little as she avoided her son's gaze.

"Actually, I kind of did. That weekend you and Isaac went down to the zoo in San Diego?" she asked, and Scott flashed back to that weekend, not long after Christmas.

Isaac had gotten him a day pass for the zoo for Christmas knowing how much he loved animals and how much he wanted to be a vet, and the two of them had gone down together and stayed the night (that had been the present from his grandmother, not that she had known that the twin room she had bought suddenly became a double). That had been a great weekend, Scott had really enjoyed it (despite having to go into the reptile house himself, Isaac had chickened out though had bought him churros to make up for it), the two of them just being a normal couple in a nice sunny day, enjoying exploring the zoo and seeing all the animals.

They had come back to a near mutiny, as Stiles seemed to have gone a bit mad with power at being left in charge (Malia had used the chains they used to help her control her transformations to tie him to Scott's chair in his room for Scott to deal with when he and Isaac returned) but other than that it had been great.

Wait a minute…

"I knew I had more gas in the bike before I left than was left when I got back!" Scott grumbled, and Melissa shrugged, sniggering a little.

"What can I say, I had fun!" she told him brightly.

So had Aiden, he had found her trying it out when he had come looking for Scott forgetting that he and Isaac were away, and he had given her some pointers and taught her to ride the bike, he had seemed really eager to help and kept blushing all the time he was with her, but still.

Scott scowled, vowing, that if he survived this, he was going to get her back for that. And maybe teach her how to ride it himself.

"Ok, so you take the bike, we take the car. It'll be alright mom, trust me. I've got a plan." He assured her, and for the first time since Isaac's dead father had invaded their home, upon hearing the quiet confidence and hope within the voice of her dying son, she dared to believe that maybe, just maybe, everything was going to be alright.

XX

"Maggie?" the voice called, as the hunter in question got off the call with the representative of the Fivefold in the reflective surface of her duck pond.

God, she hated that one, the Knot, one of the five leaders of the Fivefold, the shapeshifter called Puck. They (as they frequently changed between being a man and a woman even when you were speaking to them, it was very irritating, and also slightly creepy, caught you off guard) were extremely creepy even (even without the shapeshifting) and it was clear that they were one of the most malevolent of the council that supported Queen Maeve.

What was more though, the call had confirmed what she had suspected: the Fivefold was indeed getting antsy, and with reports coming in of the growing strength of the Corrupter over in Beacon Hills, if Agravaine wound up triumphing over the True Alpha, it would quickly go from heightened tensions into all out sabre rattling.

Why did she have a bad feeling that there was only one way this would all wind up going?

Amanda had finally returned, hurpling a little (one of the packs she had interrogated had been a bit boisterous in defending their territory until she had assured them she was just here to question them) and she tiredly lowered herself into a seat beside Maggie, who elected not to tell her of the most recent conversation with the Fivefold.

"Are you alright?" she asked in concern, and Amanda nodded, rubbing her leg ruefully.

"Yeah, a very disgruntled Scottish werewolf threw me like a caber, landed hard on my hip, it's stinging like a bitch. Otherwise though I'm alright." She assured her, and Maggie let out a silent sigh of relief, she knew Amanda saw herself as Maggie's protector, but she too had a soft spot for the ice queen.

"I'm glad you're alright. Did you find anything out?" she asked sharply, she felt that whatever was the cause for the numerous deaths of the Prime Beta's in packs across the country, it was something she should worry about.

She had tried to bring it up with Puck, however they had been extremely unhelpful, other than glorifying in the death of over a dozen werewolves.

"Only what we already expected that all twelve victims are Prime Beta's, and they were killed for reasons unknown. The curious thing is, none of the packs seem to have a clue as to who would have done it, killing the Prime Beta is usually a prelude to an attack on the Alpha but other than losing their second in command, their packs are all fine. And it also wasn't hunters, this sort of thing, it feels random yet calculated, which makes me think that whoever is killing them is killing them for power. Nothing even really connects them either, other than they all mentioned an American floating around before it happened, but I'm not seeing how that helps, or if it was the American, why they would be going around killing Prime Beta's. Regardless, it seemed to have stopped weeks ago, but it's left the packs on edge, which obviously doesn't help when the Fivefold are essentially all of their neighbours." She admitted baldly, and Maggie had to concede that as a point.

If the packs got antsy, all it would take it one patrol, or one member of the Fivefold with an axe to grind, and boom. Great.

"Why would someone kill them for power though? Surely if you're going to do it, it should be the Alpha they kill for power, that's the whole point isn't it?" Maggie mused to herself, and as she did so, a dark thought ran through her mind.

The Prime Betas being killed had ended not long before Chris Argent had left, in fact they had probably ended just as he had arrived, give or take a week or so. And then, the Ghost Pack had shown up in Beacon Hills, causing total chaos all over the place where the Corrupter himself was currently going toe to toe with the True Alpha.

"Amanda, what if we missed it?" she asked breathlessly, and her young guardian/protégé looked at her curiously.

"Missed what?" she asked, totally at sea, and Maggie frowned.

It had all started weeks ago, not long before it seemed as though the Ghost Pack had headed for Beacon Hills. Prime Beta's, being targeted by an American, perhaps an American werewolf, and killing them. Amanda was right, that pointed to someone amassing power, most likely to challenge an Alpha, but not wanting to do it overtly. But killing the second in command of twelve packs, taking their power, that wasn't overt, that was downright sneaky. By doing it that way, it would throw everyone off the trail, as the packs themselves would mobilise and defend themselves, fearing it was the prelude to an attack. But what if the packs themselves weren't the target, and it was in fact just the Prime Betas? If it truly was all about power…

Numerous murders, which had ended quite abruptly, an American of some description (werewolves tended to keep themselves to themselves in this country so wouldn't have thought to investigate further, hell the only reason they knew was because Amanda had put it together) potentially involved, someone amassing power as though to challenge an Alpha but away from prying eyes, all at the same time that the Ghost Pack showed up in Beacon Hills and the Corrupter unleashed his attack, along with poisoning the Beta of the True Alpha.

She scowled. There was no way that these murders weren't in some way linked to the True Alpha, and his fight with the Ghost Pack. It was all connected, it had to be.

"We need to call Chris Argent, now." Maggie said darkly, reaching for her phone, and Amanda, still rubbing her leg ruefully, turned her dark, cold and calculating eyes onto her, and Maggie felt her stomach drop as the younger hunter came to the same conclusion.

"It's all connected, it has to be. Someone was killing them, taking their power so that…" she realised breathlessly, her eyes going round with shock.

"So that they can go after the only Alpha they could be gunning for since they didn't go for the Alphas here: the True Alpha." Maggie concluded, trying to find Chris' number in her phone, and Amanda looked at her worriedly.

"You think Agravaine is behind all of this?" she asked, and Maggie gnawed her lip as she considered the possibility, but no, the Corrupter was strong enough without any added assistance, so that meant the vile beast wasn't working alone.

"Possible, but I doubt it. But either way, it sounds like the True Alpha is about to have a fight on his hands, and if he doesn't win…" she said worriedly, finally finding Chris' number, and Amanda sighed wearily, knowing what would come as a result of the very thing that had gotten the two powers so excited being suddenly removed, the blame game, which would then only inflame the tensions until…

"The two sides keep blaming one another until they have no other choice, and they finally end up going to war."

XX

"Thanks for letting me know Maggie." Argent said as he hurried into the hospital, speeding down to where Allison had spent some nights just before she died, devotedly sitting at Isaac's bedside, waiting for him to wake up.

And now it was Scott who was in that room, his life ebbing away, and Melissa was about to go through the very thing he had gone through himself: the unbearable pain of losing a child. He would help her however he could of course, but he worried about what losing her son would do to her, such a vibrant and strong woman, but if she lost Scott, if the pack lost Scott, if Isaac lost Scott, hell, if he lost Scott, he would have failed Allison, and then…

He entered the room after knocking on the door to find Melissa standing at the bedside of where Scott had been left the night before, her head bowed, and Argent felt his heart collapse.

They'd lost Scott, he was gone, he was too late. Agravaine had won, Melissa had lost her son, Isaac had lost his boyfriend, the pack had lost their Alpha, and he, he had failed, failed them all, and worst of all, failed to honour his daughter's last request.

How could he have screwed up so badly? Allison had begged him to protect the pack, and now, Scott, her first love was gone, just like she was. He had failed them, failed them all, and what was more, the very secret part that was secretly fond of Scott, that admired the young boy who had so thoroughly captured his daughter's heart, and then captured the heart of the boy who had become his surrogate son, that boy who got knocked down time and again and still got up to fight again, it was like being split in two. He had never told Scott, never let him know…

"Melissa, I'm so sorry." He managed, fighting down the wave of grief that threatened to overtake him, and she started in alarm, looking up at him, her face worried, yes, but not devastated.

"Chris, what are you doing here?" she asked in surprise, and he suddenly felt very wrong footed.

"Scott, is he-?" he asked uncertainly, wondering if she was just locked in a deep state of denial, and she cocked her head at him curiously before the penny dropped, her eyes widening in realisation.

"Oh, no, not yet at any rate. I let him go." She admitted simply, and she had to admit, that had been strange enough itself, when Killian had simply countersigned the paperwork with a slight nod, he probably assumed it was a soon to be bereaved mother's wish.

"You let him go? So he's alright?" he asked hopefully, but she shook her head worriedly.

"No, he isn't, he's still dying, but its like something changed inside him, he's…he seems more content, more resolved, I don't know how to explain it. The good news is, he says he has a plan to stop Agravaine, once and for all." She told him, and inexplicably, Argent felt a proud smile blossom over his face.

He was doing it again. They had all learned the hard way, himself, Kate, Victoria, Peter, Gerard, Deucalion, the Darach, the Nogitsune, all of them, that if you came to Beacon Hills to cause trouble, there was one thing you should never do: underestimate Scott McCall.

"He has a plan?" he asked, grinning hopefully, and after all, Scott's plans had seen off his own father, the kid was a lot smarter than they gave him credit for at times.

Melissa nodded, though she didn't look nearly as joyful as she should if Scott did indeed have a last-minute plan to reverse all the damage Agravaine had done and retake control of the town, in fact, other than looking nauseous, she looked terrified.

"Yeah, but he's keeping it quiet, but I can tell he thinks it can work, but I'm scared Chris, what if it doesn't work, what if…" she asked, sounding tearful, and he hesitantly crossed to her, knowing that she was with the sheriff and feeling a little guilty about consoling another man's partner, but he hugged her to him as she sobbed.

"Hey," he told her softly, laying a hand on her shoulder, and her tear-filled brown eyes turned to look at him, "I've tried to kill Scott, quite a lot actually," he admitted, and it was astonishing how quickly she changed from upset to furious, she could be a supernatural creature with the speed her eyes shifted into helping form the murderous expression on her face, "and failed. I learned a long time ago, that if there's one thing that we shouldn't do, it's underestimate that boy of yours. After all, he found a way to save Jackson and Stiles when everyone said it couldn't be done, and he also saw off numerous threats that would have brought down, have brought down, people a lot older and more experienced than him. Believe in him Melissa, hell, I do." He told her unashamedly, and her murderous expression morphed into a slight smile.

"I know, I should. He's my son, I know him better than anyone. And besides, he better pull through this, I really don't want to have to call Rafe and tell him our son died, that would suck. Ok, Scott did explain some of his plan though. He says to tell you it's all going to come down to tonight, and that we need weapons, lots of them. Can you help?" she asked shrewdly, and Chris nodded hesitantly, wondering just what was going through the young Alpha's head.

"Yeah I can. What's he planning?" he asked, and she smiled a little and explained, and Argent nodded, a slight grin on his face.

That was just like Scott, protecting everyone else first and himself last. That meant that protecting Scott would be down to Argent himself then.

It was time to make war, hopefully for the last time.

XX

The car journey was mostly silent, aside from a few choice words where Isaac struggled with the old, clapped out car he was driving. Scott was lying beside him in the passenger seat, his skin grey, with his veins shining through in a sickly collage of acid green and sulphuric yellow. There was a sheen of unhealthy looking sweat on his brow, his whole body was shaking, and there seemed to be an insidious light glowing from within Scott as he struggled to stay awake. Scott would occasionally let out a groan of pain as he fought down the effects of what Agravaine had done to him, which would then be followed by a coughing fit during which he brought up increasing amounts of green tinged black blood every time he did so. Isaac was looking at him every few seconds in terror, fearful that if he took his eyes off him, Scott would slip away when he was concentrating on the road. Scott shivered a little and rubbed his arms as though to try and make himself feel better, and Isaac once more felt his breath catch in his throat. He brutally suppressed the urge to cry, Scott was the one who was dying, and if he was to keep him alive, Isaac needed to be able to do whatever he needed, not have a breakdown, no matter how appealing the prospect was.

The pack were silent. Thoroughly cowed by Isaac's fury, and obviously deducing from Lydia's scream what had happened to Scott wasn't good, they had all fled, and hadn't been anywhere near the hospital. He had seen the little clouds of self-doubt and depression flaring up on Scott every few times when he looked at him. Scott had to be wondering if he could fix his pack, if they even cared that he was dying, but he had also seen Scott brutally suppress the terror, the depression, every time it reared its ugly head. Isaac wanted to be able to fix it, but every time he thought of them, Lydia, Danny, Jackson, the twins, his blood boiled.

They had done this to him, to Scott, the only person who actually cared enough to constantly try and save their worthless, backstabbing lives. Scott would happily risk everything for them, time and again, and the one time that he had needed them, needed them to stand by him, they had turned on him, and now, as a result, Scott was dying. How the hell did they fix this, especially in time to save Scott?

For now, the solution seemed to start with Stiles. After being let out of the hospital by a highly reluctant Melissa, Scott had had Isaac text their errant best friend, who had replied with a meeting place, and a request for them to bring mountain ash. Isaac had snuck into the vet's (Dexio, who was operating a minor clinic until someone arrived to replace Deaton, and had been told Scott had been in an accident, was too busy to notice (from the cries in the consultation room, it seemed as though he was locked in a battle with a rabbit called Bartholomew, who seemed to be getting the better of the young vet)) and taken a vial, before heading out with Scott in the car, Scott's breath rattling inside his lungs as he drove them towards the preserve.

They had elected to meet at Malia's crash site, however Melissa's beat up car seemed to be rather disgruntled at this plan, and was giving Isaac major gyp as he drove it, however in the car's defence, it wasn't like he was focusing all his attention on his driving, he was too worried about Scott.

"Isaac?" Scott asked in a weak croak, and Isaac frantically looked at his fading Alpha.

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly, god he hated driving, he should be…

"Sweetie, relax, I'm alright. It's just, you should have turned back there." Scott assured him weakly, chuckling a little before coughing a bit.

Cursing himself, Isaac immediately put the car into a hairpin turn, throwing his arm across Scott's chest to protect him while he did so as Scott lurched a little, the car now trundling along (its brakes screeching in protest) quite happily.

Scott looked down at Isaac's arm, shaking his head in amusement.

"Can't believe you just mommed me." He complained, leaning his head back against the window, the cool glass helping with how awful he felt, and Isaac shot him a reproving look.

"I did not mom you." He protested, and Scott smiled, his eyes closed as he savoured the coolness of the glass on his skin.

"You did mom me, everyone I like moms me." He teased tiredly, and Isaac blushed a little as he drove them towards Stiles.

As they got there, Stiles was leaning on the ruined car, looking tired, white and worried, though his face did shift into a mask of relief as he saw Scott and Isaac finally arrive. Isaac pulled the car up, getting out and shooting Stiles a filthy look as he did so, and as Stiles rushed towards them, Isaac helped a weak and now shaking and shivering Scott out of the car.

"Scotty, thank god I-" Stiles began until Isaac span angrily, his fist colliding with his face, and crashing Stiles to the cold, hard ground with a thud.

Scott rolled his eyes in exasperation while Stiles laid there, a bit dazed.

"Ok, deserved that. But you know, ow!" he protested as Scott leaned against the car.

"Can you blame him? Stiles, what the hell?" he demanded, torn between wanting to hug his best friend and wanting to kick the crap out of him, and Stiles got to his feet, though did shoot a filthy look at Isaac, who merely growled in response before he looked at his best friend.

"Scott, I swear I can explain everything! I know you don't have any reason to trust me right now, let alone like me, but I swear, I'm on your side, like I always am!" he insisted, and Isaac glowered at Stiles.

"Hey, he still thinks there's a bit of leftover Nogitsune inside him, how do we know this isn't a trick?" he pointed out, and Scott looked expectantly at his best friend, who's face faltered, and inexplicably Scott found himself getting furious.

While he understood that Stiles would never betray him, that Stiles was, as always, on his side, that didn't excuse what he'd done, or at the very least, how he'd done it. He was his best friend, yet he'd found out from Agravaine both that the sheriff had been threatened by the dogs, and that Stiles was working for them. And double agent or not, the fact was, Stiles, pretending to have gone rogue, had helped cause all of this, helped cause the implosion of the pack, helped cause what had happened to him, however well-intentioned he had been.

"Good question, let's find out shall we?" Scott snarled angrily, and Stiles eyes bulged in alarm as Scott strode forward and rather more viciously than he should have, plunged his claws into the back of Stiles' neck, Stiles yelping in pain as he did so.

"Scott!" Isaac yelped in shock as Scott looked at the thoughts and memories inside the mind of his best friend, and Scott then gently retracted his claws from the back of his best friend's neck, as Stiles clapped a hand to the back of his neck, looking at Scott reproachfully.

"Damn that hurt!" he protested, and Scott treated himself to a small grin.

"Good, serves you right for 'betraying' me. He's telling the truth. Stiles…"

"I'm so sorry Scott." Stiles said softly, before hugging Scott to him tightly, and Scott melted into his brother's embrace.

Stiles was still his friend, still his brother, still the same guy he'd known all his life. He felt a rush of something within him, suppressing the coughing fit that had nearly started when Stiles had taken the air from his body by hugging him.

"So I can't kill him?" Isaac asked miserably, and Stiles reluctantly broke away from Scott and shot Isaac a slight grin.

"Hey, you made a pretty good try of it in Eichen, isn't that enough? I'm sorry dude, and you know…" he began, and Isaac hugged him too, feeling Stiles squeeze back in relief.

"Well, I tried to kill you, so I suppose we're even." He mumbled, and Stiles turned, shamefacedly towards his best friend, who looked like he had a bit more colour in his cheeks now than when he had gotten out of the car.

"Scott, I'm so sorry, I messed it all up, I- " he started to babble, but Scott raised a hand, forestalling his blustering, and he just fixed Stiles with an exasperated look.

"Why didn't you just tell me, instead of making us, making me think that you betrayed me, that I was that useless you'd rather…" he said, his exasperation turning into tears, and Stiles wrapped Scott in a gentle hug, rocking him as his best friend sobbed into his shoulder, and Stiles let him do it, hushing him and trying to soothe him.

He had done this to Scott, however good his intentions were, whatever he may have learned that would potentially help save the day, he had still help break his best friend, the dying part aside.

"I am so sorry Scotty. I wanted to tell you, I was going to tell you the night Ifrit attacked, but with all the trouble that caused you had enough on your plate. And after that, the dogs were always following me, especially the Gytrashes. I split up with Malia to protect her, you know she'd never let me have do this, or at least not alone if she'd known, and it would have gotten her killed. I wanted to tell you, but the dogs were always watching, at least until Eichen, when it… I never meant for any of this to happen Scott, I never wanted to hurt you like I did. I didn't handle it well, at all, no arguments there. Plus side, I was very convincing!" he insisted hopefully, hesitantly trying a smile, and was rewarded for his efforts by a small smile appearing on Scott's face, which also matched Isaac's as he leaned against the car with his boyfriend, his arm snaking around Scott's waist to help support him.

"I'll give you that, dickhead. I don't understand why you didn't even tell us that Thane had tried to get your dad?" he asked, and Stiles shrugged, looking away from them both.

"It's hard to explain." He replied, and Isaac glared at him.

"Oh no, after all the trouble and heartache you've caused him, caused all of us, you can answer, unless you want me to kick the crap out of you again?" he snapped, and Stiles raised his hands in surrender, and realised that he was right.

He had spent too long alone, too long locked away with his own thoughts, regretting everything the damn Nogitsune had made him do in the first place. And besides, like Isaac had said, after everything he had done to Scott, his brother deserved the truth from him. He'd been lying, deceiving…tricking for far too long.

"Ok. After the Nogitsune, I didn't feel like, well, anything really. Like myself, like one of you guys. I know, I know it was all in my head," he said, raising his voice slightly, correctly deducing what Scott and Isaac's interjection was about to be, "but this thing had come inside me. It had taken me over, made me go crazy, and that was just the start of it. That thing, it made me kill over two dozen innocent people, who just got in the way of the chaos it wanted to cause. I did it, it was me who killed those people, it was my hands that did it. The Nogitsune might have been piloting, but it was still…me. It was still me who stabbed my best friend through the stomach," he said, looking hopelessly at Scott, who's own eyes looked watery as he could hear the raw pain in Stiles' voice, "it was me who got my other best electrocuted and nearly got him killed," he whispered, turning his attention to Isaac, who looked at him sadly, "it was me, who kidnapped Lydia, who almost killed Coach, who made my dad think I was dying from the exact same thing that killed mom," he explained, tears falling from his eyes now, "it was me who nearly got Aiden killed, and it was me, it was my fault that Allison died, it's my fault that I'm alive and she's dead, when all she wanted to do was protect her friends. It's all my fault!" he sobbed, and both werewolves pulled him to them, hugging him tightly, hushing him softly as Scott used some of his remaining strength to stroke his hands through his best friend's messy hair.

"Stiles, it was never your fault! You had no control, it was the Nogitsune, we all know that. None of us blame you, you know that right?" Scott asked softly, pressing a kiss into Stiles' hair, and Stiles sniffed and nodded.

"Yeah, I know. And I think, that was part of my problem. I had this horrible darkness inside me, I think, I wanted some good to come out of it, I wanted to be blamed, or at least to achieve something because of it, instead of just watching more people get hurt because of me. Does that make sense?" he asked, wiping his eyes with his sleeve, and while Scott looked at him, clearly confused, Isaac nodded a little.

"You wanted to take your pain, your anger, and make it worth something, like that…fixes it." He told him, tears in his own eyes as he did so, and Stiles nodded, looking at Isaac thankfully, and Isaac wrapped him in a tighter hug, rocking him slightly as he did so.

Stiles hadn't just been possessed, there was no rule book for dealing with that. He'd also been abused, abused by a millennia old trickster spirit, and he just wanted to take everything negative and throw it back at the world, as if that could fix the pain he felt inside. Isaac could relate, he'd been the same with his father. Stiles was traumatised, just like he had been by his father, and he had withdrawn from all the others who had only ever wanted to help him, convinced that no matter what they all felt, he felt that he didn't deserve their help, their concern, their love.

Stiles hadn't come out the other side yet, he still keenly felt the pain, the horror of everything he had endured. But if they all survived this, they would help him as much as they could, to finally accept himself.

"I didn't feel like I deserved you guys help, and I'm sorry I messed that up. I didn't want to cause more trouble, more pain than I already had, and I know it was dumb, it was stupid, it was short-sighted, but I didn't feel like I deserved to go to you guys, so I did it myself. And then I obviously proceeded to make it even worse. I'm so sorry." He said hopelessly, and Scott shook his head, lamenting the whole thing.

"I know. I just wish you'd come to me. Did you at least talk to Malia?" he asked softly, and Stiles nodded, though looked pained again.

"Yeah, I did. She tried to talk me round, but I still didn't feel like I deserved it, I didn't even feel like I deserved her. I messed it all up, and made it all worse. But I wanted to try and feel like I deserved you guys again, especially you and Malia, Scott. I'm sorry." He whispered earnestly, and Scott smiled ruefully, and nuzzled his brother slightly.

"You're an idiot." He whispered in his ear, and Stiles laughed a little, it was a watery sounding chuckle, but it was a laugh at least.

"Yeah I know. Still your best idiot though, right?" he asked brightly, and Scott sniggered a little, then wished he hadn't, damn that hurt.

"Yeah, you are." He replied weakly before giving into a coughing fit, and Stiles looked frantically at his brother, who thankfully, didn't spit any blood up this time.

Stiles looked at Isaac, who inexplicably had a grin on his face, and both Scott and Stiles looked at him curiously.

"What are you looking so happy about?" Stiles asked grumpily, and Isaac shrugged, trying not to laugh.

"It's just…I'm the most mentally stable out of all of us, it makes such a nice change!" he replied brightly, and both Scott and Stiles were silent for a second before all three of them burst out laughing, though it was soon cut short when Scott did actually spit up blood this time, which sobered them up rather quickly.

"Scott! And Isaac, stop enjoying our mental breakdowns so much." Stiles scolded, as Isaac helped steady Scott, who wiped his mouth weakly, and Isaac flinched as he suddenly absorbed pain from his boyfriend.

That could only mean his prognosis was getting worse, he hadn't been able to do that so far, this wasn't good.

"No promises. Sweetie? I haven't taken your pain away before." Isaac whispered as he helped Scott steady himself again, and Scott smiled a little, there was that little tremor in his voice that reminded Scott of how much Isaac loved him, and on the other hand, Stiles was fretting like a mother hen, having found a tissue from somewhere and was trying to clean him up.

"Stop fussing, I'm not dead yet. Alright, I'm fine, ok? How did you manage to get away, aren't they watching you?" Scott asked curiously, and Stiles looked around nervously, but shrugged.

"It was Bonnie, she came back from the hospital, she said she was going to check on you. She covered me while I came to meet you guys, she's different, especially since the hospital. She came back limping too." He told them, and Isaac looked a bit smug.

"Good." He said savagely, and Scott tried and failed not to look too proud of him, while Stiles rolled his eyes.

"Hey, she isn't so bad, she's been looking out for me, and seems to have changed all of a sudden." He mused, and Scott nodded.

"Yeah, it was like something changed when Agravaine attacked me, she was weird in the hospital too. So, did you find anything out while you were betraying me?" Scott teased, and while Stiles shot him a dirty look.

"A lot actually, partly that they're not so big on personal hygiene," he lamented, screwing up his nose, "but that's the least of our worries. Scott, Agravaine isn't the only big bad." Stiles told him darkly, and Scott was suddenly rather pleased that he hadn't yet told Isaac of Peter's role in the whole affair, as his boyfriend's mouth dropped open comically.

"What? Another one? How many have we freaking got?" he thundered, but Scott allowed himself a satisfied smile, that proved it, and that it wasn't just Agravaine's death causing induced fever dream that meant he'd imagined the whole thing.

"I know." He said simply, and now Stiles also looked astonished as he looked at his best friend.

"Wait, you know?" he demanded weakly, he'd been undercover, and risked literally everything to do so, and Scott already knew?

Scott, feeling rather smug that he had been right, and also a little nettled (as he had a sneaking suspicion Stiles thought he wasn't smart enough to have figured it out himself), he looked evenly at Stiles.

"Yeah I know. It occurred to me when I was lying in hospital, you know, courtesy of your new pal Agravaine." He taunted, which made Stiles glower at him.

Isaac, now looking very lost, held up a hand, kneading his temples wearily.

"Wait, who is this other big bad?" he asked, and both Scott and Stiles smirked as they answered in unison.

"Peter."

"PETER?" Isaac stormed furiously, his eyes glowing gold as he snarled the name, and Scott nodded, he could well understand his anger.

"Yep. He's been the one behind it all, he's been setting all this up for months, and on top of that, luck was a major factor too. He's always been the one behind it all, and we all played right into his trap." Scott explained, leaning against the car, and it was strange, it was like he was taking strength from the righteous fury he felt, and from explaining it to the others, explaining exactly how the devious, two-faced backstabbing son of a bitch had done all of this.

"Yeah, he's been working with Agravaine, that's how he knew how to strike at us, he's been doing this for weeks." Stiles added bitterly, but Scott shook his head.

"Oh no he hasn't dude, he's been doing this for months. He's been planning this since before we defeated Jennifer," he explained, feeling how right he was in his gut, "and so far, it's all gone exactly according to plan."

"Wait, that long?" Isaac asked, well, that made sense, it was Peter after all, but…

"That night in the hospital, with Jennifer. When we found out that you're the True Alpha!" Stiles realised, and Scott nodded, smiling smugly, yeah sure, he wasn't in the best of states, but didn't mean he wasn't enjoying the fact that Peter had orchestrated all of this just to get back at him, it was quite amusing in its own perverse way.

"Exactly. When he found out that I was about to become the True Alpha, he was pissed. You can see why, Peter never got the chance to be the Alpha, his sister Talia was always the Alpha, and there's also the fact that she knew full well he was a power-hungry megalomaniac. And then obviously, he killed Laura and stole her power to become the Alpha.

Now, he was finally the Alpha, and who does he bite, but me? A dorky asthmatic teenager who was obsessed with his first love, and simply wouldn't do what he wanted me to do. And because of me, his Alphaship came to an end when you guys and Derek killed him. So, this kid, this dumb sixteen-year-old, who he blames for his defeat, his humiliation, is not only the beta who didn't do what he wanted: he's also the True Alpha, who can become an Alpha through sheer force of will. This kid can be the Alpha, which is what he's always wanted to be, this kid is the Alpha that he should have been, this kid has the power he should have had. Essentially, I stole his crown from him, or at least according to him." Scott said with relish, and both Stiles and Isaac exchanged amused looks, yeah, when you span it like that, you can see why Peter was so pissed and determined to topple Scott, and considering he was dying, it was also nice to see that Scott was really enjoying describing how much Peter hated him.

"Thing is, for all his faults, of which there are many," Scott admitted dryly, continuing his expose, "Peter does have one slight redeeming quality: he does, at least in his own way, to care about Derek and Cora. This is really quite good for him, because if he wanted to be the Alpha again, he would have had to stop Derek being the Alpha, which means he would have to kill him. But along comes Jennifer, and Peter expertly manipulates Derek into taking the only course open to him to save his sister: to give up his Alpha spark. Cora recovers, and lives happily ever after, and Derek is no longer the Alpha.

Meaning I am now the only game in town, this boy he hates so much, this usurper of his throne. He always wants power, and he'll stop at nothing to get it. I'm willing to bet he probably started planning to bring me down before he'd even left the hospital the night he found out I was the True Alpha. Everything he's done ever since has been dedicated to destroying me, taking my power and making him the Alpha again."

Stiles and Isaac both looked at Scott in shock, it was clear that even they were guilty of slightly underestimating him, it was clear that Scott understood Peter on a much more intricate level than any of them had ever anticipated, including, with a bit of luck, Peter himself.

"So how does that explain all of this?" Stiles asked, gesturing wildly, and Scott sighed a little, not from pain or exhaustion, just annoyance at Peter in general.

"Easy. See, when Isaac was in getting the mountain ash for you," he explained, and Stiles eyes lit up, "I called your dad. I asked him to check something for me. Peter avoided the majority of the fight with the Nogitsune, partly because he was captured by the Calaveras. But he also missed the end of it, he didn't know Allison had been killed until he came back a few weeks back. I had your dad check, Peter wasn't here, he wasn't even in the country. Three guesses where he was." He told them innocently, and Isaac's face was one of dawning comprehension.

"London." He concluded, and Scott nodded, winking at his boyfriend.

"Smart boy. Yep, Peter left the house the day the other Nogitsune came out the floor, and went straight to London. The thing is, Peter knows all of us, and knows how we all work. And so, he knows how to destroy us. First step was finding Jackson.

Obnoxious, arrogant, spoilt, has to be the best Jackson, who only wanted to be a werewolf because he was pathologically incapable of accepting that I was suddenly better than him after I got the bite. He knows Jackson, knows what he's like, knows his personality. He knew full well, that despite owing me for trying so hard to save him, that it would rub Jackson the wrong way that not only was I an Alpha, but his Alpha. If he got Jackson, he could throw him into the pack and let nature take it's course.

And that's when Agravaine comes in. They join forces, he attacks us psychologically and physically, and Peter undermines us at every point, sitting back and stirring up trouble while we run around trying to stop Agravaine. Throw in the corruption of the Nemeton and the problems that's caused, the constant stress we've been under, and most important of all, the fallout of your possession and Allison's death, and Peter's expert touch, he was all set to rip us apart, while basically keeping his hands clean through the whole thing, doing it so that we didn't even twig what he was up to until it was far too late."

Both his companions' anger was rising, he could smell it on the air, as the full implications of how thoroughly they'd all been manipulated started to dawn on them, and Scott pushed on ahead with his explanation, both Stiles and Isaac growing more and more incensed with each point he made.

"See, when I was lying in the hospital bed, I kept thinking: how did it all go so wrong so fast? It started when Jackson came back, but other than the fact that he was dying, there wasn't anything that weird about it. Jackson caused a bit of strife, but you know, that's him. Things didn't really start to go wrong until the night I didn't kill the Pombero; the night he told us he was Malia's father.

I knew at the time that he was up to something, there's no reason he would take so much pleasure telling her if he wasn't, he's not exactly the paternal sort. He wanted us to know because he knew it would lead to trouble, and it helped isolate Malia. See, he didn't actually need people to hate her, or turn on her, he just needed to be able to use her, to split her off from the rest of us, which is what we did. That little bombshell, combined with how badly she was doing in school which was caused by her finding that out and also by the dogs, combined with her moronic boyfriend breaking up with her," Scott recounted, and Stiles went red and looked at his shoes while Isaac tried not to smirk, "drove her away from us and she became a coyote again, and she's also been hiding from us. We all let her down." Scott admitted sadly, and they had, they hadn't realised how badly Malia was flailing, how much she had needed support and it had cost them, dearly, but Stiles shook his head.

"That's on me Scott, I didn't realise, and I helped push her over the edge, I was too concerned with my own problems. And breaking up with her, not my best move." He admitted lamely, and Isaac snorted derisively.

"Yeah, no shit Sherlock." He sneered, and Scott interjected before the two of them started bickering.

"So, by this point, he's got Jackson, who's presence alone will help him rip apart the pack. He's twisted his way into Malia's head. Lydia, frustrated about her powers and the fact that she blames herself for Allison, plus his ridiculous good luck that the Pombero showed up at the same time, she was easy enough. He was kind of cut off from pushing too much with her, because Martagh was always floating around. But with her, all he had to do was play on her bitterness and her resentment about what happened with Allison and how she blamed herself, and that would have pushed her away from us too. He was also keen to use the fact that I didn't kill the Pombero, he capitalised on that and used it to push Lydia away from me as well.

So, Lydia, Jackson and Malia. His three weapons to wedge apart the pack, along with the dogs causing untold havoc. Agravaine then murdered Mason and made it even worse, making us fall apart even more. And because it's him, he quickly realised that he could capitalise on the Nogitsune and Allison, and then, you. He talked to you didn't he?" Scott asked softly, and Stiles fumbled a little, before nodding, his eyes growing wide in realisation as he did so.

"Yeah, the same night I went to talk to Malia, but how did-?" he asked indignantly, and Scott raised a finger to silence his brother.

"Because I'm willing to bet that he's spoken in some way with the majority of the pack recently. See, Peter's smart, that's the problem. He's hardly going to come out and outrightly say 'Scott's shit, desert him' or anything like that. No, it'll be a snide comment here and there, pointing out how bad I am at this. Just a little whisper in someone's ear, get them thinking, and then the corruption of the Nemeton, the stress of the dogs, the fact that Jackson's dying, Allison and Mason's deaths and your possession do all the rest."

"That night I shot him in the ass…" Isaac realised slowly, and Stiles smirked, suppressing a snigger.

"You shot him in the ass? That's brilliant!" he laughed, and both Scott and Isaac grinned, before Isaac cocked his head at his boyfriend.

"The sort of snide comments he was making, I thought he was just messing with your head but…"

"Exactly. I reckon that's been his modus operandi for weeks now, that would be all it takes, and then let everything else, be it the dogs, all the death, the stress, the Nemeton, our own screwups, all of it, all work for him. Don't get me wrong, he's very good, but he's also been very lucky. The Djinn and the Pombero both helped him cause all this just by being here, and so did the whole thing with the Nogitsune and Allison's death. That's the problem, the evil bastard knows us, and he knows exactly how to destroy us, and what's worse, through one thing or another, he came pretty damn close." He snarled, now shaking, but not with the effects of Agravaine's attack, but with anger.

Peter had played them all like pawns on a chessboard, all so he could become the Alpha again and kill Scott, take his power and fix what he saw as the great slight against him. To do so, he had attacked the pack when they were at their most vulnerable, exploiting the misery and fear left by the Nogitsune, and had preyed upon the chaos caused by the onslaught of enemies that had suddenly arrived in town. All it needed was Peter to make a few snide comments at the right time, undermining Scott and allowing their imaginations to do the rest, and just sit back and watch as they ripped themselves apart.

"He got to me, he must have gotten to Malia…" Stiles breathed, his nostrils flaring, and Scott was certain he saw his eyes shine a hint of silver then, and Scott nodded.

"Yep, he also obviously got to Jackson too. Danny would follow Jackson, because he's scared of losing his best friend again. Ethan would go eventually too, as he's terrified after what nearly happened to Aiden, and Aiden, no matter how loyal he is to me, would always side with Ethan to protect him. He probably got into Lydia's head too. He probably hasn't gone after Derek, Derek knows him best and would be able to figure out he's up to something. He doesn't know Kira, Liam, Garrett and Violet well enough to try and turn them against me, and other than Kira, they're all human so not that much of a contribution to my power. And Isaac is always with me, so he wouldn't try with him, he'd be wasting his time." Scott said sweetly, and Isaac blushed and smiled a little, while Stiles rolled his eyes, though did smile a little.

And besides, he could hardly resent the two of them for that, he'd kind of abandoned Scott, which meant it was down to Isaac to keep him together since he'd been unable to.

"So, the twisted, backstabbing, murderous power-hungry psychopath has done all this just to kill you and be the Alpha again?" Isaac asked tiredly, and Stiles nodded.

"Yep, and has been working with Agravaine from the start too. From what I've picked up, seems Agravaine had found Jackson already and Peter just helped him out, but both of them are working together to kill Scott. Ok, so, how do we stop Peter?" he asked, bringing the discussion back to the situation in hand.

"By stopping Agravaine." Scott explained with a grim smile, and Stiles looked confused.

"So how do we stop Agravaine?" he asked, lost, and Scott grinned all the wider, enjoying winding him up again.

"By stopping Peter." He replied, and became aware of both his best friend and his boyfriend glaring at him.

"That isn't helpful. And am I the only one getting sick of these paradoxes?" Isaac complained, and Scott had to admit, these paradoxes were actually his major stumbling point, they needed one last little roll of the dice that went their way, then his plan would work, he was hoping Stiles was going to present the information he needed.

"Have you found anything else?" Scott asked, and Stiles frowned musingly as he ran it all over in his head.

"The Berserkers are a no go, I'm beginning to think Agravaine and Peter don't know what they're doing here honestly," he lamented, but Scott shook his head.

"They're not a problem, mom took out two when they were dealing with Ifrit, he's gone. They took down another two on top of that, Parrish got one." He explained, and Stiles let out an impressed whistle.

"Mamma McCall took down a Berserker? Go her," he murmured, seriously impressed, "but I think in the general scheme of things they're less of a threat anyway. Thane is in love with Agravaine by the way, but I don't think Agravaine knows, or if he does, he doesn't care. They're kind of like…" he said uncertainly, and Scott nodded, looking tenderly at Isaac, who met his eyes worriedly.

"Us." Isaac whispered, and Stiles nodded.

"Yeah, like you guys, but I don't see how that's helpful," Stiles admitted, but Scott did, if they were to stop the dogs, they were going to have to think how they would stop themselves, which meant he had to think about how someone would stop him, answer, target the person closest to him, and as Thane was a mix of Stiles and Isaac, the answer was fairly obvious. Thane was going to have to be dealt with before they went after Agravaine, otherwise Thane, like Isaac, would go to all sorts of lengths to protect the person he cared about.

"Ok, that is helpful. Anything else?" he asked, and Stiles allowed himself a sly, cunning grin, the sort of grin that wouldn't be out of place on the face of the Nogitsune, and while it did scare Scott a little, he was also reassured, he knew the truth now.

While there might be a little Nogitsune left in Stiles, it wasn't enough to threaten anyone, but was ideal for helping to stop Agravaine and Peter. He was his best friend, loyal to him through and through, and Scott had used the twins more vicious sides at times in the past, he was just using the dark part of Stiles for the same reason.

Still, didn't change the fact that he was slightly creepy though.

"I know what Agravaine used to be, before he was cursed into becoming a Gwyllgi. He used to be a werewolf, most likely an Alpha." He explained significantly, and that, that was the final piece that he had been missing!

Agravaine used to be a werewolf, he was cursed yes, but underneath it all, he was still technically a werewolf. And if Bonnie was right, then the reason was obvious, and when you added in the curse as well, and factored in Hollis, then it all came down to a neat little package.

The problem now was the Nemeton, if he could purge that, that would weaken Agravaine, and then maybe, just maybe, they could finally stop him.

"Stiles, you're a genius…and that's why you wanted the mountain ash isn't it?" he asked in realisation, and Stiles nodded, though looked slightly unsure.

"Well yeah, I mean it worked before with Gerard, I was thinking if I could spike him, it might weaken him a little, and then you might be a bit safer." He told him, and Scott smiled a little, as he had the last pieces of his plan come together.

"Ok, that's a good idea. Stiles, buddy, are you sure you can do this without getting caught, and your throat ripped out?" Scott asked, surprising both Stiles and Isaac as he did so.

"Wait, you think it's a good idea?" Stiles asked in shock, and Scott shook his head.

"No, I think it's suicidal. But if we're to get out of this, save the pack, save me, stop the dogs and all, we need to take a risk unfortunately, and I'm sorry but you're where you need to be to help me do that. Do you think you can spike Agravaine?" Scott asked, fearing for the life of his best friend, and Stiles nodded hesitantly.

"He has this flask, I haven't figured out if it was a gift from Hollis from when they knew each other before, or from his best friend who I'm assuming met another grisly end, but he's always drinking out of it. If I can slip the ash inside it, it should weaken him." He reasoned, and Scott nodded, not entirely liking this plan but they were short on time and options.

"Ok, if you're sure you can do this without getting caught and killed, because if you do we can't," he began worriedly, and Stiles laid a hand on his wrist, shaking his head.

"Hey, if there's anything I know now, it's how to trick people. Don't worry, I won't get caught, I know you've got your own problems, and your own mess to fix. I'm sorry Scott, that I helped get you into this. You can trust me." Stiles promised earnestly, and Scott hugged him tightly, his body shaking, as was Stiles.

He knew what he was asking Stiles to do, and he was terrified that he was asking Stiles to go to his death. He knew that if Stiles succeeded it could mean the difference between their victory or defeat, but he couldn't stop thinking about the fact that if Stiles got caught, this would be the last time he ever saw him, as Agravaine would surely kill him. He shook a little, terrified for Stiles, but Stiles held him tighter.

"Trust me Scott, I helped get you into this mess, I'll help get you out ok? I won't let you down." He promised, and they broke apart, Scott looking at him worriedly.

"Just be careful, ok? Don't get caught, if it's too risky…" Scott begged, and Isaac came over to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders, and Scott felt himself melt into Isaac's hold as they both looked worriedly at Stiles.

"I'll be fine dude, I promise." He told him earnestly, and Isaac looked at him anxiously.

"Stiles, it's dangerous, we…" he started, but Stiles held up a finger, shutting the Prime Beta up.

"I know, I'll be on my own, but if you don't fix the pack, Scott's dead anyway. I can do this, after all, I'm the trickster." He teased, and for the first time since his possession, Stiles felt there was a chance he could actually be alright.

He was still unable to accept all the Nogitsune had done, but he knew now, had come to terms with the fact now that it wasn't actually him. And using the dark nature of the Nogitsune and its leftover to help bring down Agravaine, that was something good he could convert it to, all he needed to do now was make sure it worked, and that Scott survived so that together they could finally defeat the dogs and restore peace to the town.

"Are you sure?" Scott asked, sounding defeated, and Stiles gave him a reassuring smile and nodded.

"I am Scotty, it'll be ok, I promise. Then we can finally stop Agravaine." He promised, and with a last tortured look, Scott nodded, and Isaac reluctantly passed the mountain ash to him.

"I know we need to do it, but…" Scott protested, and Stiles wrapped him in a hug.

"Hey, I'm not leaving you again, I promise. Now, hurry up, either way dude, you're still dying. I'll text you when it's done." He said, and after wrapping them both in a last hug, he headed off.

Scott stood looking at where Stiles was disappearing to for a moment, before he started to keel over a bit, and Isaac gently reached to catch him, bracing him against his chest. Scott savoured the touch, realising that if his plan failed, then this could be one of the last times he was held by his boyfriend, something that also must have occurred to Isaac too, as he tightly wrapped his arms around Scott's waist and let him lean against his chest while Isaac buried his face in the crook of Scott's neck, and Scott reached up slowly, the pain getting to him, but he pushed through it, running his hand through Isaac's soft hair as he did so.

"We need to trust him." Isaac mumbled, not liking how cold Scott felt in his grip, and Scott nodded tiredly, just savouring touching Isaac as he did so.

"We need to trust everyone, including our friends." He murmured softly, closing his eyes as a roiling wave of burning pain seared through him, and Isaac's touch automatically triggered his healing absorption, and he heard Isaac hiss in pain.

"Ow…yeah, but remember, I went biblical at them, and at the moment, I'm not too fond of most of them, in fact I kind of want them to die a little." He retorted bitterly, and Scott smiled a little, and rubbed Isaac's cheek lovingly.

"I know you're mad at them sweetie, but even if I do die, you still can't kill them. Consider it my dying request," he teased, and Isaac groaned.

"That's not fair, you can't pull the dying card to stop me killing everyone who so thoroughly deserves it!" he complained childishly, and Scott smiled and turned and kissed Isaac's cheek.

"Sorry sweetie, but if nothing else, I need them, we need them, we all need each other. We need to fix everything Peter's done." He explained, and Isaac nodded, leaning his forehead against Scott's, and Scott didn't fail to noticed that Isaac was holding him up so that he didn't collapse, and at the moment, god he needed it, he could feel the weakness spreading through his body, the pain, the fire, god he needed this to be over, he needed his friends, he needed to finish this, and at the moment, he needed Isaac, simply to hold him up.

"Why not just tell them?" Isaac asked in confusion, and Scott shook his head.

"Can't, then they'll only come back for revenge. I need to win them back honey, do you get it? It's an Alpha thing I think, I need to do this." He explained, not really understanding it himself, though Isaac nodded hesitantly.

"Kind of, but there's still the fact that we don't have a pack at the moment, not really, we're kind of just our original little two-pack. How do we fix it?" he asked, and Scott allowed his eyes to glow for a second, and Isaac felt a confident smile blossoming all over his face as he saw his boyfriend's eyes.

This time they were the pure red of an Alpha, and though they did flicker for a second, flicking back to gold for a second, they returned to red for a bit longer before going back to gold.

"We got Stiles back, and I think, the more we put back together, the stronger I get. Now, let's go. We need to start where it all started to go wrong, with Malia. I think I know where she is. So far, we've just been traipsing around looking for her, but I was thinking: at the end of the day, Stiles did break her heart, however you spin it. So, to me, as he's her anchor, it seems logical to assume that she'd go somewhere to be close to him, somewhere important to both of them." He told him, and Isaac thought for a moment before his blue eyes widened in realisation and he looked at Scott in slight surprise.

"Wait, the creek where they had sex?" he asked in shock, and Scott grinned and nodded.

"Yeah, I think so, it's important to both of them, it's good hunting for her, and it's a reminder of how good they were together before all this happened. What do you think?" Scott asked, and Isaac smiled, and kissed Scott's forehead proudly.

"I think you're proving to yourself why you're my hero and that you can fix anything, and that you're actually a secret genius," he said playfully, and Scott's poisoned colour changed as he went red with self-conscious embarrassment, though he was rather pleased with himself too, "let's go."

XX

Deep inside the recesses of the Directive's base, screams punctuated the air from one of the many laboratories. Within, Turnbull was performing her experiments on a screaming Corey, who was begging to be released, but she simply smirked coldly and continued her experiments, doing her research for Project Typhon's eventual completion.

Elsewhere within the base, Urbaniak was seeing to the obedience training of their four pets, one for each of the Dread Doctors and one for Colonel Sinner, the commander of the Ouroboros Regiment that acted as the Directive's military arm.

Colonel Sinner himself was in the holding area, looking at the damage that had been wrought the last time the Dread Doctors had been headquartered here in Beacon Hills, which they had been forced to abandon following the rather public execution of two rebellious colleagues after their assistance to the terrorists known as the Desert Wolf and her lover, Der Soldat.

Their meddling had led to both the Desert Wolf and Der Soldat escaping, fleeing back to cause chaos in the outside world and drawing even more attention, especially when the Desert Wolf had committed another couple of murders of innocent passers-by during her escape, fleeing with the remaining child of the twins she had given birth to in captivity, now known as the Child. After the lightning rod of attention had fallen on them, they had been forced to abandon ship quite quickly, scattering the three Dread Doctors and their various minions to various subordinate facilities, all the while pursuing their own projects.

But now, the Dread Doctors were back together, united in their purpose, the eradication of all supernatural life, and every day, they got closer to success, to the time when they would be vindicated, their research complete, and the bodies of the supernatural littering the globe.

Ever closer now.

Deep within his silent room, the Surgeon, Dr Valack, sat cross legged on the floor, his three eyes closed as he tried to pick up on the various ebbs and currents of this existence. There was something there, what was it, ah!

His three eyes snapped open, and he allowed himself a dark smile as he realised with a jolt what he had seen with his prescience:

"The prodigal is returning home."

Ooh, Scott has a plan!

Can anyone guess what I was watching at one point while I was writing this, particuarly around the time I was writing Scott's realisation? A very catchy song influenced it and hence was included

And now, the board is set, Scott's plan is afoot, and our boys are back together, but that was the easy part, the rest of the pack could be harder after all that's happened...

And just what is Valack up to now?

Please read and review!