Stiles' jeep was parked outside the vet's office when he got there, thank goodness. If he'd had to wait for them, Derek probably would've flipped out. He didn't see Scott's bike, but hopefully he'd just gotten a ride with Stiles. School was out for the summer, so they wouldn't have to worry about that, even though they all seemed to skip at least a few times a week. Isaac had sat quietly for the whole drive, hugging the clothes around himself as best he could. This was such a mess.

"Okay Isaac, we're here," Derek said soothingly, cringing at how the boy tensed up. This random alley was pretty creepy if you were a kid. "My friends are waiting for us inside. Two of them are big kids and the man is a veterinarian. He helps cats and dogs feel better." Derek felt like an idiot as he spoke, like he was some kid show host reject. He was never going to have kids of his own, this just solidified that fact.

Derek climbed out of the car, moving quickly around to get Isaac out as well. Isaac went back to his previous position, curled up under his arm. This was going to be so hard to explain. He could hear Stiles and Scott talking as he walked into the building, debating over what they had been summoned for.

"Maybe he found Boyd and Erica and needs our help?" Scott wondered.

"Then he would've just had us go to his place. Meeting at Deaton's means something's wrong," Stiles argued. He didn't know how right he was. Derek turned the corner, walking into the room to see them huddled around the exam table. Somehow Stiles, the one without supernatural hearing abilities, was the one who noticed him first.

"What is that?" Stiles asked, staring open mouthed at the sight before him.

"What the hell, Derek? Did you turn a kid?" Scott shouted, making Isaac jerk in fear and grip him tighter. Derek rolled his eyes. He may have technically turned minors, but sixteen was a lot different than six.

"Keep your voice down, Scott," Derek muttered through his teeth, keeping his own voice as calm as possible. "This is my friend, Isaac." Stiles and Scott glanced at each other in confusion. Derek knew that people turning into children wasn't an everyday occurrence, but it would be really helpful if they'd just accept what was happening and not ask questions. Isaac didn't need to hear anything crazy right now, even if it was the truth.

"Shut up," Stiles mumbled, finding his words first. Even if they were pointless and dumb. Derek just stared at them, waiting for them to absorb the information. Was he the type to play a practical joke? Would he go to the lengths of finding a random child to pull it off?

"No, it's not possible," Scott said, staying firmly in the denial camp.

"Who else would wear that sweater?" Stiles grimaced, surprisingly the first one to believe him. Well, maybe not too surprising. This was probably something right out of one of his comic book fueled fantasies.

"Where's Deaton?" Derek asked, needing a fellow adult to talk to right now. One who had always come in clutch for them before.

"He's on his way," Scott answered, fidgeting where he stood. Derek sighed, willing the man to get here quickly. Where even was he? Derek assumed he lived in the clinic, since it seemed like he was always there.

"Hey buddy, remember those puppies I told you about?" Derek asked, dipping his head down to try to catch Isaac's eye. "My friend Stiles is going to take you to see them, okay? I need to talk to my pal Scott, but I'll be right here if you need me, okay?" Derek could actually feel the bitter taste in his mouth at calling Stiles his friend, but he had to at least pretend to like Stiles if he had any chance of Isaac feeling comfortable enough to go with him. Isaac peeked out to look at Stiles, the appeal of dogs evidently strong enough to make him come out of his protective ball.

"Why me?" Stiles whined, before clamping his mouth shut at Derek's glare. "I mean, yay me." Derek carefully set Isaac down, adjusting his clothes more securely before he gently guided him toward Stiles. Stiles was doing some weird things with his hands, avoiding touching the recently little boy. At least Derek wasn't the most awkward one at this point. Isaac followed Stiles out of the room and Derek waited until he heard the door close before opening his mouth.

"What the hell!" Scott exclaimed, before he could say anything.

"Keep your voice down!" Derek hissed, listening for any signs of distress in reaction to the outburst. "I don't know if he has any wolf in him, so be quiet."

"What the hell?" Scott whispered, stamping his foot a little. Which one had been turned into a child?

"We went to go talk to a witch to see if she could help track down Boyd and Erica. I pissed her off and she turned Isaac into a kid somehow," Derek explained quietly, once again wishing death on that tricky bitch.

"Why would she turn Isaac into a kid if she was pissed at you?" Scott asked.

"She was aiming for me. Isaac stepped in front of me and took the hit," Derek muttered, promising to himself that if they got the normal Isaac back he'd thank him properly and also tell him to never pull a stunt like that again. Not if they got him back, when.

"Nice going," Scott scoffed, shaking his head in disappointment.

"Look, there is nothing I can do about it now. I brought him here to Deaton's to see if he knew how to fix this. What more do you want from me?" Derek snapped. He was so sick of Scott McCall judging him and questioning every decision he made. If he hadn't been so resistant to his new reality in the beginning they could've possibly been friends at this point. But Scott wore his holier-than-thou attitude with pride.

"I want you to stop getting into messes like these. I don't know if you've noticed, but you are kind of the cause of a lot of our issues these days." Derek did his best to ignore the sting he felt from Scott's words. He wasn't wrong, and that was the worst part. From the chaos caused by Peter to the kanima, all roads led back to him. He never should've come back to town.

"Good morning, Derek. What seems to be the problem?" Deaton asked, striding into the room with the air of calm he usually had. Derek could contemplate all of his mistakes later.

"Do you know how to undo a witch's spell?" Derek demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'm assuming this is without the help of the witch in question?"

"Yes."

"Well, it depends on the spell. Some can be undone with the right herbs or time. However, the more complex, the more complicated."

"What about someone getting turned into a child?"

"I'd consider that complex."

"Kind of an understatement," Scott mumbled.

"So what do we do?" Derek grunted. He could do without Scott's commentary. Derek had asked them here for help, not snide remarks.

"How about we start with me getting a look at the child? Are they here?" Deaton asked kindly. Had he ever apologized for kidnapping him a while back? He probably should.

"Yeah, Isaac's here," Derek sighed, noting Deaton's look of surprise at the information of who'd been hit by the spell. "I think he's around six or so and he's kind of skittish."

"I understand," Deaton smiled. He called Stiles to come back in the room as gently as he could, feeling his heart clench when Isaac trailed in behind him, clutching his pant leg. He kept his eyes firmly trained on the floor, besides a quick glance up to see who all was in the room.

"Hey pal, did you see any cute animals back there?" Derek asked, stooping down so he was eye level with Isaac. Stiles was smirking at him, but Derek could punch him later. Isaac nodded a little, hiding even more behind Stiles. "That's great. So, do you remember my veterinarian friend I told you about? He's here now. Would you like to meet him?"

"Hello Isaac, my name is Dr. Deaton. It's very nice to meet you," Deaton greeted politely. Isaac hugged himself tightly around his stomach with his free hand and started shaking his head. "Would it be okay if I looked you over really quick, to make sure you aren't hurt?"

"No, my dad said that's not allowed," Isaac whispered, taking in a shaky breath.

"And that's a very good rule to have, but I'm a doctor. It's my job to check and make sure that you're okay."

"He said especially not doctors." Derek felt every muscle in his body clench. He'd known about Isaac's abuse from the beginning. He'd even shown Scott proof of it. But some part of his brain had convinced himself that it had started when Isaac was older, since that was more palatable. Knowing that Isaac had been hurt from such a young age was almost more than Derek could take.

"Do you think I can check you over? Remember how I found you out in that cabin? You might've fallen while you were out there and gotten hurt. Those trees and rocks can leave a lot of marks," Derek said, giving an excuse for anything they might see. Of course Derek would know if they were old bruises, but he'd reign in his reaction so Isaac wouldn't get upset.

"How about you keep all your clothes on and I'll just listen to your heartbeat and maybe your lungs? I'm sure everything else is fine," Deaton offered. Isaac looked hesitant, but nodded, keeping his oversized clothes held tightly to his body. Derek moved over to where Deaton was grabbing his supplies, needing to ask him something that he didn't want Isaac to hear.

"Do you think something is wrong with him? Besides the obvious?" Derek murmured, hoping that a simple deaging was as far as this spell went. If that witch had hurt Isaac as well, he didn't know what he'd do.

"Some spells can be a bit more nefarious in nature, but I don't see anything saying this one is. It's better to be safe than sorry," Deaton replied, softening his features as he turned back to face Isaac. Maybe Derek could convince him to take Isaac during this. "I'm going to show you on my friend Scott what I'm going to do. Does that sound okay?"

"Okay," Isaac agreed, turning wide eyes toward Scott. Deaton used his stethoscope to listen to Scott's heart, explaining everything as he went along. To Scott's credit, he kept his face calm and open the whole time, to show Isaac nothing bad was happening. Isaac still flinched when it was his turn, but he didn't try to run away. The only thing he outright refused was the blood pressure cuff, after he saw how much it squeezed Scott's arm. They didn't push it though and Deaton gave him as clean of a bill of health as he could in these circumstances.

"I'll do some research and make a few calls to find out what I can about your situation. In the meantime, I don't believe he is in any danger. You just need to take care of him until we can figure out how to change him back," Deaton said, handing Isaac a sticker with a smile.

"Take care of him until we can change him back? How the hell am I supposed to do that?" Derek hissed, pulling Deaton aside to try and get some privacy. "I can't take care of a kid!"

"When you became an Alpha and grew your pack, you signed up for any issues that may arise."

"How was I supposed to see this coming?"

"I'm sure you'll adapt. Isaac is still your Beta and while he may or may not be a werewolf in his current form, he still sees you as an authority figure. You are responsible for taking care of him."

"Hey Derek, I think someone is getting tired," Stiles called out to him. Derek turned back toward the rest of the group, finding Isaac rubbing at his eyes and stifling a yawn. They had been up all night and while a teenaged Isaac would be fine, this one looked ready to crash. The train depot they'd been inhabiting before had been taken over, so they'd gone back to his burnt house until Derek could find somewhere else. He hadn't been in too much of a hurry, since it was only the two of them, but now he was regretting that decision. Was he supposed to let this kid sleep on an old mattress on the floor?

"Scott, your mom can take him, right?" Derek asked, keeping his eyes firmly away from Isaac's. This was for the best.

"My mom's out of town and isn't coming back for a few weeks. This is the first time she's taken a vacation for herself and I'm not going to mess it up," Scott replied, crossing his arms.

"Stiles?"

"Who do you think went with her? I'm not going to ruin Scott and my chance to officially be brothers."

"Allison and Lydia are still out of the country," Scott added.

"We're all you've got right now," Stiles shrugged.

"Then we're staying at your house," Derek smirked.

"What? Why my house?" Stiles whined.

"Because my house is already uninhabitable in the best of circumstances. And I bet you still have a bunch of dumb shit that a kid would like."

"Language!" Stiles admonished.

"Look, I can't do this by myself," Derek said seriously. He hated asking for help, but he had no other choice at the moment. "If you don't want to do this for me, do it for Isaac."

"Oh my God, fine!" Stiles groaned, rolling his eyes. "No need to play the guilt card."

"So Isaac, you ready to go to Stiles' house with me so you can take a nap?" Derek asked, kneeling back down at his side. Isaac looked ready to deny that he was tired, but another yawn gave him away. "Come on. I think we could all use some rest." Derek held his arms open and Isaac moved forward, latching onto him like he had in the woods earlier. Stiles was making some cooing noises above him as Derek was standing up, but he could strangle him later. They needed to get Isaac settled somewhere so they could sit down and figure out how to survive this. Derek was in way over his head.