Some things will be canon, but there will be tons of AU stuff as well.

Chapter 3: Circle of Trust Part 2

Jackson did not trust Deaton. For so long, he only knew the man as Scott's boss, just a veterinarian. But now that he knew the guy was like a walking encyclopedia of werewolves, his nerves were always on edge around him. Especially since he could never detect a change in the older man's heartbeat, no matter how stressful the situation was. How can you trust someone like that?

He always smelt of old books, lavender and some kind of herb Jackson couldn't name.

When Deaton proposed the idea of submerging Isaac in ice cold water to almost stop his heart, Jackson's first reaction was to growl at the smaller man and flash his eyes. But Derek was seemingly on-board with the idea, so he held himself back. But the Alpha still smelt a little like rotten grapes, which means anxiety.

Even without the smell, Jackson could still detect the uneasiness both Derek and Isaac were feeling through the pack bond. He tried to look for Erica and Boyd's bond all the time, but could never feel it. He knew that Derek tried more than him to look for any clue of his beta's whereabouts, but he too came up with nothing. There was a big hole felt in the pack, left by the missing betas. But Jackson was also starting to detect new bonds. They were very faint, but there. He wasn't even sure how many it was, but he could render a guess.

The first one would be Stiles. Even if he was a human, Jackson knew how much the teen cared about others, about Derek's pack. And from the way Stiles stood up to his best friend earlier for the Alpha, it was safe to assume that the spastic teenager would always be unbiased. To have someone like that on their pack can't be so bad, right?

As for Scott, Jackson was not so sure. He was turned by another Hale, one who was no longer an Alpha. In any other case, Jackson assumed any werewolf's loyalty would shift to the other Alpha with Hale blood. But McCall was nothing if not stubborn. And his blindness when it came to Allison was borderline infuriating.

Jackson, Derek, Scott and Stiles finished filling up the tub with ice cubes and water. Isaac was listening to Deaton's instructions as they worked. The blond beta was clearly nervous but he was also determined to do whatever it took to find their missing members.

They all heard a snapping sound and turned to look at Stiles who had just slipped on an elbow-length glove. Jackson smirked at the teen while he gave them a 'what are you looking at' look.

"It's very cold," Stiles said defensively. Jackson couldn't help but scoff. Isaac had a deadpan expression on his face as he stared at Stiles.

"You don't say." The blond said in a monotone voice. Stiles pouted, actually pouted and took off the glove like a petulant child. Jackson felt a slight tingle through their pack bond and looked toward Derek to see him trying to hide a smile. It was the second time his Alpha was giving off this weird sensation, and both times involved the ridiculous human of their group.

Jackson knew his pack bond with the Alpha was the strongest at the moment. They spent the whole summer training together which helped solidify their bond. Jackson remembers starting to lose the pack bond with Erica and Boyd after the first full moon. It kept getting fainter and finally remained a dull sensation since last month. The pack bond with Isaac was strong but not as much as Derek's. Whether it was because he was the Alpha or because they spent so much time together, Jackson couldn't say for sure.

But he did admit to himself how wrong his initial impression of the young Hale heir really was. Jackson remembers telling Derek once that his leadership was lacking; now he was more than ready to eat his own words. Derek may not be the best Alpha in existence yet, but he was willing to put in the effort. And miraculously enough, Derek did open up about his past and the Hale family a few times after their runs at night. Jackson was not much of a conversationalist himself but he felt happy to be able to connect with his Alpha.

After they submerged Isaac in the water, every moment passed in tense anticipation. And when the beta finally started talking about what happened that night, everyone seemed to hold their breath. When Isaac finished recalling his adventure and reemerged from the water with a gasp, everyone except Deaton had a shocked look on their face.

"What's wrong?" Isaac stared with a confused look around the room.

"Do you remember everything you just said?" Stiles asked as he took a few steps closer to Isaac.

"I.. guess?" But he didn't look so sure.

"Isaac, you said there were three people inside the vault, not two," Derek said calmly but both his betas could feel their Alpha was getting uneasy. "Who is the third person?"


They spend around an hour speculating about ways to break into the bank vault and the identity of that third person. According to Isaac, it was a girl but they had no idea who it could be. So instead of scratching their head and wasting precious time with that, they decided to focus on the breaking into a bank vault aspect.

Stiles did manage to find that someone broke into that vault not too long ago. Now all they needed was the plan of those robbers.

Do we have to go to prison? To get those robbers to talk? Jackson thought to himself, a little horrified at how they could manage to go into prison without doing anything prison-y.

Stiles declared how helpful the internet was these days and he could probably find something in minutes.

Minutes turned into two full hours before they had to break the meeting. Stiles promised to keep looking all night. Scott volunteered to go with him but the human dismissed him.

"Nah, you need your rest in case we find a way to break in there. You would have to be in fighting shape and for that, sleep is a must. Me? I'm made for burning my excess energy on research. The weak human may not have much in the form of muscles, but research is just as important. And those of you who spring claws from your fingers, get some sleep."

Jackson actually felt a little bad for the teen after his statement of being weak. But there was no longing or sadness marring Stiles' words. Just acceptance. He accepted his role in the pack and what he brought to the table. He didn't wish to be like them, didn't wish for the bite.

Jackson felt his respect for Stiles Stilinski increase. Just by a little.


Sheriff Noah Stilinski knew his son was hiding stuff from him. His son always had a knack for trouble, but since last year, that ratio expanded by at least three times. Even now with the missing girl, Heather, Stiles knew something about that. Something more than he was letting on.

Sheriff Stilinski felt bad for the girl. He still felt like it was only yesterday when Heather would come over with her mom Janice. Janice and Claudia were really good friends. Whenever the moms hung out together, their children would as well. After Claudia's death, Janice only visited the Stilinksi household once. She sat with little Stiles for hours and shared some stories about his mother. The Sheriff remembers seeing Stiles fall asleep in Janice's lap. That was the first time after his mother's death that he properly slept.

Noah popped into his son's bedroom before leaving for the night shift. His son barely said goodnight, all his attention was on the piles of papers and books strewn across the room. His laptop in front of him where he was looking up something. This was nothing new. Stiles has always been an extremely curious kid, he has to know everything. Raising a kid with ADHD who just lost his mother was not an easy feat. But Noah considers himself very lucky.

Yes, Stiles may have a knack for trouble and he was probably hiding something from his old man; but he is still a good kid. He makes sure his dad eats healthy, takes care of the house and his grades are also commendable.

Noah is willing to put up with anything Stiles might throw at him, as long as his son is safe and happy. That's the only thing that matters to him. He glanced at the mess in his son's room one last time before letting out a sigh. He would wait for Stiles to come clean to him. Unless there was no life-threatening danger or law-breaking- well, extreme law breaking- he would leave Stiles alone. Noah shut the door to his son's bedroom and left the house.

Stiles was ready to punch something, or even someone at this point. If he had werewolf healing, he would just punch the wall right now. But broken bones were a bitch and he was not looking forward to wearing a cast.

He said rather confidently in front of everyone and Derek that it wouldn't take that long to figure out how they could break into the vault. Well, he hated being wrong. He was pretty sure that if Derek felt the same level of resentment towards him as he did when they first met, the werewolf would be making life threats right about now.

Stiles rubbed at his eyes since they started to feel a little dry from staring at his laptop screen for so long. He suddenly heard a knock and almost flailed off his chair. He looked over to his bedroom door when he heard the knock again.

It wasn't his door, it was the window.

He glanced at his window and saw the man he was thinking about just now.

Derek Hale in all his Alpha glory and leather jacket was standing outside his bedroom window.

Stiles immediately got up from his chair and opened the window. He would bet his jeep Roscoe that Derek could easily break the lock in his window if he wished. The werewolf was merely being courteous in his brooding ways.

"I do have a front door." Stiles crossed his arms over his chest as the werewolf climbed inside his bedroom.

"I know," Derek said rather casually. He shrugged off the jacket and placed it on the corner of Stiles' bed. That corner was fortunately free of any books or papers. He was still wearing the maroon Henley underneath. Seeing the jacket made a question pop in Stiles' head. He had this thought swimming in his head right after Scott was turned but he didn't have the courage to ask the Alpha with the permanent scowl.

Well, now that Derek seemed less interested to shove him aggressively into stuff, he could take a risk.

"Do you actually get cold or is the leather jacket part of your whole dark, mysterious bad boy avatar?"

Derek didn't say anything at first, but his eyebrows did it for him. Stiles decided to translate that particular frown in his eyebrows as 'are you serious right now'.

"Our metabolism is much higher and so is the body temperature. We may have more tolerance to the cold compared to humans, but it's not at the level where we can wander around shirtless."

"Bummer. I could almost bet you were failing at channeling your inner Jacob."

"Do you see me wearing cut-off jean shorts?" Derek's eyebrows were doing another dance that Stiles could translate as his 'don't be ridiculous' look. The teen gasped as he comprehended what the werewolf just said.

"You've seen Twilight!?" Stiles' mouth was hanging open as he shuffled closer to Derek in excitement. Derek looked away, trying to avoid eye contact. Stiles could swear the tips of the older man's ears had the slightest tint of pink.

"Laura made me watch them." Derek said finally, but there was no underlying sadness in his tone as he spoke about his dead sister.

"Them!? You've watched more than one?" Stiles was grinning like a fool at this point. This was too good to be true. He could just picture younger Derek Hale watching Twilight with a scowl on his face.

"Could we discuss my pop culture experiences later? How far along are you with the research?" That got Stiles to get serious. His face immediately got dejected as he moved over to his desk.

"Still looking. I was so sure it wouldn't take that much digging to find out the robbery plans considering there were so many articles published and everything. But apparently, the police didn't want to share how the robbers actually did it. Which, now that I think about it, seems reasonable."

Stiles resumed his seat at the desk. Derek moved some of the papers from the bed and sat down. He picked up a printed page of an article on the robbery and started to scan through.

"Did you come here for an update? You could just text or call me, you know?" Stiles said without turning away from his laptop screen.

"No, I came here to help."

Stiles froze in his seat. He turned back so fast in his chair that it almost gave him whiplash. Derek was still focused on the paper in his hand. He could sense the teen's eyes on him and the sudden spike in his heartbeat.

"You, came here.. to help?" Stiles had to make sure he heard the werewolf right. "As in, engage in hours of boring research?" Derek glanced up at that, his eyebrows not expressive enough for Stiles to translate anything.

"Yes."

"Why? You think I'm not capable enough? The human boy and his human eyes might miss something that keen werewolf eyes won't?" Stiles decided to dabble on the humor lane. He was starting to like this new dynamic with Derek. As long as the werewolf wouldn't slam him against something and make life threats, Stiles was okay with him breaking in.

What has become of my life? The young teen thought with an internal scowl.

"It's nothing like that. I know you are more than capable. If anyone can find it, it's you. I just didn't want you to do it all on your own. They're my pack, I'm the Alpha. It's my responsibility too." Stiles smiled at that. This was yet another proof that Derek was really trying. He was trying to be a better Alpha, a better leader and teamplayer.

"Thanks. I was kidding, you know. I do appreciate it." Derek just nodded at him and continued looking through the papers. Stiles got back to working on the laptop. They soon lost track of time as their eyes kept scanning articles, reports and statements found on the robbery. Stiles moved over to the floor where he spread out a manual about the bank, statements from the local police and some pictures of the bank.


"You were wrong, you know?" Derek broke the silence suddenly. Stiles looked up from where he was sitting on the floor. "About what?" His face scrunched up in confusion. The werewolf seemed to hesitate for a second, but it vanished soon enough as he stared into the whiskey-brown eyes.

"About you being weak." Stiles held his breath. He stared at the older man for a while. And then he scoffed.

"Oh come on! You kidding? I'm surrounded by werewolves who can run for miles without catching a break. You guys can jump from twenty feet and still land on your feet perfectly. And not to mention the super-awesome healing powers! Even a stab wound takes minutes to heal. I'm just a regular human. We have to worry about broken bones and casts."

"It's not just about the physical strength. You think any of the guys would do what you do if they didn't have powers? You attacked an Alpha with a molotov cocktail. You hit the kanima with a car while you were injured yourself. You are always ready to run headfirst into trouble. Without the werewolf healing perks. That's a different kind of strength altogether, Stiles. Your heart, your need to help people, that's what makes you strong."

Stiles was pretty sure he didn't need oxygen. The werewolf spoke more words in these few days than the year they've been dealing with all this supernatural shit. Derek was the last person he expected to help him look past his insecurities.

"I- I didn't," Stiles let out a loud exhale through his mouth. "Wow. I had no idea you thought so highly of me. How long have you been a secret member of the Stiles Stilinksi fan club?" He wiggled his eyebrows in a playful way. He was praying for anything to see the werewolf blush. But Derek just rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

"You did hold me in the water for hours, while I was paralyzed. I think it's safe to say my opinion of you hasn't been the same for quite some time." Well, Stiles's prayers were answered, but in a reversed way as he felt his ears getting warm. A smile broke out on his face as he stared at the sincere green-blue eyes looking at him.

"Likewise."


Not comfortable.

That was the first thought that swam through Derek's mind as he blinked his eyes open. At some point during the night, he fell asleep in Stiles's chair. Stiles had moved over to the bed and was sprawled across a few printed papers. Derek would bet his Camaro that the paper under Stiles's cheek was stuck with a little drool coming out of his lips.

Derek looked at the energetic teenager. It was rare to see Stiles so still. He was a ball of energy always ready to burst all over the place. Derek stood up from the chair and walked closer to where Stiles was dead to the world.

It was still pretty early in the morning, the sun barely peeking out of its hiding spot. A sliver of sunlight was coming through the window and hitting Stiles's face. It wasn't over his eyes yet, but it probably would in a while. Derek moved to the window and drew the curtains, blocking the sunlight from disturbing the teen's slumber.

He decided to look for any clues until the sheriff got back from his night shift. After around half hour, Derek had to wake Stiles reluctantly. He found something.


Stilinski men were sure resourceful. Jackson smirked to himself as he watched Stiles explain the plan to break into the bank vault. The sheriff was involved in the robbery case. Considering how persistent Stiles could be, it was a piece of cake to get all they needed from the sheriff.

"You are going to punch through a wall!?" Stiles asked the Alpha incredulously when he dismissed the need for a drill.

"Yeah, you think I can't?" Derek raised his eyebrows. Stiles just scoffed at the question.

"Can you?"

"You want a demonstration?"

"Well.."

"Alright! Can we move on from the punching?" Jackson had to butt in since he had a feeling the bickering could go on for hours.

Even with a plan in place, it was still pretty dangerous to break in there. They had no idea what awaited them. Isaac was still recovering. He was exhausted both physically and mentally. They couldn't risk taking him in that state. So it was Derek, Jackson and Scott who would go to save the two missing members of their pack. Oh, there was also a mysterious third person in the vault. According to Isaac, that girl was a werewolf as well. That's all he could remember.

Peter tried to tell Derek that it wasn't worth it to risk the remaining member (members? Was Scott in their pack?) to save the missing ones. But Derek paid him no heed. Peter just gave him a disappointing look and went to sit on the couch on the far end of the loft.

They didn't have much time. Scott hugged Stiles briefly as they got ready to leave.

"Don't do anything stupid." Stiles told Scott as he clapped on the werewolf's shoulder a couple of times. "You too lizard-boy." Stiles pointed his finger at Jackson as he smirked. He was trying to lighten the situation, but Jackson could smell the underlying anxiety waving off the human. He was worried about all of them. His usual scent had a slight hint of rotten grapes, detecting anxiety.

Jackson had a witty remark on the tip of his tongue. But he knew it was serious. There was no guarantee how many of them would make it back, if they would make it back.

"Don't plan to." He offered the human a brief nod. Stiles smiled back at him. Scott was already walking out of the loft, telling them he would wait outside. Jackson decided to wait for Derek who was checking up on Isaac before they left.

The Alpha walked into the room after a minute. Jackson could smell anxiety rolling off of the older man; another wave of rotten grapes hit his senses. But there was also something stronger there. Hope.

For the first time in months, they actually had hope of bringing back Erica and Boyd. Maybe the pack would finally be complete.

As soon as Derek walked closer to them, Jackson could hear a heartbeat in the room go up. It was Stiles. Derek undoubtedly noticed it as well but he didn't address it. He didn't even spare a glance at Peter. The Alpha nodded his beta, which silently said 'let's go'. They both moved towards the door when Stiles's voice broke out.

"Derek?" Both Derek and Jackson stopped in their place. They turned around to look at the fidgeting teen. "Be careful, okay?" Stiles's voice was soft, his eyes had a plea in them.

Jackson was a couple steps ahead of the Alpha so he couldn't see the older man's face. But he doubted he could guess anything from the eternal blank expression sported on that beard. The pack bond told him more about what the Alpha was feeling than his face ever could.

At Stiles's words, Jackson could feel the rotten grapes smell to dissipate from the Alpha. Something else was starting to take root there. He could smell barely-there lilacs.

"I will." Stiles was smelling less like anxiety at the Alpha's words too. A small smile broke across his face. Jackson knew the Alpha didn't return the smile, but the subtle hint of lilac remained in his scent. The werewolves left the loft, walking straight in the uncertainty.


Stiles kept pacing around the room. Peter was getting dizzy just by looking at the ansty teen. His senses were not up to par yet but he could still smell the distress.

"Will you stop already?" He finally had enough. Stiles stopped immediately. He glared at the resurrected werewolf.

"Are you not the least bit worried about what might happen? In case you forgot, that's your nephew out there. Your last living relative."

"I'm well aware. But you walking a trench in here is not gonna help them." Stiles froze at that.

"Right, right.. you're right." He kept mumbling under his breath. Stiles picked up a manual for the vault for like the hundredth time. "Why wait? Why not just kill them? Why tonight? What's so special about tonight? Of course it's the full moon, but is there something else?" He kept firing off questions, not really directed at anyone, just voicing out his own thoughts.

Peter rolled his eyes in annoyance.


Jackson had a bad feeling about this. He could feel Boyd and Erica through the pack bond as they got closer to the bank. He knew Derek could feel them sooner than him. The Alpha was getting restless but he still kept his cool.

As soon as they got inside the vault, they were hit with three new heatbeats. Boyd, Erica and the mystery woman. Derek walked ahead, with Scott at his right and Jackson on the left. He was taking slow, cautious steps. It was eerily quiet in the vault. But then they heard it.

Low growling, more than one. It was so low that they would surely miss it without enhanced werewolf hearing.


"What happens if a wolf doesn't shift? During the full moon?" Stiles suddenly asked. His voice was trembling a little.

"What do you mean?" Peter sat up straight in his seat at the black couch.

"If a werewolf is somehow kept from shifting during full moon, more than once, what happens when they are suddenly exposed to it?" Sweat was starting to form little by little on the teen's forehead as he awaited the beta's answer.

"It's like a gas chamber. You keep filling it, the littlest spark and it explodes. All that pent up energy would make a wolf.. more vicious, out of control…" He trailed off slowly as he connected the dots himself. "The vault walls-"

"Are made of hecatolite, it scatters the moonlight." Stiles was visibly shaking now. "We have to warn them." He pulled out his phone with one hand and his jeep keys with the other. He dialed his phone while walking towards the loft door.

"Where are you going?" Peter yelled after him as he too got up.

"I need to be there!" Stiles yelled back as he ran out of the loft and got inside his jeep in record time. As soon as he started the engine, the passenger side opened up and Peter climbed in. Stiles didn't say anything, just held the phone in his ear as it rang.


"Boyd?" Jackson called out in a low voice. He could smell the beta, both of them actually. "Erica?" The three of them kept moving to the middle when suddenly Derek's phone started to vibrate. Derek pulled it out and answered immediately when he saw it was Stiles. He knew the teen wouldn't be calling now unless it was an emergency.

"Stiles? What's wrong?" He could hear the jeep rumbling in the background. Where was he going?

"Derek! Derek, you need to get out of there. Now!" Derek felt both Scott and Jackson tense up as they Stiles's words. He tried to keep a level head as he listened to the distressed teen on the other end of the phone.

"Stiles. Calm down. What happened?"

"The vault is made of hecatolite. It scatters the moonlight. They haven't felt the moon in months! They'll be out of control, you need to get out of there now!" Derek felt his breath hitch as Stiles stopped talking. He could see Boyd and Erica, growling lowly with golden eyes. Their claws were out. Then the third person appeared. Derek's face became paler. Jackson moved closer to his Alpha when he listened to Stiles's warning. This was probably the first time he had seen any emotion on the Alpha's face. Derek looked like he had seen a ghost.

"Cora?" He said in a disbelieving voice.

On the other end of the phone, Stiles saw the older Hale beside him freeze at the name.

"Cora?" Peter repeated as his eyes stared at the phone unblinking.

Some action stuff in the next chapter.