Chapter 46: Waiting on Sunrise
When the sun came up that Saturday morning, it rose to greet a clinic full of sleepy werewolves, pacing vampires, and a few slumped over humans.
After meeting Stiles at the hospital, the werewolf had escorted his friend back to the office to relay the possible threat to the others. Upon arriving, though, and seeing their friends' beaten bodies and broken expressions, they had shared a single glance and knew that the news could wait. Stiles went through to the back, patting Derek on the shoulder as he passed, and spent the remaining hours of the night cross-legged on the floor, head lolled back against the couch Erica was still laid out on. The wolfsbane was out of her system, but resisting the effects of the full moon and months of captivity and pain was apparently keeping her out a little while longer and no one had the heart to do anything about that. After about two hours scrolling through his phone and any research he could pull up on the device about virgin offerings, Stiles finally fell into a restless sleep, mind wandering to Alphas and sacrifices - and Heather.
Scott and Derek exchanged a few words before the younger werewolf retreated to help Deaton clean up. He swore he could help his boss from there and the two urged Dr. Fell to go home to her own bed. This wasn't her fight. Scott, eventually, even managed to convince the vet to do the same. The mountain ash lined building would keep them safe and they had two humans and vampires to open the door if any wolves needed to leave.
Jackson demanded to leave only once before a sharp growl from Derek put him back in his place in the corner. He called Lydia and spoke in hushed tones with her for a while before settling back against the hard plastic and spending the next couple hours tossing and cursing and turning in the chair.
Isaac didn't sleep, at first. He spent his time checking on Erica and then Boyd, and then repeating the action. He talked a bit with Scott here and there, tried to pick Derek's brain about the Alpha's sister, and then finally curled up in a corner on the floor, leaning up against a wall. He had slept in far more cramped and uncomfortable positions.
Derek didn't sleep at all. Scott, like Isaac, tried to get the man to talk about Cora, but the Alpha wouldn't say anything beyond thinking she had been dead since the fire. The rest of the time, he just stared at her. He wavered on more than one occasion and again, Elena offered blood to heal him, and, again, he refused, but not unkindly. It wasn't out of any prejudice or repulsion. Derek deserved to feel this, all of it.
It wasn't exactly practical. They couldn't continue to stay cooped up together forever, like they had done before. And even then, Derek had relented and allowed the betas to attend school, only to keep up appearances and because they would be together there too. But it felt needed that night, after all this time searching for their lost pack members, after everything they had been through that night. Being together, just for those few hours in the silence and shadows, felt right.
The vampires stayed too, not without protest from Damon, of course. He was ready to take off back to Mystic Falls the minute Jeremy walked through the door. But Jeremy wouldn't leave Tyler. And Elena and Stefan wouldn't leave Caroline alone. And Caroline, well, Caroline couldn't really think about leaving or moving or much of anything. She just stood against the wall, her friend holding her hand and resting her head on Caroline's shoulder. There were a few times throughout those dark early morning hours that her far away gaze would draw itself back and land on Derek. Part of her wanted to talk to him, comfort him. And then the other part of her would feel sick and sad and mad and ashamed at herself because that felt like betraying Tyler somehow, Tyler who was still out there somewhere.
Jeremy took to walking the perimeter every half hour, like clockwork. The others weren't exactly thrilled about the human being the one venturing outside, but the vampires and werewolves were more likely to hear the Alphas approaching before they got that close to the building anyway.
Erica woke with the sun, and Cora and Boyd followed not long after. There was a moment of tense silence, before confusion clouded Boyd's brow and Erica was bounding across the room and leaping at him before he could finish sitting up.
Cora rose more slowly, whether it was because of injuries, or because her brother was staring at her like she was a ghost; like he had back in the vault. There weren't room for words. There weren't any good words to cover something like this anyway. And neither of them had ever been much for platitudes. Besides, there was time for questions and catching up later. Right now, there was only one thing either of them wanted, needed.
Reaching out, Derek touched his sister's arm, as if he hadn't fought her a few hours ago or as if asking permission, it wasn't quite clear. But when she reached up and gripped his forearm, her eyes never leaving his, he didn't hesitate. In one step forward, Derek had his baby sister wrapped in his arms, crushed against his chest.
