Is This The World We Created
Chapter 12
"What the hell did you think you were playing at?" Deputy Stilinski choked out as he hugged his son tight enough to hurt unable to help himself. To say he had been shocked to the core to see his son hotwire his car and take off would be putting it mildly. If he hadn't seen it for himself he wouldn't have believed it. Where the hell had his son learnt to Hotwire cars? He'd called the station to demand that they pick him up and locate his car, only to be told that they suspected Stiles was on the way to the Hale Mansion that he'd told them that there was an arson in progress! He'd demanded that they all go, and he'd commandeered a poor woman's vehicle to get here.
Stiles just choked out a husky laugh, and tightened his hold on his father. Then he felt it, the Nemeton probing at his non-existent magic. Stiles didn't hesitate for a second in welcoming the magic and the bond.
He didn't anticipate what would happen next though, nobody could have. The absolute surge in magic had Stiles writhing in his father's hold, before unconsciousness claimed him.
"Stiles! Stiles!" the Deputy called out, as his son crumpled as though his strings had been cut.
Derek and Peter jerked around, worry surging through their scents, as they both bolted towards the Deputy and his son. Both ignoring Talia's commanding of them, calling their names as if not wishing for them to approach the Deputy and his son.
"Stiles!" came their calls of concern, both kneeling down beside the…now boy. He looked so young, was Peter's first thought, he was what? Nine-years-old or something at this point? He certainly looked it, actually he looked younger, but his ADHD made it so he was underdeveloped when he was younger. It's how he was easily able to fit into Scott's year when he was kept back because of all the time off and doctors due to his ADHD.
"Peter, Derek," Talia warned them, confusion baffling her scent, not sure why any of them would know the Deputy or his son, even she didn't.
"What the…" Stilinski muttered in confused fear, jerking back as his son was suddenly encompassed in a white light. It was blinding, utterly blinding he couldn't look at his son but he could feel he was much too warm. "Jesus….jesus!" he muttered terrified in the face of the unknown.
Everyone else was staring frozen at the sight, it wasn't one you saw every day after all. Paramedics, firefighters, police officers, even the werewolves were staring struck at the sight, but Talia was terrified of the repercussions of this, this boy had basically outed the supernatural to a townful of people.
"He's going to be alright, Deputy," Peter said solemnly, squeezing the man's shoulder. He had never gotten to know him as well as he would have liked, he knew more about him through Stiles than he'd seen first-hand. He had regretfully been murdered because of Scott's actions.
The glow surrounding Stiles began to fade, and his eyes sprang open, instead of his beautiful whiskey coloured eyes…they were swirling white like the galaxy twinkling beautifully.
Whatever that was, it wasn't Stiles, Peter jerked Noah and Derek back, caution warring with fear. It couldn't be possession, Stiles would never let the Nogitsune in again, he'd more than learned his lesson. Plus, it was nothing like before.
Then 'Stiles body' unfolded himself of the floor regal and with poise that looked so, so very wrong on the boy. Stiles was clumsy, uncoordinated, always had been, always would be. Sure they imagined what he'd be like as a werewolf, but they always imagined a clumsy one, it was just instinctually who Stiles was.
"Talia, no!" Peter roared seeing his sister had transformed and was already aiming straight for Stiles. Already moving to protect Stiles, his body at least, at any rate until they found out what was going on.
He was unfortunately met with a barrier, but Talia? Talia got close enough that her claws actually tore his clothes before he was blasted off her feet and ended up smashing into the house and falling without her usual grace.
"Tali!" Sebastian cried out, handing his human son to his aunt, he made a beeline for her, his heart pounding. So utterly confused, and scared, after everything that had happened tonight…he felt shaken to the core.
Harry watching the entire thing, let it happen.
"He's fine, it's the Nemeton, they've bonded, this was how it was always meant to be…and came so close to the night Stiles was looking for the body." Harry said, seeing the genuine stricken fear on Derek's face for his mate. Peter himself was no better, he had a close bond with Stiles…that Harry would have felt envious of it he didn't know it was a sort of fatherly bond and that Stiles worshiped Derek.
"His eyes…they're swirling white…" Derek whispered out, his shoulders relaxing marginally, still worried but not too worried about a possession. Looking around belatedly horrified, everyone was seeing this, magic was being exposed…werewolves had been exposed. They were recording it! What if they accidentally had magic revealed all that sooner?
"This ought to be interesting," was all Harry had to say, remaining at a distance, he wasn't interested in being mistaken for a hunter and impaled. Sure, it wouldn't kill him, but he'd rather not experience it all the same.
"You know what it is?" Peter asked, as he heard his brother-in-law talking to Talia as she was quickly roused, her injuries already healed.
"Oh yes, and I have a feeling she will have a lot to say," Harry said wryly, the presence he felt was definitely feminine, this particular Nemeton.
"What are you?" Talia asked, fear written across her blood red eyes, as she made a re-appearance, still reeling over the betrayal of her brother who tried to stop her and the presence she didn't know or understand in…in that…that…boy.
"I am the Nemeton," it spoke from Stiles mouth, but anyone that knew Stiles, knew he didn't sound like that, especially not at about nine-years-old.
"Son…" Noah croaked out, trying to get to him, Peter stopped him easily.
"He's fine," Peter again reassured him, the Nemeton would never allow the bond he had with Stiles be jeopardised by anything.
"Generations of Hale Alpha's and Emissaries have protected me. You have failed to fulfil that promise Alpha Talia Hale. You allowed me to be poisoned, let your Emissary to cut us down, which effected all the Nemeta connected to us. It spread poison…seeped it into the earth and allowed our purpose to be distorted." It told them, causing everyone to shiver at the feeling of such a powerful presence in their midst.
Derek's breathing hitched, reaching out unconsciously for his mate, not liking this at all.
"She let Deaton cut down the tree?" Peter blurted out aghast, this was new information. "But a Druid knows the importance…" which meant he too was going to be on the list of people to take care off before they could relax. Not just hunters then.
"You have dismissed the protection we offer, and tried to kill us, uncaring of the consequences. Which would have led to the end of all life on the planet." The powerful supreme voice continued.
"By the moon, no, please no," Jasper gasped out, terror wracking his frame, as he realized the severity of the situation. Shaking his head, praying that his daughter would survive this.
Talia gaped shaking her head in denial, refusing to believe the 'being' talking through the young boy. Despite the fact the calm heartbeat was informing her it was nothing but the truth.
"You knew the consequences of such a betrayal, your namesake Alpha and Alpha Jasper Hale made sure of it. They afforded me nothing but respect and in turn I protected them…you let a Darach masquerading as a Druid access to me, and the consequences were severe."
Jasper wobbled hearing it speaking of him. The Nemeta was acting like it knew the future…which wasn't a possibility unless it was bound to a seer. Which wasn't likely, a seer wouldn't have the powers to harness a Nemeton there wasn't much that could. Even they couldn't bond with it, not properly. This young boy had, there was only one thing he could be…awe and amazement consumed him.
A spark.
A spark right here in their territory, a shiver ran up his spine at the realization.
"It knows? It remembers?" Derek whispered, "How?" did it come back with them so to speak? "It returned with us?"
"Either that or it's looked through Stiles memories," and knows what's to come.
Jasper's head jerked up, staring at his youngest son, they'd come from the future? How far had they returned? The powerhouse…must have been incredible, this boy…oh, this boy was going to be a fearsomely powerful.
"Oh, Talia," Jasper whispered, shoulders hunching as the reality sank in. Closing his eyes, just waiting for it. Waiting for the Hale Alpha Spark to be lost to them forever, and the entire family to be without an Alpha. "What have you done?"
"I…I…nothing," she stuttered, clearly terrified herself now.
"Alpha Talia Hale the Nemeton has judged you for all your actions and found you wanting," it spoke again, as Stiles hand raised, "You are unfit to be Alpha of Beacon Hills Territory, to lead the pack on a path or prosperity, for your actions you will be henceforth striped of your Alpha powers and never again will you be Alpha nor will your daughter and heir Laura Hale." With that Stiles hand that was raised aloft.
Peter grimaced at the feeling of relief that swamped him, Laura had not been a good Alpha, a good leader. Then his heart sank by the end of the statement, pounding erratically, fear consuming them all. To be without an Alpha again…none would do well. From beside him he could feel Derek shaking, it was too much for all of them really.
"What? NO!" Talia roared, wanting to move, needing to move, but she could do nothing, frozen on the spot at the magic flashed towards her, encompassing her and disappearing entirely. Then that white mass started to remove itself from her chest, bleeding a rose red before it began to become more burgundy red until Talia felt the Alpha powers snap within her, leaving her feeling weaker than even a Beta.
Once the powers left her, Talia fell to her knees, inconsolable with the loss of her Alpha powers…of what it meant for her pack…for her family.
"MOM!" Cora cried out, just nine-years-old herself, and most assuredly not understanding what was going on.
"Blessed Nemeton, please, have mercy," Jasper got to his feet, pleading with the Nemeton not above making sure his pack was taken care of. "We cannot survive without an Alpha." They were a born pack, it was all they knew. They'd never gone without an Alpha not even for a day.
"The spark will go to the worthy ones," the Nemeton spoke, his voice gravelly and filled with pride for her 'boys'. Who had been willing to sacrifice everything to do the right thing. She could see into the hearts of them and found them more than worthy.
Jasper's eyes widened, not daring to glance up, not yet.
"You are both worthy of the Hale Alpha spark," the Nemeton spoke, leaving Talia's crumbled form behind as she used Stiles body to approach Peter and Derek, who both looked stunned. "You will lead the pack together to create a world of prosperity and peace. With the aid of your magnificent mates."
Jasper couldn't help but look up, watching his grandson and son speaking to the blessed Nemeton.
"No! Laura is to be the next Hale Alpha! She's been training for this her entire life," Talia protested.
Peter and Derek winced, praying that the Nemeton didn't give this much innocent Laura home truths they did not want revealed.
It wasn't meant to be.
"Your so called training had your daughter abandoning an grievously injured packmate, a defenceless cub…and failing the one Beta she took with her. Abandoning the territory and the people she swore to protect! Leaving her family unavenged and land undefended." the voice positively boomed in it's anger.
Jasper swallowed thickly, glancing at the others, they too understood the unsaid words, unavenged. Looking up at the house, entirely shaken, they were to have died in that fire he realized with grave certainty. They'd come back to save the pack. To save the land. To protect it.
The Nemeton turned back to face the two male Hales that had travelled back in time, speaking once more, taking on a soothing cadence, "You swear to protect these lands, defend the boarders, the people within, care for me as I should have been and take care of those underserving to live?"
"We so vow to do so," Peter and Derek spoke solemnly and in sync, inclining their head in respect.
The Nemeton held out Stiles' hands, and Peter and Derek didn't hesitate to take it. They knew better than to decline or deny the Nemeton it's gift. For if they did not take it, they knew the Hale Alpha spark would disappear. Nobody else had been found worthy after all. They couldn't leave the rest of the pack to flounder, to have to find different packs, to see the family divided after just making sure they survived wasn't something they could stomach.
The power they received from the Nemeton drove them to their knees, despite having had the Alpha powers in the past. Peter was too out of it to react and it made him worse, while Derek was grieving and had let the power to go to his head tangling with the desire for family, for pack, craving it in a way he'd craved it for six years previous…when Laura refused to take on more members. Loneliness didn't sit well on a werewolves shoulders. He'd loved them all but it had been nothing but a disappointment…not what he hoped for, they weren't his family and couldn't replace them…now he had them back.
Neither felt they deserved the Alpha powers, but they knew now not what to do.
With another wave of Stiles hands, his eyes flaring brightly, which would happen when he used magic. "You drowsed the flames, allowed the family to settle somewhere and intend to question them at a later date on what they know, it was arson, take the bodies of the arsonists with you and write up your reports, you saw no more than you expected to see at a crime scene certainly no magic." and just like that, every person that had answered the call to the crime scene, ambulance, fire department and the police department all began to move as if they hadn't just been frozen solid for twenty minutes while they saw things like Talia Hale transform into a werewolf or stiles, a boy most of them knew too well, exude magic powers. The three dead arsonists were taken with them.
Stiles' own father, Deputy Noah Stilinski who just gaped unattractively as if he'd just had his entire world turned upside down. Yet it felt familiar, somehow, like something like that had happened in his past, but that was crazy nothing had ever happened. What had just happened? Where was his son?
Derek automatically caught Stiles when he crumbled, still on the floor himself, from the flood of Alpha powers. These ones hadn't been tainted by Peter's insanity.
"Stiles?" Derek murmured, as the boy groaned, blinking blearily at Derek before a fond grin appeared on his face.
"You were a cute kid," Stiles admitted, his grin turning goofy. Before Derek had been de-aged by Argent, he hadn't really remembered what Derek looked like before the fire. It didn't stop him from remembering who he was though, or recognizing kid Derek during the whole Mexico debacle. "This time it's permanent though," he added wryly, his gaze roaming over every single change in his mate, boyfriend didn't do it justice, "For a few years." To think he'd need to rebuild all that muscle again.
Noah Stilinski just made a incomprehensible noise, staring at his son in disbelief. His mind had shut down, too much had happened, his mind was so, so, so overwhelmed. He'd seen his son hotwire his car, found it crashed to smithereens in the Hale house, watched Talia Hale turn into a damn werewolf thing, and watched his son use magic, and talk not like himself. Like…like something had possessed him.
Derek rolled his eyes, but they were staring down fondly at the teen. Thankfully there wasn't that many years between them. Four years difference in age, it won't be weird seeing them together, not like it would have been in the future. "We did it," he whispered in awe, "You did it."
"And Kate Argent is gone," Peter bit out with deceptive mildness. Don't get him wrong…he was overwhelmingly relieved and astonishingly happy that they'd all come out unscathed. There were a few perpetrators to bring to justice still.
Noah's head jerked up, "That's who's responsible for the fire?" focusing on his job, as he often did when he was overwhelmed.
"She's still in Beacon Hills," Harry informed them, finally walking towards them, his own powers exuding as his MOD powers came to the fore once more. "We don't have time to waste…there's work to be done."
"Son?" Jasper questioned his only son, a vulnerable note to his voice, one that nobody had ever heard. He was the previous Alpha of the Hale pack, had led the pack with greatness, so it spoke of a great upheaval foisted upon him.
"Son? Wait, that's your dad?" Stiles scrambled to his feet, staring at Peter in disbelief, "But I thought…your parents were already dead by this point! You said…well, you said you were raised by Talia and the rest of the pack!" that was Derek's grandfather? He knew that more people had died than the file indicated, the fire had burned so hotly that the bodies of the human members had disintegrated, even some of the Beta's, the total number had shocked him when he'd eventually been told. Even Chris had walked off and not been seen for the entire day after that revelation. It didn't help that hunters had trudged through the smouldering remains and taken Talia's claws, probably brushing dozens of more fragile burnt bodies in the process. Twelve people lived in Hale mansion, but the extended pack had been there to celebrate the full moon.
Harry remained silent watching over everything, mentally calculating everything he had to do and everyone he had to see. He had to meet with the ICW organization, this was a worldwide occurrence.
"I was," Peter said blankly, revealing none of his thoughts, not even with scent. "When I was young my mom passed away, she managed to save me from hunters, but died in the process herself. My father couldn't cope with the loss of his mate, I was sent to my Alpha and I remained there, even after he settled down. He believed I'd be better off surrounded by pack instead of with him." his eyes already blue, having killed to try and save his mother. If that didn't ostracize him from the adult members of the pack…his attitude definitely had.
"He doesn't stay here?" Stiles asked utterly bewildered by this new information.
"Look at him, Stiles, he barely looks a day over forty, werewolves age more slowly," Derek whispered lowly a huge 'duh' in his voice. "He couldn't stay here," not without raising more than just a few eyebrows.
"Satomi stayed in the same place," Stiles frowned, and she was hundreds of years old. He was still coming to terms with that actually, that he'd met an honest to god hundreds of years old werewolf…who'd died because of the damn Deadpool. Then again, the heart of her territory was completely secluded, she probably didn't integrate with society. "I'm sorry, Peter," genuine and heartfelt, finding it unforgivable. Sure, his father sucked in the beginning, but he hadn't abandoned him. Like a barnacle he wrapped his arms around Peter, ignoring his father's muted sounds of shock.
"I think there's quite a story to tell, explanations to be had," Jasper prompted, guilt shimmering down his belly and into his gut. He wasn't proud of how absent he'd been out of his sons life but he genuinely believed Peter was better off with the pack than a grieving old man who avoided anything social for near enough a decade after he lost his mate. His children were the only thing that stopped him going feral. From retaliating.
"We'll have to get booked into Beacon Hills Hotel for the night," Sonya Hale insisted, brown haired looking like a mixture of Peter and Talia, but entirely human. glancing back at the house, it was definitely going to have to be destroyed and rebuilt from the ground up. "Are you coming with us?" she asked of Harry. mentally calculating everyone that was already there. She'd need to call them.
"You're welcome to stay at my home," Noah said, he was not about to let his son out of his sight, he wanted answers damn it. "At least until you get something else sorted." It was going to be packed but he didn't care, it was the right thing to do, if this was arson they'd be less likely to target a Deputy's home. Staring in particularly at the children, who were clinging to their parents still crying up a storm.
He was largely unaware of who he was dealing with, for now.
He was about to get a very massive reality check, more so than he'd just received.
After all, once upon a time Noah Stilinski had known about the supernatural, but when he left his unit he'd had his mind wiped of all supernatural knowledge, on his own say so.
Well what do you think? Laura and Talia's reactions to come! I finally finished the Hale family tree! Woohoo! It was not all that fun let me tell you, but I really enjoyed writing out this chapter with all the slots falling into place. The next chapter will see everyone mentioned! Would you like to see pictures of what I imagine them to look like on my FB page? I mean I've only ever done it once :D I sort of imagine Corvus Lestrange as an older version of Mads Mikkelsen (Hannibal or if you prefer Marvel, he plays Kaecilius in Dr. Strange) well, sorry I couldn't get 6K out but 4K isn't anything to be sniffed at! 😊 enjoy guys and take care and stay safe! R&R