The pack went back to Hale House, with Angela being invited along.

Stiles asked, "Okay, do you realize how poorly thought out this is?"

The kanima Jackson went up to Stiles and licked the air around him with a reptilian tongue. Stiles clutched his head and stumbled backwards. "What the fuck was that?"

Jackson said, "Kanimas need a master. You are a spark or whatever, so you being his master makes him your familiar."

Angela said, "fucking gods above and below. I've never imagined a reciprocal bond like that. A familiar with full sentience? You would need a very specific set of circumstances to pull that off. Like a kanima, I guess."

Stiles then froze. "I take it all back. Why did you not evacuate the entire town through that portal?"

Jackson rolled his eyes. "Why am I not surprised Scott and Stiles underplayed the severity of the situation."

Stiles said, "I know Mr. Argent's full kill list. This Jackson alone matches it."

Isaac said, "Two Jackson's is getting confusing. Can we get a nickname?"

Kanima Jackson cracked a smile. Stiles giggled. The Kanima Jackson said, "call me Ken."

Everyone groaned at the obvious joke.

Derek asked, "So you are telling your parents everything? Then what, begging them to allow you to take in Ken?"

Jackson said starting quietly and building passion, "My father is the district attorney. Did you know my father has made a name for himself by personally prosecuting the most child abuse cases out of any District Attorney in California? The most child murder cases? He passes over 'more important' cases to others to prioritize minors. I'd probably have an army of siblings if he didn't also know it would be a conflict of interest to adopt children after prosecuting their parents. My father will simply need to be told there's a child in need. And then he will make it happen."

There was silence. Isaac said, "No wonder you were so adamant about saving me. It's how you were raised."

Derek said, "If that's true, I will allow it. The DA on our side is not a bad thing. Hunters get away with a lot because of their political connections. Between the Sheriff and the DA, that means we have those same protections at least locally."

Stiles said, "They are both well respected throughout the state. So I would go so far as being regionally respected."

Lydia said, "Concern: not to be crass, but what about the Hale House Fire?"

Jackson said, "He shouldn't want to open a cold case when I say that the main perpetrators are dead. There's no evidence that indicates he was involved, right?"

Stiles said, "He wasn't the DA at the time. If the case didn't cross his desk specifically, it wouldn't be unusual for a lack of prosecution."

Jackson sent a text to his parents saying he was at a friend's for the night, but he wanted to talk in the morning.

Jackson did not sleep well that night. The dog pile helped, but his anxiety was more than the calming of the dog pile. Ken curled into the pack, seeking warmth like any reptile. Angela spent the night in the guest room, at Derek's insistence. She was a friend of the pack.

Jackson and Ken left Hale House at around 10 AM. Jackson said, "Climb into my room. I'll call for you when it's time."

Jackson headed inside. His parents were trying to appear casual in the living room. Jackson said, "This is not going to be easy for you to hear. Keep an open mind, please."

His father said, "You know we will be here regardless of what is going on. Nothing is going to make us love you less."

Jackson went furry and said, "I'm a werewolf." His father tensed up.

His mother said, "oh thank god. I was worried this was serious."

Jackson shifted back and said, "um, that's not the response I was expecting."

His mother said, "I dated a boy named Timothy Hale back in high school. He actually shifted while we were um… well being teenagers."

Jackson made a disgusted face. "Dad, I'm still me, I promise."

His father said, "I trust your mother's judgment, at the very least. Can we hear what happened?"

Jackson told the story, starting with The Hale house fire, Kate and Peter, The pack, everything important.

Then he said, "Most recently, the pack had to deal with an end of the world and I sorta got blasted into a world where the pack never formed. It was a dystopian possibility, at least here. So I helped as much as I could but there was one person I couldn't leave there. That universe's me was orphaned and was suffering too much. He hadn't known how much he loved his parents until it was too late. He's a… werelizard? But he's basically me. I brought him home with me. Can we please take him in?"

Jackson's father said, "of course we can. I think I can speak for your mother and I, we are so glad you are ok. We were worried you've been on drugs or in a cult. You've been acting strange. But it was this. I'm ok with families taking many forms. Can we meet this new son? Then we will pull off logistics."

Jackson heard Ken start running down the stairs. Jackson's parents stood up as Ken walked into the room. Ken froze as soon as he saw the two adults and began sobbing. The parents went and hugged him tightly. This lasted several minutes.

The three broke apart and Mr. Whitmore said, "now logistics. Let's all take a seat." After they were all seated, he said, "We can't do this quietly. It's not possible. My position means it would come under too much scrutiny. So, we'll have to do it extra publicly."

Mrs. Whitmore said, "Kara would love a feel good story to blast on the news. We would just need to frame all the lies correctly."

Mr. Whitmore asked, "Baby snatched from the hospital at birth, reunited with his twin brother?"

Mrs. Whitmore said, "We just need to pin it on someone. Preferably dead, with a criminal record?"

Jackson had an epic, Stiles level bad idea. "What about Kate Argent? Reveal she was a serial killer?"

Mr. Whitmore said, "Make sure the world knows her for what she was. I like it. Then we just need some school records. Playing into a compound storyline would make several other things more difficult."

Ken said, "Sschool computer ssysstemss aren't well protected. Danny could hack one."

Mr. Whitmore grimaced. "If it must be done. Choose a medium sized city a long way away."

Jackson said, "He also hasn't been to school in 4 years."

Ken responded, "I learned from Sstiless. He never gave up hope on me becoming human again."

Mr. Whitmore said, "Get the school records ready. I'll drum up Kate Argent as claiming Ken was social security exempt, so no number."

Mrs. Whitmore added, "have him have a shitty fake developing world birth certificate."

Mr. Whitmore said, "Puerto Rican Birth certificates are known to have been used fraudulently. Have someone find one online and make up one."

Jackson said, "Allison needs to be a part of this story. Have her be the one to realize the connection. Her 'cousin' and her friend looking nearly identical would be enough of a red flag otherwise."

Mr. Whitmore said, "Excellent idea."

It took two days to organize everything. Derek was reasonably upset about Kate being brought up (a few trees met his fury). Allison played her role beautifully. Chris stepped in and added color commentary about how he should have known his sister was a serial killer. Stiles and Danny secretly laid a very complex web of false evidence showing Kate was actually the culprit for every one of Chris's kills. The story was that Kate and Peter killed each other several months later than they actually had. It was so well tied up that no one could reasonably use it in a smear campaign. And the story was really well received because it was grisly, it was fluffy, and it was so tied to two local prominent families.

Overall, Jackson and Ken were very pleased at the result. Because of this story, they were going to be using Argent as Ken's last name, which Chris was displeased about. A Kanima as a cousin? Not a good look. Kate went down as one of the world's most prolific serial killers. She would probably be relatively pleased.