This chapter is for Claire! My dear, you guessed one part of this... and actually I'm pretty sure you guessed most of it, you just chose not to mention it. Hope you like this. Hope all of you my dear readers like this. Almost from the moment I began writing The Stilinski Pack I was aiming for this, this moment, this chapter... I'm so excited!

No, this is not the end. Matter of fact, this is but the halfway point (the fic will have six chapters total). I still have a lot in store for you, including a few surprises along the way.

Audience

Stiles sleeps almost till noon. Not surprising, all things considered. Calling on lightning can be exhausting, even with a pre-existing storm (granted, the storm was heading further north, but those are details). Stiles knows that he could have called on such magic even without any storm-clouds in the vicinity, he's powerful enough, and yet it's not that simple. It's not just a matter of power, it's also a matter of balance. One cannot conjure things like water and energy out of nowhere, they have to come from somewhere, and he has to make sure he never takes so much that he causes hurt to innocents (the Earth itself counts too). "And may it harm none"… is more than just some pretty words, it's an oath, a way of life, one of the main rules one has to follow as a magic-user set firmly in the light. It's not that they cannot ever hurt someone; they can, and with those who, like Stiles, have sworn their lives to the protection of others, it's even expected. But it can only ever be in protection, never in vengeance, never with the intent to just hurt for no reason. That is not the path of the light.

Noah and Peter really don't like finding out on Sunday, during their children's very late breakfast, what all went down on Saturday (not that the teens expected them to). But since it's Stiles' birthday and the beginning of Samhain (and since Derek is safe and Kate dead, thus leaving the two adult wolves unable to do much about anything) they decide to let the matter rest, at least for the time being. They still are quite interested in meeting with the two Argents who trespassed into their territory. Peter was hardly surprised when being told those in Europe weren't aware of the Stilinski Pack's claim on the Beacon County Territory.

"Considering that our Pack is us, Lydia, Harvey, Mike and Donna it's not really that surprising." Peter points out. "Really, the Hales were famous mostly due to all the generations they were here. We're still a fairly new pack, all things told."

And really, aside from Noah and the three born wolves (Jackson included, even if it took Peter's bite to awaken his wolf) only Mike is a wolf, he wasn't actually turned by Peter, but by a rogue in New York. His story was complicated, his path to becoming a lawyer stranger than most would think possible. Harvey isn't just his partner (in law and in love), he's also his former boss (back when they were in NY), and before they joined the Stilinski pack, he was also the closest Mike had to an alpha, despite not actually being a wolf. Harvey remains human out of choice (though he does have a sort-of living-will where he stated his willingness to be turned in a life-or-death situation). Donna (their secretary, business partner, best friend and the closest thing they have to a sister) for her part is a witch, not very powerful (especially when compared to a Mage like Stiles, or witches like the Halliwell sisters), but enough for her to be satisfied. Finally Lydia's a banshee, and of course her genius cannot be denied (or underestimated).

"My contacts work better in the shadows, and Stiles's…" Peter shrugs.

He doesn't finish the statement, but he doesn't need to, the others understand. Stiles made a lot of contacts while they were living in San Francisco, all absolutely amazing, allowing him to form a network that Peter at his age would have never imagined possible, one that most would envy. The thing is, it's not the kind of contacts those in their 'world' would expect.

Something they've all learned, is that the supernatural world is much more complex than most would imagine possible. Stiles once made a comment, about being disappointed how much werewolves weren't like the media portrayed them. Except, as he found out, that wasn't quite right. It's just that wolf-packs like the Hales, weren't like the media portrayed. But they weren't the only kind to exist. There were some, like the loup-garou pack in Europe, who could shift fully into wolves; and there were some that weren't wolves but bears, or lions, tigers, etc. Like one of Stiles's friends likes to say: "The world is full of wonders…"

No one (not even Stiles!) has ever been entirely clear how it happened, but Stiles didn't just meet the Halliwells, he managed to earn both their respect and their friendship. They all know that despite the fact that of them all only Donna is a witch (Lydia can sense magic, even if she cannot use it herself), Paige made arrangements so if any of them ever needed help, she'd be able to hear them. Piper and Stiles love having Skype sessions while cooking (each in their home), and their families are well aware that there's been some sharing of recipes, even family recipes, also of potions, though despite his cooking skills, Stiles has never been particularly inclined towards that branch of magic. He's more into battle-magics and wards. Phoebe was the one to teach Stiles (and Cora) hand-to-hand initially, she also introduced Cora to her boss, which lead to the young were having her own section, with beautiful photographs taken by her. It's a passion of Cora's: photography, only ever of nature, or animals, never people. Phoebe's boss liked it, paid Cora for every picture included in the magazine; and he was still working on convincing her to work full-time for him once she graduated (he didn't even care if she never went to college, claimed her photos were perfect already). Cora didn't know yet. As a child she was the kind to prefer pack-life over 'learning to act human', but a lot changed during the years in San Francisco, it wasn't that she loved being a wolf any less, she just realized there was more to life than just that, and she didn't have to limit herself to just doing one thing.

"Do you think these Argents can be trusted?" Noah asks his husband and alpha.

"Honestly? I don't know." Peter admits. "Under normal circumstances I'd say 'No Argent can be trusted'… yet I know things are different in Europe than they're here in America. I wouldn't say I trust Hunters on the other side of the sea, exactly. But I do believe that the kind of atrocities the Argents and Calaveras have gotten away with here would never be allowed there. Then again, the Hunters there only intervene when the Supernatural Council approves it, or if there's a big enough emergency, the kind where there's many innocents dying and/or the risk of mundane humans finding out about the supernatural."

There's also the fact that most of Eastern Europe is considered territory of a single wolf-pack. And while that could cause troubles sometimes (the latest alpha's ascension to power hadn't been peaceful, and there were some complications along the way, but it was all solved eventually), usually things were alright, as everyone had the hierarchy pretty clear.

"I suppose we'll see." Noah declares eventually.

xXx

They celebrate Stiles's birthday properly (with cake and everything) during a mix of late-lunch and early-dinner. They're still laughing, Stiles throwing looks at the beautifully crafted knives Peter gave him as a birthday gift (knives are his favorite close-contact weapon); they're especial in that he can use his magic to have them be blunt, or very sharp, as he chooses. And then the doorbell rings. It's like some kind of switch has been flipped. The laughter stops immediately and everyone tenses. Noah makes to stand but Peter places a hand on his arm, stopping him. There's a protocol that must be followed, and they all know it. Noah nods. They all share a look and then stand. Cora and Jackson take the dishes to the sink and the leftovers to the fridge before taking their spots behind the love-seat where Peter and Noah have sat, while Derek sits on an armchair to a side, close, but not too close (as befitting an honored guest who isn't actually part of the pack… yet). Lydia stands beside Jackson, as expected, being his mate.

It's Stiles who opens the door. Allison and Christopher Argent stand on the other side, dressed in dark-jeans, dark jackets and combat boots; he's wearing a gray long-sleeved sweatshirt, while she's wearing a red plaid button-up that wouldn't have looked out of place in Stiles's own closet. It doesn't surprise Stiles when she's the one to take charge, he knew already the Argents were a matriarchal clan (which seems to actually be pretty common where the supernatural is concerned, makes him wonder if there might be a reason for it…).

"Emissary Stilinski," She greets with a slight but respectful bow of her head. "I am Allison Argent, matriarch of the American Argent Hunters. With me stands my father and second: Christopher Argent. We request audience with Alpha Stilinski, and if possible, with your guest: Derek Hale."

The first is completely expected, the second… not so much. Yet Stiles refuses to allow so much as a hint of his surprise to show as he opens the door a bit wider and steps to a side to allow the two Hunters entry. Turning his back on them could be seen as either an insult or a challenge, and he isn't interested in either. While their trespassing and the fact that it's taken them so long to seek an audience with the local Alpha can be seen as an offense, and he could have used it as an excuse to frisk them, he's not interested in such dominance-displays. As they're keeping to all protocols and formalities, the Hunters are expected to have with them a single weapon each, in full-view of the pack (and they do: Allison has a small collapsible bow hanging from her hip, Chris a handgun in a holster at the small of his back), neither of them carry wolfsbane. This is meant to be so as to allow them to be on even footing with wolves and most other supernaturals, who tend to have their own 'weapons' on them all the time, one way or another.

Stiles allows Allison to step into the living room before him, keeping level with Christopher. It's a sign of respect, and he's only willing to give them that much because the Argents were actually helpful against Kate and her hunters during Derek's rescue. Also, from what Stiles and Peter have both been able to find out, their names are well-known in the supernatural community as code-abiding hunters who follow more the European style of doing things, rather than the American one. Stiles also heard from a contact about the young matriarch standing up to the Calaveras and stopping their harassment of the Flowers in Mexico City. All sources seem to agree on them being the right kind of Hunters, and while Stiles tend to be as cynical as Peter (if not worse) and think the worst of everyone he meets, there's just something about the Argents… or at least about these Argents, that makes him want to give them a chance.

It all goes to hell the moment they step into the living room, and in a way none of them could have ever expected: Noah stands so suddenly that the couch he was sitting on moves, just a bit, dragging across the linoleum floor in such a way that there's a screech, not loud, but still enough to make all the werewolves in the room wince slightly, Noah himself included. Though the sheriff pays no attention to that, his eyes fixed straight on the young woman who just stepped into his house, into their pack-house.

"Dad…?" Stiles begins, mentally saying to hell with protocol because he can sense a sudden shift to his dad's emotions, and he's no idea what caused it.

"You look so much like…" Noah breaks off before he can even finish, his eyes straying only briefly towards his son.

Stiles eyes's widen. He has no idea what the hell's going on, his dad's emotion are such a mess he cannot make heads or tails out of them, not even with his magic; and he doubts any of the wolves are doing much better (in a corner of his mind a part of him wonders if even his dad knows what he's feeling in that very moment…). Peter jumps to his feet, half-shifted and barely managing to keep himself in check just enough not to be seen as a threat. Unlike Jackson who's sporting a full set of claws, blue eyes glowing and is only still in his spot thanks to his mate's hand on his shoulder (not that Lydia has the strength to hold him back or anything, but her presence, her touch, is at least enough to keep him from snapping entirely).

"Noah?!"

It actually takes a few seconds for Stiles to realize just who it is that just called his dad's name, and in such a tone. The fact that it wasn't Peter, or anyone else from the pack. Truth is Stiles was so focused on his dad, on trying to understand why he was acting like that, he didn't pay attention when Christopher Argent fully stepped into the living room. He actually paid no mind to either of the hunters (which, really, should be considered monumentally stupid, even if his instincts were right and the Argents weren't actually their enemies, they were still Hunters!). And yet there's something about the way Chris Argent is staring at his dad, about the way he just pronounced his name… and how does he know his dad's first-name anyway?!

"KIT?!"

Stiles was so sure nothing else could surprise him, nothing at all, and yet…

"You know the Argents?" There's more than just shock in Derek's voice as he asks that question, there's something dangerously close to horror, and Noah doesn't have to wonder why.

"I know him, but he wasn't an Argent back then… or at least, that wasn't the name he gave us." Noah states, doing his best to compartmentalize, to recover control and give nothing away.

No one else says a word for a few seconds, though Noah can feel his mate's hand on his back, a silent, supportive weight. He knows there are some things he needs to explain. Of everyone in the room, Peter and Stiles know the most, the rest only know bits and pieces, and even the two of them don't know everything, how could they? They weren't there.

"In 1990 I had just returned from my four years overseas as a Marine, was living in San Fran, working for the police department and taking some classes in community college. All while contemplating whether to re-enlist once my contract ended." Noah explains after taking a deep breath. "I met a man in the shooting range, a young artist who ran away from home and just wanted to live his life. He introduced himself as Kit Vermeil…"

All eyes go to Chris but the Hunter says nothing, just stands there, looking at Noah as if trying to decode some great mystery. And maybe he is, even knowing as much as he does (and he knows more than his dad, either of them, expect), there's a lot about the man Stiles doesn't get. And it's not even him being a Hunter (though that one's big enough), it's just… they've been looking for him for so long, trying so hard, and for him to show up now… and Stiles is terrified, because he doesn't know if this will make everything perfect or ruin it all. He hates not knowing. Hates even more knowing there's nothing he can do to change the outcome. It's out of his hands now.

"We hit it off immediately." Noah goes on. "We just had so much in common. We could talk about anything, and we enjoyed going to the shooting range every week. He taught me a few fighting moves, and I taught him a few knife tricks I learned at the Marine's." His eyes cloud briefly as his mind gets briefly lost in the memories, but a shake of his head returns him to the present. "I thought I'd found my perfect match."

"But what about… Mrs. S?" Lydia asks softly.

Everyone in Beacon Hills knew Claudia, and a lot of people called her Mrs. S; when Stiles was little she was always a very involved mom, play-dates, picnics, birthday parties, she got involved in everything. All the kids in town loved her, and since it was next to impossible for them to pronounce Stilinski, they took to calling her simply Mrs. S…

"Claudia…" Noah's lips lift in a melancholic smile. "She was a college student, working part-time in a small diner to pay her bills. That diner was just beside the shooting range where Kit and I would go every week. That's how we all met. I… I'm not actually sure how it happened exactly, the three of us becoming a thing, it just did. Claudia… she was aromantic, which means that while she liked having fun, she wasn't interested in romance. We accepted that. About a year after we all met we moved in together into a two bedroom apartment. It worked. We were happy."

"I arrived to San Francisco in late 1992." Peter takes over the story briefly. "The latest fight with Talia had left me needing to get as far away as I possibly could. Granted, San Fran isn't exactly far… but then again, I didn't expect the scent I caught when I went into that little diner while trying to get away from a storm that morning."

"Scent…?" All wolves are immediately very interesting.

"Yes, my waitress was covered in it, but it wasn't hers, I knew that right away." Peter nods. "She was such a kind woman. Opened her home to me when learning I'd nowhere to go, refused to hear anything about it, and even though she wasn't my mate, she cared. More than most people in my so-called pack ever did!"

"Uncle P…" Derek begins, automatically, breaking off when realizing his mistake, but it's already too late for that.

"Uncle P…" Allison echoes. "You're Peter Hale! More Hales survived! But then that means…"

She looks around her, at each member of the Stilinski pack, as if trying to somehow divine which of them are Hales, none of them so much as blink, giving nothing away. Cora is probably the most obvious, with her looks; Jackson takes more after his human mother (and, strictly speaking, he was never a Hale). Still, they refuse to say a thing.

"I am Piers Stilinski," Peter states in a perfectly even tone. "Peter Hale died from the burns he got in a house-fire Kate Argent set, after being abandoned by the only remaining Hales."

Derek inhales sharply, tears gathering in his eyes. Stiles moves before he even realizes he's doing it, perching on the armrest of the couch Derek chose, rubbing a hand up and down his arm and whispering into his ear, low enough that no one except perhaps Peter will hear:

"That's not on you Derek…" He assures the young were. "You were in shock, didn't know what was going on. It was Laura who chose to walk away, and to take you with her. You were never given a choice. Peter knows that, we all do. It's not your fault."

"Of course, Talia never liked giving in, on anything." Peter goes on. "She didn't care about me, but she made an oath to our mother, so she had to look after me. So by mid-January I was back in Beacon Hills."

Peter exhales. More than once he's wondered, how different life might have been if his mom had never pushed Talia into making that oath. Would his sister have resented him less? Saw him more as her brother and less as a burden? Would she have at least let him go? Let him stay with his mates, make a new life for himself, for them all? It's not… Peter knows things aren't as simple as he might have made them out to be when he was younger. Talia was always regarded as a great alpha, and Peter's never been entirely sure how much of that was on her, and how much simply due to the Hale name… It's not even that Talia was a bad Alpha exactly, some might even say she was who she was raised to be. Their father was a very old werewolf, and he raised them in a way that just didn't fit with the modern world. Like the pack was all that mattered, the word of the alpha was law, and humans were unimportant. With their tradition of homeschooling the children until high-school, they never got to see human families in normal settings, probably didn't realize just how different human families were. Was it any wonder that some of the young wolves went nuts when they finally got to have some freedom? Laura was a clear example of that, and even Derek. Peter himself wasn't without his faults… but he grew up, he learned, came to see that even if humans might not have the senses and strength of the wolves, that didn't mean they were less. Others never realized that. It's why, when the opportunity to take Cora along with him, to introduce her to Stiles, came, he took it. He could have never guessed just how life-changing that particular choice of his would end up being, but he was glad.

"We hated seeing Peter go." Noah continues. "But we couldn't make him stay. He was still a minor, and any legal action would just have complicated things. So we let him go, hoping we'd come back to us one day…" He sighs. "In May Claudia found out she was pregnant. We were shocked, and then so excited. We didn't know which of us was the father, and we never cared, as far as we were concerned, our baby was gonna have one mom and two dads (perhaps eventually three). But then… then Kit began pulling away. There was something wrong and he wouldn't tell us what. Refused to talk to us at all. Until one day he just… vanished." He focuses his whole attention on Chris. "We looked for you, you know? For weeks, we scoured the city, the whole county even, looking for you. You just… you left us! Without saying a word, or leaving a note, nothing at all! Not even a goodbye! Claudia was terrified something happened to you! As was I for that matter…"

"I'm sorry…" It's Chris's words, in a soft, broken tone of voice, that break off Noah's tirade.

"We thought you were dead." Noah adds, voice lower but no less intense. "We thought… especially after… when…"

Noah cannot even find the words to express himself, he turns his head into his husband, seeking comfort, and Peter does his best to give it. Thought it's not easy, the two of them are mates certainly, but the one causing the hurt is their mate as well… or at least, he has the potential to be. The Alpha werewolf doesn't know what to say either. So long they've been searching, hoping, waiting, and to find Kit standing before them right then, as none other than Christopher Argent… the wolf doesn't know if to be grateful or to curse Fate for dealing them such a hand. He wonders briefly if it might not have been better for them to stay as they were, unknowing, happy…

"I'm sorry." Chris repeats. "I… there's so much I never told you. So much I never knew how to tell you. I lied about my name, that's true enough, though not entirely. Kit was a nickname of mine when I was young, it brought to me memories of easier times, happier times, which is why I chose to go by it when I ran away from home. After my mother died… I told you my father was a vile man who liked to use violence and call it training, but I never told you just how bad it was. Or that I always suspected he was behind mama's death. He always told me I was a disgrace to him and to the family, too soft for our lifestyle, because I have a conscience! Because I wouldn't kill the defenseless, wouldn't hunt without a reason, wouldn't go after established packs…" He exhales. "I never told you I was a hunter, but then again, I didn't know you had anything to do with the supernatural. Other than Claudia being Wiccan, and there's so much New-Age stuff everywhere that it was hard to tell if she truly had magic, or just liked the theory behind it all. Until Peter… and by then… we'd been together so long Noah, and things were so good. I was afraid. Afraid that you wouldn't understand, that I had kept my secrets too long. That I'd lose you… and it's not like I ever planned on going back, so what difference did it make? When the truth about Peter came out… everything was well. We all accepted it, and moved on. I decided right then and there that I had no interest in being a Hunter again. I was… happy. With you, and Claudia, and even though we lost Peter…"

"And then you left." Noah says, and much as he wants to sound accusing, he just sounds tired.

"My sister found me." Chris shrugs. "It took her years but eventually she found me. Said father was looking for me. Warned me that it wouldn't be pretty if he found me… if he found you. Claudia had just told us about the pregnancy… I was terrified. I couldn't put you in that kind of danger Noah. Not you and Claudia… or your baby…"

"Our baby." Noah corrects automatically.

"Back then I was sure it'd be yours." Chris admits. "You remember how I once told you that my family was really old-school?"

"You said your dad was arranging your marriage to someone of his choice." Noah remembers.

"He did." Chris nods. "What I failed to mention back then is that when I ran away I was already married. Had been for a couple of years."

"What?!" Noah clear isn't expecting that. "But… but you were so young, barely older than Claudia. For you to have been married for years by that point…"

"I was married straight out of high-school." Chris nods calmly. "Settled in a house in Florida with Victoria, from where I could handle the human-side of the 'family business'. Never went to college. Gerard didn't see the point. And turns out, you don't really need a degree when it's a family-owned business, as is the case of Argent Arms. Gerard always said there was nothing the stuffy schools could teach me anyway. I was born to be a Hunter, would live and die as one, even if I refused on doing it 'his way', and 'human teachings' were pointless."

Peter almost laughs at that. Almost. Wonders if Chris's father has any idea how much like a wolf that sounds. Peter's father was like that too. He believed that the pack was all that really mattered. The children were sent to school for a few years so they'd learn to 'act human' when necessary, but that was just a facade, just to allow them to survive, and he never cared much for it either. He never realized how much the distance hurt the pack, how much greater the danger was. Before their generation no one had even gone to college at all! Peter has wondered more than once, if the Hales had been truly entrenched in the community in Beacon Hills, been part of it instead of just an eccentric family living in the middle of the woods, would it have been so easy for Kate Argent to move against them? Would they have tried harder to make justice for them instead of just accepting what that bought-off fire investigator wrote in his stupid report? Would anyone have noticed Kate preying on his nephew if they'd known about him? Known how young he truly was back then. That despite looking like an adult, he was very much a teenager… a child.

"I married Victoria because that's what my father wanted… and I was much too weak to tell him no." Chris admits. "We were supposed to have a child. Someone who'd carry on the Argent name and legacy. But after years… it just didn't happen. No matter how much we tried, Victoria would not get pregnant. Eventually we went to see some doctors. We were told that the likelihood of me ever getting her pregnant was less than 1%. My father pushed for in-vitro… he really wanted that child. As did Victoria. He because of what he got from Victoria's family, arranging that marriage, and Victoria because she wanted the status that would come with being an Argent, especially one who might end up being the mother of a matriarch, since it didn't look like Kate was interested in having a child herself."

Several eyes turn to Allison, who doesn't look the slightest bit bothered by it all. And why should she? It's not like it's news to her. She knows exactly who Victoria Argent was, has for years. There might have been a time when she truly saw her as a mother, when she, in all her childhood innocence, wondered why her mother didn't seem to love her…

"I truly thought I'd managed to escape that life, to leave it all behind, and then Kate showed up." Chris shakes his head. "When Claudia told us about the baby, I knew it couldn't be mine, but I didn't care. I knew I'd love that baby anyway… and it was precisely because of that that I had to leave. I couldn't risk my father coming after me… finding you… I thought… I just wanted to protect you…"

"What happened afterwards?" Peter asks in a clipped tone.

There's something in his tone of voice, he sounds suspicious, and Stiles doesn't know why. He wants to know, wants to look at Peter more closely and try and understand him… but that's a bit hard with the way Derek's turned into him, half pulling Stiles off the armrest and on top of him. Not that the boy isn't comfortable, it just means he cannot change position easily. It'd mean letting go of Derek, and he doesn't think either of them really want that, not yet. As much as Derek might have needed the comfort first, Stiles needs it just as much, the more the story goes on; and he already has a feeling that it's only gonna get worse before it gets any better.

"I took some time getting back to my father, wanting to ensure he wouldn't find out where I was." Chris explains. "When I finally made it… it wasn't good." He shakes his head, doing his best to vanish the memories of those awful times. "I wasn't exactly surprised when Victoria arrived a few weeks later. What I wasn't expecting, was for her to arrive with a baby girl… she told me that they proceeded with the in-vitro in my absence. She'd given birth to the baby four weeks prior. I… from the moment I took that baby girl in my arms I loved her. I knew I didn't love Victoria and I never would, but her? I could love her. You know how much I've always loved the name of Adélaïde, what it means to me… but that was supposed to be the name of the child Claudia gave birth to, not Victoria, so in the end I decided to use a variant of that name: Allison. I named the baby Allison Joan Argent…"

Noah turns around so hard if he weren't a werewolf he'd get whiplash. His middle-name is John, and he can still remember, back when Claudia first told them she was pregnant, that one perfect night they had before Chris grew taciturn and eventually disappeared (and everything else that happened afterwards), they talked about names. If it was a boy Claudia wanted to use her father's name; she asked him and Kit what names they'd choose. Noah couldn't think of any, he loved his mother, sure, but he didn't exactly like her name, and neither did she for that matter (Nora). Kit offered the name Adélaïde; hesitant at first, thinking that they'd find it too strange… at least until he heard the name Mieczyslaw… Claudia of course loved the name, and decreed that Noah was responsible for the baby's middle-name. Among the options given were all kinds of variations (male and female) of Noah's middle-name, the favorite of those being Joan for a girl, and Ian for a boy. Though in the end they chose differently for Stiles's middle-name…

They never go into the fact that, for Chris to have been the one to name the baby-girl, that means that she'd gone the first four weeks of her life without one, that her mother… Victoria, never cared about giving her baby a name…

"It gets worse." Allison mutters, mostly under her breath.

"Worse!" Jackson blurts out, evidently horrified. "How can anything be worse than that?!"

"Oh trust me, it can." Allison drawls.

Chris's wordless agreement is enough to put everyone on their guard. Though at least the brief break gives the chance for things to settle a bit, the Argents sit on a couple of chairs, and Cora offers them something to drink, water in the end. They know story-time is far from over, but that doesn't mean they cannot be comfortable while doing it… or as comfortable as they can.

"I thought you were dead." Is the first thing Chris says after swallowing half his glass of water in one go. "Months after… after Allison was born, Gerard left on a hunt, Victoria and Kate went with him. I never went with them, I wasn't trusted as a Hunter anymore, and that was just fine with me. I was much happier staying with Allison, focusing on her. But with them away I finally dared look for you. I wanted… I don't even know what I wanted exactly. But I found some old articles about a gas explosion in San Francisco… our apartment blew up!"

"Yeah, it did." Noah runs a hand through his hair, if he closes his eyes he can still remember that time, finding out about the explosion, how close they were all to dying. If it hadn't been for Claudia's insistence that the apartment was too far away from the hospital and her wanting to stay nearby in case anything happened… "We weren't there. We were staying in a hotel. It…" He shakes his head. "It's not important right now. In any case, we knew it wasn't an accident. And after everything else… when we moved to Beacon Hills, it was Claudia's idea for us to change our names. I was actually born Noah Stilinski, but since my father was a drunk, racist, abusive asshole who liked to hit both my mother and I for no reason and I wanted nothing of his I took my mother's maiden name when I enlisted in the army, straight out of high-school. By '94 my father was long since dead, and even if he hadn't been, protecting my family was more important than any desire to snub him and his name."

"Well, I didn't know any of that." Chris points out. "So I thought you were dead. You, and Claudia, and the baby… it broke me. I had nothing except Allison… I wanted so much for her to meet you. I took to telling her about you two, whenever the others would go on Hunts, it'd be our special time, we'd eat pizza and I'd tell her about all the stuff we got up to in San Francisco. I could never stop dreaming of the family we could have had…"

"If you hadn't left you'd have never had Allison." Jackson points out. "You'd have never known she existed."

"That's… not exactly true." Chris admits grimly.

Lydia's sharp inhale calls everyone's attention but she says nothing, going as far as waving a hand mutely for everyone to return their attention to the Argents. In the end only one pair of eyes remains on her, and the moment hazel meets amber she knows she's not the only one connecting the dots (small and confusing as they are).

"When Allison was eleven she had a bad fall." Chris tells them. "Victoria got her into all kinds of after-school activities: martial arts, archery, gymnastics… and for the most part she liked them. Gerard and Victoria wanted to start training Allison as a Hunter practically since she was six, but I refused. It's probably the only time I ever stood my ground, but she was my baby-girl and I wanted her to remain a child for as long as she could. Wanted her to have the childhood Kate and I were denied… so I agreed to allow Victoria to sign her up for all those classes, but Ally wouldn't be trained as a Hunter, wouldn't even know about it until she finished high-school. Victoria was still working with Gerard, pressuring me to have her start training at least once she finished elementary, when Ally had a bad fall from the balance beam, I had to take her to the hospital. Gerard and Kate had been away on some long Hunt, and Victoria left earlier that very day to help them or something. They did all sorts of tests and we had a bit of a scare when there was some internal bruising and they feared she might need a blood donor or something… that was when things got even stranger. Because I learned Allison's blood-type was O-."

"What's so strange about that?" Cora asks, curious.

"It shouldn't have been possible, with both Victoria and I being rh+…" Chris clarifies.

Several more eyes went wide as the implications of that hit.

"I thought… to be honest the first thought I had was that she might not be mine." Chris admits. "Which wouldn't have been that surprising. With all the trouble we were having… It wouldn't have been hard for Victoria to find someone else and pass the baby as mine. Even then I knew nothing would ever make me stop loving my little girl… and then more tests were made and I learned she was, in fact, mine… but she wasn't Victoria's…"

That declaration, as the whole of it hits, is enough to cause absolute pandemonium.

Noah's crying, tears pouring down his face and he doesn't even bother to try and hold them back, he's holding onto Peter tightly, and his feelings are such that the tips of his fingers have turned into claws, which are burying in his husband's arms, but he doesn't care. Peter knows that Noah needs him in that moment. He… the both of them really, they want so much to go to Allison, to hold her, but they're afraid she might not want that.

"The moment they let us out of the hospital… we didn't even go back to the house. I got my little girl on the car and drove straight to the closest airport." Chris admits. "I had no idea where to go, didn't want to put anyone in Gerard's crosshairs. I knew he wouldn't just let us go… so in the end I called Aunt Cécile. Told her everything, from mama's death, the arranged marriage, my running away and return, Allison… she sent the private plane for us, which allowed us to bypass the usual airport security that would have never let me take my daughter out of the country without her mother's permission. I didn't know it at the time, but Aunt Cécile sent a group after Gerard, Kate and Victoria. ¿That long Hunt Gerard and Kate had been on? It was North Cal…" Everyone heard what he wasn't saying. "Victoria died when a fight broke out, when Aunt Cécile's team tried to take them in. Gerard and Kate got away. It was in the aftermath of that that they were declared Intolerable. Allison and I chose to stay in France. I… much as a part of me just wanted to forget all about Hunting, I was all too aware of my family's crimes and… it didn't feel right, ignoring it all. I felt like we needed to at least try to do some good, try and make amends for all the bad they did… all the bad I didn't stop them from doing."

"And I agreed." Allison takes over when it becomes obvious that her father cannot continue. "I… wanted to believe that it's what Mama would have wanted, what…" she looks straight at Noah: "What you'd have done…"

Noah just nods, there's nothing else he can do.

For several seconds no one says a thing. It's obvious that so many of them want to do something, to move, to speak… yet no one dares to start. No one really knows how to… So Stiles decides to take matters into his own hands. He rubs his hands down Derek's arms briefly, as much to give comfort as to get it, going as far as rubbing his cheek against Derek's own, before he moves and, with a grace rarely seen, slipping off the armchair and going to stand in the middle of the room, right before the Argents. He gives them a few seconds to just look at him, before he starts talking:

"It's my birthday today, you know?" He comments, in what to most would seem like a complete non-sequitur; except it's not, not at all. "I was born at sunset, on the 31st of October, 1993, right at the start of Samhain. From what I've been told, it was a very hard labor. While 34 weeks might not be too bad for a pregnancy, especially when twins are involved, it still wasn't the best. In fact things got so bad at one point that one doctor even declared me dead for a little while! He got corrected soon enough though, when a nurse realized I was, in fact, alive, though I do know it was a bit of touch and go for a couple of weeks. Some doctors even tried to delay my mom's labor, wanting to give my twin more time, in the end it didn't last, my little sister was born at dawn on November 1st…"

"Twins…" Allison echoes, voice so low it's practically inaudible, even for wolves.

Chris himself says nothing, doesn't react at all, like he cannot believe what's being implied, like the shock's just too great…

"Mom was given the okay to go home a couple of days later, though the doctors insisted that she stay in bed, make no efforts, eat well." Stiles goes on, he lets no emotion show in his voice, but he's still staring straight at Allison as he speaks. "I was still in NICU, but she could take Addy home. So she and dad decided to do that… At least, that was the plan until a psycho bastard accosted mom just outside the hospital while dad was getting the car and she was very conveniently alone, ripped my twin sister out of her arms and took her away."

Allison covers her mouth with both hands, tears streaming down her face. In fact, pretty much everyone's crying in that moment as the obvious truth hits them…

"Hey little sis…" Stiles's lips quirk into a small, but very heartfelt smile. "Long time no see…"

As if that were some kind of signal Allison chooses that very moment to jump out of the chair and throw herself into Stiles's arms… her brother's arms… she has a brother!

So, what do you think? Am I crazy or what? Well, I think that the crazy is a given actually. I hope you enjoy my brand of craziness nonetheless. I certainly enjoy writing this fics a lot.

This chapter, that conversation, is one of the things I planned from the moment I started "Chaos Theory". I'm very proud of how it's turned out, and hope you all like it as well. If you find any mistakes or have any doubts let me know. I had some difficulties making this chapter flow right, and may have overlooked something during the editing. If there's anything that really needs to be corrected I promise to get onto it as soon as I can.

A couple of things I think I haven't adressed directly, but I think should be pointed out, both which concern Jackson actually. On him being Peter's son... it's been stated by Jeff Davies that if Colton Haynes hadn't left to play Roy Harper in the Arrowverse, Jackson would have gotten the storyline of being Peter's child (not sure if Malia was already in plans back then, or if in the end they created her just to be able to use that storyline); there was also another plot they were planning for him, which I'm not going to mention because it would be effectively spoilering myself.

The other thing concerns the wolves eye-color. While I know canon says it's about the wolf having killed an innocent (never been sure if it's about the innocence or the whole guilt/regret thing; have never watched the episode where they might explain it, and fans seem to use both indiscriminately); during the first couple of seasons the most popular belief seemed to be that it was a matter of born wolf/bitten wolf; the first showing blue eyes and the latter yellow ones. Which would have easily explained why the only wolves with blue eyes were Hales... yes, including Jackson, I imagine it'd have tied in with the whole Peter's-son plotline. Also remember that this was before Jackson disappeared and Cora came in. So, since I'm playing mostly with plots from the early seasons I decided I wanted to use the mythos from back then. In few words: yes, Jackson has blue eyes (Cora does too for that matter), no, he's never killed anyone; in this verse blue eyes are due to being born wolves. The thing with Paige did happen, it's one of perhaps a handful of things from the latter seasons I'm using, though we'll go more into that in the story itself.

Any questions, guesses as to what might be next, suggestions, requests of what you might like to see, what you liked, didn't, etc... let me know, I love to read all your comments/reviews.

See ya in a couple of weeks, Samhain's just beginning...