And here we have the finale!
A little aside, to those who might be interested to know what the hell is going on with Laura. It's sort-of my head-canon that when the fire happened, either Peter got the Alpha Spark first and then lost it when he died briefly (before the EMTs managed to revive him, only for him to go into a deep coma), or he should have gotten it but couldn't for the same reason. Here Noah arrived in time to save Peter, he never died, and thus he became the Alpha.
The way I see Laura, I don't think she ever wanted to be the Alpha. Or... she wanted the power, but not the responsibility. It's my headcanon that she either didn't realize the true responsibility to it, or was willfully blind about it. And Talia was so convinced of her own power that it truly never occurred to her that something might go wrong. Either she thought Laura was young and she had time to teach her yet, or that Laura was just 'acting out' and would do things right when her turn came (because she did...). Laura never checked the packbonds, she didn't care about it. However, she wasn't stupid. She believed she was going to be the Alpha (or, in canon, she already was), and an Alpha needs a pack, so she took Derek with her. So he'd be her Beta. Much like Talia (or my headcanon) she only really saw Derek (and everyone else) as 'her betas' not as son/brother/family, only 'caring' for whether they were useful to her.
If anyone cares, I imagine that, in this 'verse, after a few hours Laura realized she wasn't getting the Alpha Spark. Probably thought it had been lost for some reason. She'd have found some Alpha, tricked or seduced him/her and then killed them for their Alpha Spark. Biting Derek to bind him to her while he was still in shock over the loss of so many members of the Hale Pack and their old Alpha (Derek's state keeping him from realizing what was going on). By the time he was fully aware all he knew was that Laura was Alpha and they'd run away.
Someone said something about Deaton and Laura faking her death. That's more-or-less true. Not sure if anyone noticed, but there was never actually a body. If you re-read the first chapters, there's mention of a Rogue, an Omega. Then Derek comes into the picture, accusing Peter of killing his sister and stealing her Alpha Spark. Only to be told the truth. Then Kate drops in and the story goes in a different direction. The Rogue is mentioned again when the killing starts. No body is ever found of Laura's. The only reason they believe her to be dead is because Derek's packbond to her is broken and they have no reason to believe anything else.
Not sure if anyone actually cares about any of this. But I thought it should be said anyway.
Now, on with the Finale!
Water
'The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water from the womb…' Stiles doesn't remember where he first read those words, or even when. He likes them though, likes the message. Better than the more commonly known version of the phrase: 'Blood is thicker than water'. He knows most people take it to mean that family is more important than friends, but that's not how Stiles sees it, how can he when more than half of the people he cares for most have no blood-relation to him at all? There's his Dad of course, and nowadays there's Addy as well… and he used to have his mom, but that's it. If he were to take the words the ways most people do, they should be the most important, and while they matter, they're not the only ones. Cora, Papa (Peter), Jax, Lydia, even Chris! They're important to him, even if they're not his blood, they're still family… pack! They're certainly more important to him than any Gajos or Stilinskis that might be elsewhere in the world; those people might be family by blood, but they mean nothing to him.
All those thoughts run through his mind as Derek confirms what a part of him suspected from the moment he saw the long-haired female crouched beside the dark stump that is the Nemeton, she's laying down things, boxes that smell so much of death Stiles is almost sick at the mere thought of what is in them exactly. There's also a part of him that makes him almost want to smack himself, for never even considering the possibility that the 'mysterious rogue' that's been a pain in their asses for months might have been Laura all along… Then again, Derek's grief, his pain over the broken pack-bond, over the loss of his alpha, his sister, that wasn't fake. And while they always knew Laura wasn't exactly a stellar alpha, none of them ever expected her to be that much of a…
"Bitch…" Stiles hisses under his breath, then revises, because that's just not strong enough, and he knows that most werewolves don't even consider it an insult. "Cunt."
He can half-feel his dad's censure, knows that his mom would have hated to hear him talk like that but it's just that… Derek's already suffered so much, and for Laura to be willing to make him hurt even more… That goes beyond her being a bad alpha, even a shitty sister, what kind of individual (human, supernatural or whatever else!) does that?!
"Stiles!" Lydia practically screeches, and it's so unlike her that Stiles reacts automatically, turning towards her. "They're doing a Blood Knot!"
Stiles blanches. He knows what that is. He's researched every single ritual (especially those involving sacrifices) that could ever be done on or close to a Nemeton for… reasons. He knows exactly what a Blood Knot is, the implications of it, but more importantly, that they're missing one key component…
Stiles is moving, reacting, the moment he realizes the implications of it all, even before his conscious mind makes any choice at all. With a single thought a pair of daggers, both of a coppery-gold alloy, the handles made of smooth white-ash-wood with no adornments, fly to his hands. Stiles holds the blades in back-handed grips before dropping into a slight crouch right in front of a still shocked Derek, feet shoulder-width apart with one of them slightly ahead from the other, his whole weight carefully balanced on the balls of his feet. He's ready for anything.
"Stiles…?" Derek asks softly, confused.
"There are many kinds of rituals that can be called Knots." Lydia offers, a molotov cocktail in a crystal flask on one hand and a small, collapsible crossbow in the other. "They all have one thing in common: they have five components. Judging by the creepy boxes they were placing around the Nemeton, the first four sacrifices are there. No doubt pieces of the ones they've been killing the last few weeks…" she turns to Deaton. "Let me guess: the arsonists' hands, probably Harris's head, since he was the one to give Kate the recipe for that accelerant, and Myers… well, I've no idea what you'd use of his. Nor do I really care."
It's clear Deaton's more than a little surprised, not having expected Lydia to be able to deduce so much. Then again, he doesn't know Lydia, 'genius' isn't exactly an adjective that just gets thrown around. Laura is surprised as well, though she doesn't seem to really care. Like she doesn't believe them knowing what's going on will change anything in the end. Like she believes she's already won… (clearly she's never met them).
"You said five… and the fifth?" Noah asks, though his wary tone and the way he raises the shotgun he carries (wolf he might be, but he's also pragmatic and believes that if he never has to get close enough to need his claws, all the better) show he already suspects the answer.
"Me…" Derek murmurs in a broken voice.
"Over my dead body!" Stiles snarls, with a vehemence most would have never expected. And then there's the way he sounds somewhat animalistic right then, almost… like a wolf.
"What?" Laura snorts derisively. "You need a human child to fight your battles now little brother? Except I don't think you want him fighting this, do you? Not when you know this is what you deserve…"
"You know…" Derek breathes out as realization hits him.
"I know." Laura agrees, tone beseeching as she looks at her brother. "Don't you see Derek? This is what you've always wanted, an opportunity to redeem yourself…" She cocks her head to a side, eyes never leaving Derek, as if no one else matters. "You will pay for your sins, and I will get to claim back the territory and the power that rightfully belongs to me…"
As if she had any right… as if things were that simple!
"If you so much as lay a finger on him, I'll end you." Stiles snarls.
"How much passion for such a useless little thing." Laura comments condescendingly, then turns back to Derek. "Don't tell me? Are you trying to convince yourself this one is your mate? It didn't work out last time, so why should it now? Humans are nothing, they're beneath us, and mates… they're a gift someone like you doesn't deserve, and you know it."
"Shut up!" Stiles hisses. "You've no idea what you're talking about."
For several seconds there's a tension in the air, so thick lesser humans would choke on it. Stiles is about ready to throw himself at Laura, just to shut the bitch up once and for all. The insanity coming out of her mouth, the way her every word is flaying Derek open… Stiles can feel it, it's almost enough to drive him insane…
No one knows it yet, Stiles hasn't said anything about it, but the blood magic he did to find Derek when Kate took him… it had consequences. Then again, he knew it would. He wasn't just playing around when he told his siblings about making sure he'd be the one to pay the price. He knows he has to talk about it with Derek. It's his life as well. He deserves to know that he's bound to Stiles now… He probably hasn't felt it yet. Stiles doesn't actually know if he ever will. Has no idea if the bond goes just one way, or both. Regardless, he knew it was a possibility, even before he did the spell, and he doesn't regret it. He never will. And it's not just the fact that Derek is his mate… Yes, Stiles is aware they're mates, has known since that night, and suspected it for much longer, even before Derek returned to town. From the moment that Phoebe and Coop first told him about his destined mate (what little they could tell him, as they couldn't intervene, yet still believed he should be aware of what was coming and prepare himself in any way he could), Stiles always suspected it might be Derek. It didn't matter if he hardly knew the guy, mostly from watching him from afar during his basketball games, or that time in the park… there's always been something that just draws Stiles to Derek. That makes the boy aware of the wolf, always, even when they were both too young to know anything about mates, or about love. And what he felt that day, the day of the fire… a sudden breathlessness, like someone was somehow taking a piece of him and pulling, the strain not physical but still very real. It's a sensation he actually grew used to, to the point that he even stopped being aware of it for the most part… until it eased, pretty much disappeared, the same day Derek showed up back in town.
Cora lets out a non-verbal howl of denial. Laura flinches, and just like that, it's as if some sort of spell's been broken. It's hard to tell if Laura recognizes Cora at all, probably not.
"Do you truly think anything you do here will give you what you seek?" Peter snarls. "This isn't your territory Laura. You're not the Hale Alpha."
"Neither are you!" Laura snaps, sounding so much like a petulant child…
"No," Peter agrees easily enough. "I'm the Stilinski Alpha, and this is Our Territory. You gave up any right to it the moment you chose to run away like a coward, dragging your brother with you. The moment you chose to abandon two thirds of your pack… your little sister, and your alpha!"
"You're not my alpha." Laura retorts.
She turns her attention back to Derek, probably seeking to draw him in again, somehow. She never gets the chance, as Cora goes to stand beside her brother, a hand on his own as she faces her older sister straight on:
"And you're not our pack." She states simply.
Laura's at a loss. Clearly not knowing what to do anymore, how to reply to that. And for a moment Derek's reminded of the Laura before New York, before the Hale Fire… they never got along, not really. They grew up knowing one day Laura would be the Alpha, just like their mother. That made her feel… entitled. Made her feel like she was something special, rather than just being lucky she was born first. Derek didn't see it at the time, but he doesn't think Laura has ever understood what being the Alpha is truly about. She just saw that their mother was the one to give the orders, the one to make the rules, and everyone else did as they were told; and she wanted that. She couldn't exactly order around the adults, they wouldn't allow it, but she could and did order around the children. Truly, high-school was the first chance Derek had to make choices for himself, even if it was just in things as simple as who to sit with for lunch, or what sport to play. He remembers Stiles suggesting that maybe the real reason packs keep their children home-schooled until high-school is so they can brainwash them into thinking that their lifestyle's normal. That having to follow one person's every order, all the time; having that person control where they go to school, where they work, if they go to school at all, is normal. At the time Derek felt offended by the obvious jibe at his family… until he saw the Stilinskis interacting and realized that while a Pack and a Family could be the same thing, it doesn't mean they always are. The Hales might have been a pack, but they were never a family. Talia Hale was his alpha, but she was never his mom. Truly, in the few months he's been back Peter, Noah and even Chris have been more like dads to him than his birth-father ever was… then again, Zachery Hale might have been mated to the Alpha, but in the end he was just another Beta. And now Laura… she wants power, the power she's always believed herself entitled to. Derek isn't even surprised that she'd be willing to sacrifice him for it. It's clear that when Laura looks at him she doesn't see a brother, she just sees a Beta, perhaps not even that; nothing more than means to an end… And now, with the Stilinski Pack standing up to her, surrounding Derek, making it clear that she will not get to him, will not get to sacrifice him to the Nemeton in an attempt to get power that isn't meant for her… it's clear that Laura just doesn't know what to do anymore.
"No!" It's Deaton who breaks the stand-off, surprisingly, he sounds more than a little deranged. "I'm not giving up! The power of the Nemeton will be mine!"
Before anyone can move, before anyone truly realizes what he's doing, Deaton's suddenly behind Laura, knife raised and slashing across the alpha's throat before she's even aware of the danger.
Laura opens her mouth wide, clearly trying to let out a howl, or a roar, no sound comes out her throat, as blood pours down her front. She stumbles backwards, Deaton moving aside just in time for the wolf to fall on her back, right over the Nemeton's stump.
Laura's eyes flash a bright red for a fraction of a second, which then dull into a muddy brown, before going completely dark with lack of life. There's a certain silence that follows the alpha's passing. Except it doesn't feel like a good silence, rather like being in the eye of a hurricane: They've been through so much already… and it's not over just yet.
Deaton stands beside the Nemeton, Laura's blood dripping off the tree-stump and staining his shoes, though he doesn't seem to care about that. He just stands there, arms raised, mouth curved into a triumphant smirk. He believes he's already won…
A second passes, then two, three, five, fifteen… then, right as the pseudo-druid realizes that something most definitely hasn't gone according to plan, everything changes:
It starts with a rumble, deep underground, like the earth shifting just before a big earthquake.
Stiles curses, the daggers falling from his slack hold, one of them cutting his palm open. One of the wolves would mock him for his lack of grace, but they know it cannot be that. As clumsy as Stiles might be in everyday situations (mostly due to his ADHD making his brain fire in every direction… he hardly ever pays attention to where he is exactly, and that makes him trip and slip more often than not), he's actually pretty graceful when it comes to battle situations (the same ADHD that keeps him distracted most of the time also allows him to get hyper-focused when the situation calls for it). Which lets everyone know something's off.
"Paige!" Stiles yells loudly.
There's a sound, like a bubble popping, or a balloon bursting, and suddenly they can all see the girl standing on the opposite end of the Nemeton stump, looking down at Laura's body with horror in her chocolate eyes.
"You have to do something Stiles, you know I cannot interfere!" She tells him.
"Interfere with what?" Peter asks, though they can all feel it then, the shifting earth.
"What the hell is going on?!" Jackson and Cora demand at the same time.
"You can be a bridge." Stiles states. "Lydia! Scream!"
The redhead doesn't even stop to question her packmate, even if she's not entirely sure what's going on, she trusts him. So she does exactly as he asks.
At the same time Lydia's banshee wail reaches a crescendo Stiles manages to reach the Nemeton, on the other side from where Paige has gone on her knees, translucent palms pressed to the tree-bark. He slams his own hand on that same stump, holding back the wince at the pain caused by the cut and letting his blood fall, praying he was fast enough… He opens his mouth, wanting to warn his pack but it's already too late, his breath caught in his throat as the Nemeton reacts forcefully to the failed Blood Knot:
"Everyone! Brace yourselves!" Paige yells in his stead.
It starts with wind. Harsh, buffeting winds that seem to be coming from nowhere and everywhere at the same time. Everyone in the Stilinski Pack does their best to crouch down, some going as far as throwing themselves to the ground and holding onto whatever's closest, hoping it'll be enough. The winds are harsh, and hit them with enough force that it's a miracle that none of them find themselves being thrown around like rag-dolls… or perhaps, rather than a miracle, it's magic… It doesn't end there, the earth underneath them rolls this way and that; though the biggest shock comes when they see the Nemeton's roots actually shifting…
"What the hell is going on?!" Jackson demands, not for the first time.
"It's backlash, from the failed Knot." Peter surmises.
"It's more than that," Lydia mutters, but doesn't elaborate.
No one gets the chance to say anything else in fact, or ask any questions, as right then a dark root seems to pretty much shoot out of the earth and spears Deaton through. And then another… and another. The man tries to shout, but it comes out more gurgle than anything else, blood dripping out of his mouth, and everywhere the roots are piercing him. It doesn't end there, though, as the roots pretty much drag him towards the stump, and then into the ground.
Everything else ends pretty much as soon as Deaton's body is fully absorbed. And it's only then that everyone realizes that the 'boxes' holding the other components of the Knot are gone, same as Laura's body. There's only the barest stain on the stump, and on the earth around the Nemeton, it's not even damp anymore.
Everyone waits almost a full minute before slowly getting on their feet. Surprisingly enough, aside from the leaves, branches and pebbles strewn all around, there's no trace in the clearing that anything at all happened.
"Son…?" Noah calls, worried.
"I'm alright." Stiles states as he too gets on his feet, and at his dad's disbelieving expression he wipes his hand on his shirt, paying no attention to the blood he smears on it, before showing his unmarked palm. "Look, it's all healed already."
"How…?" Chris seems thrown by that.
"The Nemeton likes me, doesn't it?" Stiles asks, looking over his shoulder.
"You know it loves you." Paige assures him with a small smile.
"I… Paige…?" Derek asks, voice half-broken and looking so fragile…
Paige just smiles sadly at him.
Stiles steps forward, touching Derek's arm briefly.
"It truly is Paige, Derek." He assures the were. "You can talk to her. But you must know, she is very much dead, cannot leave the Nemeton. And you cannot touch her."
Derek nods half-absently, only briefly turning to look at Stiles before stepping forth, as close to Paige as he can get. The spirit-girl drops down, sitting cross-legged on the middle of the stump, as much for comfort (more Derek's, so he doesn't have to keep looking up at her, she doesn't really feel much of anything in her state) as to try and curb the temptation to get closer to Derek, knowing it won't amount to anything.
Stiles for his part walks past Derek, waving at the rest of the pack to follow him, to give the former couple a chance to talk in private. To put to rest all that's long since been left unsaid…
"Who is that girl?" Chris finally asks, when they're all out of sight and ear-shot from Paige and Derek (and the two from the rest of them).
They're walking back towards the pack-house; the wolves slowly rolling the dirt-bikes along, Jackson has a half-asleep Lydia in his arms (that wail took more out of her than expected), and Stiles knows everyone else is keeping a careful eye on him, in case he needs to be carried around (Stiles hopes it won't come to that, but it might).
"Her name's Paige, Paige Krasikeva, and she's dead." Stiles explains. "She died about seven years ago, in tragic circumstances. Derek was there, she was his girlfriend, and that's as much as I'm willing to say on that topic. I'll thank you not to mention any of it or question him about it, unless he brings it up first." He waits for everyone to nod before going on. "Paige ended up being an unwitting part of a Five-Fold Knot. It's like… of all the Knots Lydia vaguely mentioned, that one is the biggest, the one that renders the greatest power. It can be done with five sacrifices, or five sets of three. Virgins, Warriors, Philosophers, Healers and Guardians…" He exhales. "It… as far as I know, it wasn't planned. Not by her, or by anyone, not really. A number of people just happened to die, people who fit the criteria, at specific times and in specific places, mayor ley-lines. It all came to a head when someone became aware of the power that was gathering at the Nemeton and tried to use it. It… didn't work out. We don't actually know why. To this day, the ritual remains unfinished. And so, Paige's spirit remains tied to the Nemeton."
"Is she the only one?" Allison inquires, curious.
"Far as we know, yes." Stiles nods. "Whether it be her awareness of the supernatural prior to her death, the specific circumstances of it, that she was the first, the fact that from all of those that died she's the only one who actually did so at the Nemeton; or a combination of two or more of those, she's the only one still tied to this plane of existence." He shakes his head. "Deaton's ritual would have never worked, you know?"
"What…?" Clearly, no one was expecting that particular revelation.
"I told you, the ritual remains unfinished, all that power is still gathered at the Nemeton, and it'll remain there until it does what it's meant for." Stiles explains. "Until that circle closes, the Nemeton will not allow for any other rituals to be performed there." Even some that could be really useful… "Deaton damned himself the moment he started that."
"Then why the hurry to do… whatever it is you did at the tree-stump?" Cora asks, confused.
"Oh, that wasn't about stopping Deaton, that was to stop the Nemeton from considering us enemies and attacking us as well." Stiles declares. "That's why I needed Paige's assistance, and Lydia's, so I could convince the Nemeton in time that we meant it no harm."
Remembering, quite clearly, what happened to Deaton the Pack couldn't but be thankful that Stiles managed to do that.
"Now what?" Jackson asks eventually.
"Now we go home, sleep, move on." Stiles says simply.
There was general agreement to that. Kate and Gerard were gone, for good, there was no more Rogue Alpha, and Alan Deaton, the pseudo-druid Peter and Stiles never trusted and were always waiting to see when he might make a move was no longer a threat either. Things were probably as good as they were gonna get.
Over their heads the full moon reached its zenith.
xXx
Stiles doesn't get to sleep as long as he'd have expected… or liked. It's early still, a time such, where while the sun is already over the horizon and steadily climbing through the sky, the moon hasn't fully set yet. Technically it's a school day (Thursday, to be precise), but they only have two days left before the end of the school-year and everyone knows nothing really happens those days anyway. Lydia, Jackson and Allison are done with exams already, while Cora and Stiles are set to do their own finals, and graduate high-school, next week. So there's really no problem if they just don't show up for school today.
When Stiles finally gives up on sleep he gets out of bed and into the shower; because when they got back he was too tired and he's finally beginning to feel all the dirt and debris from the not-quite-battle the night before. Then he gets dressed in khaki-colored chinos and a white wife-beater, simple off-white sneakers, grabbing the red leather jacket he got from his mom almost as an afterthought (it might be almost Midsummer but that far north in California, at six in the morning, the temperature hasn't reached the sixty degrees yet).
Stiles hasn't been long on the swing (a simple thing, made with rope and a piece of old wood that he and Cora insisted on tying to a sturdy branch of the big oak-tree near the edge between their backyard and the actual preserve, as a throwback to the similar swing Noah hung for his son at Claudia's suggestion so many years ago), when he senses more than sees Derek coming out of the preserve. He clearly notices Stiles, and shifts direction from the backdoor of the house, to instead go and stand with his back against the oak tree the swing hangs from.
"I first met Paige a few days after we moved back to Beacon Hills." Stiles begins. "Papa was fully recovered, and while he wasn't legally a Hale anymore, the Alpha Spark in him kept pulling him to Beacon County, to his territory. Dad suggested that we could move to Beacon Valley instead but… I think deep down Papa never stopped seeing this place as home, and to a certain point, neither did Cor and I." He shakes his head. "Two days after we got here, right after we were finally done unpacking I decided to go out for a walk. All throughout those two days I'd been feeling this… buzzing under my skin. Didn't realize what it was at first. I began walking down the main running trail in the preserve, didn't actually realize when I stepped off it; even when the trees got thicker, it's like I couldn't see anything wrong with that, didn't realize there was no trail anywhere. Then suddenly I'm crossing some tree-line, right into a clearing I'd never seen before, and in the middle of it there's this huge-ass black stump. Like, really huge, I couldn't even imagine a tree getting that big outside of what I'd seen in books. And then I see this girl, sitting cross-legged on the middle of said stump, like it's the most normal thing in the world. Didn't even realize that she wasn't actually alive, half-translucent in fact, for a while!"
"She really likes you, you know?" Derek comments quietly.
"I like her too." Stiles agrees. "Outside of the pack she's my best-friend… which, considering she's a spirit and tied to the Nemeton, says something about me, even if I've no idea what!"
"It says you have good taste." Derek drawled.
"Oh, there's no doubt about that!" Stiles turns to look at him over his shoulder, going as far as winking at him before turning back to the front.
"Laura was right…"
"Oh, hell no! The fire was not your fault Derek! And whatever mistakes you might have made when you were young and vulnerable you don't deserve to die because of them, you certainly don't deserve to have had such a shitty Alpha when what you needed was someone who understood you, who helped you…"
"No!" Derek flushes slightly. "Not about that. Paige's already talked my ear off about my feelings of guilt regarding both the fire and her own death."
"Good! Paige's a smart girl."
"Yeah, she is. She reminded me that she knew what I was, she knew that the bite was dangerous. Even if we didn't actually know the odds, or that her magic-spark meant she'd reject the bite… it's not like I forced her. Also, the way Ennis chose to go about it, to press when she grew unsure, to force it on her when she thought about saying no… that's on him, not on me… on us. And the fire… there's a part of me that will always feel that I should have known better, but now I realize that others should have as well. I… I was a stupid kid! I doubt I was hiding our relationship very well, but still they never thought to ask, even if not about her directly, they didn't even ask how I was. It's not like they didn't know what happened to Paige. They just… didn't care, I suppose. Uncle Peter told me he tried, but our Alpha kept sending him away."
Stiles, he knows all that already, to a certain point at least. And he's glad that Derek is finally in a state of mind where he can not just hear, but accept that what happened really wasn't his fault.
"Wait," Stiles realizes something and forces himself around, swing and all, thick ropes twisting above his head. "If it's not about that, then what did you mean when you said Laura was right?"
"She called me on my passionate defense of you, and on the reason." Derek exhales. "I'm not sure I deserve it, truth be told… but you are my mate Stiles…"
"I know." Stiles nods serenely.
"I know you're aware what mates are, not sure if you can feel them as well but…" Derek breaks off as his mind belatedly realizes what Stiles just said. "You know?"
"Yes… I…" Stiles takes a deep breath, searching for the best way to explain things: "Have you ever heard of the Charmed Ones?"
"Just stories, rumors, nothing more." Derek replies. "They're said to be a trio of women, possibly sisters, the most powerful witches in history. San Francisco's their territory, it's why no werewolf pack, vampire coven or any other supernatural group has ever tried to settle there…" Derek's eyes widen as he realizes something. "You all lived in San Francisco!"
"We did. Piper, Phoebe and Paige, those are the Charmed Ones. They are, in fact, sisters. From what I've learned, the reason why no one else has settled in San Francisco isn't quite the fact that they live there, but rather that the city is extremely magical. It holds points of connection to other planes and dimensions. It's one of the reasons they live there, to keep an eye on things."
"How did you even meet them? I mean, I don't suppose they go around telling just anyone who and what they are exactly…"
"They don't." Stiles agrees. "I… it's complicated."
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
"I do! I just… don't know how to, exactly. Do you know that, to this day, even Dad and Papa don't know how exactly I came to know the sisters? They know we're friends, that we're close, that they all consider me practically a cousin, almost a little brother… but they don't know how that came to happen, no one does. Not even Cor."
Derek's eyes go wide again as he realizes just how big the whole thing is. He's seen how close Cora and Stiles are, and until the young man said that just then Derek would have never imagined there being anything he didn't share with her; wouldn't have imagined him ever doing anything as big as meeting the most powerful witches in the world without her having been right by his side as it was happening!
Stiles exhales. He does want to tell Derek, thinks that he more than anyone deserves to know. He just doesn't know how… How do you go about explaining to anyone that you met the Charmed Ones when they tried to turn the world into a living Utopia, accidentally getting rid of feelings and free-will in the process? That his own magic's so strong that he didn't get brainwashed like most of the world (or at least the adults) into believing that everything was perfectly normal like that? That he was there when the fight was taken to the Avatars, so the world returned to how it's supposed to be? To be fair, it's not like they wanted to get him involved, they were quite aware how young he was. But they were painfully in need of help, and apparently the world going nuts was reason enough for his magic to manifest, almost explosively so.
He didn't really get involved in things afterwards. He knows that the sisters faked their own deaths and lived under assumed names and looks for a few months, until they were forced to return. That other witches entered the picture and things got pretty serious for a while there. He wanted to help but they kept him at a distance, at most letting him spend time with Piper's kids, who were being watched over by her dad while everything was going down. He knows there was some huge battle and they won, doesn't know the details, other than Billie was involved. She's still close to all of them, but especially Phoebe. Stiles himself has met her, though he's not as close to her as he is to the sisters (Piper especially). Things have been mostly peaceful since then, only lesser demons needing to be vanquished every so often, nothing they cannot handle easily enough. Usually it's Billie taking care of things actually, as the others are busy with other responsibilities like Piper's restaurant and nightclub (officially, Billie works there, as manager), Phoebe's job with the magazine and Paige's as a social-worker as well as whitelighter.
Derek is more than a little shocked when Stiles finishes explaining it all as best he can. He can barely believe it all! And it's not that he thinks the mage would lie to him, there's no reason for him to do that. It's just… Derek has a hard time believing everything he's been through, all he did and went through when he was just a child! And to think that such a wondrous creature is his mate… What did Derek ever do to deserve such blessing?!
"You're such a wonder…" Derek breathes out eventually.
Stiles promptly goes red all the way to the tips of his ears, which makes Derek chuckle huskily.
"So… Phoebe's husband, Coop? He's actually a cupid." Stiles decides to just dive straight into the original topic of conversation. "I kid you not. They're not exactly like the stories paint them which, really, should be no surprise at all because werewolves! Then again, considering I've found there are at least four different kinds of werewolves in the world, and there might actually be more… I suppose the kind of cupids that show up in the old paintings might exist, I've just never met one!" He shakes his head to focus himself again. "Anyway! He's a Cupid Agent, that's what he says they're called. Their duty is to watch over people, help them make connections… sometimes they'll also do their best to re-direct them, when one is at risk of being with someone demonic or something like that. Doesn't always work, free-will is… well, free, after all. But still! They try." He lets out a breath, he's digressing, again! "The point is! Cupids can tell when certain people are… fated, I guess you could say. It's not absolute, just… potential, like mates! Also, according to Coop, it's not clear on a person, unless they've already connected…. Like us."
"What…?" Derek's clearly surprised by that. "How…? When?!"
"Before high-school I didn't really attend school… not sure if I've mentioned that before… anyway! Mom home-schooled me. With my ADHD and all, it made things easier. Papa helped too… back then he was Uncle P, but still. Mom wanted me to have somewhat normal interactions with other kids my age, so she'd take me to the park. Tried arranging play-dates when I was younger, but it didn't work out, so we'd go to the park. Then Peter decided to bring Cor with him… that's how we met. How we became friends. She was my very first friend since Scott decided I was too odd, not going to school like other kids. Then when mom died… Papa did his best to be there for us, he'd bring Cor around whenever he could, would take us to the park. He made sure my dad didn't drink too much, that we ate well. Everything." He fights to keep the memories from taking him over. "I… you might not remember this, but there was a day, not long before the end of the year, you came to the park, your mother had sent you to pick up Cor and pass on a message to Uncle P… he left that day, we didn't see him again until the day of the fire."
"Mom was so angry with Uncle Peter… I never understood why…"
"She blamed him for what happened with Paige, I think."
"But he'd nothing to do with that! It was my choice! Our choice, mine and Paige's."
"Don't ask me to explain to you how your mother's mind worked, I'll never understand. I've heard so many accounts of how great an alpha she was, yet I'll never stop believing she wasn't a very good sister… or mother."
It's obvious that Derek wants to contradict him… or rather, it's that he wants to Want to… but he doesn't, because much as he might hate to admit it, much as it might pain him, he knows, deep down, that Stiles isn't wrong…
"Anyway! I wasn't going to get into that. Whatever I might or might not think of her, she was your alpha, and I'll respect that… or at least I'll try to." Stiles exhales. "What I was saying is that you might not remember that day, but I do… That wasn't actually the first time I saw you. Mom was a fan of basketball and we'd gone to a few of your games. But that day… you actually touched me. When you approached Cor, I was my usual clumsy self, tripping over nothing at all, and you caught me before I could face-plant." If he focuses hard, just a bit, he can almost see it in his mind's eye, that very moment… that first touch. "There was something then, sort of like…"
"…Like a spark." They both finish at the same time.
And well, that answers that.
"Yeah," Stiles scratches the back of his head, somewhat self-consciously. "I didn't really pay much attention to it back then. But after everything… After the Fire, and our move to San Fran… Coop knew the first time he met me, that I had a… twin-soul, that's what he and Phoebe call it. Someone whose heart holds a flame similar enough to my own that we're compatible, a perfect match… They told me that it wasn't a guarantee, because there are no guarantees in life. Also, that even if we met, if we matched, that didn't mean we had to be lovers, soulmates can definitely be platonic too! But they just wanted me to know, because even though they couldn't have known who my match was, they knew it was someone supernatural, as humans don't really leave a mark, not like that. And when they said that, when they said there had to have been a moment of connection for that mark to exist I just… I knew."
"You never said anything." Derek states, not sounding accusing, exactly, just… at a loss.
"Neither did you." Stiles points out, then sighs. "I knew you were connected enough to your wolf to know, just like Papa did; but I also knew Paige and… I didn't know if you were ready to see our potential, to embrace it. So I decided to follow your lead. I need you to know I'll never try to force you in any way."
"I… that's… thank you." Derek seems to be at a loss on what to say to that.
"Something you do need to know though," Stiles admits, pulling a bit at his own hair in a clear show of anxiety. "We're blood-bound."
"What…?" Derek doesn't know what to do with that. "How?"
"Blood-magic, I… it was the only way to find you, when Kate took you. We spent hours looking for you and nothing. We were running out of options, and we didn't even know how long it had been since she took you! So I did blood-magic to find you. I knew that our potential mate-bond, that the mark Coop and Phoebe could detect would allow me to find you, and it did." Exhales. "Magic always comes with a price. Blood-magic especially." He shakes his head. "It doesn't have to mean anything. Nothing more than the potential we already have. I was telling the truth when I said I'm not going to force you or pressure you or…"
He breaks off abruptly when Derek interrupts him in the most unexpected way: by kissing him. Stiles does not squeak. He doesn't. Squeaking is so not the kind of thing that he does… ever. The kiss isn't anything long, or intense, barely a soft press of lips. It's enough to not just shut Stiles up, but he also lifts his feet off the ground, just for a moment, but it's enough for the swing to spin, shaking him in place. Derek chuckles, low and husky in the back of his throat before walking around to Stiles's front, taking hold of the ropes to stop the swing, and Stiles with it.
The mage opens and closes his mouth repeatedly, trying and failing to find the words to say. It's like his mind's gone black. Of all the things he imagined might happen, all the ways he thought the revelation of their bond, by soul and blood, might go… he never considered this. (No doubt Paige must be cackling like crazy back at the Nemeton!)
Derek himself chuckles again, clearly amused by Stiles's speechlessness. Stiles reacts on instinct. The bond between the two of them humming, thrumming, he moves his hands upwards on the rope, until his fingers tangle with the young wolf's. Holding onto the ropes and Derek himself Stiles pulls himself to his feet. It's until that moment that he realizes how close they are in height, Derek less than two inches taller. It's the perfect height for Stiles to be able to stare at his beloved wolf's eyes and lips in turn, until he decides that staring is no longer enough, and he slants their mouths together in a kiss…
The sun is slowly rising above them, it's the beginning of a new chapter in their lives, for Derek, and Stiles, and for all the Stilinski Pack…
xXx
Miles away, a boy who spent half the night running and stumbling through the forest doesn't really see the sunrise as a new beginning. He's absolutely terrified. Laura's dead, the woman who told him she was his alpha, that he belonged with her now… and he didn't like that, but Deaton convinced him, told him to accept Laura's offer, the bite, to accept her. And because he, his boss, he's the closest the boy's had to a father since his own left so long ago… the boy did what Deaton wanted, but then Deaton killed Laura! Why?! And then the t… Stiles! Stiles killed Deaton! It had to be Stiles, there's no way it could have been the tree, because trees aren't sentient, they don't just Decide to kill people! And Stiles's hand was on the tree… so it has to be his fault, right?
He never wanted any of this! All he wanted was not to be sick all the time. And to be able to play lacrosse! Then Jackass wouldn't have been able to claim he's the best anymore, and Allison would have seen how awesome he is and dumped Stiles to go out with him and he'd have been popular! No longer the sickly, pathetic, kid no one wants to be around!
"Are you alright?"
The boy lets out a shriek when he sees the woman suddenly standing there. She's about the same height as his mom, with light skin and very dark hair. She's beautiful, yet cold in a way he cannot fully explain. It's like she came out of nowhere…
"Who are you?" He demands, she smells funny, though he cannot understand why, he never paid much attention when Laura was trying to teach him and Matt about scents and chemo-signals.
"You may call me Jenny," the woman informs him. "And you?"
"Oh! I… I'm Scott McCall, pleasure to meet you ma'am." He does his best to be polite, even though he looks like he spent the whole night stumbling through the forest (and he did!) and he's no idea where he is at all, and he's tired and… his mother raised him to be polite to others, especially ladies.
"Oh! Such a polite young man!" The woman replies, and there's just something about it, about the voice, her words, that makes the hair on the back of Scott's neck stand on edge. "I assure you, the pleasure's all mine…"
In days to come, the people of Yolo County will swear that in the early morning they heard a wolf howling… despite there having been no wolf sightings in NorCal for over half a century.
So... what do you think? Like it? hate it?
Yes, that last scene is a sort-of tease for what's coming. Wanna try and guess? Same offer as last time. Only, you'll have more time. If anyone wants to try, Fanarts are on offer. The time you have is from the moment this chapter gets posted, to the day the first chapter of 'The Guardian" is posted. It'll take a while, because before I actually start posting that, I have another fic that will be posted.
Anyone want to read more about Peter/Noah? About Kit? Anyone curious about what exactly happened when those three (and Claudia) first met in San Francisco back in the nineties? Coming up next is a sidestory/prequel of Chaos Theory called "Origins of Chaos". It has two parts and I really hope you'll enjoy it. Afterwards we'll go into the last piece of the series, which, as I've mentioned before, is called "The Guardian".
See ya in two-to-four weeks! Please don't forget to leave comments/reviews and kudos/likes. I live for your feedback!