Thanks for reading! I hope you're enjoying the story so far. We're now at the half way mark meaning there's 5 chapters left after this one.

Chapter 05: A Possible Break

November 2011

Jessica jumped as she felt Stiles curl into her side, she'd been out of town on and off for the past two months getting updates periodically from her father and Derek about what was happening. Jessica pulled him close and wrapped her arms around him watching as the others traipsed into her house. It wasn't unusual for them to congregate there.

"You okay little brother?" Jessica asked quietly as Stiles got closer and rested his head against her shoulder shaking it at the same time. "Do you want to stay here?" Stiles nodded into her shoulder, only glancing up when he felt Scott sit down on the other side of Jessica. "Come here, Scotty,"

"Jess..." Scott trailed off as he put his head on her shoulder and she moved one of her arms from around Stiles and pulled him close to her as well.

"That's it pack sleepover tonight, everyone in one place," Jessica said before kissing both Scott and Stiles on the top of the head and glancing around the room at the sombre teenagers.

Both teenagers sniffled, before Jessica found herself with Isaac sitting on the floor at her feet and Derek worming his way in behind her. Jessica looked behind her and came face to face with Derek's head as he'd managed to turn the futon into a bed. Stiles and Scott felt the change and both of them collapsed backwards, Stiles narrowly missing Derek's stump.

Scott moved slightly and pulled Isaac up onto the futon with them while Lydia and Kira curled up next to one another on the other lounge. Jessica nodded to Isaac that it was okay and the tall lanky teen sat beside her where Scott had previously been. He tried to compartmentalise like Chris had been doing, but he was teenager, teenagers just didn't have it in them to do that.

"If you need to cry, cry. What you all just went through, no one should ever have to go through," Jessica said before she gently wrapped her arms around Isaac, she knew about how fragile he could be at times. Isaac mumbled before eventually breaking down in her arms.

"She's..." Both Scott and Isaac mumbled at the same time, Scott into a cushion that Derek had handed him and Isaac into her shoulder. Stiles was all snot and tears running down his face as he clambered backwards into Derek.

"I know, just let it out," Jessica rubbed Isaac's back as she glanced over to Lydia and Kira before she motioned for the two girls to join them. "Lydia, Kira," Isaac stayed as close as he could to Jessica while Lydia and Kira moved from where they were and joined everyone on the futon.

"She's really gone..." Lydia choked out as Jessica wrapped an arm around the younger girl and hugged her tightly. Kira who hadn't known Allison like the others didn't know what to do but sit and try to comfort them.

"She maybe gone but she's never forgotten. She'll always be with you all," Jessica told them quietly, words that would be repeated by Lydia when they signed the bookshelf the following year. "Der, what do we do?" Her voice was barely above a whisper so he heard it and if Scott and Isaac did they didn't show it.

Derek simply wrapped his arms around her and around Isaac at the same time as Lydia was hugged by Scott and Stiles. Isaac was still in Jessica's arms as the tears flowed down his cheeks and dripped onto his shirt. Scott's shirt was in the same condition, wet. Stiles was distraught believing it was all his fault that everything happened.

Present day – 2013

Friday lunchtime, Derek and Jessica returned to Beacon Hills with Stiles, Isaac and Cora waiting for them outside the house. Stiles had insisted they wait outside because he wanted to see his sister before they made it into the house. He, Isaac and Cora had already talked about the dream he'd had as Scott hadn't stayed the night.

"Jess!" Stiles grinned seeing her car pull into the drive as he, Cora and Isaac sat rugged up on the front steps of the house they hadn't bothered going inside.

"Hey kiddo," Jessica stuck her tongue out at him as she put the car in park and turned off the ignition. "Can one of you open the house and the others come help me?" Isaac nodded and took Cora's keys from her and opened the door.

"Hey Der," Cora grinned and then raised her eyebrow when he didn't get out of the car straight away but sat with his arms folded against his chest. "What happened?" Derek grumbled and didn't answer, causing Cora to look to Jessica right as Stiles wrapped his arms around her.

"He got news from Doctor Starre that he didn't like," Jessica answered as she hugged Stiles back before going around to the trunk of the car and getting the wheelchair out.

"Oh? That bad?" Stiles raised his eyebrow, he did vaguely remember when Derek was seventeen and had been released before he'd gotten his prosthesis.

"Not allowed on either until it heals...she said two weeks," Derek muttered as Jessica wheeled the chair towards his side. Derek was a stubborn cranky man when it came to being told he couldn't do something.

"So Derek's becoming a hermit for the next couple of weeks?" Isaac questioned walking down the stairs and bringing the ramp down from beside the banister.

"Pretty much," Jessica shrugged as Cora and Isaac helped Derek into the wheelchair, before Stiles and Isaac grabbed the bags from the trunk of the car. "His leg's taking the slow route," Jessica said as she watched the black veins pulse in Cora's arm before she let go of her brother.

"Do you know how to break the curse yet?" Cora asked as she watched Derek roll himself up the ramp and into the lounge room.

Jessica nodded, and gave Stiles a gentle nudge to get him moving. Isaac and Cora followed suite as Jessica shut the car up and locked the doors. Derek managed to move himself onto the end of the lounge and was sprawled out on in with the blanket from the back of the lounge pulled up covering his head. Cora rolled her eyes shaking her head, sometimes Derek could be immature but she could also see why.

"I think I know how to break it, but I'm not one hundred percent," Jessica said as she pulled out the tattered note book that had old spells that she'd found. "You said that there was forget-me-nots and cyclamen's right?" Cora nodded while Isaac spoke.

"Yeah, and Deaton said the mandrake flower and root," Isaac added as Stiles walked over to the bookshelf and grabbed one of the books that he'd been reading and made to put away.

"Okay, well the forget-me-not is usually to keep memories, and cyclamen's are usually the flower for goodbye...so when they're used together in a spell well that's not good," Jessica paused, looking over to where Stiles was sitting listening to what she was saying. "Stiles, it's okay. I can fix it...I think," Stiles shook his head he didn't want to hear any more. "Just listen, because the mandrake root and flower were involved, they've made the spell stronger,"

"So how do we break it?" Cora asked sitting down next to Derek's head and almost forcing her old brother to lift his head.

"If I'm correct we need to go back to the site, I know pops doesn't want us to go back...and he doesn't really know about the patrols you've been doing there," Jessica said yawning, she wanted to sleep but she also really wanted to break the spell on Stiles if they could. "We need to burn/poison the plants and then I'm not one hundred percent on the next step so I have to ask Peter,"

"And we're not doing it without me being able to stand if something goes wrong," Derek added as he put his head back on Cora's lap. "Okay, Jess? Stiles?" Derek questioned, closing his eyes as he waited for the two of them to answer him. Stiles nodded, while Jessica muttered something about having to wait until Peter and Chris got back anyway.

"Scott told dad about Derek, he wasn't impressed...he has Scott and Liam constantly checking the street," Stiles said as he opened the book that he'd pulled from the shelf and put all of his attention on it. "Wait...Jess how come I couldn't find anything about the flowers?" Stiles questioned, not looking up from the book as he spoke.

"Those books are in a locked cabinet in the garage," Jessica answered, there was some books that not even she liked to look at. "I memorised them," she shrugged after gaining questioning looks from Cora and Derek. "Isaac? Everything okay?"

"Not sure, I think someone followed us," Isaac answered uneasily as he looked out the window, Derek pushed himself into a sitting position as he looked at the teenager.

"Come with me," Jessica motioned for Isaac to follow her towards the study. "Dad and Derek's idea," Derek looked after them before laying back down again and resuming his grumpy status.

Jessica lead Isaac into the study and flicked on one of the computers in the corner of the room. Between them, she and Derek had five computers in the room, one was purely for security purposes according to her father. One was for research purposes and the others were for whatever they wanted.

"Click on the security icon, we have five cameras outside...don't ask," Jessica nodded as she had Isaac click on various icons as the camera feed came up. "Click on camera one, and go back to nine this morning,"

"So many computers," Isaac blinked, the last time as he did what she said while Jessica watched one of the other cameras.

"Yeah, well when your dad's the Sheriff he tends to get protective," Jessica shrugged as they watched the footage from camera one. "Was that Nolan?" Jessica raised her eyebrow as a teenager ran across the screen.

"Who?" Isaac wasn't sure he and Cora hadn't met many of the teenagers since they'd been back in Beacon Hills. "Just remember Cora and I didn't finish at the school,"

"Kid on the lacrosse team with Liam," Stiles was standing in the doorway watching, he'd put the book down not being able to focus on it. "Jess, what's happening?"

"Come here kiddo," Jessica held her arm out for him which he gratefully walked into. "Sti, we'll work it out we always do," Jessica pulled Stiles into her arms as she pulled up camera two and they had a look at it. "Isn't that...?"

"Gerard," Isaac would recognise him anywhere, they all would. "Argent's father..." Isaac muttered, they all hated the man after he'd tortured Erica and Boyd and briefly turned Allison against them.

"Okay...we're moving," Jessica muttered, she couldn't live somewhere where Gerard knew they lived.

"Don't move, just I don't know make the house look vacant?" Cora suggested, she knew that it could be done just wasn't sure if it was something that Jessica was capable of doing. "I like this place,"

Stiles, Jessica and Isaac continued to look at the footage on the security feed while Derek fell asleep with his head on Cora's lap still. Cora rolled her eyes, Derek had done that often enough when he'd first lost his leg feeling the comfort of being with Laura and her. Cora tried to wiggle her way out from under Derek's head but gave up when he started to whine.

"Damn it Der, I need to pee," Cora growled before she decided to roughly push his head off of her lap. "Move your damn head! Isaac? Stiles? Help?" Cora pleaded trying to get one of them to returned to the lounge room.

"Hmmpfh," Derek mumbled but didn't move his head as Cora took it in both of her hands and gave him a push just long enough to slide out from under him and put a cushion in her place.

"Seriously Der, I'll be back and you can use me as a pillow again," Cora muttered shaking her head as she disappeared into the bathroom. "Jess, Derek's being a pain again,"

"M not," Derek growled yawning without opening his eyes as he listened to the sounds around them.

"It's okay, no one got into the house...would have known due to the wards," Jessica said as they finished looking at the security footage.

"Wards?" Stiles raised his eyebrow, Jessica had been showing him how to set them over the past year.

"Yeah, I put them up whenever we leave and they alert either me or Derek if any one enters," Jessica explained as she closed the computer down that they'd been looking at. Derek would probably want his to finish drawing up the plans that he'd been working on when no one was around.