Chapter 02: Only Darkness
Emily Lahey sat in her apartment with her younger brother, Isaac and his friend Stiles Stilinski while they waited for Derek to return from a late afternoon run. He, and some of the other pack members had been searching for Peter but unable to find him. Emily had been teaching Stiles sign language as he wanted to learn something new and Isaac found it hilarious how bad he was at it. Derek arrived home to find Peter in a heap beside the apartment building, Derek was surprised when Peter didn't move or look up when he got there. Derek cautiously approached Peter, wondering why his uncle didn't move and why Emily and Isaac hadn't said anything.
"Peter?" Derek questioned, Peter still didn't move when Derek spoke so he crouched down reached to touch his uncle. "Peter? Damn it," Derek pulled out his phone and called Emily, listening as her phone rang on the penthouse floor.
'Derek?' Stiles had answered Emily's phone which only meant this his boyfriend was learning more sign language with Isaac.
"Baby, what are you doing answering Emily's phone?" Derek questioned, glancing up and seeing if he could see anything happening before his attention was back on Peter.
'Em's on her way downstairs. She's getting me to watch Isaac...' Stiles answered, Derek raised his eyebrow even over the phone he could tell his boyfriend was lying. In reality Isaac was the one watching over Stiles
"Stiles, I'll be up soon. Just get Isaac to help you get Emily's spare room ready," Derek sighed, hanging up before Stiles had a chance to answer as Emily walked out the front door and looked around for Derek.
"Derek? What is it?" Emily questioned watching as Derek stood up and stepped out of the way to reveal Peter. "Peter?"
"Help me get him inside, I don't think he can hear or see us," Derek told her before he was crouching down again to pick up Peter. Emily nodded before she was crouching down to help Derek pick up her partner.
"I'll have a look at him once we get him inside," Emily nodded, as she took Peter's left side while Derek to his right. "Back elevator?"
"Back elevator," Derek agreed with her so the two of them took him to the back entrance of the apartment building.
Derek and Peter had built the building especially for supernatural creatures. Emily, Peter and Isaac lived on the Penthouse floor with Derek and Stiles – they'd built two penthouses for that reason. Emily had known the Hales forever, she had been best-friends with Laura and had dated for a period of time. Laura had known about Peter and Emily liking one another, they'd been broken up before the fire at Hale House.
"Derek, what the fuck happened to him?" Emily questioned, as they made it into the elevator and leaned Peter against the wall for a moment.
"I don't know, Em. Do you think you can find out?" Derek answered, Emily shrugged she wasn't sure that her magic would work but she could always give it a go. "If you can't we can always ask Scott,"
"No, my way is less invasive. I don't want anyone sticking their claws in the back of Peter's neck," Emily said as they waited for the elevator to move to their floor.
"Isaac and Stiles are getting your spare room ready," Derek said as he was reaching for Peter to stop him from falling. "I didn't think it was right that your boyfriend who's been missing for a year sleep in your bed,"
"Derek, I'm a big girl," Emily sighed before they were picking him up and moving them onto their floor. "At this point it would be safer for him if he was..."
"Em, Derek?" Isaac questioned as he opened the apartment door before Derek was motioning for him to take over from Emily.
"Just take him into the spare room," Emily answered before she was going to see what Stiles was doing.
Stiles' hearing had started going after being near Lydia when she screamed the Banshee scream, a few too many times. At first he hadn't thought that he was just imagining things but sounds were becoming muffled and he was asking people to repeat themselves. Derek had noticed it when Stiles had withdrawn himself from conversations or turned the television up louder. Things that Emily had done when they were kids. Derek had subtly asked Emily to spend the day with Stiles and see what she found if anything. Emily had been moderate-severe hearing loss in right ear since she was seven and moderate hearing loss in her left ear since she was fourteen. Derek had known her since he was four, and she was nine.
Emily found Stiles standing in the kitchen, staring at his phone wishing that it would stop ringing. "Stiles, are you okay?" Emily asked, signing at the same time as she got his attention.
"I'm okay...I just wish my phone would stop ringing," Stiles answered, he was frustrated and had only signed half of what he said as he still wasn't sure on all the words.
"Leave it in the kitchen, and come with me," Emily smiled at him, she was trying her best to teach Stiles different methods to cope with his hearing. "I'll go with you next week, I promise,"
"Pops said he would," Stiles mumbled, looking at Emily as she read his lips before he spoke again. "What's wrong with Peter?"
"That's what you and I are going to find out," Emily answered, guiding Stiles into the spare room where Derek had lay Peter on the bed and Isaac had grabbed the first aid kit.
"What? How?" Stiles questioned, signing at the same times as those were the first two words aside from 'hello' and 'I'm Stiles,' that he had learnt.
"You'll see," Emily laughed before she had three men standing up and to the side of the bed. "Just stay there for now," Emily told them as she sat on the bed beside Peter cautiously. "Derek remember how to disconnect me?"
Derek nodded before he held Stiles hand and repeated to him what Emily had said, the three of them had been trying to teach him sign language a little at a time. Peter would have if he had known anything about Stiles' hearing loss then he would have made Scott offer him the bite. Scott had stopped talking to Stiles after he'd found out about what was happening. Isaac had found that ridiculous, and taken Stiles to his sister and Derek.
Emily smiled at them before her full attention was on Peter and she was carefully taking the sunglasses that had been put on him off. Peter's eyes were fully bloodshot and clouded over, along with being severely scared making Derek and Emily wonder what the rest of his body looked like. Emily shook her head before she was closing her eyes and placing her hand carefully behind Peter's ear. Stiles looked at Emily and then at Peter and Derek curiously to see what was going on.
'Peter...baby, can you hear me?' Emily was speaking silently to Peter she needed him to know that he was safe. 'You need to let me in,'
'Em...you have to get out...' Peter's voice was garbled in it's reply only pushing the urgency of Emily getting inside of Peter's head.
'Peter, you're safe. You have to let me in, take a deep breath and tell me what you can smell,' Emily was still speaking silently to Peter with her hand behind his head keeping the connection. 'Please, baby,'
'Emily...Is that...can I smell Derek?' Peter mumbled, before Emily was fully inside his head to talk to him.
'It is, and Stiles and Isaac. You're home,' Emily told him as she approached him in his subconscious and held out her hand for him. 'We've been looking for you everywhere,'
'How...?' Peter asked as he took Emily's hand and held onto it.
Derek watched as Peter took hold of Emily's free hand, Stiles raised his eyebrow as he realised that Emily had gotten through to Peter. Isaac was wondering if Emily was going to be able to do anything as they had no idea what was going on between the two of them. Derek put his finger to his lips and motioned for them to just keep watching. Stiles rolled his eyes and moved to sit down on the floor as he put his hand to his ear as it started to ache.
"We can't talk while she's doing this," Isaac signed to Derek who nodded, before signing and asking Stiles what was wrong.
"Stiles? What is it?" Derek mouthed as he signed once Stiles had sat on the floor and was looking up at him.
"My ear," Stiles signed back, he was really liking that he could remember some of the things they had been teaching him.
Derek nodded and held his hand out for Stiles to take to absorb his pain. Isaac went back to watching Emily and Peter even though they couldn't see anything that was going on. Inside Peter's mind Emily was trying to get him to show her what had happened. Emily had a firm grip on Peter's hand to reassure him that he was safe.
'Peter, show me what happened,' Emily asked, she wasn't sure how much what had happened Peter had seen. 'I can't help if you don't show me,'
'From the beginning?' Peter answered, Emily nodded she needed to see everything that had happened since the day he'd gone missing.
'Everything, it's the only way,' Emily told him watching as he turned away from her before he started speaking. 'Baby look at me, I need to see your face,'
'I...don't remember,' Peter told her turning around to face her before Emily was guiding him through his memories.
'You know I can help,' Emily told him pausing for a second before she started talking again. 'Just go back to the day you went missing,'
Peter nodded before they were walking through the preserve late at night, he hadn't heard them coming he was too busy being focused on meeting with Emily. It was the same night that Derek and Stiles had moved into the penthouse apartment opposite them. The next thing Emily saw was Peter being shot with a half a dozen tranquilliser darts, and then him waking up tied to a chain link fence. The first few months he seemed to have been repeatedly electrocuted. Peter shut his eyes tightly, he didn't want to relive what she was showing. Emily kept watching as Peter after a few months was laid on a table and he was put under anaesthetic and his head was operated on. Peter's visual cortex went blank after the operation and he was left with nothing, no sounds and no images.
Emily opened her eyes and slowly pulled her hand away from the back of Peter's head and looked to Derek, Stiles and Isaac. Peter had been alone in his head for the past six months, he hadn't been able to move for just as long only a little here and there. Emily grabbed the first aid kit with her free hand and then motioned for Stiles to join on her.
"The hunters need to pay," Emily said before she was getting Peter in a sitting position so that she could clean his eyes out. "Help me sit him up, we need to try and clean his eyes out,"
"Emily, what did you see?" Derek asked, as he moved to help Emily sit Peter upright more and Stiles went into the kitchen and grabbed a bowl.
"Nothing good," Emily answered as Stiles returned with a bowl of lukewarm water and a washcloth. "Stiles this is where you come in,"
"What? How?" Stiles questioned, as he held the wash cloth and stood beside the bed.
"Just hold the bowl still," Emily told him before she was carefully putting her hand behind Peter's head again. 'Peter, keep your eyes open...you're going to feel water on your face in a moment you need to keep them open and move them around,' Emily spoke silently to Peter again to make sure that he understood what she was doing. 'Don't drink the water, we'll get you some once I'm finished,' Emily removed her hand and slowly guided Peter's head towards the bowl.
"Stiles, hold the bowl still," Derek told him, Stiles nodded and did as he was told watching as Emily moved Peter's head into the bowl.
"I don't know that Peter will ever see again, and maybe he won't hear again but they weren't clean when they tortured him," Emily said not moving her attention from Peter as she sat him up again and grabbed the wash cloth and wiped Peter's face over.
"You think what they did is permanent?" Isaac asked, running a hand over his face as he watched his older sister.
"His healing would have kicked in by now," Derek answered, he knew that's what Emily was thinking she, the only way that Peter could possibly get some form of hearing back was an operation.
Emily and Stiles finished cleaning up Peter the best that they could with Emily holding Peter's hand the entire time. Stiles finished doing what Emily told him to do before he was being wrapped in Derek's arms again. Isaac looked at Emily and Peter before he was leaving the room with Derek and Stiles following him. Emily stayed with Peter and lay down beside him to keep an eye on him and keep him calm. The boys cleaning up the supplies.
"Derek, what are we going to do?" Stiles asked turning to face Derek so that he could see what he had to say.
"I don't know, we'll call Deaton after we've given Em some time with him," Derek answered, pulling Stiles into his arms and kissing him before he spoke again. "We can't trust Scott not to use his claws on him,"
"I used to trust Scott...but not any more," Stiles told him, resting his head against his chest as Isaac headed into the lounge to put on a movie. "I'm scared...what if my hearing goes completely?"
"It's okay to be scared. You've got me, your dad, Em, Isaac and even Peter," Derek smiled at him before he was leading him into the lounge to join Isaac. "The people that matter,"
"Trust us Stiles, we're not going anywhere," Isaac told him, looking up as the two of them joined him on the couch.
"I do, I'm just...I don't want to lose it," Stiles rambled, as Derek took hold of his hands and placed them in his lap to stop him from fidgeting.
Peter fell asleep in Emily's arms, albeit restlessly – he still wasn't entirely sure that Emily being in his mind was reality. Once Emily was sure that Peter would stay asleep without her beside him she went and joined Isaac, Derek and Stiles. Isaac out of habit had put the subtitles on, on the movie that they'd put on. Stiles was complaining that it ruined the movie.
"Subtitles are ruining it," Stiles whined, Derek rolled his eyes and kissed the top of his boyfriend's head.
"Subtitles can never ruin the Lion King," Isaac laughed, he'd grown up watching movies with subtitles because of his sister.
"How was Peter?" Derek turned his attention to Emily as Stiles and Isaac argued about the subtitles.
"Kitchen?" Emily questioned, Derek nodded and moved from behind Stiles hugging him before he kissed him again and said they'd bring popcorn back.
Emily and Derek headed into the kitchen, meaning that Emily could tune out Stiles and Isaac's voices and focus on talking with Derek about his Uncle. Emily smiled at Derek before she was grabbing the popcorn, and the popcorn maker and pulling it out while Derek pulled out a bowl. Derek set the bowl down while Emily set up the popcorn maker before they started to talk again.
"Tell me, Em what did you see?" Derek asked as he turned to face Emily again.
"Can you repeat that?" Emily replied, she'd heard part of what he said but not the full question even though she knew what he was asking.
"Shit. Sorry Em. I asked what you saw?" Derek said repeating what he had asked her to an extent as they waited.
"The first few months the hunters had him...they were electrocuting him repeatedly," Emily told him pausing as she thought of what else she had seen. "Whatever they did to him I couldn't see after they put him under anaesthetic at least six months ago,"
"You felt something as you were laying with him didn't you?" Derek questioned, Emily nodded she didn't know what it was that she'd felt over his crotch.
"Yeah...I'm ninety percent sure that they put a full on chastity belt on him to prevent him from doing anything," Emily answered, she knew that Derek had felt something when they'd picked him to bring him inside earlier. "He's swollen down there but nowhere else, he's skin and bones...I think they put the cage on while his penis was erect Derek...that's just a guess,"
"We won't call Deaton then, I think we should call the doctor mom wanted to call for you," Derek said as he pulled Emily into his arms, they'd been friends for a long time and he knew that she was feeling scared over what happened with Peter. "He's home Em, he's safe,"
"I know, it's just...he's not meant to get hurt...you're not meant to get hurt," Emily mumbled as Derek hugged her before she kissed his cheek. "Never change Derek,"
Derek rolled his eyes as the popcorn finished, before sending Emily back into his boyfriend and her brother while he made the phone call to a doctor that his mother had known. The doctor agreed to be there that night and that she'd bring whatever she believed was necessary and send him to the hospital if warranted. Derek rejoined Stiles, Emily and Isaac handing the bowl of popcorn to Stiles who immediately stuffed it in his mouth. When he sat down he noticed that both of Emily's hearing-aids were on the coffee table, which explained why she'd asked him to repeat himself.
"Em, she's coming tonight," Derek said as Isaac signed to her as she was looking at him when Derek had started talking.
"Wait, Derek who's coming tonight?" Isaac questioned looking to Derek after he'd signed to Emily what Derek had said to him.
"An old family doctor that my mom used for the human members of my family," Derek answered as Stiles started to relax into his arms fully. "I haven't spoken to her in a long time but mom trusted her,"
"Do you trust her?" Stiles asked, glancing up at Derek as he spoke as Derek had been taking the pain from his ear.
"If she can help Peter, yes," Derek told him before their attention was on the movie, though Derek was listening for any noises that might come out of Peter's room.