If You're Going Through Hell
A/N: I'm so happy to see that you all seem interested in this story! Having said that, I must also apologize, because work is killing me right now and its likely going to be slow going on updates for a while. As Always, comments are appreciated. Enjoy!
Chapter 13: The Way Forward
"Stiles, seriously, you don't have to say that every time!" Derek growled.
"You're right, I don't have to. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop," Stiles said cheekily, wrapping his free arm around Derek's shoulder.
"I'm so confused right now," Isaac said, trying to hide his grin as he watched the two banter.
"What do you remember?" Scott asked, moving in to throw an arm over Isaac's shoulder as well while beckoning for Nolan to join them.
Isaac took a moment to answer, looking lost in thought. "I remember dying," Isaac said carefully, wincing at the reactions of his friends, "and then I was at some giant gates in the middle of a huge cave."
"The Spirit Gates," Stiles interjected, nodding encouragingly.
"Yeah, those," Isaac continued, "I was surrounded by people. Mostly it looked like people were waiting for something. It was too crowded for me, so I took off down a tunnel."
"Why would there have been so many people?" Scott asked, turning to face Stiles.
"They're waiting for their friends or family," Stiles replied simply, before nudging Isaac to continue.
"Yeah, so, anyways, I wandered around for a while, mostly just looking to see what was around," Isaac said. "I eventually started heading back towards those gates when I saw Jackson."
"Wait, what! Do you know where he is?" Scott interrupted excitedly, shaking the whole group.
"No, I don't," Isaac winced again as he saw the enthusiasm drain out of his alpha. "Jackson was being dragged away by some demon-looking thing. I ran to try and help him, but another demon stopped me. The next thing I remember is waking up in my bedroom, with my dad…well, you know. He kept going until you guys showed up."
"Oh," was all Stiles could think to say. The rest remained silent, staring at one another.
"What? What happened?" Isaac asked, concern growing as he watched them all.
"Ok, so in all seriousness," Stiles began, letting go of Derek and positioning himself in front of Isaac, a hand firmly placed on each of his shoulders, "it's like this…" With several interjections from Scott and Derek, Stiles told Isaac the whole story of what had happened from Isaac's death to the present day. To say Isaac was astonished would be an understatement. When they had finished, he took a step back, leaning against the dilapidated workstation as he tried to process everything they had told him.
"You're serious? All that has happened? How long have I been gone?" Isaac questioned, eyes darting between the three of them.
"Umm," Stiles began, thinking. "I'd say you've been dead about two years…roughly."
"Two years!" Isaac cried out, jaw hanging open in bewilderment. "That's insane!"
"But we're making things right," Scott said, trying to calm him down, "we're going to send you back to the world of the living, along with the rest of the Pack. We're going to do things better this time around."
"Yeah…but still… two years," Isaac said, voice taking on a mystified air. "I'm 20 years old."
"Actually," Stiles said, drawling the word out unnecessarily long, "I don't think you are. I think you're still 18."
"What do you mean?" Isaac asked.
"Stiles, what are you talking about?" Derek growled through clenched teeth.
"Easy there, buddy," Stiles said, holding his hands up in surrender. "It's just an observation…call it a theory. But, I don't think people age in Limbo. I mean, look at George Deaton – the guy's been dead 60 years but he still looks middle-aged to me. Or how about those assassins we just ran into? They died what, 3, 4 years ago – but they still looked like high school kids. And I know it was quick, but Mason and Corey were dead for over a year and, when we saw them after we sent them back, they looked exactly the same; they were even wearing the same clothes as when they died."
"So, what does that mean for us?" Scott asked, struggling to keep up.
"It means," Stiles said with a sigh, "that I'm pretty sure whatever age we were when we died, that is the age we will be when we come back to life."
"But…that means Allison will be 17 and I'll be almost 21," Scott murmured, looking crestfallen.
"Not sure that's the point I wanted to make, but sure, we can go there," Stiles grumbled.
"Better odds for me then," Isaac said, bumping his shoulder into Scott's. "Unless, you know, you don't want me to," he quickly backtracked, worried he would upset his alpha.
"No, no, it's ok," Scott said weakly, trying to look cheerful and failing miserably.
"Yeah, besides," Stiles said, genuinely cheerful with just a hint of mischief in his voice, "you still have Kira and Malia, Scott." Scott's entire body turned pale white as he turned to his best friend with a look of absolute horror on his face.
"Stiles…what am I going to do? How do I…what do I…what if they…I'm dead," he stumbled.
Stiles chuckled at his friend's predicament before throwing his arm over Scott's shoulder, "Yeah, Scott, we're all dead. That's why we're here."
"No, I mean, I'm like…double dead. Don't even bother sending me to the world of the living, I'll just end up back here again, dead," Scott replied.
"Scott, it can't be that bad. And right now, we have bigger issues to worry about," Derek said, rolling his eyes at the alpha wolf as he imploded.
"If we're still the same age as when we died," Nolan interjected, speaking for the first time since they had freed Isaac and catching them all off guard, "does that mean I have to go back to high school? Because if that's the case, I think I'd rather stay here too and keep Scott company." They all stared at him for a moment, dumbfounded, before simultaneously bursting into laughter.
"How about for now we just worry about getting out of this basement and finding the rest of the Pack?" Derek said as the laughter died back down, casting a meaningful glance at each of them.
"I'm good with that," Isaac said, taking another look around at their surroundings and tensing visibly.
"Well, the stairs are the only way out that I can see," Nolan added, also looking around.
"Alright, but be quiet. I don't want to have to deal with my dad again," Isaac said, his whole body beginning to tremble slightly. Scott and Stiles moved to place a hand on either shoulder, grounding him between them as the group moved cautiously up the staircase. At the top, with Derek leading the way, they slowly moved through the doorway, eyes darting in every direction down the dust-covered hallway.
"It looks like the coast is clear," Nolan whispered, bringing up the rear of the group. They all breathed a sigh of relief. But it was premature. A sudden, rushing wind blew through the air, stirring up all the dust and making it impossible to see. They heard the sound of the basement door slamming behind them. The group clung to one another, afraid of being separated by whatever new threat they were about to face. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, everything stopped. The dust settled, the air went still, and the group opened their eyes to find themselves in a dark, eerily lit room. The walls were stone, the light coming from a handful of torches. It looked like the dungeon of an old castle.
"My, my, we have been naughty little boys, haven't we?" an odd voice said from behind them. They whipped around to face the speaker, but were completely taken aback by what they saw.
-o-
"So, how do you want to handle this?" Mason asked, glancing sideways towards his boyfriend as they studied the clearing in front of them. It was much smaller than the one surrounding the Nemeton, but that didn't help them much. A dozen armed men were scattered around the clearing in pairs, some marching back and forth while others stood watch. The tool shed stood in the middle of the cleared space, looking like nothing more than a dilapidated mini-barn. If they didn't know what lay inside, the boys would have thought the whole thing looked rather absurd.
"I don't know," Corey replied. "They can't see us, but they might notice the shed door opening by itself. And they'll definitely notice if one of them bumps into us."
"We're going to need a distraction," Mason said grimly.
"How're we going to manage that?" Corey asked, a look of foreboding on his face. Mason didn't respond right away, instead studying the clearing and its occupants carefully.
"There," he finally said, pointing at a lone guard standing on the perimeter behind the shed. "That guy is listening to something, you can see he has earphones in. If we can steal one of the grenades from his belt while he isn't paying attention, we can set it off nearby. They'll think they're being attacked, and that should give us an opportunity to sneak in amongst the chaos."
"There are, like, a million things that can go wrong with that plan," Corey said, giving his boyfriend a doubtful expression.
"I know, but it's the best I can come up with at the moment," Mason shrugged, slowly pulling Corey along towards the distracted man. They snuck up behind him wordlessly, sticking to the thickets around the clearing for extra cover. They both held their breath as Mason slowly and carefully removed two grenades from the guard's belt. The man flinched slightly, causing both boy's heartrates to skyrocket, but otherwise he remained completely oblivious to their presence. They both breathed a sigh of relief once they were a couple dozen feet away.
"Alright, we have the grenades, now what?" Corey asked.
"We need to move in close to the shed door, somewhere that we won't be run into when everything goes crazy," Mason said, grimacing at the look his boyfriend gave him. "Once the grenades go off, I'm guessing we'll only have a couple of minutes to dart in, look for something of Nolan's, and get back out without having to worry about how we can get out of here undetected."
"Ok, in, out, fast. What else?" Corey looked like he wanted to cross his arms over his chest, but he couldn't while he was holding Mason's hand, so he settled for huffing slightly in a disdainful way.
"Hope we don't get caught," Mason said, which did nothing to cheer Corey up.
"Fine," Corey said, rolling his eyes with exasperation, "give me the grenades. I can throw farther than you."
Mason handed them over wordlessly, and Corey pocketed them. Both boys shared another meaningful look, then slowly crept out of the bushes and towards the shed. They came up to it from behind, skirting the sides until they were stood at the corner closest to the door. They each took a deep breath, anxiety filling them. With a look that said no-going-back-now, Corey pulled the grenades out of his pockets, handing one to Mason to hold while he brought the other one up to stare at it. He did nothing for a moment, until Mason silently nudged him, bringing him out of whatever thoughts were swirling in his head. With another deep breath, Corey gathered his resolve, pulled the pin out with his teeth, and lobbed the grenade off into the trees to their right. He quickly grabbed the other from Mason, pulling the pin out the same way, and threw it off to their left just as the first one exploded.
Several of the men were knocked to the ground as the explosion cascaded debris into the clearing. Shouts and cries rang through the air as the second explosion hit. Sheer pandemonium gripped the clearing as men pulled themselves to their feet and darted around frantically searching for the source of the attack. No one noticed as the shed door creaked open a few inches, allowing Mason and Corey to sneak inside and down a flight of stairs and into a room stuffed full of shelves of weaponry, computers and tv monitors lining the walls, and a couple of doors leading to other rooms.
"Where do we begin?" Corey asked, eyes darting around the room.
"The lockers," Mason whispered, pointing to a row of them along the far wall. The two moved quickly, beginning to search as stealthily as possible without letting go of one another.
-o-
"What are you?" Scott asked, letting go of Stiles and Isaac so he could place himself in front of their group.
"Well, now that's a rather rude question to ask right off the bat, isn't it?" the creature responded with a squeaky, high-pitched voice. It was hovering in the air, a small set of wings jutting from its back keeping it afloat. It looked like it would be no more than three feet tall if it were to stand on the ground. Its skin was stark white, with pink and green hair sticking out of its head and dusting its arms. It wore a set of overalls with rainbows and sparkles all over, and neon boots that matched its hair perfectly. The face and body looked like a combination of a human child and a stuffed animal. The difference between the creature and the room they now found themselves in was spectacular, and it did more to unnerve them than just about anything else they had encountered so far.
"We're sorry, we didn't mean to offend you," Stiles said, placing a hand on Scott's shoulder to pull him back slightly. He looked worried, and the wolves noticed that his scent changed to one of fear and anxiety. Whatever this thing was, it had Stiles on edge, which they all knew meant trouble. Derek slowly let his claws extend, pushing Isaac and Nolan behind him slightly so that they were protected by him, Scott, and Stiles.
"That won't be necessary, wolf," the creature said, pinning Derek with a piercing gaze that stopped him in his tracks. "I'm not here to attack you, though I dare say if I did, those claws of yours would do you no good."
"May we ask," Stiles said, placing his other hand on Derek's arm to stop the growl that was beginning to form in the wolf's throat, "how we can be of assistance to you today?" Stiles gave a slight bow of his head, not making eye contact with the creature. It was unnerving, to say the least, and Derek didn't like it one bit. But he relented, for now, and withdrew his claws, returning to normal.
"No assistance is needed," the creature replied, hovering slightly higher in the air to give it a better vantage point. "You've done more than enough already, you naughty things." The creature laughed, whirling about in the air slightly like a child playing.
"I'm sorry, I don't understand," Stiles said, still bowed slightly. The others watched in silence, more concerned by his stoic speech than anything else.
"Of course you don't," the creature said, landing lightly on the ground and stomping up towards the group. Stiles didn't move, but the others all gathered in closer, the wolves hunching slightly, preparing to defend against an attack. The creature sighed at that, "I already told you, your claws and fangs will do you no good against me. I'm one of the seven chief pixies of the Underworld, a servant of Lord Cerberus himself. Stop making fools of yourselves and learn to show proper respect, like your friend here." None of them knew what to say to that, but at a sideways glance from Stiles, Derek and Scott decided to mimic his bow, and the others followed suit.
"That's better," the pixie said, eyes darting humorously between them. "Now then, I've been getting some strange reports here lately. An escapee from the suicide pit," Scott winced, and the pixie eyed him suspiciously, "the Dingling Brothers' circus completely destroyed," Nolan gulped, drawing the pixie's gaze off of Scott and to him instead, "and now two of the kakodaimones' douloi are roaming free of their prisons," Stiles didn't move, though the scent of his fear and frustration was noticeable to the wolves. The pixie sighed dramatically, turning on its heel and rising into the air once more. "As the pixie in charge of this section of the Underworld, all these disturbances reflect very poorly on me. Lord Cerberus would be most displeased if word reached him about what's been going on. And, since this little group of yours seems to be at the center of it all, I think it would be best if I just destroy you now and be done with this."
"No, you can't!" Stiles cried out, shocking every other being in the room. The pixie turned back around, gazing furiously at him. "What I mean is," Stiles said, backtracking and returning to his respectful bow, "Lord Cerberus would be angry if souls were removed from his realm before they could finish serving their time. Destroying us won't undo the things that have been done. And the…real culprits will just continue with what they've been doing."
The pixie darted forward, hovering inches in front of Stiles' face. "Are you trying to tell me that your little gang here is not responsible for the things that I've just mentioned?"
"Yes, that's correct," Stiles said, struggling slightly to keep his voice steady. "We, uh, we had a run in with some people that I think might be the ones you are looking for, back in the crystal cave."
"Hmm," the pixie said, pulling back slightly and hovering a few feet higher, an arm raised to its chin in thoughtful contemplation. "I suppose it is possible that what you say is true. I will have to investigate further to know for sure."
"Does that mean we are free to go?" Scott asked tentatively. Stiles glared at him as the pixie chuckled mirthfully.
"Oh, of course not!" the pixie said. "You may be innocent. You may be guilty. Until I know for sure, you shall stay here, where I can keep an eye on you!" There was a loud crack, causing them all to look up, but the pixie was no where to be seen. The room began to shake, knocking them off balance slightly. It felt like they were in a fast moving elevator, until all at once it stopped. The group stood once again, taking in their surroundings. Nothing had changed, except now…
"There aren't any doors!" Nolan cried out, "We're trapped!" The rest quickly looked over the walls, but they were forced to all come to the same conclusion.
"No, no, no no, no, no," Isaac said, beginning to spin in circles in the middle of the room as he looked at the walls surrounding them. "No, this can't be happening, I can't, I…let me out!" Isaac shifted into werewolf form, running at the closest wall to begin pounding on it.
"Isaac!" Scott called out, chasing after him, "Isaac, it's ok, we're going to get out of here, I promise!"
"What's going on?" Nolan squeaked, backing away as the frantic Isaac began to scrape his claws against the walls, darting from one to the next with Scott following him trying to calm him down.
"Isaac is claustrophobic," Stiles answered, turning to examine the nearest section of stone wall. "We need to find a way out of here now, before he loses control."
"You mean he hasn't yet?" Nolan asked incredulously as the wolf roared at a wall on the other side of the room that he was currently punching.
"Yes, and its going to get really bad really quickly," Stiles replied. Nolan jumped up and began to feel along the walls as well, sticking close to Stiles as he cautiously watched Isaac out of the corner of his eye. Scott and Derek were now both trying to corral and calm the frightened werewolf, but without success. Isaac no longer seemed to recognize them, snarling as he swiped his claws at his friends.
"Let me out of here!" He shouted at them, lacing it with a werewolf growl.
"Isaac, you need to calm down!" Scott shouted back, shifting into his own werewolf form for protection more than anything else.
"Scott, just yelling at him isn't going to help. You know that," Derek chastised, wiping blood away from his chest where Isaac had gouged him. Isaac turned away from them and back to the nearest wall, which he began furiously pummeling with kicks and punches. His knuckles quickly became bruised and bloody, but it did nothing to the wall.
"What else am I supposed to do?" Scott asked, concern gripping him.
"Use your alpha voice. Don't howl," Derek said, glancing at Stiles on the other side of the room as he said it, "just lace your normal voice with alpha authority. He's your beta, part of your pack, he'll respond to it."
"What if it doesn't work?" Scott asked, much quieter as he watched his friend helplessly.
"You have to be confident," Derek replied. "We're all connected to one another. The pack bond is more than just a feeling. I thought you already knew that."
"Well, yeah," Scott said defensively, "I just don't know how it'll help."
"As the alpha, your emotions will affect your pack. If you're calm and confident, the rest of the pack will be too. But if you're afraid, the rest of us will feel that fear and it will make us afraid. Isaac needs you to be calm and authoritative right now."
"Alright, I think I understand," Scott said. He took a deep breath, centering himself slightly. Then, with a low growl that reverberated throughout the room, he called out Isaac's name, long and slow. The younger werewolf instantly turned to face his alpha, whimpering slightly as he collapsed in on himself and cowered against the wall. Scott and Derek both ran over, kneeling on the ground next to him.
"I'm sorry," Isaac said quietly, turning to hide his face from his friends.
"Don't be, its not your fault," Scott said, gently patting him on the back.
"Everything's going to be ok Isaac," Derek added, also placing a hand on the young wolf's shoulder. Isaac didn't look up, but his breathing did even out slightly at the touch.
"I don't like it here. Please don't make me stay here," Isaac whispered, softly enough that they could barely hear him even with their supernatural hearing.
"We're going to get out of here. I promise you," Scott whispered back, bending in closer to drag Isaac into a half-hug.
"Hey guys!" Nolan called out from the other end of the room, "I think we've found a way out of here."
"Well, at least a way forward," Stiles added. Isaac was up instantly, barreling over towards them. Nolan ducked behind Stiles, afraid, which caused Isaac to stop in his tracks.
"I'm sorry," he said again, looking too much like a lost puppy as he stared at the young man hiding from him. "I…I didn't mean to…" Isaac trailed off, turning back away as Scott and Derek caught up to him. Scott wrapped an arm around him protectively, turning him back around so they could walk over to join the others.
"It's…ok," Nolan said, tentatively taking a step out from behind Stiles. "I guess…I…you just startled me is all. I, um, I don't have a good history with werewolves, so hanging out with you guys is still kind of new, and intimidating." The others laughed at that, and Isaac finally turned around to make eye contact with him.
"I'm sorry," Isaac said, wincing as he repeated the words. "I'm just…not quite myself yet. Werewolves aren't all bad, I promise."
"I know that," Nolan said simply, shrugging at the surprised expressions from some of the others. "You guys have shown me how wrong I was about you."
"Friends?" he added, holding a hand out for Isaac to shake.
"Friends," Isaac replied, grasping the hand with a small smile.
"Well, now that we have that out of the way," Stiles interjected, grabbing hold of Nolan and Scott and dragging them over to the wall, with Nolan dragging Isaac by their still clasped hands as Derek ambled behind at his own pace. "So, Nolan found a spot in the wall that isn't solid. There's a tunnel on the other side. There's magic here, I can feel it, but I don't know yet what it will do to us if we walk through it. But, so far, it's the only way forward that I can see."
"Then I guess we don't have much of a choice," Scott said, eyeing his friends carefully, "we'll have to go wherever it takes us."
"I'm not going to like this, am I?" Derek asked, groaning.
"Probably not," Stiles replied, shrugging at him.
"I don't care, I just want to get out of here," Isaac said, bouncing on his feet slightly in apprehension.
"Well then, let's go. Stick together everyone, and be careful," Scott said, gesturing for Stiles to show him where the tunnel entrance was. When he had, Scott led the way into it, followed immediately by Isaac and Nolan, who was still joined to him by the hand. Stiles watched them go with amusement before turning to Derek.
"Ready to embark on our next adventure in Hell, Sourwolf?" he asked.
Derek didn't answer, choosing to smile exasperatedly as he shook his head at the young man and entered the tunnel, Stiles bringing up the rear.