Derek regarded the hunters assembled around the table. Scott and his father Rafael sat at the far end. Deaton sat opposite the reporter Natalie Martin. Stiles sat next to his mother, across from Derek. Natalie had mentioned her daughter Lydia had recently discovered the truth about the werewolves in the town after stumbling upon some of Natalie's research. She wasn't sure who Lydia had told, but she assumed no one.

"The exchange will be tomorrow night," Derek said. "It will be on our terms at a location of our choosing."

Natalie leaned forward. "Do you really think that will matter? You have no idea how many of people in the town have been turned. They're not all sympathetic to the Argents, but they're afraid enough to fall in line."

Rafael frowned. Scott glanced from one adult to the next. Stiles watched Derek silently while Claudia and Deaton both watched Stiles. Derek shook his head. There was too much at stake to back out now.

"They're not going to make a move while we have their daughter." Derek hoped that familial ties were something the Argents cared about.

"We'll scout out some areas tonight on the woods outside of town," Scott said. "We can't meet them in the city or the preserve."

"Meeting them in the woods will give them the advantage, too many trees to block line of sight," Rafael said. "That's suicide."

"Dad…"

"I think Scott's right," Claudia said. "I'm not a hunter like most of you, but if people in the town have been turned it's better to meet outside the city limits. Buildings can block line of sight just as effectively as trees. On top of that reinforcements would be easier to hide."

Derek considered Claudia. She reached out and patted Stiles's shoulder, a small smile played across her lips. Derek agreed with her assessment. He rubbed his knuckles against his eyes. He wanted the meeting to be over so he could rest.

Deaton stood up, leaned across the table and pointed at a location roughly twenty miles outside of town. "This is where we should meet them, neutral ground for both of our factions. It's also an empty field earmarked for new construction."

Scott leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "What do you think?" He nodded at Stiles.

Stiles shook his head and slipped down further in the chair. Derek wanted to run his hand over the young werewolf's head. He seemed on edge with so many weapons strewn about the makeshift base. Claudia tried to get him to drink some water from a bottle. He ducked his head and stared at the floor.

Derek sighed. "I agree with Deaton."

Both McCalls and the reporter nodded. Claudia tugged playfully on Stiles's ear until he started smiling and took the bottle of water. Derek thought he might have seen Rafael discreetly checking out the woman. Derek grinned. Rafael would have his hands full if he tried something.

"I'm going on patrol tonight," Derek said. "Let's break for—"

"No." Deaton stared Derek dead in the eyes and shook his head. "You are going to rest. You're not going to be any help if you're too tired to think straight."

Derek considered his response, but before he could say anything Claudia turned her brown eyes on him. Derek swallowed. That was a fight he wasn't willing to start. He nodded to her.

"I'm totally going," Scott said. "I even have a new device I want to test out."

"Speaking of new devices, my sister created a form of aerosol bomb out of a rare strand of wolfsbane. I've got a few canisters in my duffle bags." Derek walked around the table to retrieve his bag of weapons. "We've also got a fair number of the rarer aconite shells."

"Blue Monkshood?" Deaton stood and walked around to join Derek in going through the bags. "I'd love to investigate the gas bombs. It'll give me something to do while I guard the prisoner since both McCalls will be going out on patrol."

"Damn, I thought I'd be free of the old man." Scott punched his father in the arm.

"That'll happen when I'm dead." Mr. McCall tried to make it sound like a joke, but it fell flat.

"Don't say that," Scott crossed his arms, unconsciously mirroring Stiles's position down the table from him.

"I'll stay here tonight as well," Claudia said.

Derek smiled. No one was going to separate the mother from the son without a hell of a fight. Stiles looked up to watch Derek. He licked his lips nervously before giving him a small smile. Derek patted Stiles on the head as he walked back around the table.

Derek leaned through the back door to check on Allison. She was still hooded and chained up, locked within a cage carved from mountain ash. Deaton did not take chances with prisoners. He was well prepared.

Derek turned his head back in time to see Scott pulling some sort of electronic device from his backpack. It looked like a radio. The younger McCall had a huge grin on his face.

"So, this is my new thing. You know how we use flash bang grenades to mess with the werewolves' enhanced senses? Well this thing it so much more awesome than that." Scott flipped the dial before anyone could protest.

Stiles tipped over backwards in his seat. He didn't make any noise, but he covered his ears with his hands. He rolled out of the chair across the floor trying to get away from Scott. A high-pitched scream of pain shattered the silence. Allison's voice was wild with pain.

Scott flipped the device off. "I'm sorry. I didn't know…"

Deaton and both McCalls stared at Derek. Rafael reached for his rifle. He hadn't even gotten his hand on the gun before Claudia was pointing her shotgun at his head.

"Don't even think about it," she said.

Deaton didn't so much get to his feet, as he… vibrated from one place to the other. He was holding a strange mask that must have been on his lap under the table, but he hadn't put it on. That was a good sign. Derek wasn't sure exactly what Deaton was, or what all his experiments entailed, but he'd become very strange since the last time Derek had seen him.

"Everyone calm down," Derek said. "Stiles is a werewolf, but he's not to be harmed."

Natalie scrambled to her feet and backed away from the young man on the floor. "You didn't think that was something worth mentioning? You brought one of them here? Is he a member of their pack?"

"He's my son. That's all that matters." Claudia regarded all the hunters in the room, neck stiff and head high.

"He was with the Argents," Derek said. "My sister and I found him in the woods. He's under my protection." Derek walked slowly to Claudia and put his hand on the gun. "No one is going to hurt him."

"A good werewolf?" Scott's voice was soft. "That's awesome!" He dropped the radio onto the table and walked around to kneel next to Stiles on the ground. "Dude, you and I are going to be best friends. Sorry about the audio thing, no one said we had good werewolves."

Stiles cringed away from the young hunter, tried to get behind his mother. Claudia set the gun on the table. She pulled Stiles's into a hug, whispered something to him. Stiles winced at first, but eventually relaxed into her embrace. Scott stared at the floor, picked at a hole in the knee of his jeans.

"I'm sorry," Scott said. "I didn't mean to hurt him."

Claudia nodded at Scott. "He'll be fine. He's just been through a lot."

More than anyone else Derek knew how much of an understatement that was. He sighed, reached down and ran his fingers over Stiles's black hair.

"You're going to be fine. It was an accident."

The hunter in Derek couldn't help but admire Scott's device. If Stiles had reacted that strongly to it he wondered what a werewolf who wasn't so accustomed to pain might do. He'd never find out though, not if Stiles was nearby. It wasn't worth hurting him, no matter how many opposing werewolves he might bring down with it.

"I need to get back to work and check on my daughter," Natalie said. "I hope you know what you're doing." She glanced at Stiles.

"I highly suggest that be the last time you make a backhanded accusation at my son," Claudia said.

Rafael let out a low whistle. Natalie stiffened and walked out of the room. Deaton had begun inspecting the arsenal Derek and Laura had amassed over the years.

"I got to say you got a lot of courage, lady. I like that in a woman." Rafael winked at Claudia.

Scott groaned. "Dude, at this rate you and I aren't going to be best friends." He nudged Stiles and winked at him. "We're going to be brothers."

The werewolf gave Scott a lopsided grin. Claudia shook her head and pulled her son to his feet. Derek threw his hands up in the air. The world was going to hell and this was what he had to work with. He couldn't hold in a laugh as he walked into the room with cots set up to sleep on.

He didn't even take his boots off; he just dropped onto the one closest to the door. Sleep didn't come right away. He lingered on the edge. He wasn't sure how much time had passed when he shifted on the cot, his right arm falling off. His hand brushed up against soft cotton. Warm hands gripped his wrist and pulled it.

Derek's eyes opened, Stiles was sitting on the floor against his cot. He wrapped Derek's arm over his shoulder and nuzzled against it. Derek smiled. When Stiles's leaned his head back against the cot and took a deep breath, Derek shifted closer to the edge to brush his face against the back of Stiles's hair. It didn't take him long to fall asleep after that. The last thing he remembered was Stiles's fingers tracing over the scars on his hand.