Woohoo! Managed to finish this before the weekend. Happy Friday all! =)

Disclaimer: Don't own Teen Wolf or anyone in it. If I did, I'd be busy having way too much fun doing other stuff. ^_~

Redemption

Chapter 2

Derek sat in the darkened ruins of his home as Scott's words replayed over and over in his mind. "He wants to die." Derek could still feel the vice constricting his heart when he had first heard those words. He had almost believed that he didn't care about Jackson, but those four words proved just how wrong he was.

He was grateful that his uncle Peter chose that moment to interrupt his thoughts. "Hey, I know you're worried about Boyd and Erica, but you need to forget about them. They chose to leave your pack so they're no longer your responsibility. What's important now is to figure out why the alpha pack is in town and how to deal with them.

"I know and you're right," Derek agreed. But he still couldn't help but feel worried about them. The way their links were so abruptly severed, he couldn't help but feel worried. "I just can't help it, I just –"

"Well, I suppose you wouldn't be you if you weren't worried." Peter smiled sympathetically. "Did something else happen? I couldn't help but overhear – not that I was eavesdropping," Peter said defensively when Derek's eyes narrowed on him.

"It just that on top of everything I have to deal with, Scott's roped me into talking to Jackson." Derek ran a palm over his face.

"Jackson? Why would he want you to talk to Jackson? You helped save him, isn't that enough?" Peter asked.

"I said as much, but regardless of what happened, I'm the one who turned him so I need to try and get him through this full moon. If he hurts anyone, it would be on me too." Derek was resigned to his task.

"Hey, I know you never got along with him, so if you want, I can talk to him for you," Peter offered. "I've done my fair share of the whole transforming under the moon talks before...all this." He gestured to the burned out house.

Derek scoffed, "Yeah right, you talk to him?" He shook his head. "I'm pretty sure that it was you as an alpha that set the whole Jackson wanting to be a werewolf thing in motion. Remember? You completely freaked him out when you attacked him in that video store and then again when you showed up at the school."

Peter shrugged, "Both very unfortunate situations, but like I told you before, I wasn't completely in my right mind at the time."

"Maybe you should have killed Jackson at the video store," Derek whispered. "Then he wouldn't have been able to cause so much trouble. Why didn't you?"

"Now, now Derek," Peter said patronizingly, "You know you don't mean it. Not that I didn't want to at first. I was so close, the fear radiating from him was exhilarating, but then I couldn't. When I went to him, I could sense you, smell a trace of you on him. I saw the claw marks on his neck and even then, I knew he belonged to you."

"What are you talking about?" Derek looked at him, confused.

"You might have marked him by accident, but you still marked him," Peter told him. "And deeply too. I'll bet he was haunted by dreams of you. If you were an alpha back then and it was a full moon, I'd wager those marks would have been enough to turn him."

"Yeah, well I wasn't and he didn't," Derek deflected. "And even when he did turn, he didn't join my pack and now he never will."

"Really?" Peter arched a brow. "Have you asked him?"

"Of course not," Derek retorted. "I don't want him anywhere near me. Not if I can help it. The only reason I'm even going to talk to him is so Scott will get off my case."

Peter looked unconvinced but didn't argue with Derek. He segued to another subject instead. "Since you have to talk to Jackson and only have a couple days to do it, why don't I try digging around for some information on the alpha pack."

"Sounds like a plan," Derek agreed disinterestedly and watched as Peter left the house just as Isaac ran up the steps.

"Hey…any word?" Isaac asked hopefully.

"Not a one." Derek shook his head. "I take it you couldn't find a trace of them either."

"Nothing. They are gone. Looks like it's just you, me and Scott." Isaac sat down across from Derek, looking depressed.

"More like you, me and maybe Scott," Derek corrected. "And…Peter…"

Isaac furrowed his brows. "Wait is Scott out? And can we even trust Peter?"

Derek squared his jaw and was silent for a moment. Then, he abruptly changed the topic. "How's it going at home? Your new arrangement."

"My grandma's ok. She doesn't do much. Doesn't ask many questions when I go out. So that's good." Isaac's grandmother had agreed to come live with him until he turned 18 so that he could continue to go to Beacon Hills High.

"That's good," Derek said. Then remembering that Isaac lived down the street from Jackson, he asked, "Have you seen Jackson at all since…that night?"

"Nope," Isaac shook his head. "Scott asked me too. I can sense he's in his house, but as far as I know, he hasn't been out. Why? Worried the Kanima might come back?"

Sighing, Derek rolled his eyes. "No, Scott badgered me into helping Jackson with the full moon. Apparently, I might be his only hope."

"Oh…well then, I guess I'll leave you to it. Let me know if you need me to do anything." Isaac turned to leave.

Not saying a word, Derek barely even noticed Isaac was gone as his mind wandered back to Jackson. He remembered the day when he saw Jackson for the very first time, the most gorgeous guy he had ever laid eyes upon. Derek had been looking for Scott and though there were other kids in the hallway, even through the haze of poison, he had been drawn to Jackson's beauty instantly. Then Jackson opened his mouth and Derek realized he was a tool.

Derek scoffed at his own shallowness, but admitted to himself that even after their initial meeting, he still found Jackson to be unbelievably attractive. Life was so unfair. And when he confronted Jackson in the locker room over a week later, it was all he could do not to strip Jackson's towel away and lean in for a kiss. He knew Jackson was frightened of him, and Derek reveled in it. He had wanted to dominate Jackson, even as he hated the fact that he wanted someone so selfish and vain.

Maybe that was why he bit him, Derek thought. To satisfy some secret urge to taste Jackson while trying to purge him from his system and this world. But even then, part of Derek had been glad and even a bit excited when he realized that Jackson had survived the bite and had anticipated bringing him into his fold.

When Derek felt Jackson panicking that day in school, he had raced to his side, determined to take care of whatever had frightened him. But then Jackson opened his mouth again and Derek realized that he was still a tool, just stronger and more annoying. And then Derek saw the black blood and couldn't help the fear that began pooling in him. Derek shook himself and dispelled his memories of all that had happened since before they could overwhelm him.

He had agreed to help Scott try to save Jackson from the Kanima because he knew that he needed Scott to join his pack so they could band together to survive the Kanima and the Argents. But after Gerard was defeated and Jackson was saved, Derek became determined to avoid him like the plague. He did not need to complicate his already complicated life even more. Except, he had just agreed to help Jackson again. Damn Scott and his inability to let things go. He should have made Scott swear to stay in his pack in exchange for helping Jackson again.

With Boyd and Erica gone, there was just Isaac left and even though Peter agreed to join and follow him, that still left Derek with only two pack members, one of whom he still didn't fully trust. Then a thought crossed his mind that maybe if Derek could get through to Jackson that he could bring him in as well, and Derek realized that even after all that had happened, a part of him still wanted Jackson. For no reason other than the fact that he did. God, he was weak. Derek quickly crossed that thought out of his mind...no complications. He'll talk to Jackson because the last thing they needed was more dead bodies and because while he and Chris Argent had reached a tenuous cease fire agreement, even the smallest thing could bring it down. And Jackson killing even one more person would definitely do it.

Derek sat in his car and watched as Jackson's mother left for work. Once he sensed that Jackson was alone at home Derek got out of his car. He walked up to the door and was about to knock when he thought better of it. Jackson would never answer. He walked around to the back and let himself in the same window that Scott had used earlier.

Walking down the hall, Derek knew immediately which door led to Jackson's room. It was locked, but Derek turned the knob hard and the lock gave. Pushing the door open, Derek greeted Jackson. "You know if you stay here, the first people you kill when you turn will be your parents, right?"

Jackson bolted upright in his bed, shocked to see a second surprise visitor that day. As he recognized Derek, it was clear that he was still scared of him. "Why...why are you here? What do you want?"

"Scott called me and called me and basically wouldn't stop pestering me until I agreed to help you get through the full moon. If it were up to me, I wouldn't care either way. Lose control or not, doesn't affect me," Derek said nonchalantly, as he projected an air of indifference. But on the inside, he was disconcerted at the sight of Jackson wallowing in the darkness of his room, so clearly disconsolate and depressed. Derek even missed his cocky smirks...almost. "You got what you wanted, you're a werewolf. Why the hell are you moping around like this?"

"You think I wanted this?" Jackson asked angrily. "To turn into some lizard freak and go around killing people? If I had known all this shit would happen, I never would have – I never would have asked you to bite me."

Derek just stared at Jackson, surprised at the fact that Jackson actually regretted wanting the bite.

"Just go away," Jackson said miserably. "You don't want to be here and I don't need your help. I have a plan."

"Really?" Derek moved to stand in front of Jackson and looked him straight in the eyes. "The only thing I know you have is a death wish. But of course even when you want to die, you take the coward's way out. Your grand scheme is to let your wolf go out of control and hurt people to force the Argents to kill you. That's pathetic. If you want to die, go die. Do it yourself, but don't take anyone else out with you."

Jackson looked at Derek, considered what he said and realized that what Derek said was true. "You're right, I am a coward. God, I hate this. I hate myself. I wish I had the strength to kill myself. But I'm too scared. Like you said, I'm too much of a coward. Too bad you didn't do it when you had the chance." He smiled bitterly.

With those words, Jackson's admissions, Derek saw for himself that Jackson really did want to die. He felt a lump form in his throat when he realized that he didn't want Jackson to die. He had kept telling Scott that they should kill Jackson when he was the Kanima and had even let Scott believe that he gave Jackson the bite in the hopes that he would die from it and maybe even tried to convince himself that was the reason he had done it. But now that he knew Jackson wanted to die, Derek realized that he wanted Jackson to live. He finally admitted the truth to himself; Derek bit him because it was what Jackson wanted and Derek wanted Jackson to be tied to him forever. How sick and twisted was that?

Derek pulled Jackson up by his shirt and shook him. "Listen to me, giving up and dying is the real coward's way out. If you don't want to be a coward then you need to get a grip. Deal with everything that's happened and go on with your life. You need to learn a lesson from what happened and stop being a douche."

"What do you care? You hate me, remember? Why the hell would you care if I lived or died?" Jackson struggled to free himself, grappling to uncurl the fists gripping his shirt, but Derek held on fast.

Having completely lost his patience, Derek yelled at him, "Because I don't want you to die, you idiot!" Then realizing what he just admitted, Derek quickly added, "I just mean that since I'm the one who turned you, I don't want your death on my conscience. Not yours or anyone else's."

Dumbfounded by Derek's words, Jackson just hung in his grip and stared up at him, trying to process his words.

"The full moon is tomorrow night and I'm going to help you prepare for it." Derek said, his tone brooking no disagreement. "Do you understand? Do you?" He added one final shake for good measure.

Nodding, Jackson brought his shaking legs under him, finding the strength to support himself. "Ye – yes, I – I understand," he managed.

"Good." Derek released Jackson and took a step back. "You can start by going and taking a shower, you stink. And after that, you're going to school, got it?" He walked over to the curtains and pulled them back causing Jackson to cringe from the sunlight streaming in. "Got it?" He repeated.

He got another nod from Jackson.

"I'll come by after school and we'll get started." Derek turned on his heel and left the way he came.

As Derek got into his car, he found himself lingering for a few moments just sitting and staring at Jackson's window. He had managed to get through to Jackson. He shook his head as he caught himself still thinking about that idiot and swiftly drove off. They had two days to prepare for the full moon. Derek hoped it would be enough.

'Til next time! Please R&R =)