Thanks for the reviews everyone!

This fic is moving along surprisingly quickly (for me) and I already know exactly how it's gonna play out…woohoo! Now to just make the time to type it all out… =_=

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 3

Jackson remained where Derek had left him for several minutes as he digested what had just happened. "Because I want you to live!" Derek's words ran through Jackson's mind in a loop as he sat there. 'Derek wants me to live,' Jackson thought to himself. He didn't quite know why, but it made him happy knowing that. Sure Derek still thought he was an idiot, but he wanted him to live. And Derek was going to help him. For the first time since he had his first Kanima induced blackout, Jackson felt a sliver of hope.

Pulling himself off his bed, Jackson went into his bathroom. Looking in the mirror, he made a face at his reflection. He looked awful and Derek was right, he did smell. It was all the more noticeable with his newly enhanced sense of smell.

"I can't believe he saw me like this," Jackson muttered to himself as he stepped into the shower.

Leaning into the stream of water, Jackson absently thought about the first time he saw Derek. His face was completely pallid and he had looked stoned, and Jackson told him as much. But even looking like that, Jackson remembered thinking that Derek was totally hot. He was just too full of himself at the time to admit it.

When Derek had sunk his claws into Jackson's neck, he had no idea what it was. At first he thought the crazy guy just didn't care enough about personal hygiene to trim his nails, but it was certainly enough to make Jackson scared of him. Then the terrible nightmares started and the hallucinations even when he was awake.

The day that Derek cornered him in the locker room, Jackson thought he was going to… he wasn't sure what, but he was certain it would have been something terrible. But even then, even through all the fear, Jackson still remembered how good Derek had looked looming over him. And when Derek had leaned close, Jackson thought for a split second that he was going to kiss him. Idiot! He almost kicked himself for thinking that.

And then, once Jackson realized what Scott and Derek were, the real attraction started. Despite the fact that he was still scared shitless of Derek, he still couldn't help wanting him at the same time. Jackson shook his head. No, it was more like wanting to be what Derek was, attracted to the idea of being a werewolf, and not actually wanting Derek. Right? Right.

Jackson remembered the satisfaction, the elation of finally getting what he wanted. And Jackson always got what he wanted. The fear was gone and his confidence had grown ten fold, probably more. But then the blood appeared. The black blood. And the fear returned. He vaguely remembered being amazed that Derek had appeared so quickly. But when Derek said something about Jackson being with him, he couldn't control his contrariness and lost whatever help Derek had been offering.

He wondered why he couldn't have just told Derek the truth. Because he was an obstinate idiot, he answered himself. Jackson hit his head against the tiled wall, stopping his thoughts before it went back to the really dark place Derek had managed to wrest him from just a short while earlier. Realizing he was getting pruny, Jackson got out and dressed for school. He hoped the day went by fast. But then remembering the full moon, he hoped the day lasted forever.

If anyone was surprised that Jackson showed up at school, he didn't notice. He was too busy trying not to crawl out of his skin from nervousness. No reptile related pun intended.

Danny didn't question him or press for answers about what had been going on the past few weeks. He only said that if Jackson ever wanted to talk, he would be there. And while Jackson was grateful, he knew revealing everything to Danny was out of the question. Jackson ignored any questions from anyone else. He even avoided eye contact with Scott during class and the lunch break. Derek told him to come to school, but he never said he had interact with Scott and his friends.

As the final bell rang, Jackson let out a sigh of relief. The day was done.

"Jackson!"

He heard his name called as he was walking towards the parking lot. Turning around, Jackson saw Scott running towards him. Part of him wanted to turn tail and run to his car, but Jackson forced himself to stay where he was. He had run enough.

"Hey!" Scott greeted him. "I'm really glad you came today. So did Derek…um…"

"Yeah," Jackson nodded. "He came by. Said you made him. So I guess I have you to thank for the Derek intervention?"

"I didn't make him." Scott gave him an awkward look and scratched the back of his head. "I just reminded him that he was the most qualified person to help you. Heh…yeah." He laughed nervously.

"Well, he said he'd be by after school, so I should get going," Jackson said awkwardly.

"Oh! Ok, good. Um, so I'll see you tomorrow?" Scott gave him a slight smile.

"Yeah, sure. Tomorrow," Jackson agreed. He turned and walked quickly to his car before anyone else could stop him.

On the drive home, Jackson thought about Scott. Why the hell did that guy want to help him? Jackson never gave Scott a reason to. He ignored Scott when he was still second string and was obnoxious and just plain mean when Scott was promoted to co-captain. Just counting the days until he would get the strength to take Scott down and be captain all by himself again. Why didn't Scott revel at Jackson's fall from grace? If the situation were reversed, Jackson would be taking full advantage of it. But Scott didn't. Instead, he and his friends tried to help Jackson. For the first time ever, Jackson felt actual gratitude towards Scott.

Arriving home, Jackson saw that Derek was already there, arms crossed, waiting for him. Derek looked good in his leather jacket, leaning against his black Camaro. Really good. Wait. Where the hell did that come from? Jackson thought to himself. He shook it out of his mind and quickly got out of the car, not wanting to try Derek's patience.

"So, you survived," Derek said, sounding bored. "Come on, let's go." He gestured towards the passenger side and got in the car.

Jackson swallowed anxiously and climbed in after him.

"Where are we going?" He asked quietly as Derek pulled away from the curb.

"To somewhere where no one can hear you scream," Derek said with a dark smile. Then hearing Jackson's heart beat pick up erratically, he added, "We're going to my house."

The drive to the woods was silent. When they arrived at the old Hale house, Jackson could sense they were alone.

"Why are we here?" He asked tentatively.

"We're here because I figured that it would be bad for you to practice turning into a werewolf at your house and accidentally tear it apart," Derek replied dryly. "Your parents might notice something."

"Wait, I thought the whole idea was to practice not turning into a werewolf." Jackson grew even more anxious.

"You have to be able to control turning in order to control not turning," Derek said, as if it made perfect sense.

"But – but I don't – I don't want to turn," Jackson stammered.

"Too bad, learning to turn at will is the first step to controlling your wolf." Derek gave him a hard look. "The only reason you haven't accidentally turned already is because you've been feeling sorry for yourself in the dark all this time. Scott refused my help at first, thinking he could control himself and not turn and he almost killed somebody when he couldn't handle it."

Jackson remembered back to that night when Scott turned and scared the hell out of him and Allison when he had tried attacking them in Jackson's car. "Ok, what to I have to do?"

The question was barely out of Jackson's mouth when Derek leaped in front of him and hit him with a hard right hook across the jaw. Immediately, anger blossomed in Jackson and he felt his blood thicken and speed up.

"What the hell was that for you asshole?!" Jackson shouted, his mind screaming at him to attack Derek.

"Look at your hands, touch your face," Derek answered, eyes alert and watching Jackson carefully.

Lifting his hands up, Jackson saw that claws had appeared as if by magic. His eyes shot up to look at Derek anxiously. "What the hell? I didn't do this. I wasn't thinking of it." Then his raised his hands to his face and felt a lot of hair on his cheeks and chin. Was all that...fur?

"Yes, you did," Derek replied. "You got angry and you started to turn. You didn't need to think, it's instinct. You get angry or feel some sort of intense agitation and you turn. This is how it is for almost all new werewolves. Congrats, you're normal for once...sort of. Now you just need figure out how to not turn every time you get pissed off. Because that would be really bad."

Nodding, Jackson realized what an immense challenge that would be considering how little it took for him to turn. He looked at his hands while Derek spoke and as he calmed down, the claws receded.

"You'll have to learn how to keep your emotions have to be in check. No matter what happens, you need to stay calm. Keep your heart rate down," Derek instructed as he circled Jackson. Then without warning, Derek's fist lashed out and struck Jackson's face again.

"What the hell?!" Jackson roared as he jumped at Derek, claws out and tried to carve out a piece of him.

Derek easily avoided Jackson's claws and knocked him down and pinned him to the ground. "You need to stay calm remember? No matter what happens." He stared Jackson down until the latter nodded and forced himself to calm down again. After staying that way for a few more moments, Derek gave Jackson an odd look and jumped up, releasing him as if it burned Derek to touch him. "And remember to breath. Take deep breaths, it'll help keep your heart rate down."

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Jackson asked sarcastically.

"You know what? I really am," Derek replied with a smile.

Then, for the next couple hours, Derek continuously struck Jackson again and again, testing his will to stay calm. And again and again, Jackson's claws would emerge. After the first few times, he began to actually be able to sense when he was turning. And the only reason that Jackson's face wasn't black and blue and nothing was broken was thanks to his newfound supercharged healing ability. At least one good thing had come from turning into a werewolf.

Gradually however, Jackson discovered that breathing helped a lot. That and thinking of all the people he had killed as the Kanima and how desperate he was not to add anyone else to that list.

Another punch and it sent Jackson flying and he landed on his back hard. Jackson sat up, focused on continuing to take long deep breaths.

Crouching next to Jackson, Derek said, "Look at your hands."

When Jackson looked, he saw normal fingers. He touched his face and it was smooth. He didn't turn. He sighed with relief and couldn't help when a smile spread across his face.

As Derek looked at Jackson, with his amazing smile and framed by the rosy hues from the setting sun, he couldn't help the sudden flutter in his stomach from the sight. Beautiful. Wait...what? No! Derek jumped up and shook such thoughts and feelings from himself. "It's getting late and I have other things I need to do," Derek said gruffly. "Come on, I'll take you home."

The ride back was silent. Jackson kept looking at Derek out of the corner of his eye and if Derek noticed, he didn't say anything. Jackson would have paid good money to know what Derek was thinking about. To know what Derek thought of his progress that day. Jackson found that he actually felt pretty comfortable sitting next to Derek. More than comfortable. It felt...good. It was amazing how quickly things changed.

When they arrived back and Jackson's, he almost didn't want to get out, but he knew he had to. "Ummm...so thanks, for today. You think I'll be ok tomorrow?"

"We're not done yet," Derek replied. "Today was easy. Tomorrow will be the really hard part. I'll meet you again after school."

Jackson nodded and started walking to the door.

"Hey!" Derek called out. "You did pretty good today," he conceded. "And yeah, I think you'll be ok."

Another smile spread across Jackson's face as he heard the words and he almost couldn't wait until tomorrow.

Derek was waiting outside his house again when Jackson got back from school the next day.

"Hey!" Jackson greeted him with a small smile.

Face set with a grim look, Derek asked, "Why the hell are you smiling? Tonight's the full moon. If you can't get control over yourself, you could seriously hurt someone."

And with that, Jackson's face fell. "I – sorry, I didn't mean to –..."

"Come on, let's go." Derek got into his car and Jackson followed.

This time, Derek drove them to the abandoned warehouse that he had been staying at a few weeks earlier. He led Jackson inside and down the stairs to the old train car that was stored there.

Jackson saw the various chains hanging from the metal rails and it hit home. Tonight was the full moon. And he could lose control and have to be chained up. Looking at Derek, he nervously asked, "Is it just us here? What about Scott and Isaac?"

"They're both capable of controlling themselves so I don't need to babysit them," Derek replied. "And they'll both be out with Peter looking for Erica and Boyd tonight, just in case they're still in the area. They had trouble controlling themselves during the last full moon and it would be bad if they had a repeat while they're out there."

Not knowing what to say, Jackson just stood there and nodded. He realized how lucky he was that Derek was willing to look out – erm...babysit – him.

"Come here," Derek gestured to the spot in front of him. "Sit down."

"We're not going to practice?" Jackson asked worriedly.

"As much as I'd like to keep hitting you, that will only take you so far," Derek said with a smirk. "Right now I want you to concentrate and turn by yourself, without any provocation from me and then I want you to turn back to normal."

"How am I supposed to do that?" Jackson looked at him, confused.

"Concentrate. Will your wolf to come out." Derek closed his eyes, took a breath and when he opened his eyes, they glowed alpha red. Then he closed them again and next they opened to reveal his brilliant brown eyes again.

Taking a deep breath, Jackson swallowed and squeezed his eyes shut. Appear, appear, appear...

"You look like you're constipated," Derek observed dryly. "Just let it out. It's really not that hard. Your wolf wants to come out."

Face red from Derek's comment, Jackson took another deep breath and closed his eyes. "Come out, come out," he whispered in his mind to his wolf. And suddenly an intense heat flooded his veins and he knew it heard him. His eyes opened, and Jackson saw the claws and felt the hair on his face. Then he took long deep breaths until the wolf disappeared back inside.

Jackson sighed from relief at his success and smiled again. And again Derek found himself staring. He hoped to God that this wasn't going to start becoming a bad habit.

"Ok, that's good," Derek said. "Now do it again."

After another several successful turns, Derek told Jackson to take a seat on one of the train seats. He then commenced placing chains around Jackson's wrists and torso and binding them to the rails. Jackson watched the entire process in silence, not knowing what to say.

Derek then said, "It'll be sundown soon. Time to meditate."

"I didn't know you meditated," Jackson said, surprised.

"I don't," Derek responded flatly. "But I'm told that it helps to be as calm as possible when the moon rises. Kind of wish I had told the others that last month. Just clear your mind and breathe deeply. Think of...clouds and green fields or something." Derek really had no idea what constituted as meditation and just went by what he remembered from a tv show. But it had to be better than nothing, right? He settled down in another seat as Jackson complied.

When the moon had climbed close to the highest point, Jackson felt a burning sensation lance thru him. It was almost unbearable. He screamed and tried to jump up only to be held down by the chains.

"Jackson! Concentrate! Keep your emotions in check. Control the wolf!" Jackson could hear Derek's voice dimly calling to him.

As his claws appeared on their own, Jackson screamed again, the burning becoming even stronger. He tried to pull on the chains and felt strong hands clamp down on his shoulders and hold him fast. He looked up to see Derek's eyes glowing red as if the alpha were trying to intimidate his wolf into submission.

But as Derek should have known, Jackson never joined his pack. That meant Jackson was an omega and while an alpha could certainly beat an omega in a fight, he didn't have the power to make it submit, not like he could with his actual pack members. Jackson jumped up and out of Derek's grip, breaking the chains with a sudden burst of unbelievable strength and took off running.

Uh oh…hope Derek can catch him…in more ways than one…lol ;)

Reviews would be greatly appreciated. =)