Derek got up and strode into the kitchen. He opened the cabinet he'd shoved the cookies into and fished the tin out. He then turned around to place it on the counter, only to come face-to-face with Erica (and ultimately drop the cookies all over the floor, but that's unimportant).
"We meet again," she winks.
"You were just here earlier," Derek says exasperatedly. Honestly, did she always have to keep up the dramatics?
"Well, yeah, but it sounds cooler." She stuck her lover lip out in a pout before crossing her arms and regaining herself. "Anyhow; blah, blah, blah, true meaning of Christmas, yada, har, bar, bar," she waved her hand a bit, holding an honest to god scroll in the other. "Yeah. Okay." She threw the scroll aside and grabbed Derek's wrist. "Back to the future! God, I've been hanging out with Stiles too much." Derek snorted, he couldn't argue that.
The, by now, familiar tugging sensation bit into him and dragged, blurring his surroundings as they went. They finally stopped in a small, dismal looking flat.
Three forms hobbled around inside and Derek edged forward curiously.
"Well?" Erica asked, posing like the diva she is with a hand on her hip. "Are you going in or not?"
Derek glanced at her as if she were insane. With an exasperated sigh Erica reached forward and pushed him, shoving him through the wall and tumbling into the scene.
Stiles, Scott, and Isaac were gathered around a sad looking heater. Technically speaking Isaac and Scott shouldn't need it, since a werewolf's body temperature was higher than a mere humans. They could easily keep Stiles warm by–
Stiles clicked his tongue and snapped. A spark shot from his fingertips and hit the heater, giving it a moment of superheating powers. Then it cooled slightly and Stiles sighed.
"It's probably not good to keep trying," Isaac said softly. He then looked at Stiles. "You could either burn yourself out or burn the place down with erratic magic."
Of course Stiles was still Stiles. Nothing new about that.
Stiles snorted. "I'd r-rather burn out my spark to be warm than f-freeze here. Just our luck the he-e-eater cut out." Derek inched closer and noticed the hardly suppressed shivers running through Stiles' body and the light blue tint of his lips.
Scott seemed to notice as well because he shifted close and pressed his leg to Stiles'.
"No!" Stiles yelped, jerking back. "I ha-have to do this. I have to be able to heat myself on m-my own."
"Look, just because Derek called you a dud–"
"You d-don't get it, do you?" Stiles barked out a laugh that had Derek's chest clenching tightly. "He called me a dud." Stiles waved his hands about. "Me, Scott. Not you. No, he'd never called you a dud. You m-might be a Bitten rather th-than born but not a dud. Nope," he popped the 'p', "not a dud, Scott.
"I'm a dud. You w-wanna know why? Because I sparked late. S-sparks normally develop their powers at age t-ten. Ten, Scott. I didn't until t-twenty one. Twenty one, Scott. That's legal d-drinking age. God, I'd give anything to have a bottle of Jack...
"I'm just a dud." He lowered his head and both Scott and Isaac exchanged a look. Stiles shivered once more, a strong jerk of his muscles that had his whole body convulsing.
Isaac put a hand on his shoulder to steady him and Derek realised that Stiles was falling asleep. His heart jumped into his throat.
Stiles was already falling hypothermic, it was easy to tell as each convulsion from the cold was more spars as time passed. Falling asleep wouldn't do anything but amplify any health risks.
He spun around to Erica. "Why are you showing me this?"
"They went after you," she said. "To Canada. During winter. They're staying in a workshop. A poorly insulated workshop with a broken heater," she motioned to the piece of metal between Stiles' feet. "They went after you because Christmas isn't the same if our Alpha isn't near."
Something clicked in Derek's mind. Everything he was shown. He felt stupid.
The past had shown him the happiness of family, of pack, celebrating something so simple. Holiday cheer basically streaming from their pours like rainbows from those freaky unicorn things.
The present was what he'd turned down. He had a chance to start again, to have that happiness all over and he'd turned it down.
The future... the future was what would happen if he continued as he did. Denying them pack, family, to celebrate with was like a business meeting that waits for the big macho CEO who never shows. Like dad not being able to make it to your birthday because of work. Like grandma being sick on thanksgiving.
His chest felt constricted but free at the same time. He looked at Erica. "Take me back. I need to go back. I have to fix it!"
A soft smile stretched on Erica's lips. She pressed two fingers to his forehead and everything blurred away.
