They got Erik home without incident, and Stiles and Derek gently cleaned the blood off of him. The wounds had closed completely; though thick scabs were still visible on the skin. Laurie sat on the other side of the room, staring at him miserably. Her scratch marks had completely faded.
"What happened?" asked her Dad quietly.
"We were chasing each other. We were kind of play-fighting and I-"
"We scented the mountain lion too late. We should have been more careful." Erik groaned from the couch.
"Well, I'm glad you kids are okay. Animals don't usually attack us when we're shifted; you must have surprised it. Erik, you're healing pretty well, but I want you to lay there on the couch and rest. Just yell if there's anything you need. Your Pop and I have to prepare something that will speed up the healing process, we'll be right back."
Derek and Stiles left them.
"Why'd you cover for me?" she asked immediately.
"Cover for you? Laurie, you didn't put that mountain lion there, I led us to it." Erik groused, trying to get comfortable.
"I kicked you right at it! It wouldn't have come near us if I hadn't! You couldn't defend yourself because I knocked the wind out of you! It's ALL my fault! I knew I never should have let the damn wolf out of the box!" she complained.
"Oh, get over it! I'll be fine. I'm healing because of the wolf. You killed the mountain lion because of the wolf. Our parents rescued us because of the wolf. There's risks with it, like with anything, but from my point of view it gives us a lot more than it takes. I wouldn't be alive without it! Laurie, it was almost worth it for me to see you let go for once. I was looking back at you while you chased me. I never saw that look on your face before! You looked…like you owned the forest. All the worry that's been on your face since we found out was gone. I'd like to see more of that look. I really don't think there's anything to forgive here. Don't blame yourself, or the wolf. On the way back, Dad told me that once Laura had to rescue him from an enraged bear. These things just happen, goes with the territory."
Laurie came over and hugged him. "I'm sorry I've been such a jerk lately. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to any of us. I can't imagine how Dad and Pop got through losing all those people in their families. I'd go crazy."
"Ditto. Now let me rest for a few weeks."
Dad came back in with a tray containing several syringes full of a red liquid. Erik's eyes opened wide.
"Oh, man what the hell! I need to get shots!" he complained. He hadn't needed them since a particularly traumatic visit to their family physician as a child to get vaccinated. It was a requirement to get them in school and a precaution since their immune systems wouldn't get the werewolf boost for at least another ten years. Laurie had taken the shots stoically, but Erik had been terrified. Derek wanted to tear the doctor limb from limb the more his son cried, and eventually had to leave the room and let Stiles oversee it.
"This will speed up the recovery. It's a small amount of my blood that I'm going to inject in the worst areas. Alphas heal at double the rate of Betas, so I think you'll be completely recovered by tomorrow morning." Derek explained patiently.
"Goddamn it! I thought I was through with shots. Fine, but I need something to mangle while you do it. Laurie! Give me your hand for a second." Erik joked.
"Nice try. Make them hurt, Dad." Laurie answered back.
"Kids. There's one…then two…then three. All done." Erik winced at each shot, and looked vastly relieved after it was over. Dad drew a blanket over his son and fluffed up his pillow, hitting the button on the remote control for the television. A show on the recently restored Discovery Channel seemed to be a documentary on the life cycle and habits of the mountain lion. Erik savagely changed the channel, while Laurie laughed.
Derek came over to Laurie and gave her a tight hug, almost like she used to get from him before all the werewolf nonsense. "You saved your brother's life. I wish this never happened, but I've never been more proud of you than I am now. It would have been amazing to see you take on that cat on."
Derek went in to the kitchen to dispose of the syringes, and looked up in surprise when Laurie followed him.
"Dad, did you notice the tree in that clearing? The one with the heart on it?" she asked.
"Yeah, I think I did. That was probably Laura. She loved the forest, and was always dragging me out there, or her friends."
"Did she ever…have a boyfriend? I noticed the heart had the initials A.H. next to hers."
Derek got quiet, and his whole demeanor changed. "He was a human, and an unworthy one at that. She should never have gotten involved with him. Don't ask me anymore about it. Laura's gone, and he has to live with the guilt of what he's done." Derek stormed out of the kitchen.
Laurie looked after him, stunned. What the hell brought on that reaction? And just when Dad seemed to be getting back to normal with her, too.
Pop came in whistling. "Okay, young lady, what did you say to your Dad that has him all red-eyed and frowny and scowly? I haven't seen him like that since I tricked him into doing a strip tease for Uncle Danny."
Laurie gaped at him. "Okay, I don't even want to know. I just asked him about his sister Laura-"
"Yeah, that'll do it. He's very sensitive about her, Laurie, even after all these years." Pop looked up at the ceiling, from which the sounds of heavy pacing could be heard on the floor above.
"I just wanted to know if she had a boyfriend. There was a heart with the letters A.H. carved on a tree along with her initials. Do you know-"
"Whoa, hey, don't drag me into all of this. I have to sleep in the same bed as your Dad, and I want to keep waking up with all my guts on the inside. It was a long time ago, maybe you should just let it drop. Why do you want to know, anyway?"
"Well…I was named after her, but I don't know anything about her! You know I'm having trouble dealing with this whole thing, and I thought maybe if I found out more about Laura, how she grew up with it, you know…from a woman's perspective…it might help me understand myself a little better. Aunt Allison and Aunt Lydia were turned, because they wanted it…that won't help me. Dad and Erik are boys, and they just look at it completely differently. If Laura were here, I know she could help me somehow. Dad clams up when her name is mentioned, so the next best thing would be to talk to the guy she was in love with. I bet he could tell me what she was like in a way that even Dad couldn't. He probably knows all her hopes, dreams, doubts and regrets."
Pop considered. On the one hand, he wanted to keep peace in the household…and the surest way to send the Alpha into a destructive rampage would be to prod him about his sister. On the other, he wanted to help his daughter come to terms with the reality of her life and begin to enjoy herself again. He truly missed her wisecracks and take-on-the-world attitude that had come to define her in her short life.
"Well, I never encountered a problem that couldn't be solved with a little research. Maybe your brother could help. Your Dad will not talk even under torture, and that's not just an expression with him. Whatever you do, just be careful, and above all be discrete. Don't do anything foolish to get the answers. I'm okay with you looking in books, but I don't want you talking to strange people or meeting anyone or leaving town or anything like that. If you're in doubt, you clear it with me. I mean it! Be careful with the Internet too, our enemies have a way of tracing suspicious inquiries. Good luck." He hugged her and kissed her on the top of her head. "And remember your Dad's hearing!" he whispered as he left the kitchen.
She went back to the living room, where Erik was busy picking at his scabs. It might have been her imagination, but they looked a little smaller than before. The healing factor was an amazing thing. Remembering Pop's words, she decided not to risk asking for Erik's help until she was sure they couldn't be overheard. The two siblings spent the evening watching movies. They caught "The Howling", which they had never seen before and when the movie werewolf howled, their Dad came running down the stairs looking around wildly before catching sight of the television."
"Damn, I thought we were being attacked by a rogue Pack. Oh, this one's one of my favorites!" The three laughed through the movie while Pop made them popcorn and joined them, and they rooted for the werewolves to win.
"You know, the way you told stories when we were little, I always thought the wolf was the good guy! Like in 'Little Red Riding Hood', you said that Red killed her grandmother for her inheritance, and blamed it on the defenseless wolf so she could run away with the evil Hunter." Laurie had an accusing look in her eyes.
"Yeah! And in 'The Three Little Pigs', it was insurance fraud, and the wolf was blamed for the poor construction of their houses. Do you have any idea how the other kids laughed when I told them about it?" Erik complained.
Pop was shaking with silent laughter, while Derek looked only slightly red-faced. "That's how I was told them when I was little." he said stubbornly.
After dinner, which Erik was allowed to eat on a tray at the couch, Dad and Pop went upstairs to go over the company's quarterly reports, and Laurie grabbed the photo album from her room.
"Erik! Be very quiet." she hissed. She flipped the book open to the picture of Laura leaning against the tree and showed it to him. He gazed at it with mild curiosity and shrugged his shoulders (wincing in pain at his forgotten injuries).
"I want to find out who took this picture! The initials A.H. were on the tree; it was where you were attacked. I thought maybe we could go through old yearbooks at school, and find any teenagers that were in her year to see if…"
Erik rolled his eyes and grabbed the album, yanking the photo out from under the plastic sheet. He turned it over, glanced at the back and then handed it to her. There on the back, written in a strong masculine script, were the words: "Laura, here's your future Vogue cover shot! Maybe I should teach photography instead of chemistry! Love, Adrian. The picture was dated 2004.
"Mystery solved." Erik said in a bored voice.
Laurie's face was glowing a bright red as she went back to her room.
{}{}{}{}
Adrian Harris had retired from teaching the year before the Hale siblings started at Beacon Hills High. They had never seen him face to face, but the juniors and seniors were still complaining about what a hard-ass he was, and how glad they were he was gone. Dad's yearbooks had no doubt been lost in the fire, but Laurie managed to find Pop's on a shelf in the library. Opening the book, she gasped at the pictures of all the Pack members, looking the same then as they did now, and she wondered if being a werewolf meant a longer lifespan. She flipped to the Chemistry section, and there he was. Adrian Harris, a good-looking if rather stern young man.
Laurie fired up her computer and cyber-stalked him. Laura had been twenty-seven when she was killed. He was thirty-three. If the picture was anything to go by, they started dating when she was twenty-one and he was twenty-seven. She wondered what they had in common. Laurie did some more googling, and came up with nothing before giving up and bringing her laptop back out to Erik.
He grumbled at her request; (he really just wanted to relax) but managed within minutes to hack into the school's database to find Laura's academic record. Sure enough, her marks in chemistry had been top notch, and she had won several interstate science fairs and competitions. Their interest had likely sparked at that time, but they probably waited until she was twenty-one before beginning their romance so as not to get him in trouble with the school board; he was still teaching for years after it all. Laurie knew that Dad and Laura moved away after the fire for six years, so the relationship could not have lasted very long. Did they break up so that she could deal with the grief of losing her family? How did he take it? And why was Dad so hardcore against him? He seemed to think that Harris had done something terrible, and felt guilty about it. There was only one way to find out the answers to these questions. Eventually, she would have to find him.
{}{}{}{}
Erik was fully recovered by the next day, which was just as well since the Hale family would be celebrating Erik and Laurie's birthday that evening. Dad rented a banquet hall, and the Pack was invited along with Grandpa Stilinski, the Whittemores, the Martins, Scott's mother Melissa McCall, Maria Kean (Danny's mother) and of course Chris and Vivian Argent. Uncle Ted was estranged from his family, and they had long since moved from town. All the parents present knew about werewolves and had become okay with it over a period of years. Scott and Danny's mothers had taken it well (after brief nervous breakdowns). Catherine Martin had dated a werewolf as a teenager before marrying her husband Thomas, and Roger Whittemore was roommates with one at the university while he was dating his future wife Martha, so the only surprise for them was that their children had joined the club.
Grandpa Stilinski discovered the existence of werewolves (as well as his son's new relationship) during a holdup at a convenience store. He smiled at the memory…
Flashback Music
Derek was filling the Camaro with gas, while Stiles was inside buying enormous bags of snacks for a night of movie watching with the Pack. The other customer suddenly pulled out a gun and shot the cashier before hopping behind the counter and emptying the money drawer into a bag. The cashier passed out from blood loss, but not before tripping the silent alarm. Stiles was too petrified to move, but the Alpha was quickly able to pick up the scent of his terror over the stench of the gasoline. His head suddenly jerked up, eyes bleeding crimson light and he snarled through the new scythe-like teeth. The Sheriff arrived in just in time to see Derek wolf out and tear the door of the convenience store off its hinges before grabbing the panicked robber and hurling him through the glass of the fridges that lined the wall. The Sheriff pulled out his gun and was prepared to shoot the creature as it loomed over Stiles, but stopped in amazement as the transformation reversed itself. A near naked Derek Hale gently picked up Stiles and hugged him to his chest, trembling with anxiety.
"I thought I'd lost you." Derek said in a shaky voice. As alarmed as the Sheriff was…there was no mistaking the look on Derek's face.
"After all these weeks of Glares, denials and head-slams, THIS is what it takes to get you to show your feelings, o great Sour Wolf?" Stiles joked, gently stroking Derek's back. Despite his attempt at humor, he was pale and shaking too.
"Ahem." said the Sheriff, holstering his gun.
"Hey, Dad." Stiles said absently. Then he shrieked, flailing his arms in surprise and sending the Alpha into a magazine stand, where he collapsed to the floor and was promptly buried under a pile of Archie comic books. "HOLY CRAP! DAD! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? UM, I CAN EXPLAIN! YOU SEE-"
"Shut up, and help your boyfriend to his feet. The ambulance will be here any minute along with backup, and I have until then to sabotage the video surveillance while you two make yourselves scarce. Go, NOW!"
Stiles pulled Derek out from under the comics and led him to the empty door frame while the Alpha rubbed his head.
"What was I thinking, trying to rescue YOU! I should have been saving him…" Derek muttered, pointing at the thief.
"You handle the brooding, I'll handle the wisecracks." Stiles whispered back.
"Didn't Catwoman say that to Batman in 'Arkham City'?"
"I knew you weren't really sleeping while I played. You may be Batman, but I am NOT Catwoman! I would look terrible in latex. Wait! I forgot the snacks!"
The Sheriff heard a distinct smacking sound. "Stiles!" he called out.
His son ran back in while Derek started up his car. "Yeah, Dad?"
"Be home by midnight. We are going to have a LONG talk! That goes for the Wolf-man too." The Sheriff picked up a bag of Funions, and shoved it into Stiles' chest.
"Um, yeah, right, we'll be there. Dad…you're not mad, are you?" Stiles asked. He looked ready to cry.
"At the secrecy. Nothing else. Now, get lost." Stiles ran out (snatching a bag of Doritos as he left) and the Camaro tore off into the night just as the ambulance pulled up, sirens blaring. The Sheriff directed the paramedics to the cashier and the gunman, and then stepped into the back to destroy some video-tapes.
End of Flashback
Now it was all old hat to him: Derek was his son as much as Stiles, he had two beautiful grandchildren, and the whole family had the ability to protect themselves in the incredibly dangerous world they were part of. Speaking of which…
"Steven. So good to see you." Chris Argent gave his hand a firm shake. There was a lot less blond and a lot more gray in the hair, but the too-wide grin was still the same. Vivian seemed not to have changed at all…but hair dye and make-up could do wonders. So could plastic surgery.
"Chris. How've you been? Retirement treating you okay?" Steven asked in a neutral tone. Knowing what the Argent family had done to the people he cared about pretty much pre-empted any chance of them all becoming best friends…which neither man had a problem with.
"Oh, you know a Hunter never really retires. We're always watching, making sure everyone keeps their promises."
"I seem to remember I made you a promise once, Chris." Steven grinned as Chris' smile slipped a notch.
"If any wolves shed human blood, I will be there to see that it never happens again, Steven. I would expect you to be there at my side if that happens."
The two men were suddenly tackled to the floor by rabid wolves…or rather rabid children wearing wolf-masks.
"GOTCHA!" shouted Dylan Whittemore as he lifted furry clawed hands in the air, preparing to deliver a fatal strike.
"No you don't!" said Jackson firmly, yanking the wolf-gloves off his son's hands and dragging him away towards Lydia while Steven chuckled and slowly got to his feet.
Christine McCall had to be dragged from her grandfather as well by a blushing Scott. She tore free and threw her arms around her startled grandmother and squeezed her tightly.
"Wolves are scary, but one day I want to look as mean as you!" she announced, while Vivian chuckled.
"You will, one day my dear. It takes lots of practice." Vivian promised.
Allison apologized as she took her daughter back. The McCalls and Whittemores went off to the buffet table to feed their ravenous offspring.
Noting that Chris had suffered a small cut in his fall, he said "Looks like your granddaughter shed human blood. Are you going to tell Scott and Allison the bad news?"
Chris grimaced, and Steven walked away. He loved these family gatherings.
He sat at a table towards the rear of the room and looked out at the assembled family, and shook his head at the idea that such a mismatched group of people could have something in common. Some of the most powerful (in every sense of the word) families in all of Beacon Hills were here, all blended into the Hale bloodline, under Derek's leadership as the Alpha and Stiles as second-in-command.
"God help us all!" he laughed to himself. He had to give his son credit. The boy had done pretty well for himself.
"Hey, Grandpa?" asked a familiar voice.
"Yeah, Laurie? Happy Birthday, young lady. What can I do for you?"
Laurie looked around as if making sure they weren't being overheard.
"Can you tell me anything about Adrian Harris? The old chemistry teacher?" she asked. "It's kind of important."
"Any reason you're not asking your Dad about him? I don't think it's a secret that Harris was in love with Laura Hale."
"That's why I want to know about him. Dad's just way too touchy. Pop told me to just research it on my own."
"He did? I see. Stiles always was poking his nose into all of these mysteries. A trait you seem to have inherited. Well, I had a long talk with Adrian a while back. They had a fight and broke up, and he began to drink. Around that time, he met a woman that tricked him into telling her how to commit arson and get away with it. Then the Hale fire happened. Stiles told me he shared the history with you."
"That was Kate Argent?" Laurie whispered. No wonder her Dad hated the man's guts.
"Yes. I don't believe he knew what she was, he didn't even know her name. He certainly wouldn't ever have wanted anything to happen to Laura or her family. He kept his part in things a secret for six years, until Laura came back and confronted him about it. He confessed to her, and if he is to be believed she forgave him. He gave her the clue she needed to track Kate down. She intended to destroy her, and with the power of an Alpha she could very well do it. But, before she got the chance she was killed. You know the rest."
"She was going to do it? To kill her?" Laurie asked. She heard the sound of heavy footsteps behind her.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it was Erik. Dylan and Christine were clinging to his legs, giggling.
"Erik can change, Laurie! He says you can too! Can you show us?" begged Christine. It was obvious that the two children hero-worshipped their cousins for being close to their age, as well as full-fledged werewolves.
Laurie sighed at the excited, eager and worshipful face of her young cousin. "Sure, why not?" She covered her face with her hands, and whipped them apart to show her Beta-shifted face. "GRRROOOOAARRRR!" she yelled. Dylan and Christine squealed excitedly. They let go of Erik's legs and ran around in circles with the dizzying energy only young children have. They growled, bit and scratched each other (playfully) before tearing off to attack other unsuspecting partyers.
"Tell me we weren't like that, Grandpa." Erik said wearily. The ex-Sheriff laughed.