Daniel tried to sleep. He really tried to be calm, hell he even used those annoying breathing techniques he used as a pup but he was still fidgety. He was going to be hanging out with his Dad tomorrow. Hanging out with Pops has been one thing and Uncle Scott proved to be just as welcoming even if his wolf was subconsciously suspicious. Seriously he looked at Daniel and Stiles so much it was surprising he didn't put it together. The difference was that Dad was an alpha, his alpha. His Dad in this time line didn't even like him and Daniel couldn't blame him. A strange wolf trespassing that probably smelled like a mix between pack and strangers would be threatening. If the alpha sensed someone threatening his pack, oh God his dad was going to kill him. Crap Daniel needed to figure this out. He needed to calm the fuck out maybe he'd go into the kitchen and check to see if they had anything for him.

Daniel actually made it all the way down to the kitchen and was halfway through the medicine when he remembered something. Shit none of this would be laced with wolfsbane or any other plants. Where Daniel came from, they actually had medicine for wolves. Aunt Lydia had worked out how to use different roots and herbs to help in situations when pack needed to calm down the inner wolf. Just like now.

"What the hell are you doing?" Daniel heard Stiles behind him.

Fuck.

"I um nothing. Just looking I mean that I um," Daniel stammered as he tried to make up an excuse for going through their cabinets.

"Yeah you know what I'm letting this one go only because you're going to go with Derek," Stiles grabbed him. Daniel was so surprised that he allowed himself to be led to the door.
"All yours oh mighty alpha," Stiles said as he pushed Daniel out. "Good luck dude," Daniel wasn't sure if this was directed to him or Derek.

"Sorry I think I pissed him off," Daniel said wincing as he felt his Dad's gaze on him. No he was making a switch right now, this guy in front of him was Derek not Dad.

"Stiles?" Derek asked lifting an eye brow. They watched Stiles retreat back into the house. He didn't smell mad just frustrated. "How did you even? No you know what never mind I don't want to know," Derek finished as he took a long look at the Stilinski house. Daniel noticed his gaze went for a little longer than necessary. Why didn't Derek just go in? Wait, were they not together yet? This day was going to be so awkward.

"Ok well so what's on the schedule today?" Daniel asked trying to shake his thoughts and prepare himself. The past few days had been pretty awesome and he only expected some not so awesome days to make up for that fact. Derek had always been way more organized so he probably had the day planned out.

"We're going to Argent's." Daniel must have looked surprised. "A hunter," Derek clarified "to see if we can find anything." Daniel knew who they were and about their family. It was weird to hear them talked about so plainly and openly. Things really had gotten rougher over the years. It was weird because he always expected the past to be worse somehow. He had heard stories of Alpha packs and territory disputes but maybe it had actually been easier. Daniel snapped back when he heard Derek finish. "Then we'll go back to where you remember you arrived. We're looking for anything that could help us.

"Uh not to shoot myself here but it is a good idea to go back into the woods? Who knows what'll happen when I actually go back. You could open a portal or send me who knows where," Daniel noticed that Derek had started to look at him with suspicion. "Not that I'd do anything or even think about running. Nope not me," he snapped his mouth shut.

"How did you even manage to piss off Stiles? You two are the same person," Derek rolled his eyes. "Come on let's go."

When they got to the Argent's, Daniel had a weird feeling. His wolf felt uneasy as they walked up to their apartment. Argent let them in but gave Daniel a searching look. He didn't remember Chris living here, when had he moved? Daniel stopped in the hallway almost tripping Derek behind him. Hanging were pictures of his Aunt Allison. These pictures were the same ones from his own timeline. It was weird to see something so unchanged over all these years. Derek sat Daniel down when he went into the office to talk to Chris. Argent was sharper in the way he spoke. Years from now he would have the weight of his daughter still over him and that would take a lot of his fight away. Daniel tried not to stare at the pictures from where he sat but it was an odd feeling seeing a shrine for the dead before they've died.

"I figured you needed to know this one isn't an omega. I also need any information or theories you might have," Derek said to Chris. Daniel could feel their eyes on him, they knew he was listening.

"Allison filled me in. We put the word out but most of our information includes combat and capture. We don't have many things for magic and definitely not for repelling." Chris explained to which Derek only nodded. There was a tension there that Daniel couldn't place. After a while they were back in the car. Daniel asked where they were going but only got silence as a response. They made it all the way to the woods before Derek said anything.

"Walk," he ordered.

Daniel slowly moved forward trying to keep his emotions under control. Sure this day was awkward but it was decent. It was still early with plenty of time for anything else to go wrong. Daniel was never able to sense things like his sister. He didn't know what would happen. Eventually they got back to where Daniel was blasted back.

"What is that?" Daniel asked. There was the stump that he held onto before he stumbled. It was huge. How had he not noticed before?

"It's called the Nemeton," answered Derek.

"No that is a big ass tree stump, unless" Daniel started to make connections. "In my time the Nemeton is a pool. It is filled with the energy of the tree that was uprooted when-"

"-only what I need to know" Derek cut him off. "What's important here?" he asked sharply. Daniel had a flash back to all the training sessions they'd been through.

"Wait unf," Daniel felt the air get knocked out of him as he fell onto his back. He hated these types of practices. His Dad would throw out scenarios that he had to figure out while sparring. They always started easy but got harder as they session went on.

"You have one beta at the perimeter, another beta that needs your help and there is another pack trying to take over the base. Talk. What do you do?" Derek lunged and tried to disable him.

"I take care of my beta in trouble first sir," Daniel rolled away from his blow. He heard his Dad grunt in approval.

"What's important here?" he asked while knocking Daniel into a tree hard enough to shake the trunk.

"Well," Derek looked at him expectantly with an arched eyebrow. Daniel snapped back to the current time.

"I think I know how we can communicate to the future, I mean my time," Derek was still staring at him. "Look I know that you have no reason to trust me but I think I can make it work. If we use part of this tree and mix it with other spell ingredients I might be able to talk to my sister," Daniel actually started to get excited. He pushed the flashback away. Who cares if the Nemeton was trying to tell him something. All he needed to know was there was a way.

"I thought she was the one with the spark," Derek called him out.

"She is but that doesn't mean my parents didn't try to teach me anything. She was always better but I took a few things from her here and there. It's a long shot but if I can swing it this might work," Daniel was still excited even if Derek looked unhappy.

"That's give you a whole lot of power that I'm not sure you need," Derek frowned.

"Trust me I know but listen to me I'm telling the truth and all I want is to get back to my time," Daniel finished and looked at Derek not breaking eye contact. He knew that his heart beat was normal and that challenging the alpha would make it easier for Derek to trust him. If he believed it enough to challenge Derek then it should be enough to convince him. They were locked like that for a while. Daniel made sure not to look away.

"I'll talk to the pack about it" said Derek slowly. Daniel relaxed.

"Thank you" he said as he exhaled. As Daniel took deep breath in the wind changed and he smelled something. This was a strong smell to have carried so far and Daniel couldn't ignore it.

"Derek what is that?" Daniel managed to get out. His chest was starting to get tight.

"What?" asked Derek confused.

"That smell, where's it coming from?" Daniel started to turn around and try locate its origin.

"It's from the Hale House" explained Derek.

"What?" Daniel asked worried that he heard correctly.

"The Hale house" Derek confirmed and Daniel started to feel wired. He started to wolf out without even trying. "Please I need to see," he was fighting the shift. Turing to ask his alpha Daniel needed confirmation. Even if Derek didn't know he was his alpha he needed permission.

"Ok just go" allowed Derek sounding worried. Daniel took off and Derek was not much further back the whole time keeping a distance in case he needed to stop Daniel. When he ran, Daniel followed the smell of destruction and sorrow, of hurt and pain. He ran inside and started to freak out and through his foggy thoughts he could only think. Great I'm the only werewolf to ever have a panic attack.

Derek couldn't believe how this kid was reacting. Of course he knew this was a panic attack he just wasn't even sure how this was possible. This was different from the panic attacks Stiles had. This kid was wolfing out and his senses were going crazy. Derek didn't understand why he cared so much for this kid but Daniel asked permission before running off, something his betas didn't even do. He treated Derek like an alpha and Derek wasn't going to let anyone in his pack suffer. It was time to put loyalty to the test.

"Calm down" he ordered with the authority of an alpha in his words. Daniel stopped for a second and began to focus a bit which meant that Derek had gotten through to him. Daniel still couldn't stop babbling though and his eyes were still shifting back and forth, at least the claws and fangs were under control.

"It's not supposed to be like this. My home. NO. I'm sorry dad. I'm sorry I couldn't protect them." Daniel was starting to get out of control again. Derek grabbed him from behind and pulled him in to stop the flailing. Ok so maybe that wasn't a panic attack. This seemed bigger if Daniel was being ruled by his wolf. Derek held on and used all of the alpha power that he could.

"CALM." Then he spoke in a softer tone but still held onto the power behind it. "Breath. This is a place of memories. You need to calm down. I know it's hard." Derek took a second to realize what he said and the memories hit him again. It hurt to be here and it surprised Derek how numb he had become. That realization hurt almost as much as being back in the old house. He felt Daniel go limp. Derek let go of him but was still shaken, they both were. He honestly thought the kid was ok but as soon as he took his first step away he passed out. Derek wasn't sure if this was a magic thing or an overload of his senses. Great thought Derek, now he had to carry him through the woods and back to the car. It wasn't bad enough he was the creep at the high school he was not carrying an unconscious boy through the woods. He sighed before picking Daniel up.

When they got back to the loft. Derek put Daniel down on the couch and went into the other room to update Stiles.

"Hey what's up did you find anything today?" Stiles asked on the other line. It must have been after lacrosse practice because he sounded winded.

"No, well yes, we're at the loft" Derek winced. He shouldn't still be shaken up.

"Aw bonding already? I knew you could act like a really boy," Stiles teased. "Come on you know I'm joking but seriously how is Daniel doing. I wanted to apologize, he was acting weird this morning and I kind of snapped at him." Stiles continued when Derek was silent.

"We ended up at the old house and he kind of had a freak out" Derek interrupted before Stiles could go on a tangent. "He passed out but I brought him back."

"What! I told you to watch him not break him" Stiles was freaking out now great.

"Relax he calmed down" Derek needed to say it "and then he passed out" he mumbled.

"Are you shitting me Derek that's an awful feeling," Stiles was getting worked up.

"Yeah you would know," Derek instantly regretted what he said.

"Dick move Hale. Go check on the kid and try not to kill him" Stiles hung up the phone. Grumbling Derek went back to the couch to find Daniel tossing and turning.

"No don't fight. I'm sorry don't," Daniel let out a little shout when he bolted upright with his claws out. He would have ripped the couch but Derek caught his arms before that could happen.

"You're ok, you're fine" Derek huffed as Daniel struggled. When he heard the words Daniel went back to normal.

"I'm sorry," he said looking at Derek. Derek almost recoiled. This kid looked so tired and broken. How had any wolf turned into this? Daniel sighed. "Look I should just go and get back to Stiles house. I'm sorry that I've bothered you as much as I have." Daniel stood but started to go move backwards when he realized that Derek was following him and had slowly backed him into a wall.

"Stop apologizing," Derek ordered. This wasn't an alpha command but he wanted to teach a lesson.

"Fine" Daniel said finally with a bit of bite to his voice. He looked like he was trying to remember something. Hopefully he's remembering that he's a wolf thought Derek. Instead Daniel's head hit the back of the wall he was backed into and he slowly started to slide down. When he was finally on the floor he put his heads in his hand. "Sorry I mean shit." Derek couldn't leave him like that. He'd been playing alpha for the kid long enough that he knew the only option was to keep helping. Derek knew there was fight in there somewhere, especially after that flicker he saw.

"Why are you so sorry? Don't be. You reacted in a way that is natural. That house has seen nothing but death," his throat got tighter as he finished.

"I still shouldn't have freaked out but it's just I've seen that house filled with people and pack. To see that and smell that much pain in a place…I feel like I failed I should have protected my pack," Daniel stopped himself. Derek was trying not to draw too many conclusions choosing to just let the kid get everything he needed out."You said you didn't want to hear about where I came from but that includes a time when that house felt nothing like that." Well there goes that.

"I've seen it like that too." Derek admitted. "I saw it before the fire but I just shoved those memories away. I guess I just got used to ignoring everything that happened before." They sat in silence for a while. "Thank you" said Derek surprising them both. "I don't know how far you must come from but to hear that one day that house will be closer to what it was, it helps looking it at it now." Derek finished while looking at Daniel and could tell that the boy was in a better place.

"I know what happened there but it's easy to forget. It's not something that we ignore but it's hard to picture. Everything just got a little too real." Daniel seemed to zone out again. Derek took this opportunity to ask him what he was really curious about.

"Why do you apologize" he asked taking a chance.

"My dad trains me to be an alpha like him but I'm just not like him you know?" Daniel started slowly. "My sister though," Daniel huffed and his words started to come faster "they're the same. I know he wishes that it was her but it was a toss-up. I got this," he slowly released his claws "and she got magic." Finally that hard edge creeped back in and Derek felt a pang of sympathy in his chest. His mom always wanted him, hell wanted all of them to be better, she pushed them and to have that much weight on kids is rough. He knew his mom wanted them to be their best but as an alpha that led to some harsh training. Daniel kept going.

"Shit sometimes I wish that it were her too though you know? But I can do it, being the alpha protecting our own. I know I can do it, maybe not in the way that he wants but I can," Daniel said this with such authority that Derek knew. He could tell that this kid was going to make it and that reassurance meant more to him that he would have realized.

"You will" Derek said "My mom, my alpha wanted things run her way. My older sister was going to be the next alpha so had different training but I saw it. I saw how different it was for alphas training to hold that much responsibility. She died before I became this so I'll never know," Derek trailed off and both of them were lost in their thoughts for a moment before looking at each other again. Derek really looked at this kid for the first time. Daniel's eyes weren't just brown they were golden. It was familiar and actually looking at him longer made Derek realize this kid had a lot of moles. Daniel must have sensed his sudden unease and looked at him funny. That's when the door swung open and Isaac walked in.

"Hey guys what'd I miss?"

Notes: Hey everyone thanks for all the follows and favorites all your encouragement has helped me stick to my every Tues posting schedule I'm going for. I had a bit of trouble getting this chapter up so let me know if there are any big mistakes I should correct as always please visit on tumblr on fanflailingmess