June 23rd, 2007

Stiles wakes up to the banging of pots and pans in the kitchen. He groans and brings the blanket back up to cover his head, shielding his eyes from the putrid light.

"Good morning, Mr. Stilinksi." Deaton says, sounding far too cheerful for, Stiles peaks out to find a clock, four in the morning.

"It's too early to be alive," Stiles whines huddling back under the blanket again.

Deaton chooses not to respond and Stiles groans again, remembering yesterday and meeting Derek and his dad and his panic attack. He flings the blanket off of himself, wishing back for the blissful ignorance that waking up had given him, and stumbles out of his bed.

"The sun isn't anywhere near up yet. You're insane."

Deaton's scooping bacon in equal portions on a plate when Stiles finds his way out of the bathroom. He's still wearing the same clothes from yesterday but they don't smell too bad so he doesn't make a fuss about changing them. There's eggs on the plate too, along with some pancakes.

"It appears someone ate the entirety of my waffle collection yesterday," Deaton drones in that calming voice of his.

Stiles doesn't even try to look sheepish, already digging into his food, "Six years without food will do that to a man, Alan."

Deaton doesn't even dignify him with an eye roll and instead just hands him a warm cup of coffee, "I went by the Hales yesterday. Laura told told me what happened."

Stiles snorts elegantly, "Oh yeah? Which part? Lots of things happened."

He takes the cup and swallows the burning liquid, letting the bitter, black coffee burn his throat. He pours himself another one while Deaton just watches him.

"The part where you had an anxiety attack over not being able to see your mother."

"Hey," Stiles says, setting his cup on the counter with a heavy clank and rounding on him with one finger, "There was a lot of things to be anxious about going on, okay? First she dragged me to meet Derek and then told me my mom was still alive and then I had to have a conversation with my dad because little miss werewolf couldn't even bother to drive the speed limit!"

"What were you planning to do hen you got to the hospital, Stiles?" Deaton asks, eyes kind, "I'm sure you know I don't condone any kind of magic that could bring a person back to life-"

Stiles sputters and flails and yelps, "Dude! I wasn't even thinking about that. I just wanted to see her, okay? I swear. I wasn't going to do any voodoo magic on my mom to keep her from dying."

Deaton shrugs, "It's not like she hasn't tried almost everything anyway. I just wanted you to understand that you can't save her."

Stiles feels like he swallows lead at the comment and then drops his fork to his plate, "What do you mean she's tried almost everything? Dude. My mom isn't magic."

Deaton stares at him passively in that annoying way of his, "Isn't she? Stiles, how did you think that you became a spark in the first place?" He takes a bite of bacon, not breaking eye contact, "I'm just concerned seeing as that would be the second attack you've had. You've only been here for three days now, Stiles. We haven't even begun our research yet and this might very well be an adverse effect to this time leap."

Stiles waves him off, too busy focusing on the idea that his mom is magic what,"I use to get these all the time, okay? There's nothing magical about them. It's just me." He puts some butter on his pancake and mixes it in with syrup before taking a large bite and adds, "By the way, we are totally having a conversation on how to drop the bomb on someone that their mom is a spark too because you, frankly, suck at it. Speaking of that research though, do you know when we could start?"

Deaton doesn't work on the weekends, so the pair spend the next two days working through summaries and marking down what books may or may not be helpful.

A werewolf comes by, but Stiles ignores them in favor of looking through a promising book. Deaton sends them away.

June 25th, 2007

Laura is at the door not even two minutes after Deaton pulls out of the parking structure. She looks angry, eyes blown wide like they are right before she shifts and she growls out his name in a manner that would send lesser men into a fit of distress.

Stiles is behind a mountain ash barrier, though, so he just meets her stare coolly and greets her in a much more polite manner. (By which he really just glares at her and says her name in a mock growl that makes her eyebrow twitch in annoyance.)

"You've been ignoring me"

"I've been reading," Stiles rolls his eyes and gestures to the mound of books behind him, "There's a difference."

Laura doesn't seem to care much for the distinction. "It's not like I don't have better things to do than stand at your door, Stiles. Are you going to let me in or not?"

Stiles pretends to think about it and then shrugs, "Not."

He then kicks the door closed in her angry looking face and pretends to not hear her banging on it for a full ten minutes after. If he can read over Boyd and Erica having sex upstairs then he can damn well block out her angry muttering.

June 28th, 2007

Stiles is almost at his wits end when Deaton calls in a favor and sends over two emissaries, Leah and Jocelyn, he's on good terms with. They're both tall and walk with an amazonian like grace. They don't even trip over his piles of books and easily navigate their way through his piles.

When they're situated, Stiles can tell they're two of the people from the picture by Deaton's computer. It makes him itch to take a closer peak at it, and when he does he finds himself surprised to not only see Ms. Morrell in the picture, but Ms. Blake too.

As he puts the picture down he calmly asks, "You two wouldn't happen to know Deucalion, would you?"

Leah makes an unpleasant face and Jocelyn looks down right sympathetic. It's the latter who says, with a hand over her heart, "Oh, yes. He used to be such an incredible alpha. He believed in democracy and alliances and last I heard he was working on bringing the packs together to form a giant pack. He thinks it'll be safer if we're fighting with each other than standing alone."

The other one shakes her head, "Marin Morrell says he's abandoning that idea now. I don't know. I don't trust him. She says he spends all of his time in his room and only lets her in and acts nothing but a maddened fool whenever she's there. He hasn't seen any of his betas in months-"

"That's understandable, Leah. The poor man lost his eyesight and had to kill his second in command not too long after."

"An alpha is supposed to draw strength from his pack, not completely abandon them just because he's a bit depressed," She sniffs, "I'm thinking of telling Ennis to withdraw our alliance from him all together."

Stiles' heart thuds maddeningly in his chest as he sputters, "Ennis? You're Ennis' emissary?"

Leah eyes him critically, her brown eyes locking on his as she tilts her head. "Alan said you were a time traveler. Tell me, boy, what do you know of my pack's future?" Her smile turns wicked and sharp, "Come, let's play a game of fortune teller."

Jocelyn smacks her on the arm with a harsh look, "He also said to leave the boy alone. He's one of our own. Don't go messing with his head for your own game."

Leah snorts and the sound makes Stiles back up closer to the wall, "One of ours? He's too young to know much, Jocelyn. I bet he doesn't even have a pack in his time. Tell me, Stiles, was it?, do you have a pack?"

Her tone is deceptively sweet but it's one that he's seen Lydia use to bring down high school girls all the time and it sets him on edge. His palms tingle in warmth and he leaves them loose at his sides, ready in case he needs them.

"Yes," He declares simply, and it's enough to break the grin from her face for a few seconds before she changes it for a smirk, "And I need to get back to them. So, if you're going to help me, then great. Stick around. But if you're going to sit around here and gossip and try to get me to trade secrets then you should just leave now," She doesn't look convinced at all she he makes an open globe with his hands and lets flames lick out of his palms and bleed into his fingertips until it's enveloping his entire forearm in flame. He doesn't even feel the heat and his skin doesn't burn, but the fire roars and rolls around his arms, a promise that he can and will complete, "before I make you."

Leah tips her head back in a laugh and the shock of it makes the fire on his arms dissipate, "You are a spark, aren't you?" She grins, and there isn't any evil intent behind it at all.

Jocelyn rolls her eyes, "Sorry," She says with a weak smile, "She has a thing for games. You get used to her. Let's get to work though, shall we? I have to get back to my pack soon and since I am the runic expert here," She shoots Leah a smug grin, "I'm going to need you to take your shirt off."

Overcome by a ginormous sense of whiplash, Stiles does as she asks and wonders if all emissaries are this insane.

Jocelyn traces his runes down in a notebook, muttering to herself all the while, and makes a face at his protection ward when she gets to it. She doesn't comment though, and just continues copying them down.

"I don't see anything here that could be manipulated like Alan thinks it has," She says, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, "But the fact that the magic stored in the runes is gone is a bit alarming. "It's possible that the demon that sent you back used your stored up magic to be able to do this but I've never heard of it before."

"And that you can still manipulate elements is weird too," Leah says, frowning, "Have you been able to do much else?"

"I made a small ward last week but..."

"So this demon obviously knew what it was doing." Jocelyn concludes, a worried look on her face. "The only question remaining is why."

Basically, they don't tell him anything he doesn't already know.

June 29th – July 6th, 2007

Laura's out of school for the summer now and has taken to sitting vigilant outside of Deaton's door. Stiles never really knew someone who liked to talk as much as he did before he met Laura and vaguely considers the idea of Derek hating him rambling so much because it reminded him of Laura.

Down that road lays ideas of Derek hating him because he could have saved his family and didn't, though, so he quickly shoves that idea from his head.

She talks about pretty much everything, though. About how pissed she was that he missed her graduation. About her boyfriend Brad and how she's considering telling him about the whole werewolf thing. About what she's thinking about doing for college. About her friends and what they're planning on doing this summer and how much easier she'd be able to do those things if she didn't have to sit there and wait for him to talk to her.

The only time he does respond is when he tries to pull that guilt trip on him, ("I could be having fun, Stiles, do you realize how you're ruining my last summer with my family?"), that he breaks his silence and throws a thick book at the door. She cackles for an entire three minutes.

The days when she talks about her family are the worst though. He knows it's a tactic hostage negotiators use, and the idea that it's being used on him makes him want to laugh and cry at the same time. She talks about Cora and how sweet she is, which really doesn't correlate with his memory of her, but okay. She talks about her mom and how great of an alpha she is and how she would love to take Stiles in as their own and how they even have a nice spare guest room that he can stay in if he wants. She talks about her human dad, Rand, which irks Stiles for some reason. Why hadn't his Derek ever told him his dad was a human?

Sometimes she even talks about Derek. She says she's worried about him, that now that it's summer he's staying out late and not coming home on the weekends. She says she hardly ever sees him and when she does he reeks of sex. Stiles tries to not feel too guilty, even as something twist in his gut and whispers that it's starting.

"He hasn't acted like this in a year. We all thought he was getting better, you know? That he was moving on from Paige," Well, that answers that question, "You know who Paige is, right?" Stiles doesn't answer. Laura doesn't wait for one. "He did the most ridiculous stuff after that. He stayed in bed for like, two months. Refused to even go to school. He had to repeat a grade. You know he's supposed to be a senior now? But, no now he's going to start his junior year in the fall. Or, well, he's supposed to. I don't know what's going to happen now. You've changed a lot of things, Stiles.

"Mom and dad won't even make plans for things months away and all they want to do is spend time with everyone. Uncle Peter thinks we should torture you," Stiles' heart speeds up at that, but Laura hurries on, "Don't worry though. Mom won't let him."

That doesn't comfort Stiles as much as Laura thinks it should, especially since Stiles has been on the receiving end of Peter's wrath before.

The last day Laura visits she just sits there and cries, and Stiles aches to open the door and comfort her but he restrains himself. He can't even focus on the book in his lap with her sobs so loud. He doesn't know how long she cries for, but it feels like days and his bones ache from sitting still for so long. He's too afraid to even breathe loudly, like she'll just tear the door down and kill him herself.

"I had a plan, you know?" She hiccups around a sob, "I was going to get you to see that we're real. We're real people, Stiles. We're not just Derek's dead family. We're living, breathing people who deserve a chance to live. And you can save us, you know? You totally could. You could be like our own little hero. And I know that it's asking a lot of you." She takes a deep, shuddering breath, and Stiles can hear the swift sound of her growing her nails. It's a calming tactic he's seen Derek use before. "I know you have a life and a future and friends and a family waiting for you, but I have that here. I have that here and you just came in and told me that it's all going to be gone in a few months and I don't know how to deal with that."

They're both quiet. Half an hour goes by with them just breathing through the door, listening to each other before Laura finally says, "Don't you think we're worth it?"

It makes Stiles want to cry again and how much he truly does.

July 10th, 2007

The days are long and quiet without Laura.

Stiles feels too empty to even read any of the books Deaton left out for him. Instead he tries to familiarize himself with all the ingredients in the closet but he doesn't get very far.

Deaton comes home to find him sitting on the floor crying and wordlessly sends him to bed.

July 12th, 2007

Talia comes to visit him. Stiles is surprised by her sudden visit, having completely forgot her promise to Deaton to come talk to him when he was physically healed.

Stiles doesn't really think he's healed all that physically, but holds the barrier off enough for her to come in. He doesn't think Talia Hale will take to sitting on in the hallway as well as Laura did.

Her eyes rove over the books before shaking her head and smiling softly at him, "Mr. Stilinksi," She says, "I hear Laura's been talking to you. I hope she wasn't too much trouble for you."

Stiles shakes his head, a rock dropping to his stomach at the mention of Laura, "Uh, no, no, she was fine."

She nods like she doesn't believe him, "Well, at least I've raised one of my children right."

Talia shakes her head almost sadly and Stiles wonders if it has anything to do with what Laura said about Derek sneaking off to see Kate.

The rock in his stomach turns to lead and he quickly sits down on the couch before his knees start to buckle.

"Is there anything I can do to help you, Mrs. Hale?" Stiles asks, and then immediately winces.

Talia just smiles kindly, "Yes, well, there are a many number of things you can do for me, Mr. Stilinksi. I'm sure you already know the most important one. The other one, well, it's more of a social gesture, really. My family is having a party on the fourteenth. It's a celebration the moon, and all, you know, strictly Hale traditions. I'm sure you're well aware of them."

Stiles tries to not let it show that he has no clue what Hale traditions she's talking about and just nods along. Fucking Derek and his damn need to distance himself from anything reminding him of his family.

"I was wondering if you would like to come. I'm sure Laura and Derek would love to have you."

Stiles scratches the back of his neck, remembering what Laura said about her plan to see them as real people, and quickly shakes his head, "Uh, thanks for the offer, Mrs. Hale, but I really don't think that's a good idea."

She nods like she understands, "Well, never the less, I can smell you're still not healed completely, and if I did try to talk to you in this state I'm sure Alan would have an aconite injection in me before you could even respond. You should expect me back in a few weeks though and we'll have that discussion."

Before she gets to the door, Talia turns to Stiles. Her face is set in a frown, a complete change from the smile she had on only a second ago, "I hate to ask, but, I know Laura told you about Derek and... I was wondering if you know what he's up to."

And Stiles doesn't want to, but her face is so damn motherly and concerned that he finds himself nodding.

"And is he- is he happy? With whatever it is he's doing?"

Stiles chews on his bottom lip, not knowing how to answer. Derek's happy in the moment, sure. He thinks he's in love with all of his cootie sharing with Kate, but in the future? No. He's nowhere near happy.

But Stiles nods again, and it's not exactly a lie so his heart doesn't betray him, and Talia Hale nods resolutely, like her son's happiness is the only thing that matters, and leaves without even a look back.