Family Ties- Chapter 32

~A Teen Wolf fan-fiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn~

Teagan backed up a few steps as she watched Stiles pull out onto the road and drive away.

She sniffed and reached up to wipe away the tears from her face until she heard footsteps behind her. She froze for a moment with her eyes wide as she worried who was walking up behind her until she heard Isaac call out her name.

She breathed out a sigh of relief as she turned around to face him with a fake smile on her face, hoping he couldn't tell that she was upset, but he could tell the instant she turned around something was wrong.

He dropped his lacrosse gear as he raced over to her and placed his hands on either side of her face when she tried to lower her head to avoid his eyes.

He raised her head, forcing her to look at him as he asked, "Hey, what's wrong?"

"N-nothing. I just... it's nothing." Teagan said, as she tried to stop new tears from forming in her eyes but was not succeeding.

"Teagan, talk to me, what happened?" Isaac asked, growing even more concern for her when a few tears rolled down her cheeks.

"I can't. Please Isaac, please don't make me lie to you." Teagan begged him, as she shook her head, knowing she couldn't tell him about anything werewolf related. She didn't want to get him caught up in the middle of it or have him think she is crazy. She was enjoying having him in her life and didn't want to lose him.

"Just tell me this much... are you ok?" Isaac asked, needing to know if she would be ok because if something happened to her and he didn't save her, he would never forgive himself.

"I hope so." She whispered, as she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Without hesitating Isaac wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, hoping to give her some kind of comfort as more tears began to rain down her face. The more she cried the more concerned he became for her but he wasn't going to push her for an explanation, he was just going to be there for her. Like he told her earlier that day, there was nothing that could cause him to run from her and he wasn't going to do that now either. As long as she needed him here, he was going to be here.

While Isaac was still holding her in the middle of the parking lot, Jackson was walking towards the parking lot heading for his car. Most of the team was meeting up to celebrate and Jackson had planned to go there. After seeing his girl cheering for Lahey all night, he needed several strong drinks to get the image out of his head then a few more to get her out of his head at least temporarily.

He didn't know how much longer he could go along with this whole 'break' idea of hers. He only went along with it to begin with because he figured it wouldn't be long until she came crying back to him but then he began to see her talking to Lahey more and more and he didn't like that one bit.

But he was sure she was getting close to breaking, he had seen her face and how upset it made her when he flirted with Allison. It was only a matter of time before she was back in his arms or at least he thought so until now, when he saw her in Lahey's arms right in front of him.

Jackson clenched his jaw in anger and thought about storming over there to punch Isaac in the face for even thinking it was ok to touch her until he saw something that made him pause for a minute.

When he saw her tear stained face his heart dropped and he went into protection mode. He tossed his lacrosse gear on the ground near his car as he walked over toward them. Isaac had just taken a step back to look at her when Jackson grabbed her arm and pulled her behind him as he laid his hands on Isaac's chest and pushed him away, knocking him to the ground.

"What the hell did you do to her Lahey?" Jackson asked angrily, as he stood over Isaac.

"Jackson, no!" Teagan cried out, as she stepped in front of him, protecting Isaac.

"Jackson look at me, look at me." Teagan called out, as she laid her hands on either side of his face, forcing him to look at her before adding, "He didn't do anything. I'm ok."

When Jackson nodded his head and took a small step back, she turned around and held out a hand to help Isaac up as she quietly apologized to him and asked if he was ok.

Jackson scoffed as he saw her fussing over Isaac, making sure he was ok. It physically made him ill to watch them. Not being able to stomach it a minute longer, he turned around and walked back over to his car.

Teagan glanced behind her to see Jackson walk away and felt torn. She wanted to stay and check on Isaac, he did almost get his ass kicked cause he was comforting her, but the other side of her wanted to check on Jackson. She remembered how it felt to watch him and Lydia all over each other and hated the thought of him hurting the way she had then.

Isaac saw the struggle in her eyes and told her to go. She looked back at him in surprise as she said, "What?"

"I said go. I'm ok." Isaac said.

"But Isaac..."

"Go. Just go before he does something stupid." He said, interrupting her.

She nodded her head, that was exactly what she was afraid of. She gave Isaac a quick hug, apologizing for leaving then turned around to follow after Jackson. By the time she caught up with Jackson, he was kicking his bag that held his lacrosse gear.

"Jackson, stop! Stop it!" Teagan yelled out, as she grabbed his arm and turned him around to face her.

He pulled his arm away and tried to turn away until she turned him around again and wrapped her arms around him, hoping to calm him down. But instead, he pushed her away from him, not hard enough to hurt her but just enough to get her off of him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Teagan asked him.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Jackson yelled back, then before she could answer he added,"Lahey? You dumped me for freaking Lahey?"

"I didn't dump you for anyone Jackson. I told you I just needed a break." Teagan yelled back.

"That's bullshit T and we both know it. I've seen the way you look at him, I'm not blind." Jackson said.

"I'm not looking at anyone anyway, besides I'm surprised you can see anything other than Allison." Teagan snapped, then silently cursed herself for sounding so jealous.

"Hey, you said you wanted a break so I'm taking a break." Jackson said with a smirk.

"By going after Allison? Another friend of mine, who is going through a break up herself?" Teagan pointed out, then added, "If you really have to move on can't you go to someone who isn't a friend for once, Jackson?"

"Is that what this is all about? Are you still pissed that I moved on to Lydia when you left?" Jackson asked.

"No, God! That is not what this is about." Teagan called out, as she ran a hand through her hair feeling frustrated.

"This is not about you Jackson, this is about me." Teagan said, then added tearfully, "I have been through so much crap these last few weeks. There is so much going on and so much changing and I can't keep up and I just needed a moment to myself to breath and get my head on straight."

Jackson didn't say anything as she walked closer to him and laid a hand on his arm as she added, "I'm not trying to get back at you or hurt you Jackson and no matter what happens I still want you in my life as a friend."

"A friend?" Jackson scoffed, then added, "We'll never be just friends Teagan."

"Why not? We started out as friends, we can go back as friends." She pointed out.

"We stopped being friends the day I made the mistake of falling in love with you." Jackson snapped, then instantly felt guilty when he saw the look in her eyes. He hated himself for saying that, especially since it wasn't true but she was hurting him and he wanted to hurt her back.

"You're right. We'll never be friends Jackson." Teagan said, as she quickly turned around to walk away so he wouldn't see the tears falling from her eyes.

She folded her arms across her chest as she continued to walk away and ignore him when he called out her name. She flinched when she heard him punch something but didn't turn around to check on him.

She kept her eyes looking straight ahead and felt relieved when she saw Danny up ahead as he unlocked his car door. She made her way toward him and softly called out his name.

"T? What's wrong?" Danny asked, when he saw the state she was in.

"Everything." Teagan whimpered, as she fell into his arms.

"Oz not treating you well huh?" Danny asked, as he held her in his arms.

"No, not at all. I just want to go home." Teagan said softly.

"Well get in the car and I'll take you." Danny said, then added with a small laugh, "and don't worry, I won't make you click your heels three times."

She chuckled at his comment and hugged him tight, thanking him for being there for her like he always had been. She could always count on Danny. The two had always been friends, but had become really close in middle school when they were in 'The Wizard of Oz' together. She was the first one he came out to and he was the first one she told about her crush on Jackson. While Avery was her best female friend that she could tell anything to, Danny was her best male friend and she knew that would never change no matter what.

~()~

Avery quietly walked in the hospital and headed over to the long term care unit. She held her breath as she stood outside of a room when she heard Derek's voice.

"You killed Laura." She heard Derek say.

"I was being driven by pure instinct. You think I would kill my own family?" An unfamiliar voice she thought must have been Peter replied.

"Do you have any idea what it was like me for over those years? Slowly healing, cell by cell. Even more slowly coming back to consciousness. Becoming an alpha, taking that from Laura pushed me over a plateau in the healing process." Peter admitted to his nephew.

While she listened to them talking she looked around the hall in the hospital, there was blood and broken glass on the floor. It was obvious there had been some kind of fight.

She listened to them talk a little longer before she took a deep breath and slowly stepped into the doorway.

Derek looked over at her, she saw dried blood on his face.

"I wondered if you were going to make your presence known." Peter said with a smug smile as he looked over at her.

Her eyes widened and she looked over at Derek.

"It's okay." He said nodding for her to come in the room.

She quickly darted into the room and by his side, as she stared at Peter.

Peter stared at her for a few seconds before he said, "You look just like your mother."

"I've been getting that a lot lately." She mumbled.

"Your skin… it's absolutely beautiful. Flawless." Peter continued.

Avery shifted uncomfortably, not sure what was going on.

"I can understand why you'd be afraid of me…" Peter started to say.

"You almost killed me and my best friend." Avery snapped.

"That was an accident. Simply a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, the same unfortunate circumstances for the janitor of your school." He explained.

"You're just going around and killing people. It's sick." She said, her voice strong.

"I've only been killing the responsible parties." He said.

"What the hell is he talking about?" Avery asked as she grabbed Derek's arm.

"The people responsible for the fire. The killings weren't random." Derek explained as he looked at her.

"The fire…" Avery said as she swallowed hard.

"That fire killed my family; killed your mother. I've been taking revenge on the guilty parties." Peter explained.

"And targeting Scott?" She asked.

"I told you we're stronger in packs." Derek reminded her.

"I… I just, this is a lot to take in." She breathed out as she sat down on the side of the bed in the room they were in.

"Are you okay?" Derek asked her, and then shook his head at his own question.

"So you want Scott and Derek to join you? Make a pack and kill the murderers?" she asked looking at Peter.

He nodded.

"Who is left?" She questioned looking between them.

"Kate Argent." Peter said after a pause.

Avery nodded and Derek could hear her heart starting to race.

"Avery, she…" Derek started to remind her of everything that Kate had done but Avery stood up and looked at Peter.

"Good. I want the bitch dead." She said through gritted teeth.

The fire had killed her mom, ruined her dads life and stolen her childhood away from her.

Kate's actions had taken so many possible moments with her mom away from her.

Avery wouldn't have her mom at her graduation, or her wedding, and she'd never get to hold her grandkids.

Derek glanced at Avery and then back to his uncle, who was smiling at the teenagers words.

Avery looked between them, "Well, what did you expect? I'm not going to stand in your way or anything."

Taking a few steps closer Peter said, "You could help us."

"What?" Derek asked looking at his uncle.

"The bigger our pack, the stronger we are." Peter said taking another step forward.

Avery's eyes widened at his words.

Derek put an arm in front of her.

"No." He said, his voice almost in a growl.

"She'd be perfect. Female wolves are fierce; their pain tolerance is twice that of a male werewolf." Peter reminded his nephew.

"You want to bite me?" Avery gasped, finally able to form words.

"He's not going to." Derek assured her, he still had his arm in front of her.

"She'd be perfect and you know it. I doubt she'd even take much training to reach her full potential." Peter said.

"The bite could kill her." Derek said his shoulders tensed as he spoke.

"Give her some credit, I think she's strong enough to survive it." Peter argued.

"I said no." Derek growled.

"You're not worried about her, at all? If I turn her, she'll be able to protect herself." He said, he had his sights on Avery now. He knew she'd be a strong addition to the pack.

"That's if she lives." Derek continued to argue.

Avery sighed heavily and pushed Derek's arm out of the way.

"It's my decision and I say no." She stated flatly as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"You do realize you're putting yourself in danger being with him, right? You aren't near as capable of defending yourself now as you would be if you turned." Peter continued to try and sell her on the idea.

"Well, so far the only one who has tried to kill me, has been you." She said with arched eyebrows.

Derek looked over at her.

"Avery…" Peter began to say.

"You're wasting your breath. I'm not buying what you're selling and I already said no." She said, her voice had a jolt of attitude as she spoke.

Derek smiled to himself and then looked up at his uncle, who was also smiling, "I like this one." Peter said, with a small laugh at her bravery.

~()~

Later that night after assuring Teagan at least a hundred times that she was okay, but not going into much detail about Derek's uncle, Avery finally got off the phone with her best friend.

She had just started on her chemistry homework when the doorbell rang.

Groaning she slid off her bed and jogged down the stairs.

"Hey…" She said with a small look of confusion to see Stiles standing outside.

"What were you thinking?" He asked her. Looking behind her she made sure her dad wasn't listening.

Putting her hand on his chest she pushed him outside and pulled the door shut behind them.

"What?" She asked, her voice low.

"You told me on the phone that you weren't going to the hospital." Stiles reminded her.

"I had to go check on Derek, I'm sorry I lied to you. But you told me you wouldn't tell me anymore unless I promised not to go." She explained.

He angrily shook his head at her response.

"You're really mad at me, aren't you?" Avery asked, a little surprised at how mad he seemed at her.

"I didn't want to be the one to tell you this, but I just got off the phone with Scott a little while ago and Derek is working with the alpha. He' switched sides. Avery, you could have been killed when you went to the hospital." He said his eyes a little wide.

"Peter has no reason to kill me; the video store was a mistake." Avery assured him.

Stiles took a step backwards and cocked his head to the side, "Peter? You're on a first name basis with him?"

"Everyone he killed was directly related to the fire that killed his family…" She began to explain to him but Stiles cut her off.

"So what, it doesn't change the fact that he is going around killing people." Stiles argued with her.

"He's only killing the ones who deserve it." She said, growing angry with him.

"That deserve it? Avery, do you hear yourself right now? You're agreeing with a monster here." He said.

"A monster? No, you've got it all wrong. The people he's been killing are the monsters." She said, her voice a little raised.

"Oh my god, did they brainwash you or something?" Stiles asked her shocked.

"Stiles, everyone he's killed were related to the setting of the fire. Derek lost all but 2 members of his family and I…" She started to explain but he cut her off again.

"So this is why you're doing this? Because it's what Derek wants? You know how wrong this is, come on!" He yelled, not understanding why it seemed like she was turning on them.

"You want to talk about wrong? Fine, then let's talk about how wrong it was for those hunters to kill an innocent family just to take out a few of the members who were werewolves. Let's talk about how wrong it is that a woman in her 30's burned to death because she went to visit her best friend on the wrong day!" Avery yelled as tears burnt her eyes.

"What are you talking about?" He asked her.

"My mom was friends with Derek's family." Avery hissed through her gritted teeth.

His face went a little pale as he stared at her with his mouth open.

"So yeah, I am on Derek and Peter's side. Because I don't care how it makes me sound, but I want every single person responsible for that fire to pay for what they did." She said as she turned and walked into her house.

"Avery… I…" stiles tried to apologize but she cut him off.

"And I want them to pay with their lives." She said before she shut the door and locked it.

A/N- Thank you all so much for reading! ^_^

So... did you all catch the summer finale of Teen Wolf? I was pretty happy with the way things turned out. I won't say much, don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it yet. But January cannot come soon enough!

Don't forget to check out the Polyvore sets Miss E Charlotte and I both make to go along with this story, the links are on our profiles.

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