They didn't speak on the drive to Deaton's, besides Derek quietly telling Stiles and Scott that the witch said the change wouldn't hurt. There wasn't really anything else they could say in front of Isaac that wouldn't confuse him. And Derek didn't even know where to start. In reality, this was the best case scenario. Everything was about to go back to normal and they could put it all in the past. But even Derek had the emotional awareness to know it wouldn't be that easy.
Isaac let out a few sniffles here and there, but Stiles would softly shush him, while petting his hair. Even though part of Derek wanted to hold him and never let him go, now he felt like he couldn't. His emotional walls were already fighting to go back up, after they'd been so thoroughly stripped away these past days. Derek knew this couldn't be about how he was feeling right now, not with Isaac still like this, but he couldn't get himself to act like he had before. After such a final goodbye, to this state now that he knew was temporary, he felt like anything more could shatter him completely. Derek might've been strong enough to die, but he felt too weak to live through all of the twists and turmoil.
"We're here," Scott said quietly as he parked in the alley behind Deaton's office. It felt like forever and a second ago that Derek had parked in the same spot, clutching a newly deaged Isaac to his chest and wondering how he could get out of the situation. Now that it was about to come to an end, he wished he had more time.
Derek and Stiles shared a look before Stiles unbuckled Isaac and carried him out of the jeep. Derek stayed in his seat a little bit longer, taking a few deep breaths. This was fine. Isaac was going to change back, then they would move on. There was no other choice.
"Are you okay?" Scott asked, twisting around in his seat to stare at him with an understanding and sympathetic look. Derek wanted to rip it off his face. He growled under his breath before shoving the door open and stomping his way into the clinic. Stiles was talking to Deaton in hushed tones, still clutching Isaac in his arms. If he changed back right now, Isaac's lanky frame would topple them both.
"You should put him down," Derek mumbled. Stiles shot him a look full of hurt, before understanding washed over him. He carefully knelt down, setting Isaac on the floor. Stiles ran his hands lightly over the boy, committing this version to memory the same way Derek had when he thought the witch was about to kill him.
"Do you know when it's gonna happen?" Scott asked nervously from behind him.
"No," Derek grunted, turning around to glare at him. Anger at Scott was easy, so he focused on that. Derek knew the guy hadn't done anything this time to deserve it, but it gave him something to do, instead of wallowing in his own pain. "Why are you even still here?"
"What?"
"You spent most of your time looking for ways to fix this, right? Lot of good that did," Derek snapped.
"I thought that was the plan?" Scott asked, holding his hands up in surrender. He was just so calm that Derek wanted to throttle him. If he'd been around more, he'd be just as devastated as Stiles and him. It wasn't fair that he was okay.
"Derek, now is not the time," Stiles chastised, walking over and putting his hand on his shoulder. Derek was about to shove him off, since the time for just in case you die touches was over, when there was a sudden ripping noise and a startled yelp from behind them.
"What the hell?!" Derek felt like he was moving in slow motion as he turned around. The child version of Isaac was gone and in his place was the teen version, clutching the torn remains of a too small outfit to his overgrown body. Stiles sucked in a sharp breath beside him, blinking rapidly as his eyes welled up with tears. Derek's eyes were dry because that was the only option for him.
"Isaac, is that you?" Scott asked cautiously.
"Who else would I be?" Isaac asked in bewilderment, looking around the room at all of them.
"Well, you, but it's complicated," Scott replied hesitantly.
"I would say standing in the middle of the vet's office naked is a bit complicated," Isaac shot back, holding the scraps of clothing more firmly to his body. Derek probably should've seen that part coming, especially as a werewolf, but it wasn't like he was a full shifter like Peter was. And he had other things to worry about than Isaac's modesty. "Why does Stiles look like he's about to throw up?"
"I don't," Stiles denied, swiping a hand across his face.
"Dude, you kind of do," Scott said sympathetically. Stiles really did look one shade above corpse.
"So sue me! This has been a lot!"
"What has been a lot? And why am I naked?"
"Oh, get over it. I'm the one who gave you baths."
"What?!"
"This should help," Deaton said calmly, handing Isaac one of his lab coats. Isaac shrugged it on, dropping the torn clothes to the floor. His pajamas with the wolves.
"Someone needs to start talking, right now," Isaac demanded. No one spoke up for a few seconds and the mood only got more and more tense. Derek wished he had something to fight, so he'd have an excuse to leave. Peter hadn't had his face smashed in in a while and he was definitely due.
"Maybe we should sit down for this," Scott said finally, breaking the silence. He gestured for Isaac to go ahead to the waiting area, shooting an imploring look over his shoulder as soon as the re-aged teen was out of sight. Stiles sniffled loudly, scrubbing his hands over his face a few times to psych himself up for this talk. Derek pushed his way past him, wanting to get this over with.
Isaac was sitting in the chair closest to the door, bouncing his leg anxiously. He looked almost as nervous as- no, he wasn't going to think about that time anymore. It was over and it didn't matter anymore. Derek posted up on the wall on the opposite side of the room from him, not in the mood to sit down. Stiles looked like he wanted to sit next to Isaac, but dropped down next to Scott at the last second.
"You guys are freaking me out," Isaac muttered, flicking his eyes between him and Stiles. Somehow, Scott was the steadiest one right now.
"What's the last thing you remember?" Scott asked.
"Derek and I were looking for Boyd and Erica?" Isaac replied, although it sounded more like a question than a confident answer. But it finalized a mystery Derek and Stiles had wondered about all along. Isaac didn't remember his time as a kid at all. Stiles started bouncing in his seat a little, gnawing on his lip. "Did we find them?"
"No, not yet."
"Then why are you all looking at me like someone died? Did someone die? Did I die?"
"You didn't die!" Stiles exclaimed, looking horrified by the teen saying the words, even though he could see with his own eyes that he was fine. Isaac looked startled by the outburst coming from Stiles. They didn't have the kind of relationship where they cared about each other like that. After the kanima fight, the first time they'd all met up again, they hadn't done more than trade barbs about their various wounds, even though Isaac's had already healed up by then. Isaac had no idea that Stiles' feelings about him had changed so dramatically.
"You didn't die, but something did happen," Scott said hesitantly, glancing around the room as if he was expecting someone else to jump in. Derek sure wasn't going to. "Really?"
"Just tell me. It can't be that bad, right? It's not like Jackson laid eggs and now there are a bunch of kanima babies running around," Isaac sighed. Stiles sucked in a sharp breath and Isaac's eyes went comically wide. "Shut up."
"There are no kanima babies, but there was one baby. Not baby, kid. You. Kid," Scott stammered. Isaac let out a startled laugh, before quietly chuckling in disbelief.
"This is a weird joke."
"Not a joke."
"That's not a thing. Being turned into a kid is impossible."
"Why would we joke about this?"
"I don't know! Maybe something worse happened and you don't want to tell me, so you came up with some outlandish story?"
"It's true," Stiles said quietly, pulling his cell phone from his pocket. He unlocked it, holding it up for Isaac to see. Derek caught a glimpse of the screen as he turned it. The wallpaper of his phone was the picture Stiles had taken of him and Isaac asleep in his bed.
"Photoshop," Isaac whispered.
"Isaac." Isaac stood up, grabbing the phone from Stiles' hand to get a closer look. He kept flicking his eyes up from the screen to where Derek was standing, then back again, like he was waiting for something to change. But the proof was right there.
"Th-this can't be real," Isaac stuttered, staring at the photo in disbelief. He ran a trembling hand through his hair, shaking his head a little. "I think I'm gonna pass out."
"Isaac," Stiles said worriedly, standing up to steady him. Before he could make contact, Isaac jerked back, putting his hand out to keep Stiles away.
"Don't!" Isaac snapped, breathing heavily. Stiles reared back like he'd been slapped, dropping his chin to his chest and staring at the floor. Derek could tell he was a few seconds away from losing it.
"How about we take a break?" Deaton suggested, joining them from where he'd been waiting in the exam room. "I can check you over to make sure there are no lingering physical effects from this ordeal." Isaac nodded numbly, letting Deaton lead him out of the room. As soon as he was out of sight, Stiles let his tears fall, covering his mouth to try to stifle any noise.
"Hey," Scott said soothingly, reaching over to pat Stiles' back. Stiles stumbled over to a seat away from them, curling onto it with his arms wrapped around his knees. He bounced his legs erratically, turning his head so he was facing away from both of them. "Derek?" Derek ignored Scott, turning his attention to listening to what was going on in the other room. Deaton was asking Isaac basic questions about how he was feeling and Isaac was answering with one word answers. The witch said the change wouldn't hurt him, but it was nice to get confirmation from someone they trusted.
This was going about as well as Derek expected. He didn't know how he'd react if he was the one turned into a child and back again. Probably violently. Isaac was sensitive, but hated to show it, seeing it as weakness. But his eyes always gave him away. They were too expressive. Even when he was trying to be defiant or act like he didn't care, his eyes told the whole story.
Derek would never be able to figure out how Isaac's father could hurt him so much. It was never right, obviously, but doing it to Isaac felt especially egregious. Derek had only been on the receiving end of Isaac's post abuse face once, after the arm breaking incident. Isaac had put up a brave front in front of his newly introduced Beta companions, but once he'd healed and Derek had crawled out of his hole again, the look on his face was seared into his brain. Isaac looked so disappointed. Like he'd been hoping against hope that things would be different for him, now that his father was gone and couldn't hurt him. But the worst feeling that Derek could see was acceptance. It wasn't even resignation, which would be a little easier to swallow. Isaac was accepting that this was the price to be in the pack. That nothing in his life could ever be fully good, but he didn't have any choice. He had to suck it up and go along.
So after years of taking the hits and trying so hard to act like it didn't matter, it was all stripped away and he was sent back to a time where he was more vulnerable than ever. Where he had to depend on others, even though he'd never had that privilege before. It had to be an absolute mindtrip to deal with all of this and Derek couldn't blame Isaac for any reaction he had.
A few minutes later, a subdued Isaac walked back into the room. He'd put on some clothes that were slightly ill fitting and looked like Scott's, but it was better than before. He was spinning Stiles' phone in his hands, but the screen was off now. Derek wasn't sure if he wanted to keep the photo or never see it again.
"Sorry about earlier," Isaac said, flashing an embarrassed smile. "Just very unexpected."
"Dude, you don't have to apologize," Scott insisted. "It's been a long week for everyone."
"A week? Shit," Isaac mumbled.
"Give or take a few days."
"Man, that must've sucked. I bet I was so annoying," Isaac scoffed.
"You weren't annoying," Scott argued.
"All kids are annoying, Scott. I doubt I was the exception."
"You weren't annoying!" Stiles snapped. Isaac raised his eyebrows in surprise at Stiles' outburst.
"Okay," Isaac replied, dragging out the word a little. He set Stiles' phone on the counter behind him, then leaned against it, feigning nonchalance. Derek could still see the tension in his body, even though he was trying to pretend like this wasn't a big deal. "Well, Deaton says I look fine and I feel fine, so I guess everything is back to normal?"
"Don't you have questions?" Scott asked.
"Does any of it really matter?" Isaac shrugged. "Something weird happened, everyone lived, and we're back where we started."
"When did your mom die?" Stiles asked suddenly. "She did die, right?" Isaac looked taken aback by the question, which was a valid reaction. Derek wasn't really sure why Stiles was asking at a time like this, but he wasn't the best judge of appropriate timing. Avoidance was always the right call to him.
"When I was six, why?" Isaac answered hesitantly. Stiles didn't say anything, staring at where his phone sat. Isaac followed his gaze, before realization dawned on him. "Oh."
"You told us she went away, but would come back if you were good." Isaac's face turned red in embarrassment.
"Yeah, that's what my dad told me. I didn't realize the truth for a while," Isaac sighed, running his hand through his hair.
"When did you find out?"
"When I started working for my dad at the cemetery. I found her headstone and put the pieces together."
"When was that?"
"I was about thirteen."
"Your mom had been dead for seven years before you knew?" Stiles asked in horror.
"Yeah."
"How?"
"We weren't allowed to talk about her. My brother knew, but he knew better than to go against Dad."
"That's- oh my God," Stiles choked out, clutching his chest.
"I always held out hope that she was out there and would come back one day. Then again, I always hoped my dad would turn over a new leaf too. I guess I've never been that smart."
"I'm gonna be sick," Stiles mumbled, slapping a hand over his mouth and rushing toward the bathroom.
"Stiles!" Scott called after him, following him to the other room. Derek was left alone with Isaac for the first time since he'd turned back.
"Derek," Isaac said softly, staring at him with those eyes. They were begging for something. Answers, reassurance, a path forward. Anything that he could hold onto that would tell him that everything would be fine and nothing would change and they could forget this ever happened. But Derek had nothing. He looked away, keeping his eyes trained on a spot on the floor.
Isaac let out a sound that matched the look after his broken arm. Disappointment and acceptance. He had Derek's number and he'd had it for a long time. If he needed anything more than the bare minimum, he was looking in the wrong place. Derek didn't look up as he heard Isaac walk away, or when he heard the door open and close behind him.
"Where's Isaac?" Derek wasn't sure how much time passed before Stiles and Scott came back into the room, but he hadn't moved a muscle. It would've been smarter for him to have left without a word as well, but his decision making skills were not at their best at the moment. "Derek?"
"He left," Derek grunted, pleased that his voice still sounded unaffected.
"What do you mean he left?!" Stiles shouted. Scott grabbed his arm when it looked like Stiles was planning to lunge at him. "What the hell were you thinking?"
"He doesn't need us to take care of him anymore," Derek snapped. Stiles' face fell, before he steeled himself again in the blink of an eye. Even if Isaac hadn't changed, Stiles had. Choosing to step up and take on a responsibility that wasn't his and doing it better than he had any right to had matured him so much. While Derek was aching for a fight, for Stiles to throw every accusing word at him that he deserved, he didn't get what he wanted.
"That's it? This is how it's gonna be?" Stiles questioned, shaking his head. When Derek didn't answer, Stiles huffed out a disgusted breath. "I expected more from you. But like Isaac said, I guess I've never been that smart." Without waiting for a response, Stiles turned around and stomped away, slamming the door behind him as he left. Derek could feel Scott staring at him, but he didn't bother looking back. Scott left in a more somber manner, but his feelings were also clear.
Everyone was back where they'd been before. Stiles hated him, Scott judged him, Isaac was taking care of himself. And Derek was exactly where he deserved. Alone.
