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𝐓 𝐇 𝐑 𝐄 𝐀 𝐓 𝐒
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Dax woke up with a small smile as he looked up at Brett. Dax's hand was on his chest and his arm was stretched across Brett's abdomen while Brett's arm was wrapped around Dax's body and his hand was placed at Dax's back. He blinked himself awake slowly. He barely held in the groan as he remembered the previous night's consequences. He frowned a bit. He wasn't sure if he was ready to handle all the bad that was about to come his way. It felt like another impossible weight to carry on his chest, but he knew he didn't have a choice. Mason was in danger, and Mason was family.
"Hey, wake up," Dax said as he sat up. He patted Brett's chest before rubbing his eyes. Brett's eyes shot open, and in an instant, he was in the older boy's lap, "Morning breath, Brett."
"I don't care," Brett breathed as he leaned in. He connected their lips as he pushed Dax against the bed. Dax almost got lost in the moment. Almost.
"I do, boo," Dax said as he gently pushed Brett back just enough so that they weren't breathing into each other's mouths, "I need to go look for Mason."
Guilt crossed Brett's face as he remembered. He locked eyes with Dax as he grabbed his boyfriend's hand, "I want to help."
"You can't," Dax said with a sympathetic smile as he rubbed Brett's cheek with his thumb.
"Why?"
"You're like me now. Even if you can stomach being in the same room as Stiles, it's too dangerous," Dax said softly as he shook his head.
Brett grimaced, "I have some self-control."
"And I love that about you," Dax smiled as he pushed Brett's hair off of his forehead, "But we're going to fight something. If someone gets cut, you won't be able to stop yourself."
Brett stayed silent for a moment. Dax hated it. Brett had to adjust to a whole new world, and it felt like it was his fault, "So what do you want to do?"
Dax bit his lip, "I was thinking... I put you to sleep while I take care of Mason. Then I take you with me for a Christmas trip to New Orleans, and you learn from the oldest vampires in the world. You'll get to learn the good and the bad, and you know... you'll get to actually meet my family this time," Dax was nervous to bring Brett to New Orleans. The Mikaelsons weren't exactly known for their pleasantries there. Hell, the Mikaelsons weren't really known for that anywhere, but especially not in that city. Despite it being their home, and the things they had sacrificed to be there, they weren't very well-liked because of their history. He was terrified of showing Brett that part of him. He had taken out the worst parts of the stories of his family because despite knowing that they weren't the best people, he still wanted Brett to like them. He knew it was the best option. Dax wasn't the right person to teach him control since he barely grasped the concept himself. His family had a thousand years of experience, and he knew they could help him more than he could. Deep down he knew Brett would still love him no matter what, but it didn't stop him from worrying.
It was scary enough just thinking about what Brett would think of him after his family showed their true colors without thinking what his family might think of Brett or do to him. The Mikaelsons weren't very accepting of outsiders, and Dax had no idea how they would respond to actually meeting Brett. The last time he went to New Orleans, they just passed through. No one had a chance to really get to know him because they were so wrapped up with Dax being back.
"What if your too late and the beast kills you?"
"I'll walk it off."
Brett stayed silent and Dax couldn't read his expression, "What about Lori... and my pack?"
Dax nodded. He knew Brett wouldn't love his plan, but he wasn't exactly sure of what else to do. He didn't have control of himself until more recently, and Brett needed to learn fast so that he wouldn't miss out on so much school and the small part of his life he would get to live out, "I can take you to say goodbye, but... Brett, I really think it would be best for you to call them from the road."
Brett shook his head, "I can't leave them like that. I have to say goodbye."
Dax bit his lip. He knew it wasn't a good idea, "Ok," He sighed, "Goodnight."
"Do I have to sleep?"
"It's the safest option," Dax responded softly as he rested his forehead against Brett's, "Otherwise you could hurt someone."
"I love you."
"I love you too," Dax muttered as he took a moment to be with his boyfriend, "Somnum," Dax muttered. Brett slumped onto Dax's shoulder. Dax made his way out of bed and left Brett lying there, "I am so sorry," He muttered as he stared at Brett. He pulled on some jeans and one of the hoodies he had taken from Brett. He pressed a kiss to Brett's head before he stepped out of the room, "Apné sà mene."
Dax pressed his hand against the invisible barrier. He blinked away any tears before they could fall. He bit his lip and took a deep breath before making his way downstairs. He slowed his walking as he heard the rest of the pack talking.
"My dad's got an APB out," Stiles said as he looked between his packmates. They were all stood around in Dax's kitchen.
"For a 5'8" sixteen-year-old?" Kira asked wearily.
Stiles shrugged, "I recommended 'nine-foot-tall rampaging werewolf."
"It still might not be him," Liam said weakly as he looked around at the pack. Dax stayed silent as he slumped against the doorframe. The pack gave Liam a sympathetic but knowing look. Liam looked down as he shook his head, "But, Hayden's at the school looking."
"I can keep checking the woods," Malia offered.
"My mom can check all the hospitals in the county," Scott assured them, "We can find him."
"How's Brett? Is he going to make it to tomorrow?" Kira asked as she nodded towards Dax.
"He's asleep right now. I'm going to take him to New Orleans after we find Mason. Hopefully, he will be able to learn control fast and we'll be back," Dax answered.
"I take it that means Beacon Hills has a vampire-werewolf hybrid on its hands?" Stiles asked.
"He's not your first hybrid, and I doubt he will be your last," Dax answered, "Where are we with Mason?"
"We don't have much," Liam answered, "What happens after we find him?" He asked as he looked to Scott.
"We figure out a way to save him," Scott answered. Liam nodded.
"Okay... where else can we look?" Lydia asked.
"I know where we can start," Dax growled as he looked to the wall opposite the pack. He marched over as everyone frowned at him in confusion. He grabbed Corey's shoulders and pulled him off the wall. Everyone jumped slightly, "I never invited you in, Miles Morales," Dax growled slightly. He may not have put the house deed in someone's name, but he still did not enjoy unwanted visitors. They usually didn't bring anything good inside with them.
"Wait! Wait! It's not my fault! They took him, and I couldn't do anything! They took him!" Corey spluttered out as he held his hands in surrender.
"Who?" Scott asked.
"The Dread Doctors," Corey answered. Dax released Corey.
"Why is it always the old guys?" Dax muttered.
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"How stupid are we to be doing this?" Liam asked as he and Dax caught up with Scott in the hallway. The three boys were walking quickly down the hallways.
"We're not stupid," Scott assured him as he looked to Dax for support.
"I'm with Liam on this one. Out of all your idiotic ideas, this has to be the most stupid," Dax responded.
"We're desperate," Scott sighed.
"How desperate?" Liam asked. They stopped just outside of the boys' locker room.
"Incredibly desperate," Scott said before he opened the door to reveal Theo and Tracy.
The three of them stepped in, "Aren't you down a few members? Did they not buy into your whole murder plan?" Dax asked as he stepped in with a fake smile. Tracy growled at him as she bared her teeth, "Careful, Fighto, you may be a lab experiment gone wrong, but I will still drain you."
"That's enough," Scott said as he looked at Dax. Dax rolled his eyes but just continued to glare at Theo and Tracy.
"I told you we'd end up on the same side," Theo said as he looked at Scott.
"How about I punch you in the balls to remind you that we're not?" Liam gave Theo a fake smile as he blinked.
Theo let out a genuine laugh, "I love this kid," Theo shook his head softly.
"I don't," Tracy said with a tight smile as she glared at him.
"You don't have to," Dax blinked as he looked in her direction.
"We know you're not on our side, Theo. You said you wanted to help Lydia, but you left Eichen with something else, didn't you?" Scott narrowed his eyes as he looked at Theo.
"You mean the mask," Theo commented with his hands gripped behind him, "Are you worried about that?" Theo asked as a small smirk crept onto his lips.
"Did you put it on?" Scott questioned. Dax looked to Liam. He didn't know a thing about a mask, and according to the dumbfounded look on Liam's face, neither did he. Dax looked back at Scott to see him look between Theo and Tracy, "Who did you see?"
"Not Mason," Theo raised his eyebrows as he shook his head.
Liam looked to Scott, "What's that mean? It's not him?"
"It probably means he's a lost cause," Tracy answered.
"Nobody asked you," Dax rolled his eyes.
"We all want the same thing. We want Mason back," Theo smiled.
"Yeah, but the difference is we want him back alive," Scott said.
"Well I'm open to compromise," Theo smiled as he stepped closer to Scott.
"Allow me to enlighten you, Theo," Dax smiled a bit as he stepped between Theo and Scott, "I've had a really bad week, and I don't feel like playing nice right now... So, if anything happens to Mason, or I find out you had some ulterior motive, you die. You and your little band of misfits," Dax growled as his eyes glowed bright yellow.
Theo smiled, "There he is. Son of the immortal hybrid. Finally, you're not pretending that you're so high and mighty," Dax's lips curled back to show his fangs as he looked up at Theo before backing away. He stood next to Scott as Theo walked closer to the alpha, "You still got the map with the telluric currents on it," Scott frowned and seemed unsure of the situation, but he ultimately nodded, "Bring it to the operating theater in two hours."
Scott, Dax, and Liam walked out of the locker room, "How desperate are we?"
"Incredibly," Scott looked into the locker room before walking off with Dax and Liam following him.
"Were you serious about Theo?" Liam asked as he looked at Dax.
"Deadly," Dax answered in a flat voice as he glared at the floor.
"Dax, I know you had... an interesting upbringing, but that's not how we do things here," Scott said softly.
"Look, Scott, I've been mostly playing by your rules for the last year, but I'm tired of people hurting my family and getting away with it."
"Look I know everything is crazy. Between Mason and Brett, I don't know how you're still functioning, but we don't need to go insane," Scott tried.
"Look, your anti-murder stance is adorable and refreshing, and I get it, really I swear I do. What you guys don't get, is that it's my fucking fault. I waited too long to take care of my own shit, and it cost two people I care about their lives. I'm not making that mistake again," Dax said before walking off.
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Theo was stood in front of a large, empty, tank. Scott, Dax, and Liam walked in together, "They called him Der Soldat. That's German for 'The Soldier'. I'm pretty sure he fought in World War II."
"So the nazi's weren't very creative. What's the point?" Dax shrugged as he didn't see the point in Theo's history lecture.
"The Dread Doctors were using him to prolong their lives. They've been doing it for decades... Actually probably longer," Theo corrected himself.
"How old are these guys?" Liam asked.
"Who knows," Theo shrugged, "But wherever they go, he goes too."
"The dread doctors first showed up in 1547. They created a whole new species. Your species. The witches, werewolves, vampires, and who knows what else wasn't happy. After a whole lot of fighting, they lost all of their research and most of their specimen were killed, but one or two got away. By 1787, the Beast was around and the remaining descendant of the original dread doctors figured out the key to immortality. Once his experiment was killed, he disappeared for two hundred years. In that time he got two friends to join him. At some point after Theo was ten, witches and the triad caught up with the three of them and sent them into the black pit of doom that made you all forget about me. Then when I destroyed the pit, apparently other things made it out alive," Dax explained the brief history he had picked up from his own history lessons, "I told you guys I read my uncles journals," Dax shrugged as Liam and Scott stared at him.
"So how do we find them?" Liam asked.
"Keeping him alive requires a pretty unique set of conditions. There's got to be a power source, and it has to be underground, and-" Theo explained, but Scott cut him off.
"And on a telluric current," Scott said as he handed Theo a piece of paper.
Theo smirked as he looked down at the map he had unfolded. He looked back at Scott, "Looks like we're going on a hike."
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"Where is he?" Scott asked as the four of them trecked through the woods. Liam and Dax were a little ways behind Scott and Theo, but they could easily hear their conversation.
"I thought we were looking for him," Theo responded.
"You know who I am talking about," Scott answered slightly annoyed.
"Deucalion?" Theo asked,
"You shouldn't trust him," Scott said.
"You're the one who let him live," Theo sighed.
"I'm not a murderer," Scott responded.
"You still think you're gonna get through this without killing anyone?" Theo asked out of annoyance.
Scott rolled his eyes, "I didn't say that."
Dax stopped in place and he grabbed Liam's sleeve causing the younger boy to stop as well. This caused Theo and Scott to slow down, "We're close," Dax said. Liam nodded.
"You get his scent?" Scott asked. Liam and Dax both looked up to him with a nod.
"Which way?" Theo asked. Dax didn't answer as Liam looked at Scott. Scott glanced at Theo. Theo scoffed, "You think you're going to leave me behind?"
"I easily could," Dax commented as he looked the boy up and down.
"Liam, Dax," Scott gave them a look.
"Look, he wants to kill him," Liam was the first to speak up.
Theo cut Liam off, "I just want his power. You want to fight someone that actually wants to kill Mason? Go fight Parrish."
"Who did you see when you put on the mask?" Liam asked with a glare.
"I already told you it wasn't Mason," Theo responded.
"Answer the question, Walmart-Wolf," Dax crossed his arms.
Theo looked to Scott for help, but Scott stared at him. Theo threw his arms out, "I saw a man dying in the snow. He was impaled on a spear."
"It's called a pike. Lydia told us the story," Scott said as he looked at Dax and Liam.
"Okay, then all of you know what it means," Theo said, "Time's running out. Where is he, Liam? What direction?"
Liam looked between everyone for a moment. Dax decided to leave it up to Liam to decide. Liam glared at Theo as he walked past, "This way."
Dax grabbed Theo's shirt and pulled him close, "I will go through with my threats," Dax growled before shoving Theo away from him and following Scott and Liam.
It didn't take the group long to arrive at a wooden box in the woods. Liam went to open it, but Scott grabbed his shoulder, "Listen," Scott said. All four males paused for a moment.
"It's him," Liam said as he pulled open the door and went in. Dax was right behind him.
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There's only a few more chapters leftttt