[somewhere in Beacon Hills]
Beacon Hills, California was the set destination. Specifically, at 3 am the destination was Beacon Hills Animal Clinic. Scott, Stiles, Lydia, and Lulu were the only conscious people sitting in the blue jeep that drove surprisingly fast under the pouring rain. Mexico was easy to leave with the help of Braeden - who had the credentials of a State Marshall - or else there would have been a lot of questions as to why they were transporting a fifteen-year-old unconscious boy wrapped in a blanket past the border without identification.
The teens had explained that the reason for going to an animal clinic was because they had a friend who may have answers. Their friend used to be a Druid Emissary for a pack there in Beacon Hill, their day job being a vet. Emissaries' identities were normally kept secret from everyone in the pack but the Alpha, because they acted as an anchor helping the pack maintain connections to their humanity.
Arriving at the Animal Clinic everyone moved fast to get the young boy inside. Scott carried Derek wrapped in a blanket over his shoulder into the clinic doing his best so he wouldn't get wet. They carefully lay him in on a steel work table, his feet having to dangle off the table as it wasn't long enough for his almost 6-foot stature.
Being able to look at the boy lying on his work table, Deaton was in shock, "Wow..."
"Wow? Wow, as in, I've seen this before and I know exactly what to do -kind of wow? 'Cause that's the kind we were hoping for..." Stiles rambles hoping for answers just like everyone else because all the speculations and conspiracy theories they'd come up with during the ride home were just theories
"I think you might be overestimating my abilities." The Druid and former emissary to the Hale Pack says still processing that the kid laying on the table was Derek Hale only aged back to his teen years
Lydia unknowingly takes the boy's hand and notices how inhumanly cold he was, "He's cold-- really cold."
Deaton takes hold of Derek's hand while also placing another on his wrist to time his heart rate. As Deaton examines the boy on the table Scott asks, "Do you think this is permanent?
"I'm not sure a medical diagnosis is even adequate. This is well beyond my experience." Deaton makes sure the kids knew he had limited knowledge on the supernatural world, even if in the past it didn't seem like it
"So, what do we do with him?" Stiles asks looking up from the unconscious body that had yet to wake up since they placed him in the back of his jeep in Mexico
"Until he wakes up?" Deaton questions for clarification looking around the room at the teens and adult who had introduced herself the moment he opened his door "Probably not much. It might be best to leave him with me. He'll be safe here."
"You mean, from Kate?" Stiles asks knowing this has to be her doing and since they didn't find her she'd still be out there
"If she's alive and she is what you say she is, she won't be able to walk past that gate," Deaton says with certainty having his ways and they knew that
"Why would she want to do this to him?" Lydia questions the why no longer mattering rather the how because how were they going to reverse the process
"Knowing Kate, it's probably for a reason that won't be any good for anyone but her," Deaton answers not having answers either and needing time to research possibilities
"And bad for everyone else," Stiles mutters in agreeance
Deaton looks around the room taking in how tired the teens look and how they were doing their best to stay away, "You guys should probably go home. He doesn't look to be in any danger... So, maybe the rest of you should get some sleep? It is a school night, and you all need to start taking care of your own lives again."
Scott, barely able to keep his eyes open shakes his head to make the sleepiness leave his body replies, "Someone should stay with you..."
"I will stay. I am the only one here who is not in school." Lulu states, because while she would love to take a shower to get rid of all the dirt from Mexico this was more important "I will just need your numbers and backup numbers for when he wakes up"
"I'm so not okay with this—" Stiles says still not fully trusting the woman but he couldn't argue as Scott passed Lulu her phone allowing the woman to text her phone before sending a few contact numbers to her phone as well
Handing the phone back to the Alpha, Lulu smiles, "Go. Get rest"
"Text us if anything happens," Scott trusts the woman before grabbings Stiles flannel and pull him along with him and Lydia
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Lulu had at some point in the night had fallen asleep. She may not have felt exhausted but that may have been the adrenaline and the mental list she was making that included everything she needed to attend to since she wasn't home. For a short while she talked to Deaton, getting to know the vet while he asked his own questions to assert how much they should trust her.
Opening her eyes Lulu finds Deaton standing over Derek checking his heart rate with two fingers on his neck. Lulu had fallen asleep on a chair she'd moved next to the table, her head resting on her hand. Standing up she stretches her body asking, "How is he?"
"His heart rate is alarmingly high," Deaton answers making Lulu listen and he was right Derek's heart rate was anything but calm or normal for someone who was sleeping
Lulu softly takes Derek's hand to feel his temperature no longer feeling any coldness, "He is warm, that is good. Right?"
"Lulu, I'm going to try something. I want you to keep holding his hand, if that's okay," Deaton states not bothered to ask wanting to test a theory
"Yeah," Lulu whispers in response, wrapping her hand in the young boys, watching the man pick up a surgical blade and press it against Derek's forearm. Deaton cut into the skin only for it to heal in seconds leaving no time for blood to ooze out
"That- that healed too fast," Lulu states in shock and worry because she'd never seen anyone heal that fast, she'd never healed that fast
Deaton turns to look at the woman who had yet let go of Derek's hand, "Unusually fast."
"Meaning?" Lulu asks looking up from the boy worried that it'd be bad news
"I'm not sure..." Deaton says his mind racing before setting on an idea "Let's try something else. Grab me a five-milliliter syringe. Top drawer."
The man walks away leaving Lulu to walk over to the shelves he had pointed at and as they searched for the syringe and little medical bottle there was movement behind them. Lulu sets her hands on the cotton balls before her as the hair on her neck raises. Turning around Lulu saw Derek pushing himself up the table to place his feet on the ground
The teen boy looks down at the ground breathing deeply making Lulu softly call out, "Derek...? Derek, are you all right?"
Lulu was ready to take a step forward but the boy looking up makes them see his glowing blue eyes. Lulu and Deaton kept calling out to him but never daring to take a step forward.
Derek looked around at the two blue eyes still glowing and he covered his ears with his hands. The boy looked confused, disoriented, and just overwhelmed but most of all he didn't seem to recognize the two adults standing before him
Not knowing what he was capable of, Lulu stands in front of Deaton as she could heal quickly while he couldn't. The two adults still called out for him trying to get him to settle down but the boy raises his clawed hand and strikes
Lulu quickly raises her arms to protect her body, making her endure the claw marks digging into her skin. Unlike Derek she didn't heal fast, so while she looked down at her arms covered in blood and torn fabric he fled.
It was safe to say Lulu and Deaton called the teens. She did think about going after Derek but she didn't know the town or what teen Derek would be like much less where he would go.
Scott didn't answer. Stiles didn't answer. Kira didn't answer. Lydia didn't answer. So that resulted in texting their teacher in hopes he'd pass on the message. By the time the two teen boys arrived at the animal clinic Lulu had healed up, washed off the blood from her arms, and changed into a black crew t-shirts.
Deaton starts to explain a theory both adults had agreed on, "I don't think he's just younger in body... I think he's younger in his mind, too."
"He did not recognize us." Lulu explains and while she didn't take it to heart since they'd spent less than a day together she really thought she'd made an impression hence her card being his emergency contact "He also looked as if he was scared out of his mind."
"So, if you're a teenage Werewolf, and you're scared, where do you go?" Stiles asks looking around for answers specifically looking at the werewolves for answers
"Somewhere I feel safe," Lulu immediately answers knowing that's what she'd do whether that'd be a person or place that made her feel safe
"A wolf goes back to its den..." Scott thinks out loud only to take his idea back "But Derek lives in a loft."
"Not when he was a teenager." Stiles chimes in following his friends thinking
"His house then?" Lulu asks knowing that must be it, not understanding the importance of the Hale House
"He wouldn't remember the fire—" Deaton says, causing Lulu to look at the man wondering what fire because the way he said it was too morbid "it wouldn't have happened yet."
"Okay so we find him and tell him about some fire that happened at his home?" Lulu asks not understanding why they were focusing on a house fire "How is that helpful. I-i do not understand the importance"
"She's probably right. Maybe you shouldn't?" Stiles turns to Scott without explaining to Lulu the importance "You know, at least until we figure out how to get him back to normal."
"I can't lie to him." Scott mutters trying to come up with another plan
"Okay! I'll do it." Stiles says having no problem with telling a lie to Derek
"I don't think any of us can." Scott looks around knowing they were all forgetting a crucial fact about werewolves "Remember, he can hear a heartbeat rising. When we find him, we tell him the truth."
"Or I can lie to him," Lulu suggests having learned to be a good liar when she was young because of her dad "I know nothing about some house fire and have met Cora and his uncle"
"If he gets to the house first, you won't have to." Deaton tells them knowing the kid could have gotten far by now and since he grew up in Beacon Hills he knew many ways to get to his house and considering how manic he looked Derek must have gotten to the site in record time.
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Stiles, having a knack for listening to the police scanner was able to locate where Derek had been found. Driving at a sanctioned speed Stiles and Scott run into the police station while Lulu walks behind them.
The three are waved over to follow Sheriff Stilinski who walks into his office past the young Derek who sat on a bench just outside. Derek had been picked up by two officers who'd found him trespassing on private property which was the ruins of the Hale House.
Walking into the office Lulu smiles extending out her hand to the older man, "Hi I'm Lulu"
"Uh Noah," Sheriff Stilinski replies, disoriented from the news he was still processing. The kid outside his office had the fingerprints of Derek Hale and if he looked real close he can see the adult in the young boy
"Nice to meet you," Lulu smiles standing in-between the two teen boys
The sheriff sat on the end of his desk looking at both nervous kids, "I want you to be honest with me--absolutely and completely honest...Have you been time traveling?"
Time travel being the last thing he imagined to come out of his dad's lips Stiles asks, "Hang on, what???"
"Because if time traveling is real..." Noah breaths out, starting to feel like he was losing his mind at the possibilities of the supernatural "You know what? I'm done. I'm out. You're going to be driving me to Eichen House."
Not wanting the man to think he was going crazy Scott quickly clarifies, "We found him like that."
"Where? Swimming in the fountain of youth?" Noah softly shouts the best he can trying to make their conversation look normal for anyone looking through the open blinds
"No..." Stiles answers before telling the truth which they'd so desperately try to hide "We found him buried in a tomb of wolfsbane in an Aztec temple in Mexico underneath a church in the middle of a town that was destroyed by an earthquake..."
Flabbergasted Noah furrows his brow "You told me you were camping!"
"Yeah, we were! ...In Mexico," Stiles mumbles the last part knowing he was in for a lot of trouble once things settled down
"Derek's been aged backwards—" Scott explains what they knew without sharing the Kate detail "he can't remember anything. We just need to talk to him."
"Yeah, well, so far, he's not talking to anybody," Noah informs them with crossed arms as Teen Derek was also stubbornly quiet
"He'll talk to me." Scott confidently states
"Let me try first?" Lulu asks being able to sense the nerves from Scott who hesitantly agrees being grateful he would have back up in handling another teen
It had been arranged so teen Derek walked into the sheriff's office to sit on the couch while the sheriff stood nowhere in his office. Noah stood outside his office watching Lulu sit on the brown leather couch next to teen Derek while his two teens stood near the desk.
"Hey, do you remember me?" Lulu asks with a warm smile her body facing the teen boy
"No," Derek replies with a furrowed brow trying to think he if should
"Well it is good I heal quickly or else you would owe be a huge apology for making my arm bleed," Lulu teases trying to lighten the mood
"I hurt you?" Derek quickly asks with worry not wanting to hurt anyone
"Unintentionally. So it is okay," Lulu reassuringly tells him not wanting him to worry "but uh I was wondering if you would leave with me and my friends"
"Why would I go anywhere with you?" Derek questions the kind smile not being enough to make him trust her
"There was an accident that caused you to lose some memory and we want to help you get it back," Lulu answers not once did her heart say that she was lying
Hesitant Derek asks, "How much memory?"
"A lot, but you can trust us," Lulu says letting her eyes glow golden - it had been so long since Derek had seen anything but blue and red wolf eyes "Promise."
"Who are you?" Derek asks not having caught her name or
"You can call me Lulu. That is Scott," Lulu points over at the alpha while mouthing 'eyes', Scott does just that and shines his red eyes
"You're an Alpha," Derek relaxes as having been taught to always trust an alpha, but that leaves one person yet to be introduced, "And who is he? Who are you?"
Stiles looks up from his father's desk, his attention back on the conversation, "Oh, we're the guys keeping you out of jail!"
"Let us help you," Scott tries to reach out wanting to help Derek like all the many times he'd helped him
"No."
Having no patience Stiles looks at the teen, "Okay, dude, you almost tore apart two deputies back there. You need to listen to us–"
"Stiles" Lulu tries to get him to stop but he just continues
"and that starts with no fangs, no claws, no wolf-man. You got that?"
"I'm fine as long as it's not on a full moon." Derek mutters looking down at his hands
"You still have trouble with the full moon?" Scott asks surprised which caused the kid to get embarrassed
"I said I'm fine." Derek states making them all drop the subject the full moon having already passed meaning they were good
"All right. You coming with us, or not?" Stiles stands up from the desk ready to walk out
"You want me to trust you?" Derek asks looking up at each of the people around him with watery eyes "Where's my family?"
Lulu looks up at Scott ready to lie but before she can open her mouth he sighs, "There was a fire. And..."
While Scott tried to collect his thoughts to not make his heart expose their lies Lulu takes over, "They moved out of Beacon Hills. When you get your memories back you are going to remember that we met in South America over dinner with Cora and Peter. Once you get your memories back you'll remember everything and then you can introduce me to the rest of the Hale family. Okay?"
"Okay..." Derek gives in having no reason to not trust them
The sheriff kept his promise on taking care of Derek's charges leaving him to just sign some paperwork before they could leave.
The new plan consisted of Stiles and Lulu taking Derek to the McCall residence and not letting him out of their sight. While Scott went to talk to Peter who may have the answers like he always seemed to have
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a/n: I split the chapter because it was too long.
+
also the Derek I write may be different from the show's