Key for this chapter:
Stiles' Thoughts
Anyone Else's Thoughts or Stiles' diary Entries
'Old dialogues memories, spoken out loud thoughts, the past in general...'
///Memories in Stiles' diary entries//
POVs
""Not an Actual Speech or Thought""
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Warning: Alternative POVs
Monday 20th, October, 2015
11:15 AM
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KEY (Very Important...Do Not Ignore):
Wolves:
Hale wolves >> H
McCall Wolves >> M
Human Pack Members:
Hale Humans >> HH
McCall Humans >> MH
Neutral Members:
Town Folk: TN
(Comprises of humans as well as Nomadic Wolves)
Allied Packs: AN
(The Carver Pack and Ito Packs are allied to Hale Pack but officially are neutral. They do not involve themselves with political arguments, but they stand in a fight against a common enemy for example demons)
In case time is confusing:
6:00 >> Breakfast
6:30 - 7:00 >> Maya explaining about the Maze
7:00 - 7:25 >> Using time to explain about chess and Clara's team coming up with a strategy
7:35 - 7:55 >> Stiles lets his team rest.
8:00 RED Team entered the Maze
8:15 it's been fifteen minutes...
11:05 Stiles pushes Cora into the basin valley area
11:15 EVERYONE'S THOUGHTS!!!
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Derek made his way through the school warily, his uncle Peter followed him.
"You're worried about him?" the man asked as they walked past a few students.
Derek paused, and then nodded, and "I'm always worried about him", he answered weakly.
"Why?" his uncle asked genuinely curious if his scent was anything to go by.
"Well, he's the type that would walk into a salamander's nest and only figure it out after he gets burnt", he muttered dryly he didn't turn around not with the goofy smile affectionately adorning his features.
"Wouldn't the heat warn him?" Peter asked baffled, honestly wondering about the teen's intelligence.
"That is a question", Derek huffed amused.
"Why, if he's like that do you like him? And I'm not questioning your preference; I'm asking you why you like him?" Peter wondered.
"Because", Derek shrugged.
"Loquacious aren't you", Peter huffed.
Derek scowled, "It's because of who he is, okay?!" he snapped, "I mean he's inherently curious about everything, he'd put his hand in a beehive for scientific reasons, and not care about the bees attacking. He reaches conclusions at a frightening pace; most of us are left in the dust, still wondering about the question by then he's already reached a solution", he listed and then turned around, "This game of contention between the packs, it's not about the Argents! It's about him!" he snapped trailing off he turned around, trying to gather his breath.
"It's about him?" Peter asked confused.
Derek sighed, "I don't care about politics, and hell neither does mom or Scott. No one cares about that, except maybe Deaton", he confessed weakly, "Uncle you haven't been here, sure you're steering mother in the right direction all subtle and with reverse psychology—" he laughed at Peter's expression, "Laura figured it out, she even told mom to be wary, but you obviously found out mom was wizening up, so you reverse-reverse psychology'd her", he frowned at the word, "But there are factions that aren't even related to both packs, who see him as a threat. My point is, this town needs him, and we may have demons coming but that's a blessing right now, it's given us time. Time to find a way to keep him here", he confessed weakly as they entered the area that warded them from any eavesdroppers and opened the path to the Hale vault.
"Why is he that coveted?" Peter asked quietly.
Derek barked a startled laugh, of all the questions, he expected it and yet, "Because if you have his loyalty, he would rend the world for you", Derek answered on a low whisper, the words barely audible.
Peter's eyes flashed and Derek huffed amused;
"Exactly", he breathed, pointing at him he hummed, "That's the emotion", he agreed.
That's the kind of Loyalty he inspires...
"One man cannot have that much power of us", Peter protested, it sounded weak even to Derek.
Derek shrugged, "And yet you witnessed the reaction of every single alpha in that room", he stated, "Deucalion hasn't even met him, yet", he smirked sharply, "You haven't even met him yet, and you're itching to", he observed amused, "Also Laura hates him", he grinned, "And that's more than enough reason to like him", he cheeked easily.
"About that", Peter hummed as he found the door, and released his claws, "I thought you and Laura were two peas in a pod", he muttered opening the door with is claws.
Derek cringed at the grating sound of the lock opening and he sighed, "We were, but I think I must have been eighteen, or well a few days after my eighteenth birthday, and Laura was admonishing me about something, honestly I couldn't tell you what, she spent two years after the fire just railing on me about anything and everything, even if I breathed wrong", he grumbled, "I love Laura she's my sister, she's my pack. But there's really no respect for her that I can carry—I really don't like her", he muttered.
Stiles had taught him, you can love someone and not like them at the same time.
"Anyway, she spent two years after the fire keeping such a close eye on me, it was borderline stifling", he confessed weakly, "I understood on a certain level why, she both hated the fact that I was the reason Kate almost—" he swallowed painfully, the words getting stuck in his throat, shaking his head he nodded gratefully at his uncle for waiting patiently for him to get the words out, "Anyway", he cleared his throat, "The second reason is she felt responsible I guess", he huffed shrugging.
"Why would Laura feel responsible?" Peter asked baffled. "This is Laura we're talking about, she doesn't feel responsible when she actively does something wrong", he reminded as they made their way through the tunnels in the vault.
Derek smirked; "I know, that's just it, she didn't know what she was feeling, but Stiles could, or did, he knew and he called her out on it. He was eleven", he laughed amused.
Peter turned to face him sharply, "That would mean Laura was twenty?!" he flailed
Derek genuinely grinned at that inwardly he hummed;
Trust Stiles to invoke that reaction... And they haven't even met each other...Oh God!!!
"Yup", he answered, "I was trying to ask mom if I could go to Columbia University because I got accepted there. And Laura kept interjecting, 'that sending a pack member out during such a fragile time period, would be a disaster' or 'We've just escaped death narrowly, we can't let go of our betas' and on and on and on", he grumbled still irritated even though it had been years since then, "Eventually Stiles who was doing homework a few paces away, and God knows when he snuck into mom's study—and scared the living daylights out of all three of us", he smirked when Peter turned to shoot him a look that could only be translated into, ""I have to re-train these brats!"" he continued;
"He's very good at doing that. Anyway he said it was the quietest place in the house, and he needed to concentrate on his Math and Chemistry without Cora and Scott throwing him off or launching at him for every answer", he recalled somewhat vividly, "Which I didn't think eleven-year-olds ever had to worry about before I met Stiles", he muttered a tad awed even years later.
Peter hummed, "Something tells me he wasn't studying Math and Chemistry for eleven-year-olds", he commented dryly.
Derek snorted, "That's terrifying that you know that", he huffed, and then whined, "Oh God, I don't want you two to meet, the world would implode", he huffed unconsciously echoing Anya.
"I think I should be offended on his behalf", Peter grumbled as he stopped in front of a sectioned off the wall, reading the map and mentally trying to locate in which direction Cora and the twins had been thrown into.
Derek laughed amused beyond reason, internally he screeched;
But you haven't even met him yet...
"So what happened?" Peter asked tracing the path on the map and then nodding to himself before turning left.
Derek hummed as they made their way through the tunnels, "Hm", he bit his lower lip and then continued, "After mom scolded him for skulking around in shadows", he snorted, "And he argued back; 'I was here first. How is it skulking, when you're the ones with heightened senses, so obviously missing me?' predictably", he laughed still amused, "Laura actually choked at his audacity, I don't think he cared. I mean he doesn't care at all, but he didn't care then either. There is a difference", he muttered struggling to make sense.
Peter nodded understanding; initially, Stiles hadn't cared what his alpha thought now he didn't care because she was still an Alpha, but not his.
"After that mom tried to usher him out and man did he take his sweet time before he even was pushed out of the room, really pushed, kind of like how in a cartoon someone tries to push a character out of the room, but science stops making sense", he stated, "Like that, he turned around and looked at Laura directly in the eye, and hummed, 'Do you keep making excuses because you really care, or because someone is going to find out about your lying skipping heart?' he asked. To say mom was shocked would be like saying the full moon affects werewolves", he snarked, "Or that pin drop silence meant silence alone", he snarked.
"You are very bad at making comparisons, but I catch your drift, so for the love of God, please stop!" Peter huffed slightly irked as he stopped at another quadrant and inspected the photo of the map frowning at it.
"You really don't like mazes do you?" Derek asked, "You've been off ever since everything went to Hell in a hand-basket", he muttered curiously.
Peter frowned weakly, "I'm rattled, I don't like feeling rattled", he grumbled irritably, "And being down here is very annoying to the senses", he grumbled as he paced between the underground pipes.
"Probably because of all the herbs and wolfsbane", Derek agreed as he watched Peter point to the left again and start walking.
"Hm... And what did he say to Laura?" Peter asked as they continued making their way.
Derek swallowed, "Mom asked what he meant to say, and if he was trying to pick a fight or cause some kind of chaos—and if you knew him at all, he's very good at that", he commented idly.
Peter snorted, "I noticed", he muttered, "He certainly does get everyone's attention almost immediately", he huffed and took a sudden left paused and walked back towards him turning right.
Derek shrugged and followed him, "He turned to Laura and with a look that would make a grown man either burst out laughing or cry if they understood why they were being looked at like that", he huffed still amused, "And goes, 'Are you afraid people are going to call you out because you actually feel guilty about not keeping a closer eye on your younger brother, or do you feel responsible that you knew, and you trusted everything would work itself out, and people won't find out that you knowingly let him date a hunter—an older woman to boot!' Yes... that's the reaction you get from Stiles. Get used to that", he smirked as Peter stopped moving entirely.
Derek waited as his uncle exhaled slowly and turned to face him, there was a dangerous look in his eyes, that caused his own hackles to rise but he stood his ground.
Peter breathed out slowly, and turned back around, "Continue", he ordered this time, the curiously amused uncle easily replaced with Pack Left Hand.
Derek nodded, "It's hard to question Stiles sometimes, his heart beats faster than an average human's, something about ADHD and how Adderall affects his heart, makes it hummingbird fast", he explained, "But Laura called him out on it, like an idiot, she sealed her own fate without even trying to be careful. It wasn't panic, panicking would imply she knew she'd been caught and was rushing to defend herself", he stated, "She wasn't panicking but she was angry, and when she demanded how we could trust a person who's heart could never have aided a wolf—", he paused, "—her words, mom asked her how she knew, and if she knew I was seeing Kate", he swallowed and forced himself to continue, "Mom asked her relentlessly until she yelled;
'YES!!! I knew okay. I knew I caught them, and I fell for it just as much as Derek did. She could spin a tale of woe like no one I'd ever met. I genuinely thought she cared about him. I thought Derek's really sweet; if anyone could melt a huntress' heart it would be him you know. How was I supposed to know she was going to try and kill us all? But, but I didn't just believe her blindly. I mean Romeo & Juliet – that was a tragedy you know'—", he paused and continued, "—she just kept talking, I can remember every single syllable, every letter, every word, every nuance of the words she used; 'So I knew it wouldn't end well, or if it could end right, so I went to Deaton!' she confessed. Mom, she didn't handle that well, you've always wondered right, why mom kicked Deaton to the curb? It was because of Stiles, he found out Deaton and Laura knew, and I think he wanted them to pay for something, I don't know", he shrugged weakly.
"He found out Deaton was a snake", Peter realized.
Derek swallowed, "Stiles doesn't like calling him a snake, says it's an insult to snakes", he muttered.
Peter laughed a dry amused, humorless laugh, "I think I can understand that", he muttered dryly.
Derek nodded again, even if Peter couldn't see it, "Anyway mom confronted Deaton, and he gave his usual spiel about balance and how he's just an overseer and is not someone who can change someone's fate", he laughed dryly, equally humorless.
"And the kid didn't say anything?" Peter asked curiously.
Derek shrugged understandingly, "He wasn't there when mom confronted Deaton, I was, and I told him. I mean I didn't want to tell him, but he has a way that drives a person up the wall. You either end up slamming him up against something to get him to shut up, or you just give in. After many wall-slamming incidents I just started giving in", he huffed.
"Seems like a wise decision", Peter drawled.
"Definitely for him, he's like this when he's normal, can you imagine him if he's brain gets even a little damaged?" he snarked worriedly, "I think he was dropped as a baby a lot, despite what his dad says, that's the only logical explanation for how he is now", Derek grumbled albeit affectionately.
Peter snorted amused, "He probably told you something?" he asked curiously taking a left again.
"Are we walking in a circle?" Derek asked.
"More like a semi-circle, we're headed to Cora don't worry, just through a very annoying route. I think all the herbs are in this quadrant of the damn vault", he grumbled irritably.
Derek snorted and then exhaled, "He called bullshit and huffed irritably, and quote, 'The man has cultivated too much power in Beacon Hills to be preaching about Balance. It doesn't even make sense, for all that he keeps telling you and Talia he's looking for balance, that's a load of crap, if Kate had been successful the scales would have been heavily tipped in The Hunter's favor' end quote. Which is logical", he pointed out, "After when the pack and the town were split down the middle, the first thing Stiles did was petition for an emissary that was not associated with the Hale pack. It wasn't an insult to anyone with half a brain cell, no matter what Laura says. Stiles always thinks ten steps ahead of anyone else, and he tells his former packmates to get counsel from the Ito-alpha–", he paused, "–if anything doesn't make sense", he informed rather pointlessly.
"But Laura disagrees", Peter noted.
"Peter you have to understand how Laura is, she would believe the devil rather than Stiles, if he walked up to her and said the exact opposite and it would likely result in the pack's death; She'll still trust the devil. Stiles has–" he exhaled, "–nitpicked everything she has ever said. I mean he hates her, hates her", he repeated emphatically, "He didn't trust she has the instinct or intelligence to be an alpha when he was eleven, or before that and he has watched her since, and she doesn't like being belittled since she practically grew up believing she'd be the Alpha. And we all know how that turned out when Walker and Clara both grew up to be alpha-potentials, not to mention both Clara and Walker were given responsibilities to showcase their leadership qualities today. Even Eric has it and Eric is five", he reminded him completely ardent in his explanation.
Peter grimaced not that Derek could blame him.
When Walker came to them and corrected an alpha that was attending a meeting with Talia and Deucalion. After he'd accidentally stumbled upon them he stayed back and ended up correcting their guest Alpha on a plan they'd made to circumvent an enemy attack.
It had saved Ennis' pack and made several people acknowledge Walker had alpha potential or at least could be a very good left-hand. But Walker has no bloodthirsty vibes and can't keep a secret to save his life, not to mention is too straight forward and would end up blurting things out rather than act spy-like, so alpha potential but no left-hand tendencies.
Peter sighed heavily, "So you're grudging friends?" he asked.
"I don't think you can be, grudging anything when it comes to Stiles. It's all or nothing with him", he answered, "If you're lucky enough to be chosen by him, you're his", he shrugged scent going gooey with warmth.
Peter smiled and nodded, "And he chose you", he acknowledged.
"He has my loyalty Peter, so if you hurt him, I may not be able to beat you in a fight, but I will find a way to kill you", he promised holding his own.
Peter stopped and turned his head, he didn't look back but he hummed, "Acknowledged", he answered. He looked around and then hummed, "This way"; he said and stopped in front of an elevator like door.
As the doors closed he sighed, "But to answer your question, Stiles treats me like I'm his little brother, which I know age-wise it's practically impossible, but I like being pampered by him", he offered with a grin, "See for a long time after the fire, a lot of the pack treated me like I was the kind of monster that made hunters seem like saints by comparison, and worse than that, I was basically treated like a live bomb — Do Not Touch: Will explode!" he laughed, "I didn't know it was Laura's idea as she played Russian Roulette in the pack", he started to explain.
As soon as the door opened to the floor beneath them Peter turned and gave him his full attention a scowl set in like he knew Derek would probably never have the heart to say this in daylight or above ground, he smirked less than what the grimace no doubt projected.
Derek walked past him too much of a coward to face his Favorite Uncle — a title he'd never even awarded, everything important in their lives was almost never conveyed.
"She made everyone think she was my whole support system, and that I only wanted her around. That I could only talk to her. And she spent two years just pushing me down, if it weren't for Stiles, I don't think I'd be sane, and if anything had happened to Laura, I don't think I would have handled it very well until that moment in time", he explained.
Peter opened his mouth to say something but Derek had already continued;
"I think I was being bullied, but I didn't know it, I just thought the pack hated me, and I couldn't connect with them because of my inability to string two words together and appeal coherently. Trust Stiles, to basically reject all notions of propriety, even before I knew him, he sat next to me, forced me to acknowledge that even if I might end up slamming his fragile body into a tree or a wall, he wasn't going to leave my side. Forced me to read to him, play chess with him, I think he's the only person who would sit next to a feral wolf let alone someone who's been treated like an omega werewolf and ask said werewolf, 'do you think the Mad Hatter may be the most sanest person in the entire story?' and expect you to answer", he laughed amused still.
Peter smiled softly.
He saved your soul...
"So after that mom sent Laura to Alpha Ito to get boot-camp training in how to be a good beta, never mind alpha candidate", he sighed heavily. "I understand on certain levels what she was thinking because mom couldn't concentrate on her and juggle my therapy treatments and the fact the pack was dividing down the seams thanks to Scott's obvious entanglements with others, and obviously she didn't acknowledge or respect or even thank Stiles for how heavily she leaned on him during crisis" he paused and then shook his head putting his thoughts back in order "I trust him", he confessed simply. "Stiles would never betray me that's just simple fact. And it's why Laura and I don't get along as well, I can't, no, I just don't trust her", he stated simply. "Anyway I went to Columbia thanks to Stiles, and then we became friends", he shrugged happily.
"But with fractured pack bonds", Peter stated.
Derek hummed, "Trust you to understand that", he agreed and exhaled, "After when the pack and town were divided he still treated me like a very younger brother. And I let him; it got tiring trying to be the younger brother to Laura and Andrew. Because Laura took out her anger on me, and neither Laura nor Andrew cared enough to see I was breaking apart at the seams. And Cora and Clara spent all their years trying to get close to me, without actually trying. They expected too much from me as an elder brother, and I obviously failed them — History certainly repeated itself", he smiled tightly. "And I like Walker; for all that Walker is pack, it's hard to see him as a brother. And of all our pack siblings, I like Miki the most, and that is probably because she doesn't ask too many questions and we understand each other as we operate on the same wavelength", he listed, "But yes, there are fractured pack bonds, and they hurt, like having a severed off limb, it won't heal and it won't allow me to forget the pain. Stiles isn't like that", he answered quietly.
"Because the pack bond is active through him", Peter said.
"Yes. I may not be a part of The McCall pack and Stiles may not be a part of The Hale pack, but before Stiles left The Hale pack (and now The McCall pack) he told me, 'Come hell or High water there is nothing on this planet that can break our pack bond. So you have nothing to worry about there!' is what he said. And everyone knows we hang out and Laura can crib and gripe her way through it, but it's not going to change", he said.
They continued in silence for a beat and then Derek hummed;
"Now all I have to worry about is that if he somehow manages to survive this demon, which part of my Loft wall, I should throw him through and make sure it sticks in his puny little brain that if it has bigger teeth than him, he should just run!!!" he hissed angrily, "That idiot!" he grumbled and continued cursing as they reached their final crossroad, hopefully.
Peter snorted and walked straight as he listened to his nephew rant about intricate bondage knots and comfortable chairs, and as painful as The Notebook is, to invest in strong ear-muffs as he forces Stiles to watch that monstrosity and maybe throw in Prometheus and every other bad movie he can think of, Cora would help.
Peter hummed internally wondering;
Now, all we have to do is actually find Cora, do we go left or right? Ugh, one day I am going to find the Vault's architect and I am going to rip his throat out!!!
xXxXx
Author's Note:
Hey Guys! I hope this Quarantine isn't driving anyone completely insane. Anyway, here we go to Chapter 12, a little insight on how Derek thinks, and Peter's relationship with his pack members.
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