117

Four drenched teenagers rushed into the animal clinic, their clothes and hair dripping, a change of scenery compared to the hot desert they had visited this weekend. Two girls rushed ahead as they called for the veterinarian they knew well, Deaton soon rushing to their aid. He'd heard the desperate calls of the group many times, he had begun to expect them nearly every time the bell rang, but some things even took a man with his experience by surprise. His feet came to a halt as he reached the reception area, looking past the two girls who had moved aside, revealing the set of boys behind them, Scott and Stiles holding an unconscious Derek Hale on their backs. Deaton hadn't seen that in a long time, since Derek was actually supposed to be a teenager. Once it had sunk in Deaton urged them to continue through the clinic, asking Noelle to flip over the sign, the clinic definitely wasn't open any longer, this problem topped every animal problem that Beacon Hills could possibly have. 

Scott and Stiles placed the unconscious young wolf on the table, taking a step back to stand next to the two girls who were still staring at Derek with complete shock, unsure how to react to it, all of this was still crazy to them, to all of them. The entire car ride home had been silent, unlike the drive to La Iglesia, nobody wanted to have all of their questions answered, they were too scared to know what Kate had done to Derek. They thought starting a fire that killed all of those people was as twisted as the woman could get, but this was an entire new level, something they simply couldn't wrap their heads around. Nor did they want to.

Deaton stood in silence, his hand to his mouth as he stared down at the young wolf on his table, Noelle and Lydia wore the same expression, keeping their distance from Derek, of course, Nellie gravitated towards Scott as she cowered behind him, this was her first time seeing Kate at work, and so far, she was far from enjoying it. The entire way home she wondered if this was what her future would look like, Kate had started off setting fires, now she was kidnapping werewolves to age backward, perhaps that was what she would progress to, maybe in some sick way Kate was similar to her. Two halves of the same coin. 

Wow, Deaton mumbled, the only word he could say to sum up how he felt when he looked at the wolf, he was quite literally lost for the words to say. Usually, he could pull a pocket full of tales of things like this that he had seen before, but this, this was different, new, terrifying. 

"Wow? Wow as in, "I've seen this before and I know exactly what to do," kind of wow?" Stiles had frantically asked the man. "'Cause that's the kind of wow we're hoping for."

"I think you might be overestimating my abilities," Deaton admitted.

Noelle stepped forward as she looked down at Derek, taking a hold of his hand, wondering if she should be calling Cora right now, asking her to return to Beacon Hills, this was the girl's brother, it was the kind of thing that she deserved to know. Or was that exactly what Kate wanted? For all of the Hale's to be back in one place so she could finish what she had started six years ago? Scott could see that the blonde girl was considering it, she often talked about Cora, how she wished to see more of the girl, a promise they had made to each other but were yet to follow through on. It was hard to find the time in her busy life that was crumbling apart. Noelle told the man how cold Derek was, unusually cold for a werewolf, thanks to her close, confusing relationship with Scott, it was common knowledge for her that wolves generated their own warmth. Deaton felt his hand for himself, he was too shocked by the temperature of the wolf. And he didn't know what to do. 

The Alpha asked if this was permanent, something he had been thinking about a lot on the drive back to Beacon Hills, would they ever see the twenty-three-year-old Derek who tormented them while protecting them as if they were his annoying siblings, or would they be stuck with the teen version of him? Someone who looked even younger than they did. 

Deaton checked over the wolf, shining a light in his eyes, he didn't think that a medical diagnosis was even adequate for a situation like this, it was well beyond his experience. Lydia asked what to do with him, but until he woke up, Deaton couldn't see what much there was to do, though he suggested that they leave him here at the clinic. He would be safe here.

"You mean from Kate?" Stiles deadpanned.

Deaton nodded, still shocked to even hear a sentence like that after so long of believing that she was dead. "If Kate is alive and she is what you say she is, then she won't be able to walk past that gate." He told them, hoping they should find some comfort in that. 

"Why would she want to do this to him?" Noelle asked, she didn't care who answered, whether it be Deaton or the other three in the room who had a little more insight into Kate than she did, the three people who might have even the slightest of an incline into the ways that she thought. 

"Knowing Kate, it's probably for a reason that won't be good for anyone but her." He answered.

Stiles scoffed at the comment, from what he knew about the woman, he didn't doubt that, Kate had never done anything for anyone but herself, he had known many selfish people in his life, it wasn't as though the world was running out of them, but he had never known anyone to exceed the level of selfishness that Kate met. The room fell quiet as they all looked back at Derek, there was a concern in all of them, but it was clear who feared his safety most. They all saw the look in Noelle's eye, one that they'd seen before after they had pulled her away from her dead brother's body, when the sobbing had stopped and the pain had truly begun she was left with the look she had now. Like she felt empty. She had lost a brother, Derek had been like a brother to her too, he was like family, they had bonded over their shared love for Cora, but the wolf had quickly grown a soft spot for the blonde girl. They were all worried for the wolf, of course they were, but also for the girl who was at risk of losing another person who felt like family to her. 

Deaton suggested that the four teenagers head home and sleep, they needed it, deserved it, and Derek didn't seem to be in any kind of danger. They had school in the morning, and as he told all of them before- they had to start taking care of their own lives again, something they all chose to neglect way too often. Despite that warning, Scott suggested that at least one of them stay here, to watch over Derek in case anything happened. Noelle offered first, she could keep both Deaton and Derek safe if Kate did show up, and the woman didn't know her, perhaps that would provide an advantage. Though she made a good point, Stiles disagreed with the idea, he wasn't entirely comfortable with her staying here, or any of them for that matter. Scott wasn't either, they didn't know how strong Kate was, or just how much she wanted something from Derek, there wouldn't be a second thought about killing Noelle if she got in the way of that. 

Lydia stepped up, offering to stay instead, she could afford to miss a day of school, Noelle, on the other hand, was still playing catch up from missing two years of her school career. She needed it, every moment she could possibly get at school, her past could only get her so far, there was only so much leniency the school could give. She had to try. Noelle looked down at the hand she was yet to let go of, she knew that Derek would be safe in Lydia and Deaton's care, but until both had reassured her once more that he would be fine without her here she couldn't let go. 

"Go." Lydia urged her softly, a smile across her face. "I'll call you if anything happens. I promise."

While the blonde finally released Derek's hand, accepting it, Stiles still had plenty of arguments to make, he didn't like the idea of Lydia being here alone without any defense mechanism, this was all ridiculous, they should all be hiding Derek somewhere nowhere, not even Kate would be able to find him, wherever that might be. As the boy made all of his arguments the redhead girl gave Scott a tilt of the head, signaling for some help with Stiles, Scott nodded as he grabbed the boy's shoulder, beginning to drag him out of the clinic while Noelle followed behind, pushing his chest as some extra help. Even then, Stiles shouted his arguments with some intervals of strong disagreement against Scott being able to use his Alpha strength on him. 

After being safely returned home by Stiles, who had continued complaining the entire time, the druid and werewolf snuck back into the McCall house through the back door, working their way through the dark. As soon as they stepped into the dining room they noticed that the furniture was missing, replaced by metal bowls that caught the droplets of water from the steady leak in the roof, someone had clearly been doing some light construction. Scott held out a hand for her as he tried to help guide her through the dark house, stepping over the bowls left scattered over the floor, they stepped carefully, but Scott had stopped all of a sudden. He looked into the living room to see his father sleeping on the couch, a blanket thrown over him, now it was clear who'd set up a construction sight in the living room- the man who had spent the past few weeks trying to make up for his absence in his son's life. 

As he kept his eyes on his father Scott stepped forward, Noelle opened her mouth to stop him, a toolbox sitting at his feet, but before she had the chance he had already tripped over it, the tools inside clattering loudly, startling Rafael awake as he jumped up from the couch. 

"Scott? Nell?" Rafael mumbled hoarsely, rubbing his eyes to adjust to the darkness. 

"Hey, Dad." The boy retorted as he placed the tools back into the box, Noelle providing a wave as she stood behind the wolf, things were still quite awkward for her and the man thanks to her and Scott, but even more so since he had found out the truth about Camila. "What's with the tools?"

"Oh, I was just, uh, getting started on a list of repairs that you guys need done." He explained in a mumble as he began approaching them, still in a daze. "What time is it?"

While Scott stammered to think of a more appropriate time than four o'clock in the morning, the blonde girl turned around the small clock that sat near the house phone, midnight, they called it instead. That seemed more appropriate than the truth, neither wanted to be answering the kind of invasive questions that Rafael commonly asked in an attempt to be more prominent in Scott's life, sometimes a little too prominent. Rafael reminded his son of a deal that they had made, the two of them, which usually ended up being all three of them, were supposed to have dinner with each other whenever Melissa had a night shift. So far, they had only stuck to it once, and what an awkward experience that was for the three of them. Rafael didn't know how to approach the two teenagers, he wasn't sure what they were. Friends? Dating? A couple? He couldn't quite figure it out. They acted like they were dating, they cared for each other like a couple, but they acted like they were nothing more than friends, an act that everyone saw straight through considering all of the things that they had been through. Frankly, they didn't believe themselves when they said it, but with the complications of their relationship, friends seemed like the easiest box to tick. 

Scott lied again, telling his father that he had forgotten about the dinner, explaining that they'd only just returned from their camping trip, the cover-up for retrieving Derek from Mexico, Nellie added to the lie, telling Rafael that there were some things Scott had to finish up at the clinic so she chose to tag along with him. He seemed to believe their lies as he nodded, rescheduling the dinner for tomorrow night, the three of them, he emphasized. The two teens nodded, beginning to walk upstairs. As they did, Rafael asked if they managed to eat. Both of them froze again, they hadn't, but they couldn't tell him that. They had, Noelle told him, Mexican, to be precise. 

With as little as two hours of sleep behind them, Scott and Stiles walked through the school, the two still had dark circles surrounding their eyes, neither as awake as they should be for students who needed to start focusing on their own lives. The two tried to perk themselves with the fresh air and the thrilling topic of girls- a pair of teenage boys' favorite conversation topic. They had to use this precious time, it was rare that they had the opportunity to talk about girls, much to both of their surprise, they were surrounded by them, if they weren't with all four of the girls that they called friends at least one of them was usually somewhere in their vicinity. Now, they knew that it was just the two of them. Lydia was at the clinic with Derek and Deaton, and Noelle specifically told them that she was meeting up with Malia and Kira to help the coyote study more before the day started. It was now or never. 

Stiles began the conversation with Malia, it wasn't long after he had crawled into bed after giving the wolf and Noelle a ride home that he turned over in bed to find Malia beside him, she'd snuck into his room, again, and once again, he hadn't even noticed. The wolf failed to see what was so wrong with that, it sounded like something the boy would usually love, and he admitted, it was, he had always dreamed about having a girl in his bed and for it not to be Noelle helping him look at his crime board. Scott asked what happened after Malia crawled into bed with him, Stiles gave a visual answer as he pulled up his shirt, Scott's eyes widened at all of the scratch marks over his back, claw marks even. He chose not to ask for emphasis on how he had gained them exactly, he felt as though the answer was obvious enough. 

Still, Scott couldn't see what Stiles had to complain about. But Stiles's re-telling of the nights the coyote snuck into his room didn't end there. After he had gained all of the scratches on his back, the two of them were spooning, Scott gave the boy yet another confused look until Stiles said it was him who was being spooned. He was always the little spoon.

With all the information Scott could only come to one conclusion, that they were officially dating now, that they were together. They certainly acted like it. More than he had known apparently. It was still a grey area for Stiles, he shrugged, unsure how to define it, he felt that every time Malia looked at him it was like she knew that he wasn't telling her something. Scott knew what he was referring to- the girl being Peter's daughter, they needed to tell her, they just didn't know how to do it. Even Noelle, the person who knew Malia best was struggling to figure out how. Stiles used the mention of the blonde girl to swiftly move the topic onto her, returning Scott's question. 

"So what's going on with the two of you exactly?" He asked. "Are you two dating or?"

Like he had, Scott shrugged. "I don't know." The wolf admitted, it was clear by his tone that that answer disappointed him.

"Have you talked about the night that you two... you know, yet?" 

"No." Scott shook his head. "I want to but- What if she doesn't feel the same way about me that I do about her?"

Stiles laughed abruptly, bent over double he found it so hilarious, Scott stopped, raising a brow at him, he couldn't see how his potential humiliation of unrequited feelings was so funny to the boy. It was the lack of shared laughter that made Stiles realize that his best friend wasn't joking, he really thought that there was a chance that Noelle would reject him. "You're an idiot." Stiles deadpanned, taking the wolf by surprise. "Scott, she likes you, trust me. Just... Be a man. Be an Alpha." He encouraged him as they walked into their history class, the blonde girl waiting for the two of them in her usual seat, smiling at them as they walked in. 

As they sat down on either side of her, Mr. Yukumura began his class on the great historic leaders who had failed spectacularly before they succeeded, he laid out hints about one of them, they'd failed at business, had a nervous breakdown, and was defeated for both houses of congress, he even lost as a candidate for Vice President before eventually being elected as one of the greatest presidents that their country had ever seen. Finally, he asked who knew the man that he talked about was, a few hands soared into the air, amongst them was Stiles who didn't need to do all of last night's reading to know the answer. He turned to look at the blonde beside him, giving her a wink, proud of himself as she rolled her eyes, show off, she called him. 

Mr. Yukimura looked across the sea of raised hands, his eyes landed on a particular girl who kept her head down as she sat behind Noelle, she flicked through her highlighter-filled book, another highlighter in her mouth for easy access. Amongst all of the well-prepared people, it was the girl who hadn't even heard his question that he chose. The entire class turned to Malia as she raised her head, it was clear that she was taken by surprise, she looked at Noelle for some assistance, a little whisper of the answer perhaps. Mr. Yukimura repeated his question, Malia began searching through her book for the answer, looking between Noelle and Stiles for help, they both tried, but Malia wasn't the best at lip-reading. 

Scott's phone began ringing on his desk, distracting Mr. Yukimura for a moment as he yelled for it to be turned off but he quickly turned back to Malia, giving her a clue, Gettysburg Address. It only confused her more as her eyes widened at Noelle, desperate for help as she flicked through her book to look for the answer. Beside her, Kira waved her hand around the air trying to get her father's attention, she had done the reading, she could give him the answer in seconds, and she could have done it without the reading too. 

Stiles's phone began ringing on his desk, he rushed to turn it off as Yukimura stared at him with a disapproving look, this time before he turned back to Malia, he told the entire class to turn their phones off, and they all began to, all but the two girls who were trying to get him his answer. The coyote was still flicking through her books for the answer while Noelle tried to help her find it at a faster speed. Malia was asked again, now, he was simply ignoring his daughter's waving out of spite, Kira could see that now as she threw herself back in her seat with a groan. For a third time, a phone rang, vibrating against the wooden desks, with a furrowed brow Noelle turned to it, the name that appeared on her phone bringing her immediate worry. Lydia. Without knowing what the man had told them all, Noelle held up her phone to her teacher, silently asking to take it out in the hallway. He didn't provide her an answer, only a stare but she could see the answer- No.

As soon as her phone stopped ringing, another began, they all looked around the room for who had become the victim this time, Yukimura began losing his temper as he yelled, only this time Kira interrupted him, it was his phone that was ringing. With a slightly embarrassed chuckle the man nodded, she was right, he picked up the phone, his brow furrowing at the text message he had received. He looked back up at the blonde girl. Call Lydia, he deadpanned. Noelle gathered her belongings quickly, rushing for the door as she dialed the redhead's number again, the two boys followed her, Kira's father didn't try to stop them, he knew it was useless. He had become used to this by now. Where one of them went, they all went. 

Sheriff Stilinski was walking through his station when he overheard the familiar of Derek Hale in the mouths of two of his deputies, with that name his feet had come to an immediate halt as he wondered what had happened now. He joined in on their conversation as he looked at what was on Haigh's computer, Derek's record. The man gave a small shake of the head, if he had a dollar for every time that he had to bail him or Argent out of jail all of those Eichen bills would be gone. Parrish explained that there must have been a malfunction going on, explaining that a teenager across the room was bringing up Derek Hale whenever they scanned his fingerprints. Noah took a glance at the boy across the room, sitting in handcuffs, he looked back at the computer to the image of Derek, the Derek that he knew, he was back and forth between the two images, trying to work out what was going on. Eventually, the man needed a closer look as he knelt down right in front of the confused wolf who remained with a furrowed brow, he closely examined all of the little details of his face before returning to the computer, his eyes widening. With a lip curled up in anger he was about to ask for the three teenagers he knew had an involvement in all of this to be called, but they had already gotten the memo, because at that exact moment his son barged through the door, Scott and Noelle closely behind him. 

I'll handle this, Sheriff Stilinski told his deputies as he gestured for the three teenagers to follow him. Before he had gotten too far Parrish stopped him again. "Oh, by the way, Sheriff." He began as the man turned to look at him, as did the teenagers. "There's some woman waiting for you in your office, she said that it's something about her daughter, that you know her." 

Simultaneously, their heads turned to the man's office, Noelle swung the door open. As soon as the word daughter was mentioned, that someone had come to the station to talk about her she had had a feeling that she would be the daughter in question, and she was right. Darby stood in the office with folded arms, spinning around at the sound of the door opening, a breath of relief when she saw Noelle in the doorway. And also slight anger. 

For a while, Stilinski sat on the edge of his desk in silence, trying to figure out the words to say if his assumptions were right, in the meantime, he let Darby take the stage as she lectured Noelle. The young blonde knew exactly what she had done wrong from the moment she saw Darby, she hadn't called since before they left for Mexico, the woman was worried sick about her, she knew of her past, the kidnappings, for all she had known, someone had taken her again. Once Noelle's apology had been given, a lecture turned to something else. 

"I'm your mother, Noelle. You can't just disappear for days without a call or text. Maybe you were allowed to do that with Camila but not me. I care, and I want to know that you're safe." Nell gave her a nod of understanding, she knew that she should have done that, she had just become used to only having to tell Melissa what she was up to. "I know that you probably think that I'm acting a little dramatic because it was just some camping trip but-" The three teens suddenly looked as though they were riddled with guilt at the mention of a camping trip, the excuse they had given to all of their parents, now, it was becoming clear to the adults that that was a lie. "You didn't go camping, did you?" She asked, the teenagers remained silent as Darby turned to the Sheriff, now it was his turn to take over, to figure out what the hell had happened this weekend. 

The man stood up, taking a deep breath as he prepared himself to hear something that he didn't know that he quite wanted to hear, every time they told him something about the supernatural it seemed to get worse"I want you to be honest with me. Absolutely, and completely honest." He begun. Noelle and Scott nodded in agreement, they could do that. But Stiles was weary, unsure he was willing to be completely honest. "Have you been time traveling?" He asked, leaving each of the teenagers and even Darby dumbfounded, trying to work out how the man had worked up to that conclusion. "Because if time traveling is real, you know what, I'm done. I'm out. You're going to be driving me to Eichen House."

"We found him like that," Scott told the man.

"Where?" Noah asked, standing up. "Swimming in the fountain of youth?"

Stiles shook his head, disagreeing, that would have been enough, but he continued, the boy told his father that they found him buried in a tomb of wolfsbane in some old Aztec temple in Mexico underneath a church in the middle of a town that was destroyed by an Earthquake. Scott bowed his head, wishing that Stiles would shut up while Noelle innocently smiled and nodded at Darby and the Sheriff, hoping that if she smiled enough, they wouldn't kill them. They should have just rolled with the fountain of youth, it sounded simpler, nicer. 

They could already see the fury behind Noah's eyes as he looked at them, he was yet to hear the rest of the story, how Derek had come to be the way he was. He was yet to find out about Kate, a woman that he had declared dead, that he attended the funeral of too. If the idea of his son and the other two sneaking off to Mexico wasn't enough to send the man spiraling, Kate Argent rising from the ashes was bound to. Scott thought they were going to keep details to a minimum, more so for Noah and Darby's sake than their own, but it seemed it was already too late for that, more than enough had been revealed to the adults. 

Luckily, both adults were caught up on a specific detail of Stiles's explanation. Mexico. He could vividly remember standing in the doorway of his son's bedroom, watching him pack for this so-called camping trip that they were all going on, when Stiles had failed to mention that they were planning on going all the way to Mexico. Darby had a similar experience, Noelle had visited her on Friday afternoon, when she always came to visit, she had mentioned camping too, Mexico on the other hand, had slipped from their conversation. 

With frustration clear in his voice, Noah shouted at his son, reminding him of the lie that he said before he left, how he had told him they were going camping. Stiles argued back, telling him the six of them were camping, in Mexico. That hadn't eased his father's anger in the slightest, Noah pointed a finger at him, prepared to kill his own son.

Before he could, Noelle intervened, telling the man that Derek had aged backwards, so now, the wolf couldn't remember a thing, including the fire at the Hale house. Scott added that right now, them fixing it depended on them being able to talk to him. Sheriff Stilinski sighed as he sat back on his desk, telling them that Derek wasn't talking to any of his deputies, he doubted that Derek would talk to any of them either. Scott and Stiles thought otherwise, both turned to look at Nell, she was looking through the window once again, Derek looking back at her. He would talk to her. They were sure of it. Noah looked at the woman who had joined them, the one with experience when it came to the supernatural, but even with that experience, she had known nothing about age regression, or people rising from the dead. But she too believed that her daughter might be able to get the regressed wolf to talk, in getting to know her daughter, Derek's name was a topic a handful of times, him and his little sister, Cora. It was clear that the two of them were close, it might just be the bond that they needed to get to him now.

Noah nodded as he agreed to bring Derek in, hesitantly, he left the wolf alone with the teenagers while he and Darby waited outside, the woman was curious as to how often she could expect her daughter to get herself into trouble like this. Very often, Noah told her. 

"Why would I go anywhere with you?" Derek asked the girl kneeling in front of him. The two who stood behind her kept sharing nervous looks with one another, questioning if she could actually get Derek to trust her after knowing him for only four months of knowing the real Derek. It would be an achievement if she did, Derek didn't trust easily. 

"There was an accident." Noelle softly told him. "You lost some memory but I, we, can help get it back." She continued as she gestured to the boys sitting behind her, both agreeing with her.

"How much memory?"

The blonde paused for a moment, trying to figure out how to put it, how much detail she should be giving him. A lot, she told him gently, but he could trust them. Of course, her word alone had failed to convince him, he needed proof, proof that she knew they could provide. She called the wolf over, nodding at him, that simple nod had informed him of what he needed to do, she was willing to show him what they could do, if that would win him over, she had no other choice but to show the teenage wolf that they were all alike. Scott knelt down beside the girl, with another nod the two turned back to Derek with their eyes glowing, Scott's his red, signaling his position in his pack, Noelle's her usual flaming orange.

Derek sat back in his seat, his jaw dropped. "You're an Alpha." He mumbled as he looked at the fellow wolf. "And you're a..."

"A Druid." Noelle filled in the blank for him, but that wasn't important. "Let us help you." 

He shook his head, folding his arms, providing them with the typical Hale strop that they'd seen even from a fully-grown Derek, Cora had that same strop too, and luckily, Noelle was used to the attitude every single person in that family had now. It would take more than that for her to back off. Stiles stepped in, seeing that this wasn't going as well as they had hoped, he reminded Derek that he almost tore apart two cops, that he needed to listen to them, it started with no fangs, no claws, and no wolfman. Derek agreed to those conditions, as long as it wasn't a full moon. Scott looked at him with concern, asking whether he still had trouble with the full moon, it was clear it could be a problem, but the young wolf reassured them that it was fine. 

"Are you coming with us or not?" Stiles asked, he wasn't as sympathetic as Noelle and Scott had tried to be with him, frankly, he wasn't in the mood for babysitting, he hadn't been before seeing the second notice from Eichen on his father's desk, but now he really wasn't in the mood. 

"You want me to trust you?" Derek questioned the three of them. "Where's my family?" At first, it was a question he directed to the blonde girl, but then, he remembered what Scott showed him, his Alpha eyes, he was the one with the answers. He was sure of it. Noelle was prepared to lie for them, but Scott placed a hand on her arm, nodding at her, he would do it. 

At first, he told the truth, telling Derek that there was a fire, his honesty took Stiles and Nellie by surprise as they shared looks from behind the wolf, unsure how he planned to handle all of the aftermath that was sure to follow. And then, as they shared their looks, Scott took a sharp turn, something had made him change his mind, he began to lie, that his family were fine, that they'd just had to move out and soon, they would take him back to them, but first, they had to find out how to get his memories back. Derek nodded with tears in his eyes, as soon as Noelle saw them it was clear what made Scott change his mind so abruptly, as Stiles prepared to leave the office the young wolf stopped them all, he had one condition. The two boys cringed as they waited for it, dreading what he would come up with, what he would make them do, but Derek's condition was simple. He would be staying with the blonde girl. Noelle pointed at herself, puzzled why he wanted to stay with her, but Derek nodded, admitting that he trusted her. And that he wanted to find out what orange eyes meant. 

With a slight smile Noelle agreed, she would stay with him, and eventually, she would show him what those glowing eyes meant. The boys were surprised by that, she hadn't used her abilities in a long time, and yet, she was willing to show Derek them again, to use them in an instant where her life or those of the ones she loved didn't depend on it. 

Scott and Stiles watched from afar as Derek arranged his release with Haigh while Noelle hadn't strayed too far, she was still trying to convince Darby that she would be a better daughter, she'd text from now on, and if she was up to supernatural mayhem, she would admit it. Darby wasn't sure that she always wanted to know just how much danger the girl had gotten herself into, but she appreciated the honesty, and how willing she was to make things right. 

"I shouldn't have done that." Scott deadpanned. "I lied my ass off."

"Hey, you're ass is fine. You saved him a ton of unnecessary pain." Stiles reassured him. "We will figure this out in a day or two, and he goes back to being old Derek, everyone's happy. Except for Derek, who's never happy."

Scott sighed, it was just another person that they were lying to. He always felt it was better when they told the truth, listing off Lydia, his mom, and Stiles's dad. Things had gotten easier for them since they had told them, but it was clear that this wasn't just about Derek, Scott was finding it a little hard to keep lying to Malia too, he spoke about it almost every day, waiting for Stiles or Nell to finally give up the charade they were playing, to agree that it was time to tell her.

Any other time, Stiles might have been inclined to agree, but this was Derek Hale, maybe he was a kid right now, but he was still Derek Hale, they were like bombs, they had to be careful on how they dismanelted them, otherwise, it would blow up in their face. That applied to Malia too. The Alpha nodded, coming up with a plan. He told him to take Derek and Noelle back to his house, in the meantime, he was going to talk to the person he should have gone to before. Stiles knew the guy in question. He hated that guy. 

As Scott told him to, he took Derek back to the house with Noelle, giving the wolf strict orders as they walked in, they partly applied to Noelle too, but mostly to the wolf. They were going to wait quietly, they weren't going to call or talk to anyone. Derek asked if he could talk to them, but the boy insisted that that was forbidden too. No talking to him. And no talking to Noelle. No talking. Noelle shook her head from behind Stiles, whispering that he could ignore Stiles, though he had planned on doing that anyway. So his next question was for her. Could they talk to the man who waited in the kitchen? Stiles turned to look at who he was talking about, jumping out of his skin at the sight of Rafael McCall.

"Ah! Are you getting taller?" The boy freaked out, waving his arms around.

"What are you guys doing here?" Rafael asked.

"I live here." Noelle deadpanned as she raised a hand, but it was clear that he didn't need her to clarify that, he saw her here enough, it was kind of obvious that she lived here by now. He didn't live under a rock, entirely. "Oh, them." She chuckled nervously, waiting for Stiles to help. 

Derek answered instead, telling him that they were waiting for Scott, immediately breaking their whole no-speaking rule. But they all knew it would happen sooner or later, just not to Rafael of all people. Rafael was waiting for Scott too, and the blonde girl, reminding her of the dinner the two of them had agreed to last night. Noelle chuckled weakly. They were screwed, how was she supposed to explain why she was here but Scott wasn't, she had nothing. But he didn't ask, the man simply held up his takeout bag, telling them that he had brought extra if the two boys were hungry and wanted to join them. 

Rafael received two different answers to his questions, while Stiles had declined, Derek jumped at the offer, even after Stiles had jabbed him in the side, nothing was going to stop him from his stomach being filled, and for free, too? He couldn't deny it. He was starving. Noelle kept a bowed head as she wondered how Stiles could even find an excuse to bicker with Derek when he was a teenager, no matter what age it seemed the two would be at one another's throats. 

"Neither of us are hungry, thanks though." Stiles finally spat out, a hand over Derek's mouth. 

"Okay..." Rafael mumbled, once again, ignoring Stiles's awkwardness. "Well, if you're not hungry your friend can still eat with us. What's your name?" He asked, nodding at the boy he hadn't saw before. Stiles jumped in again before Derek could answer. Miguel, he told him. Noelle and Derek looked at him with furrowed brows. His cousin Miguel, from Mexico. Another sigh came from the blonde girl as she shook her head, why had Scott left her here? She would prefer to be in Peter's presence than watch this train wreck. 

Slightly confused, Rafael turned to Miguel, starting to speak fluent Spanish, a dread washed over Stiles and Noelle as both realized they didn't know Spanish, they had no idea what Rafael said to him, or what Derek said back as he answered him, much to their surprise, he wasn't fluent in the language too. A language Noelle was considering learning from now on. The only thing that they understood from the conversation was Rafael offering Derek an egg roll, in English. The wolf had practically skipped to the dinner table to eat with the man while Stiles was left at a loss, unsure how he was going to get out of this. Noelle shrugged, how bad could it be? 

·❥·

Scott pulled up to the loft on his bike, prepared to face Peter and ask him the questions that they should have been asking along, he had his expectations for this meeting, such as being met with an unhelpful werewolf, as per usual, but amongst his list of expectations Malia waiting for him at the loft was not one of them. She stood with her arms folded, waiting patiently for his arrival, on behalf of her blonde best friend who had asked her to keep an eye on him, it was about time that she met the werewolf that they had told her so much about. Satan in a v-neck, as Nell and Lydia often called him. He could handle Peter alone, that the two girls knew, but he could handle him better with Malia. The Alpha was on edge as he walked into the building, Peter hadn't met Malia before, though he knew her name, he just didn't know that his daughter had been so close after months of knowing that she existed. 

Malia had noticed as they walked into the loft that Scott's heart was pounding, she could hear it over everything else, she asked him what was wrong with him, his heart wouldn't beat so fast if there was nothing wrong, but he insisted it was nothing. She asked him if he was nervous, she'd heard many things about Peter Hale, she wouldn't be surprised if Scott was nervous.

A voice came from the left, the two teenagers turning their heads. Malia immediately knew that it was Peter, he was wearing a v-neck, reading a book, he didn't even bother to turn their way as he insisted that Scott was just bad at introductions, explaining his nervousness.

"Peter," Scott mumbled, turning to the brunette girl beside him. He was struggling to spit it out as he looked at her, knowing he might regret saying it. But he did. "This is Malia." 

The man's face dropped slightly as he looked at the girl, closing his book. He stood up, hoping to get a better look at the girl, his daughter, according to a particular Banshee. He was fascinated, a clear look of astonishment across his face as Scott took a step back. Malia didn't move, allowing the man to stare at her as she furrowed a brow at him. He analyzed her, seeing a resemblance to her mother. They both had dark brown eyes. Beautiful eyes. He told her.

"Anyway," Peter digressed from analyzing his eldest child. "I'm sure you've heard a lot about me, at least if Blondie has anything to do with it."

"The killing spree came up." Malia agreed, and it had been the blonde he was talking about who had filled her in on all things Peter Hale. Noelle wanted to make sure that she had a true insight of who Peter was before she found out, so she wasn't blinded by the want to have a relationship with her biological father. 

"Well, we're all works in progress." He shrugged.

Malia wasn't interested in excuses, she advised him that next time he went on a killing spree, the man try to make sure that all of the people he killed stayed dead. Peter was confused as to what she meant, looking straight at Scott for some elaboration. Scott asked him if knew much about people being turned by a scratch, Peter was shocked as he asked if the young boy had scratched someone, Scott didn't answer, he only looked at him, he'd thought would've known better than to think he would do such a thing. Peter didn't seem to take the hint as he told him not to worry, that the claws had to go pretty deep for someone to be turned by a scratch.

"But it's possible." Scott reiterated. "Like if you clawed out someone's throat?"

Peter told them that it was possible as he shrugged, unsure why they were still asking about it, a wolf turned by scratch was extremely rare, he told them. He started another sentence, telling the pair of teenagers in the loft that it was beyond rare, actually, and then the pin dropped for him. A scowl grew across his face as he realized why they had asked him that question, why they gave a specific example of clawing someone's throat out. He knew. Kate Argent. 

Soon, the man was on a rampage as he paced around the loft, the two teenagers watching, both slightly amused by his anger. "Can't someone in this town stay dead?" He mumbled in rage.

"I think they were hoping you would." Malia deadpanned.

Though amused by Malia's comment, Scott didn't dwell on it, but he would be sure to mention it to Nellie, she would have liked it. "Do you have any idea why Kate would turn Derek back into a teenager again?" He asked the man, hoping that considering he had been with the woman, that he would know more about her than the rest of them.

Peter spent a moment thinking about the malevolent mind belonging to Kate before asking the color of Derek's eyes. Blue, as Scott him, that meant it was after Paige. Peter wondered whether that meant it was around the time Derek first met Kate. Scott was more confused than ever, the shock was clear in his tone as he reiterated that the two of them knew one another, but that was an understatement. Derek didn't just know Kate, he knew her biblically, as Peter described it. A confused Scott shook his head, still not understanding.

Peter chuckled, asking Scott if he thought that he was the first teenage wolf to get into a hunter's bed because he wasn't, Derek had bet him to that. Malia held a hand up to her mouth as he tried not to throw up at that sentence. Apparently, Kate favored crime of all degrees, not just arson. It was a thought that made them all sick, but it was something they would have to continue to live through until they realized what Kate wanted with Derek. 

Meanwhile, at Scott's house, things had taken a turn for the worst. For a while, it was going well, the three of them had sat down for dinner with Rafael, a situation that Noelle or Stiles had ever imagined being in. It was hard to avoid all of the questions that McCall asked Derek, he was just a dad curious to know more about his son's "new" friend, but the two real teenagers deflected it all, finding a way to avoid answering, or answering for themselves. They hadn't been subtle, the two of them were aware of that, but Rafael didn't particularly think they were normal before this meal, so it wasn't out of character. And then, Derek noticed something. McCall's FBI badge laying on the table. He began asking questions about the man's role, Stiles tried to deflect that too, he insisted that the man barely had a voice in his job while Noelle suggested they change the topic, work wasn't an appropriate dinner conversation. Instead, she proposed the topic of Scott, where he might be after they had been waiting for so long. 

As Stiles pulled out his phone to call Scott, Derek asked whether the man ever dealt with fires, if they were a federal crime, then yes.  Noelle knew at that moment, it was over. Derek asked what the man knew about the Hale fire, and Rafael told him everything. How an entire family died the night of the fire, how now the house was being turned into sets of new homes. Anything that the other two had avoided telling him all afternoon, he knew. Derek remained surprisingly calm, he made it through the rest of the meal without flipping the table. When the dreaded meal was over Stiles guided Derek upstairs, leaving Noelle to do some damage control with McCall, they would need it if they were going to avoid his usual million questions. 

Stiles had barely passed through Scott's bedroom door before he was slammed against it, young Derek seemed to enjoy that as much as their usual Derek who had shoved him up many doors in their year of knowing one another. 

Now, the wolf was furious. Slamming Stiles's head against the door repeatedly, asking him why he had lied. He didn't think Noelle had lied, Stiles could tell that by the way Derek spoke, how it was just his and Scott's name mentioned. He trusted the girl so much, that he didn't think she'd be capable of lying to him about anything. With his head pushed against the door Stiles told him that he hadn't lied about it, he had simply omitted certain truths, vital truths perhaps.

Derek slammed his head against the door once more before stepping back, insisting that rather than talk to Stiles, he wanted to talk to the Alpha, to Scott. And then he changed his mind. Derek wanted Noelle. Stiles nodded vigorously, insisting that he was going to go and get her, Scott too. He would get both of them. Immediately. Before he left, Stiles urged him to stay where exactly in that same spot, to not move an inch. He rushed down the hall, even turning back, just to ensure that Derek still hadn't moved from where he was stood, and he hadn't.

Stiles came rushing down the stairs, shouting the girl's name repeatedly as she furrowed a brow, and then, they heard a thud. Noelle looked at Rafael, flashing him an innocent smile, a nervous laugh as she placed the plates back down, running off to find out what Stiles wanted. She found him at the bottom of the stairs, wrapped up in the rug after ripping down the stairs, struggling to breathe as he pointed upstairs, failing to get his message across. 

"Where's Derek?" Noelle asked as he offered him a hand. Stiles remained out of breath, but he'd managed to tell her that he was upstairs. The rest was nothing but nonsense to her. "Call Scott, I will go and get Derek." She told him, pushing him into the living room before rushing to the wolf.

Stiles nodded. "Yeah. Got it." He mumbled, resting his hands on his knees as he tried to get back the breath he had lost while falling down the stairs. 

Back in the loft Peter and the two teenagers were still trying to figure out what Kate would want with a sixteen-year-old boy. The man had asked for a run-through of everything Derek had been doing. Scott told him about Derek being arrested at the site of the old Hale house, how the wolf had no recollection of the fire. Peter proposed that if Derek had no idea about the fire, he would have no memory of Kate setting it either.

Malia asked what that meant for them. As Peter told them, it meant Kate didn't just want him to be a teenager, she wanted to take him back to the age where he still knew her, when Derek still trusted her. Peter looked straight at Scott, asking where Derek was now. With Noelle and Stiles, he told the older wolf, who insisted that he get one of them on the phone immediately. She was going to come back for Derek, they needed to be warned. 

Noelle walked into the Alpha's bedroom to find Derek sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for her to come up so he could ask her what was really going on, why he had been lied to about his family. But he didn't get straight into the subject, he remained quiet as the blonde entered, her hands clammy as she prepared to face the music of the lie they had told him. She knew it would be hard for him to hear the truth, it had been hard for her too. He could smell her nerves as she approached him, stopping at the end of the bed, prepared to apologize to him. Only they failed to get that far. The bathroom door creaked open as the two of them turned their gazes towards it, a woman appeared out of the darkness, leaning against the doorframe with a cunning smile. Derek stood up at the sight, the name that left his mouth confirmed Noelle's suspicions. Kate. 

"Hey, handsome." Kate smiled at the young wolf, her gaze soon averting to the blonde. "You're new." She deadpanned, stepping closer to the girl who froze in the presence of a woman she'd still hoped was dead despite the past few days. She thought that it might have been some kind of misunderstanding, or at least she hoped it was. "Pretty little thing, aren't you?" She said, her fingers brushing through the girl's golden curls. "What's your name?"

"Stiles!" Noelle's shaky voice called out for the boy.

"Funny, you don't look like a Stiles." Kate mocked the girl, brushing a finger along the girl's face as she admired her beauty. "You know, Noelle, us girls should really stick together."

"You know my name?" 

"Oh-" Kate grinned. "I know a lot more than your name." 

Stiles began walking upstairs with his phone pressed against his, ready to see why the blonde in charge of watching Derek had called for him, assuming that she hadn't managed to calm Derek's temper either. Luckily, he had Scott on the phone, at hand if they needed help talking to the wolf about his family's fire. As he walked upstairs Scott filled him in on the latest update, the stomach turning relationship between a particular werewolf and huntress. Of course, Stiles had to pause at that news, a hand on his stomach, prepared to see the Mexican food he'd ate again. The Alpha warned him that Kate might be coming back for Derek, but the Stilinski boy had faith, at least he told Scott he did, he reassured him that Derek was in good hands with Noelle, safe. He chose not to mention that just a few minutes ago he had heard the blonde call his names, it couldn't be an emergency, he hoped. 

As Stiles reached the end of the hallway, as he looked down it he felt an unusual chill crawl up his spine, something telling him that he was about to see something bad. He hoped it was just Scott putting stuff into his mind, but it was unusually quiet, too quiet for a pissed-off werewolf who had been lied to and a girl trying to calm him down. The phoned dropped to his side as he slowly approached Scott's bedroom, the wolf called his name through it, all of the silence was making him nervous, it certainly wasn't a good sign. 

And then he heard it, Stiles calling Noelle's name in a panic, his phone clattering on the wooden floor as he ignored the shouting of his werewolf best friend from across the phone. Scott began pacing around the loft as he continued calling for Scott, asking what was wrong with Nell, Malia and Peter anxiously watched him, waiting to hear it for themselves. 

They were left on edge for a moment, impatiently waiting for when Stiles picked up the phone, it felt like years to Scott, a million thoughts running through his head, all very familiar to him, they were the thoughts that came back to him every time there was a risk of her being in trouble, he'd always be reminded by what had happened to her before, and he wasn't sure they would get her back safely this time. 

"Nell, what happened?" Stiles asked as he shook the girl who stood in the corner of Scott's room with shaky hands a bead of golden sweat lining her forehead, she hadn't blinked since he found her standing there, her eyes remaining on the open bedroom window. 

"I think-" She gulped. "I think I just met Kate."

"Where did she go? Did she take Derek?" He asked, the blonde nodding wearily. Stiles looked at the phone he had dropped on the floor, sighing as he picked it up. "Scott-"

"Is she okay?" Scott quickly interrupted before his best friend could get another word out.

"She's fine. Shaken up." He told him, not even giving the wolf a moment to feel relief but he told him the bad news that followed. "You were right. She came back for him. Kate took Derek."

·❥·

Strong winds blew through their hairs as they approached the school, almost blown away by the strength that it carried, the kind of wind that this town hadn't known until Noelle, someone with a habit of stirring up a storm when her temper was out of control, and well, she was furious. The blonde girl had finally managed to process that she Derek was gone, because of Kate, because of a simple threat that Kate made, she had backed up, frozen. It was her fault. Now, she intended to make up for the moment of weakness she had shown Kate, she was going to show her the things that she was capable of, though Kate had made it clear that she knew what abilities that she had up her sleeve, it was nothing like the real thing.

Lydia and Stiles stood behind the girl, a baseball bat in the boys hand, nothing in the redheads, it was quite the spontaneous trip, there wasn't much time for preperation, the best Stiles could do in such short notice was the baseball bat in Scott's house. They watched Noelle, watching her listen to the wind, what it was telling her. And nature told her that there was something here at the school, something unnatural, unhuman. Her head whipped around, wondering where that source of unearthly energy came from but all she could see and feel were the two who patiently waited for her to tell them where to go. At a loss, the blonde stood confused for a moment, she shook her head at the pair, unsure what to tell them until a roar sounded through the air. It was far from Scott's roar, she was familiar with that one, they all were, that was the source. Noelle's eyes began glowing a bright yellow as the wind blew strongly again within a second, the druid was gone, out of sight but certainly not out of mind. 

Along with Kira and Malia, Scott had put up a fight against the Berserkers who dwarfed them in size and strength, each throwing their weapons and claws at the creatures hoping for a win, but there was a vast difference in their capablities. Malia had been wounded again, deeper than the last time, pushing her out of the fight, Scott soon meeting the same fight, even the strength of a true Alpha couldn't benefit them against the Berserkers. Kira had hoped to save their asses with her Katana, hoping that all of the new tricks she had been practicing would be what helped in a fight like this, with a creature none of them were familiar with. She too had put up a good fight, but she too had been defeated, she had put her guard down, believing that she was winning as she looked back to check on her wounded lycanthrope friends, in that moment, she joined them on the floor, hit across the face, defeated. 

The two Berserkers stepped closer, their shadows towering over the three teens sprawled over the floor, prepared to finish them off, to fulfill the duty they had been set by Kate. Two shadows emerged from the darkness, stepping over Scott, Kira and Malia, facing the Berserkers on their own. Another strong gust of wind blew across them, aiming for the beasts, pushing them back further while Derek swung for them, slashing the little skin that they had on show. Thunder had begun rumbling in the air as Noelle continued her fight with the Berserkers, assisting Derek, her temper and determination rising as she threw everything she had at them. Earth. Fire. Air. Water. Everything. Scott, Kira and Malia watched in awe as she made vines grow from the concrete floor of the school, wrapping around the Berserkers legs, allowing Derek a better shot while they both struggled to free themselves from it. It had been a long time since they had seen her use each of the elements she had been gifted with like this, and even then, it was during a time where she'd hallucinate and accidentally use them. 

But there was only so long that vines could hold creatures so large. It became hard to determine whether Noelle and Derek were winning or losing, the two were knocked down at times, swung at with claws much bigger than that of the werewolf's. Noelle had raised her hand, fire emerging from her hand, prepared to hit the Berserkers with it again until they striked the girl's arm, giving the creatures the upper hand as she stumbled back with a groan of pain, distracting Derek too as he turned his head, allowing the Berserks to knock him down only a matter of seconds after Nell.

The wolf found it easier to get back on his feet than she did, as he prepared to pull himself up for another round a loud screech sounded through the air, calling back the Berserkers as the two of them stepped back, quickly disappearing into the darkness of the night. 

Noelle looked at the blood seaping from her wound, a stinging sensation as applied pressure to it, as she did, a hand stretched out in front of her, offering to help her up. As she looked up from her wound to take it she saw that it was no longer a fifteen-year-old Derek who stood beside her but the Derek she had met a few months ago, the older, more brooding one that she had never thought she would miss. As the girl jumped up from the floor she wrapped her arms around him, hoping that she would never have to be a babysitter to his teenage self again. 

But teenagers were far from her biggest problem. As the wolf pulled away from her she saw him in a way she had never seen before, a pair of glowing yellow eyes looked back at her, innocence that she knew he didn't have. Her mouth couldn't help but slowly gape as she looked at it, what was she supposed to say to him, if anything at all. Something had been taken from him. And it seemed like this was only the beginning of Kate's comeback.