...

Kira and Malia had been dropped off while Y/n called Alan to tell him about their current situation with a changed Derek. She and Lydia had kept him wrapped in a blanket which protected him from the rain when they pulled up to the animal clinic and Scott carried in the unconscious wolf. Alan quickly cleared the table as they ran in and he helped Scott lay Derek down so the man could examine him. When Alan finally got a good look at Derek's face all he could say was, "Wow."

"Wow?" Stiles repeated. "Wow as in, 'I've seen this before and I know exactly what to do,' kind of wow? 'Cause that's kind of what we were hoping for."

"I think you might be overestimating my abilities."

"I tried seeing if I could reverse this or at least figure out what this was, but I couldn't find anything in my grimoire." Y/n told him.

Lydia felt Derek's hand, noticing it's lack of warmth. "He's cold. Really cold."

Alan checked his pulse and then his pupil response, Scott watching with a question on his mind. "Do you think this is permanent?" He looked at Alan.

"I'm not sure a medical diagnosis is even adequate. This is well beyond my experience."

"So what do we do with him?" Stiles asked.

"Until he wakes up? Probably not much. It might be best to leave him here with me. He'll be safe here."

"You mean from Kate?"

"If she's alive and she is what you say she is, she won't be able to walk past that gate."

"Why would she want to do this to him?" Y/n wondered.

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

"And bad for everyone else." Stiles scoffed.

Alan slightly nodded. "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."

"I'm not leaving." Y/n denied.

Alan gave her a look. "You're still healing. Don't think I don't notice that cut you're trying to hide."

"Someone should stay with you." Scott said.

"I'll stay." Lydia offered. "I'm not injured and my grades are fine. Despite missing a few classes."

"I'm fine." Y/n tried to convince.

"Y/n, it will be fine. Go."

"Text us if anything happens." Scott told Lydia and she nodded.

"I'm so not okay with this." Y/n protested as Scott and Stiles both ushered her out of the room. In truth she could have stayed and no one would have been able to do anything about it, but she knew Alan was right. She needed to heal and rest or else she wouldn't be able to help anyone, let alone Derek.

...

The next morning Stiles had come to pick her up like usual, letting himself in the house with the key that he had made himself a long time ago. As he went up the stairs he glanced at Malia who was passing him. "Hey, Malia." He greeted without even thinking. Then it suddenly hit him and he turned to stare at her. "Malia?" She didn't turn as she made her way out of the house and to school. He blinked after her, very confused, before he continued up the stairs and into Y/n's room.

She looked up at him as she was grabbing her bag from the floor and smiled. "Hey, Stiles." She noticed his puzzled expression. "You okay?"

"Am I hallucinating or did I just see Malia leaving?"

She huffed a laugh. "You're not hallucinating."

"Good, good. Uh, then why did I see her leaving?"

"She stayed the night." She shrugged and walked past him to get to the Jeep.

"I'm sorry, what? She stayed the night?"

"Yes, Stiles. Is there an echo in here?" This just gave him even more questions and he kept spazzing out about it the whole way to school up until they met up with Scott who was also just as curious. She sighs in frustration as they walk and finally explains why Malia was in her house because she knew they, especially Stiles, would just keep asking. "I usually wake up at like two or so in the morning to her lying right by me."

"How often?"

"Like five times a week? I'm not sure. It doesn't even surprise me anymore. I just kind of expect it."

"And then what happens?" Scott asks.

"She just curls up into my side or she'll put an arm around me and sleep."

"That's okay then, right?"

"I think so. It feels like she trusts me."

"What about the whole cuddling thing?" Stiles asks and she rolls her eyes.

"I think it's like a comfort thing. Sometimes she likes to hold me and sometimes she likes to be held. I don't mind it and I don't overthink it like you're about to." She paused in her walking to smile at Stiles. "Don't worry, hun. The coyote isn't gonna hog me all to herself. But I do have a class to get to. I'll see you guys in History." She kissed him on the cheek and waved to Scott before she walked off.

Stiles frowned at her retreating figure and Scott noticed his look. "What is it?"

"I'm worried."

"Oh. About the Peter thing?" Lydia had eventually told them about what she had found out, not being able to make the decision herself if telling Y/n was a good idea, and since then the two have been debating it as well.

"Sometimes it feels like she knows I'm not telling her something. She always knows when I'm lying, Scott."

"We should probably tell her."

"Yeah, probably. But if we did, I have no idea how."

As promised Y/n was in History when the time came around. Mr. Yukimura was giving his lesson. "It might surprise you to know that some of history's greatest leaders have had to endure some pretty great failures. One you'll recognize from last night's reading failed in business, had a nervous breakdown, was defeated for both houses of Congress, and lost as Vice President, before he was finally elected as one of the greatest presidents that this country has ever seen. Who was he?" A few students, including Stiles, raised their hands. Stiles turned his head with a smile and winked at Scott and Y/n. Y/n smiled, amused, and shook her head. Malia was marking lines in her book with a red highlighter, a yellow one held in her mouth. "Malia." She paused and looked up while Scott and Stiles looked back at her. Scott's phone buzzed then. "Scott, phones off." Scott nodded and did as told. "Malia? One of our greatest presidents." Malia stuck the red marker in her mouth as well as she started to flip through her book, trying to find the answer. Y/n could hear her phone vibrate in her bag, but she didn't try to get it. "Gettysburg address?" Kira was trying to get her dad to call on her since she knew the answer, trying to save Malia from it. Stiles' phone chimes. "Phones off. Everyone. Malia?" Poor girl looked lost as she started turning more pages. "Does anyone else know?" Everyone but her friends rose their hands in the air, and she shrunk in her chair a bit. Another phone beeped and Ken reached his limit. "I said phones off!"

"Dad, that was yours." Kira pointed out.

"Oh." He muttered sheepishly. "Um..." He pulled the device out only to frown at the message. "'Scott, call Lydia'."

Y/n healed the wound on Alan's arm when the three got to the clinic as he and Lydia told them what happened. "I don't think he's just younger in body." Alan said. "I think he's younger in his mind too."

"He didn't recognize either of us." Lydia mentioned. "And he looked like he was scared out of his mind."

"So if you're a teenage werewolf and you're scared, where do you go?" Stiles asked.

"A wolf goes back to it's den. But Derek lives in a loft." Scott says.

"Not when he was younger." Y/n pointed out. "Think about it. When you were changing for the first time, you were scared, right?" At this Scott nodded. "Where did you go? Where would anyone try to go if they're scared. Home. He's going for the Hale house."

"He wouldn't remember the fire." Alan said. "It wouldn't have happened yet."

"We've got to get to him before he gets there." Scott stated as he turned to walk out.

"Hold on." Lydia called. "Say you do manage to catch up with him? What are you going to say to him? That his whole family is dead?"

"I guess I'm going to have to."

"Oh, good luck with that."

"Scott, he's in a fragile state right now. We have to be delicate with his memories." Y/n mentioned to which Stiles agreed.

"She's probably right. Maybe you shouldn't. You know, at least until we figure out how to get him back to normal."

"I can't lie to him." Scott claimed.

"Okay, I'll do it."

"I don't think any of us can. Remember, he can hear a heartbeat rising."

"I might be able to get around that." Y/n offered.

"You can try, but I still think when we find him we should tell the truth."

"If he gets to the house first, you won't have to." Alan reminded.

...

Derek had made it to the demolished Hale house, confused as to why it was being torn down and where his family was. Jordan Parrish and Deputy Haige had found him. Jordan was being kind to the confused teen while Haige was being a hardass. After a brief tussle they brought him into the station where he was finger-printed and Haige quickly cuffed him to the bench. Jordan came and crouched in front of Derek after a while, glancing back at Haiges.

"The other deputy thinks I'm an idiot for even asking, but I have a feeling if I take these cuffs off, you're gonna be okay? And I think you'll help us figure out what happened to your family so that we can get you out of here. Am I right?" Derek nodded after a moment and Jordan reached over to unlock the cuffs.

"The other deputy's the idiot." Derek said.

Jordan smiles. "I can't argue with that."

"Parrish, get over here." Haige calls from his desk. Jordan does as asked and goes to lean over his shoulder. "I ran this kid's prints eight times. This is all that comes up." On the screen is Derek, or Derek as he should be.

"Derek Hale?"

Noah, who had been passing by, paused at the desk at the mention of the man. "Did you say Hale?" Noah looked at the computer screen and at the teen sitting in front of the desk. He looked between the two before he squinted his eyes and walked over to bend down closer to the boys face. He looked back at the computer and then the boy once more. If he looked really close, Noah could see this being a young Derek. But that was impossible, right? The possibility seemed much more real when his son stumbled into the station with his girlfriend and bestfriend in tow, whom all waved at him. He sighed and looked at the deputies. "I'll handle this." He waved the three into his office and leaned against his desk while they stood in front of him. "I want you to be honest with me. Absolutely and completely honest. Have you been time traveling?"

A laugh was startled out of Y/n, Scott's eyes widened in surprise, and Stiles looked at his father bewildered. "Hang on, what?" Stiles asked.

"Because if time traveling is real, you know what? I-I'm done. I'm out. You're going to be driving me to Eichen House."

"It's nothing like that, Sheriff." Y/n was still amused at the suggestion.

"We found him like that." Scott assured him.

"Where? Swimming in the fountain of youth?" Noah asked to which Stiles answered.

"No. We found him in 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." Scott closed his eyes while Y/n looked at her boyfriend, wondering in the back of her mind if she could find a spell that would help him think before he spoke.

"You told me you were camping!"

"Yeah, we were... In Mexico." Noah pointed a finger at him in aggitation.

"Derek's been aged backwards." Y/n explained.

"He can't remember anything." Scott continued.

"We just need to talk to him." Stiles said.

Noah calmed a bit. "Yeah, well, so far he's not talking to anybody."

Y/n shared a look with Scott. "He'll talk to us."

Noah brought Derek into his office. When he closed the door and Derek looked at the three occupants in the room, his eyes widened in surprise when he saw the witch. "M/n?"

The question caught her off guard and she titled her head a bit. Behind her Scott and Stiles shared a look. "No. My name is Y/n."

Derek seemed to deflate a bit and he shook his head. "Right, she left. I'm sorry. You just look a lot like her."

"That would make sense since I'm related to her."

"Is she okay?"

Y/n gave him a sad smile that confused him. "She is now. But right now, we need to talk to you." She motioned for Derek to sit and Scott stepped forward to explain to him that he needed to go with them.

"Why would I go anywhere with you?"

"There was an accident." Scott explained. "You lost some memory, but we can help you get it back."

"How much memory?"

"A lot." Y/n answered. "But you can trust us." Y/n gave Scott a nod and they both leaned down so they could show him their eyes. Violet and crimson. Derek suspected she might have been a witch, she had the same scent of flowers M/n did, but he was surprised to learn that the guy was a werewolf like him.

"You're an Alpha. Okay, who are you? And who is he? Who are you?" He turned to Stiles, who looked up from the second notice bills from Eichen he spotted on his fathers desk.

"Oh, we're the people keeping you out of jail."

"Let us help you." Scott urged.

Derek shook his head. "No."

"Okay, dude, you almost tore apart two cops back there. You need to listen to us." Stiles said. "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."

"You still have trouble with the full moon?" Scott asked.

"Even born werewolves have trouble with control sometimes." Y/n mentioned.

"I said I'm fine." Derek insisted.

"Alright, you coming with us or not?" Stiles questioned.

"You want me to trust you? Where's my family?"

Scott hesitated, so Y/n up. "There was a fire. But they're okay now. They're in a safe place." Scott and Stiles looked at her but she didn't pay attention to it. "You'll see them again, but for now we need to figure out how to get your memories back."

Derek took a moment, but he finally sighed with a nod. "Okay."

Noah cleared Derek for release, and while he was signing something, the three stood together nearby. "You probably shouldn't have done that." Scott said. "You lied your ass off."

"Hey, her ass is fine. In more ways then one, might I add." Stiles said making Y/n smirk at him before she turned to Scott.

"I didn't lie, really. I just didn't tell him everything. He doesn't need to relive that pain right now."

"We'll figure this out in a day or two, he goes back to being old Derek, everyone's happy. Except Derek who's never happy."

"It's just another person we're lying to." Scott insisted. "I always feel like it's always been better when we tell the truth. With Lydia, my mom, your dad."

"Yeah, but that is Derek Hale in there. He may be a kid right now, but he's still Derek Hale."

"All right. Take him to my house and don't let him out of your sight."

"Where are you going?" Y/n asked.

"I'm going to go talk to the guy we should have gone to before."

"Uh... Yeah, I hate that guy." Stiles called as Scott walked away. He gave Y/n a look as she started to follow the Alpha. "Um, where do you think you're going?"

She turned to face him as she walked backwards. "I don't want Scott to go alone."

"And what about teen wolf back here?"

"You can handle baby Derek. I believe in you." She blew him a kiss with a wink before turning and following Scott.

Scott looked up at the witch with confused furrowed brows. "What are you doing out here?"

"I'm coming with you."

"I'll be fine."

"I'm sure you would be, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm still going." She didn't leave any room for argument as she climbed on the back of his motorbike, but Scott knew arguing would have just been wasted energy. So with a fond smile and shake of his head he sped off with his friend. When Scott pulled up to the building Derek and Peter lived in Malia was standing to the side, waiting for them.

"What are you doing here?" He asked her as he and Y/n got off the bike.

"I heard you were coming to talk to Peter. And since Lydia tells me he's basically Satan in a V-neck, I figured you shouldn't be alone."

Scott glanced between the girls and couldn't help but notice how similar they were in temperment sometimes. "Y/n's here, and even if she wasn't, I can handle Peter."

"You can handle him better with both of us."

"The more, the merrier." Y/n said as she and Malia started to head inside. Scott sighed as he watched them walk together. Ever since he found out about their paternal connection, he's been worried of this exact situation. He hoped they, especially Y/n, wouldn't encounter Peter until he and Stiles had gotten a chance to tell them what they knew, if they could even do it.

He quickly caught up with them and soon Y/n was sliding open the loft door. As they walked in Malia scrunched her nose. "What's wrong with you?" She asked Scott.

"Nothing." He claimed.

"Your heart is pounding like crazy." Y/n pointed out. "Are you nervous or something?"

"He's just bad at introductions." Peter said from his perch on the couch, book held in front of his face.

"Peter..." Scott looked between the man and the girls. "This is Malia."

As Peter stood to move closer, his gaze flitted between the two teens he found out were actually his children, still in awe of their existence. "Beautiful eyes. Did you get them from your father?" He asked Malia."

"Mother." She answered, giving him a look at his seemingly random question.

"Interesting." His eyes seemed to get a little softer as he looked back at Y/n, seeing M/n in her face, but now recognizing himself in her eyes like Malia. Y/n furrowed her brows in confusion, not sure what the sudden softness meant, when he lightly shook his head and the look faded. "Anyway, I'm sure they've told you about me."

"The homicidal killing spree came up."

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

"Well, when you progress to your next killing spree, why don't you try and make sure they all stay dead?"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"What do you know about people being turned by a scratch?" Scott asked.

"Did you scratch someone, Scott? Don't worry about it, the claws have to go pretty deep."

"Like ripping out throats deep?" Y/n asked.

"Well, yeah, it's possible. It's also beyond rare. We're talking one in a-" A look of realization dawned on him as he figured out what they were getting at. "Million." He glowered.

"Guess you're just lucky." Y/n smiled sarcastically.

"Can't someone in this town stay dead?"

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

"Do you have any idea why Kate would turn Derek into a teenager again?" Scott asked.

"What color were his eyes?"

"Blue."

"After Paige. Which could mean around the time he first met Kate."

"Derek and Kate knew each other?"

"Biblically."

Y/n scrunched her nose in distaste. "Derek has bad taste in women."

"That's right, Scott." Peter said to Scott's perplexed expression. "You weren't the first wolf to climb into a Hunter's bed." After a look from Scott Peter tried to find a reason Kate would turn back Derek's clock. "Okay, Derek went to the site of the house thinking it was still there, right?"

"Yes, but he doesn't remember the fire." Y/n informed.

"But if he doesn't remember the fire, then he doesn't remember that it was Kate that set it."

"So what does that mean?" Malia asked.

"Kate didn't just take him back to being a teenager. She took him back to the age where he still knew her. When he still trusted her."

Stiles called Scott then and he informed Stiles of what they found out, asking if Derek was okay. While on the phone the thing they suspected would happen, did in fact happen. Stiles watched Kate slip out of Scott's bedroom window, Derek in tow. Peter, Malia, and Y/n started for the door when Scott called for them. "Wait."

"For what? Kate's out there twisting her way into Derek's head yet again. We need to find her."

"All we need's a scent." Malia said.

"That could take hours."

"I could track him." Y/n offered.

"That would still take too long trying to find an object for you to use. If we want to get ahead of her, we need to figure out where she's going."

"Not to underestimate my own cognitive faculties, but we're not exactly a brain trust of geniuses here." Peter pointed out.

"Then it's a good thing I happen to know one." Y/n smiled as she pulled out her phone. When she called Lydia, the banshee had just found a grusome murder scene with Kira at a gas station.

"We called Stilinski. They're on their way." Lydia said over speaker.

"What does it look like? Can you send pictures?"

"Uh, okay." It took a moment but she set up her camera and cleared her throat as she started taking photos. "To be honest, I have a 4.0 in AP Biology and there are parts of the human anatomy I have never seen before on these walls." She whined in discomfort as she moved a little closer to take a good picture of the body, sending it for Y/n to show the others.

"Why would she want to kill a gas station attendant?" Malia wondered.

"I don't think she could help it." Peter said. "This was done in a frenzy. It's not a murder. It's a symptom."

"Of what?" Scott asked to which Y/n answered as she realized what Peter was saying.

"She can't control the shift."

"Derek said he had the same issue on the full moon. That he was still learning."

"Kate's still learning?" Malia asked.

"She wants to learn." Peter clarified.

"So she wants Derek to teach her?"

"No. She wants the Triskelion."

Y/n looked at Peter. "The wooden talisman?"

"Presicely. How did you know?"

"My mother wrote about it in her pages along with the mantra. She mentioned it didn't work for Derek and that you taught him another way to control it. I don't think it will work for Kate either, it doesn't really mean anything to her. She's practically grasping at straws."

"Then let's cut her loose." Peter smiled. With that they hurried to the Hale vault that was located under the highschool. As they were running up the steps Malia and Y/n paused, looking around for something, making the other two stop to look at them.

"Did you catch a scent?" Scott asked.

"It's the same one." Malia said.

"Scott, it's the same feeling as in Mexico." Y/n added.

"What are they talking about?" Peter asked him.

"One of them came after is in the Church ruins."

"And one on the road." Y/n said.

"They couldn't have followed us here." Malia reasoned.

"But they could have been brought, by Kate." Scott mentioned.

A low, rumbling growl resonated through the night air, and Peter instantly recognized the sound. "Oh, I've heard that sound before. Did it have an animal skull? A human wearing a skull over it's face?"

"Yes." Y/n affirmed.

"What are they?" Scott asked just as one of them started to walk up to them.

"Berserkers." Peter named the creature now staring them down.

Malia growled and went to lunge at it when Y/n and Peter stopped her. "Malia, wait."

"Are you crazy?"

"It's just one of 'em." Malia was chomping at the bit to attack.

"And that means we have a chance."

"To beat him?"

"To survive." Peter turned and ran then, getting a head start on the surviving deal.

"Run. Go!" Y/n called, pushing Scott and Malia a little ahead of herself as the berserker started to give chase. They ran as fast as they could to get away, but they were forced to stop as the second berserker blocked their way. They backed up towards some stairs as the first berserker came around the corner, further trapping them. "Scott, they're both here."

"Where the hell's Peter?" He yelled out.

"I don't know. He just took off." Malia answered.

"Come on, come on." Y/n urged them up the stairs quickly, yet their path was blocked yet again as the second berserker jumped over the railing to stop them. The berserkers slowly closed in on them from either side of steps. "Oh, shit." Scott roared as he half shifted and jumped off of the wall over the one below them, then started to swipe at it with his claws. It did nothing however, and the berserker grabbed Scott, slammed his head onto the railing and shoved his face into the wall. Malia lunged for the other one but he qucikly cut her leg and threw her aside. Malia scrambled back as Scott was thrown near her.

Y/n appeared between her friends and the berserkers, using her magic to push the wolf and coyote further back to keep them safe. She defended them for as long as she could, but even with her magic she couldn't fight two berserkers alone for long. One caught her hand as she went to throw fire at it and the other slashed at her stomach. She cried out when the berserker kicked her in the chest and sent her flying. She hit the ground roughly and slid to a stop next to Malia and Scott. The two pulled her with them as they scrambled back further while the berserkers slowly advanced.

Derek had heard Scott's roar and Y/n's cry from the vault. Peter had just told Kate that the Triskelion had no actual power, that it was just a physical object to focus on while young wolves learned to control their shift. Kate angrily asked Derek if the Triskelion was real. Derek asked if she heard the sounds, saying it was Scott and Y/n, but she didn't care and yelled at him to tell her. He yelled back saying he didn't know and didn't care before he ran off to help the Alpha and the witch, leaving Kate with Peter.

As the berserkers came closer kira miraculously showed up to keep them at bay, sparks flying as her katana made contact with their bone armor. She looked back at Scott to check on him and he yelled out for her. "Kira!" He was trying to warn her, but it was just a moment too late as a berserker smacked the sword from her hand and backhanded her hard enough to make her land next to Scott.

Y/n winced as she pressed a hand to her wound and looked up at the oncoming threat. Her eyes widened when she saw Derek running up behind them. "Derek, don't!" He ignored her warning however as he dodged their attacks and managed to get a few hits in himself. Derek managed to get a glimpse of the four other teens on the ground between the berserkers, something in him telling him to fight harder as he saw Y/n and Scott hurt. As they kept fighting one of them hit him into the lockers, and his face morphed for a moment into his older, shifted self. He dodged another attack only for the other one to slam it's fists into his back. He dropped to a knee as his face morphed yet again. He kicked one of them as he got back up. He kept at it until he managed to crouch defensively between them and the four teens on the ground. A sudden roar rang through the night. Kate was calling for a retreat. Y/n and Scott watched in shock as Derek straightened up, taller than he should have been a few moments ago. Scott helped Y/n stand after he got up as she kept staring at the Hale. "Derek?"

At her voice he slowly turned around to face them, now back to the age he was supposed to be. Everything should have been okay then, but they quickly realized something still wasn't right as when his eyes shifted, they weren't the cool blue they were used to.

They were bright yellow.

~~~
Published: 12/8/21
Edited: 4/12/22

☽︎𝑾𝒉𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒘𝒂𝒚𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒆☾︎

☽︎𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒐☾︎