𝙽𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚊'𝚜 𝙿𝙾𝚅

I stand back in the animal clinic and watch in awe as Stiles and Scott lower Derek onto the metal table, the man looking merely fifteen in age.

"Wow..." Deaton breathes out.

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

"I think you might be overestimating my abilities" Deaton replies and I reach out, taking a hold of Derek's hand.

"He's frozen" I shiver and Deaton checks the man's temperature in concern.

"Do you think this is permanent?" Scott questions.

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

"So, what do we do with him?" Stiles asks as I frown at the unconscious man, boy even, in front of me.

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

"You mean, from Kate?" Stiles assumes and I'm guessing he assumes right.

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

"Why would she want to do this to him?" I wonder aloud.

"Knowing Kate, it's probably for a reason that won't be any good for anyone but her" Deaton responds with a frown of his own.

"And bad for everyone else" Stiles adds.

"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?" Deaton tells the three of us with a fatherly look that makes me smile "It is a school night, and you all need to start taking care of your own lives again"

"Someone should stay with you" Scott counters and I'm surprised to feel Derek grip my hand tightly.

"I'll stay" I offer with a nonchalant shrug "My grades can't get any worse"

"I'm so not okay with this" Stiles argues and I roll my eyes at the boy.

"Guys, go" I tell them.

"No-" Stiles protests but my brother cuts him off.

"Will you text us if anything happens?" Scott asks and I nod in agreement.

"Nope! Still not okay with it. Not going anywhere" Stiles declares stubbornly but huffs when Scott starts dragging him to the door "All right, just 'cause you're stronger..."

"Idiots" I mutter and Deaton grins at me, heading over to his desk.

Derek continues to squeeze my hand and I use my free one to brush his hair out of his face, gently tracing my knuckles over his cheek.

"You still in there, Derbear?" I whisper, hoping that he'll hear me.

After a while of waiting around and moving to sit on the chairs in boredom, Deaton checks over the boy and I can't help but notice the concerned expression on the man's face.

"Is he okay?" I ask curiously.

"His heart rate is alarmingly high" Deaton answers, feeling Derek's pulse and I pull myself to my feet.

I walk over to the table and take a hold of the boy's hand again, his skin no longer feeling like ice.

"He doesn't feel as cold now" I point out.

"Natalia, I'm going to try something. I want you to keep holding his hand, if that's okay" Deaton tells me and I nod, keeping the boy's hand in mine.

The man picks up a scalpel and places it on Derek's arm, slicing into the skin there. I watch in shock as the wound heals as the vet is still cutting, healing much faster than I've ever seen a werewolf heal before.

"Holy shit, that healed fast" I breathe out.

"Unusually fast" Deaton agrees.

"What does that mean?" I question in worry.

"I'm not sure..." Deaton drawls out "Let's try something else. Grab me a five milliliter syringe- top drawer"

I head over to the drawers as Deaton heads over to the counter top and we both look for the items we need. I hear rustling behind us and we both turn to see Derek now sat up straight, puling himself onto his feet. His eyes glow a bright blue and his claws show as he heaves in angry breaths.

"Derek?" I speak up, hoping he'll recognise us.

"Derek, are you all right?" Deaton asks him.

"Derek, what's wrong?" I question in concern.

"Wait" Deaton warns me, gently pushing me behind him as Derek grabs his head in what looks to be pain.

The abnormally young Hale boy growls and lunges towards us, slashing at Deaton with his claws. A gasp escapes my lips as Deaton is sent sprawling to the floor and I drop to my knees in worry, checking the wound on the mans arm as Derek races out the door.

❦ ❦   ❦

After a few calls to a few different people, I manage to get a hold of my brother and he immediately makes his way here, Stiles and Lydia showing up with him.

"I don't think he's just younger in body...I think he's younger in his mind, too" Deaton explains to the trio as I bandage up the man's wound.

"It was so weird. He didn't recognise either of us" I tell them with a frown "He looked so scared and confused"

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

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

"Not when he was a teenager" Stiles counters.

"He's gonna go home" I state in realisation.

"The Hale House?" Lydia asks in confusion.

"He wouldn't remember the fire- it wouldn't have happened yet" Deaton explains.

"He thinks his family are still alive" I frown deeply "We have to help him"

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

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

"Oh! Good luck with that" Lydia says sarcastically.

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

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

"Okay! I'll do it" Stiles retorts.

"I don't think any of us can. Remember, he can hear a heartbeat rising. When we find him, we tell him the truth" Scott declares sternly.

"If we lie to him and he finds out the truth before we can fix this, he won't trust us. We have to tell him the truth" I tell Lydia and Stiles.

"If he gets to the house first, you won't have to" Deaton warns us.